Disturbed Purkinje cell migration due to reduced expression of Reelin by X-irradiation in developing rat cerebellum.

The major histogenetic events of the rat cerebellum take place in the early postnatal days. During this period, precursors of microneurons, such as granule cells, form the external granular layer (EGL), extend over the surface of the primordial cerebellum, and actively proliferate. Postmitotic granule cells leave the EOL and migrate to the internal granular layer (IGL). On the other hand, guided by radial glial fibers, immature Purkinje cells migrate from the ventricular zone of the fourth ventricle and settle in the Purkinje cell plate with thickness of several cells. Various cell adhesion molecules are involved in the interaction between the migratory immature Purkinje cells and processes of the radial glia as the basis for contact guidance. The second process is the formation of immature Purkinje cells to the monolayer. This process takes place at the first week after birth of the rat and cell adhesion molecules such as neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), fibronectin, tenascin and Reelin are also suggested to play an important role for the cell patterning. When rat fetuses are exposed to X-radiation in the last gestation period, abnormal foliation of the cerebellum develops with ectopic Purkinje cells. The molecular mechanism that contributes to abnormal migration of Purkinje cells and foliar malformation induced by X-irradiation in the cerebellum are not yet clear. This study was undertaken to elucidate the mechanisms of ectopic Purkinje cell formation by examining the expression of cell adhesion molecules.     

A trans-unsaturated fatty acid in a psychrophilic bacterium, Vibrio sp. strain ABE-1.

A high level of a trans-unsaturated fatty acid was found in the phospholipids of a psychrophilic bacterium, Vibrio sp. strain ABE-1. This fatty acid was identified as 9-trans-hexadecenoic acid (C16:19t) by gas-liquid chromatography and infrared absorption spectrometry. C16:1(9)t accounted for less than 1% of the total fatty acids in cells grown at 5 degrees C and reached 12% of the total at 20 degrees C. We suggest that the increase in the level of the trans-unsaturated fatty acid is related to the high growth rate of this bacterium at elevated temperatures. Possible biological roles of the trans-unsaturated fatty acid in the adaptation of the microorganism to the ambient temperature are discussed.     

Expression of an mNSC1 in mammalian cells.

We have cloned a cDNA inducing a cation-permeable current (mNSC1) from pancreatic beta-cells, which shows niflumate-sensitive current in Xenopus oocytes. To elucidate the expression in mammalian cells, mNSC1 was expressed in CHO cells. The reversal potential by mNSC1 was shifted toward positive which was significantly reversed by flufenamic acid. Single-channel analysis showed a characteristic of a Ca-activated nonselective cation channel. Therefore, we may conclude that mNSC1 expresses a fenamates-sensitive cation channel, inducing membrane depolarization in a mammalian cell.     

Induction of the differentiation of human HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cell line by succinoyl trehalose lipids

Four analogs of succinoyl trehalose lipid-3 (STL-3)with saturated even-number or odd-number carbonchains, and unsaturated or halogenated fatty acidswere examined for their ability to inhibit the growthand induce the differentiation of HL-60 humanpromyelocytic leukemia cells. The optimalconcentration of STL-3 at which such activities wererecognized was closed to the critical micelleconcentration of STL-3. Analog of STL-3 witheven-number or odd-number carbon chain and unsaturatedfatty acids strongly inhibited growth and induced thedifferentiation of HL-60 cells, as evaluated in termsof nitroblue tetrazilium-reducing activity and theappearance of the CD36 antigen. An analog of STL-3with halogenated fatty acids significantly inhibitedproliferation but only induced the differentiation ofHL-60 cells. Our results indicate that the effects ofSTL-3 and its analogs on HL-60 cells depend on thestructure of the hydrophobic moiety of STL-3.These authors contributed equally to this work     

Preliminary crystallographic data for plastocyanins from an alga (Enteromorpha prolifera) and from cucumber (Cucumis sativus)

The plastocyanins from a green alga (Enteromorpha prolifera) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus) have been crystallized. Crystal data are as follows: E. prolifera plastocyanin, space group I4, a = b = 53.9 A, c = 59.4 A, Z = 8; C. sativus plastocyanin, space group P4(1) (or P4(3) ), a = b = 66.7 A, c = 46.0 A, Z = 8. Accordingly, the asymmetric units of the crystals contain one and two molecules, respectively.     

Environmental DNA enables detection of terrestrial mammals from forest pond water

Terrestrial animals must have frequent contact with water to survive, implying that environmental DNA (eDNA) originating from those animals should be detectable from places containing water in terrestrial ecosystems. Aiming to detect the presence of terrestrial mammals using forest water samples, we applied a set of universal PCR primers (MiMammal, a modified version of fish universal primers) for metabarcoding mammalian eDNA. The versatility of MiMammal primers was tested in silico and by amplifying DNAs extracted from tissues. The results suggested that MiMammal primers are capable of amplifying and distinguishing a diverse group of mammalian species. In addition, analyses of water samples from zoo cages of mammals with known species composition suggested that MiMammal primers could successfully detect mammalian species from water samples in the field. Then, we performed an experiment to detect mammals from natural ecosystems by collecting five 500‐ml water samples from ponds in two cool‐temperate forests in Hokkaido, northern Japan. MiMammal amplicon libraries were constructed using eDNA extracted from water samples, and sequences generated by Illumina MiSeq were subjected to data processing and taxonomic assignment. We thereby detected multiple species of mammals common to the sampling areas, including deer (Cervus nippon), mouse (Mus musculus), vole (Myodes rufocanus), raccoon (Procyon lotor), rat (Rattus norvegicus) and shrew (Sorex unguiculatus). Many previous applications of the eDNA metabarcoding approach have been limited to aquatic/semiaquatic systems, but the results presented here show that the approach is also promising even for forest mammal biodiversity surveys.