Guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate-dependent protein kinase from bovine cerebellum. Purification and characterization.

Guanosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cyclic GMP)-dependent protein kinase was assayed with calf thymus histone as substrate and partially purified from the soluble fraction of bovine cerebellum. The enzyme was selectively activated by cyclic GMP at lower concentrations; the Ka value for cyclic GMP was 1.7 times 10- minus 8 M whereas that for adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) was 1.0 times 10- minus 6 M. The Km value for ATP was 1.0 times 10- minus 5 M. A high concentration of Mg-2+ (100 mM) was needed for maximum stimulation by cyclic GMP and maximum reaction rate. The pH optimum was 7.5 to 8.0. The isoelectric point was pH 5.7. The molecular weight was about 140,000 as estimated by gel filtration. The enzyme was unable to activate muscle glycogen phosphorylase kinase, and was clearly distinguishable from cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase in kinetic and catalytic properties. Comparative data on cyclic GMP-dependent and cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinases in this tissue are presented.     

Pummerer Rearrangement of Selenium-Containing Uracil Nucleosides

Abstract

Pummerer-type rearrangement of uracil nucleosides having a phenylseleno group in the 2′-, 3′-, and 5′-positions took place upon oxidation with MCPBA in CH₂Cl₂ followed by treatment with acid anhydrides to yield α-acyloxyselenides.     

New peptide alkaloids from Hovenia dulcis and H. tomentella

From the root bark of Hovenia dulcis Thunb. and H. tommentella (Makino) Nakai (Rhamnaceae), three peptide alkaloids, frangulanine, hovenins-A and -B have been isolated. Hovenin-A has been shown to be des-N-methylfrangulanine (II).     

Effectiveness of enhanced cognitive behavior therapy for bulimia nervosa in Japan: a randomized controlled trial protocol

Although fatigue is a common and distressing symptom in cancer survivors, the mechanism of fatigue is not fully understood. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relation between the fatigue and mindfulness of breast cancer survivors using anxiety, depression, pain, loneliness, and sleep disturbance as mediators. Path analysis was performed to examine direct and indirect associations between mindfulness and fatigue. Participants were breast cancer survivors who visited a breast surgery department at a university hospital in Japan for hormonal therapy or regular check-ups after treatment. The questionnaire measured cancer-related-fatigue, mindfulness, anxiety, depression, pain, loneliness, and sleep disturbance. Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected from medical records. Two-hundred and seventy-nine breast cancer survivors were registered, of which 259 answered the questionnaire. Ten respondents with incomplete questionnaire data were excluded, resulting in 249 participants for the analyses. Our final model fit the data well (goodness of fit index = .993; adjusted goodness of fit index = .966; comparative fit index = .999; root mean square error of approximation = .016). Mindfulness, anxiety, depression, pain, loneliness, and sleep disturbance were related to fatigue, and mindfulness had the most influence on fatigue (β = − .52). Mindfulness affected fatigue not only directly but also indirectly through anxiety, depression, pain, loneliness, and sleep disturbance. The study model helps to explain the process by which mindfulness affects fatigue. Our results suggest that mindfulness has both direct and indirect effects on the fatigue of breast cancer survivors and that mindfulness can be used to more effectively reduce their fatigue. It also suggests that health care professionals should be aware of factors such as anxiety, depression, pain, loneliness, and sleep disturbance in their care for fatigue of breast cancer survivors. This study was registered in the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN number. 000027720) on June 12, 2017.     

Decrease in bacterial production over the past three decades in the north basin of Lake Biwa,Japan

Limnology - In Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan, external pollutant loads have decreased since the 1980s, leading to improved water quality, such as reduction in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)...     

Partial silencing of fucosyltransferase 8 gene expression inhibits proliferation of Ishikawa cells,a cell line of endometrial cancer

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy and is associated with increased morbidity each year, including young people. However, its mechanisms of proliferation and progression are not fully elucidated. It is well known that abnormal glycosylation is involved in oncogenesis, and fucosylation is one of the most important types of glycosylation. In particular, fucosyltransferase 8 (FUT8) is the only FUT responsible for α1, 6-linked fucosylation (core fucosylation), and it is involved in various physiological as well as pathophysiological processes, including cancer biology. Therefore, we aimed to identify the expression of FUT8 in endometrial endometrioid carcinoma and investigate the effect of the partial silencing of the FUT8 gene on the cell proliferation of Ishikawa cells, an epithelial-like endometrial cancer cell line. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that FUT8 gene expression was significantly elevated in the endometrial endometrioid carcinoma, compared to the normal endometrium. The immunostaining of FUT8 and Ulex europaeus Agglutinin 1 (UEA-1), a kind of lectin family specifically binding to fucose, was detected endometrial endometrioid carcinoma. The proliferation assay showed FUT8 partial knockdown by transfection of siRNA significantly suppressed the proliferation of Ishikawa cells, concomitant with the upregulation in the gene expressions associated with the interesting pathways associated with de-ubiquitination, aspirin trigger, mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) et al. It was suggested that the core fucosylation brought about by FUT8 might be involved in the proliferation of endometrial endometrioid carcinoma cells.     

Burr marigold (Bidens tripartita L.) roots directly and immediately scavenge rhizosphere methane with highly exuded hydrogen peroxide via a rhizosphere Fenton reaction

Plant and Soil - The major factors controlling the soil methane (CH4) concentration and CH4 emissions of various plant (mainly wetland) species were identified. Five plant species (Oryza sativa,...     

Sulfurimicrobium lacus gen. nov., sp. nov., a sulfur oxidizer isolated from lake water,and review of the family Sulfuricellaceae to show that it is not a later synonym of Gallionellaceae

Archives of Microbiology - A facultatively anaerobic sulfur-oxidizing bacterium, strain skT11T, was isolated from anoxic lake water of a stratified freshwater lake. As electron donor for...     

Factors determining vegetation recovery after abandonment of coal-mining villages

Landscape and Ecological Engineering - There have been many earlier studies of the biodiversity and ecosystem services of abandoned farmlands, but studies of abandoned villages are limited,...