RP S19 C-terminal peptide trimer acts as a C5a receptor antagonist

We have demonstrated that ribosomal protein S19 (RP S19) polymer, when crosslinked between Lys122 and Gln137 by activated coagulation factor XIII, acts as a C5a receptor (C5aR) antagonist/agonist. Based on experimental data obtained using RP S19 analog peptide and recombinant protein monomer, we suggested that L₁₃₁DR, I₁₃₄AGQVAAAN and K₁₄₃KH moieties in the RP S19 C‐terminus act in, respectively, C5aR binding, penetration of the plasma membrane, and interaction with either an apoptosis-inducing molecule in neutrophils (delta lactoferrin) or a calcium channel-activating molecule (annexin A3) to induce the p38 MAPK pathway in macrophages. Recently, we observed RP S19 trimer in serum. To study the effects of this RP S19 trimer on C5aR, we prepared mutant RP S19 C‐terminal peptide (RP S19^122-145) dimer and trimer, and examined their chemotactic activities and signal transduction pathways in human C5aR-overexpressing squamous cell carcinoma HSC-1 (HSC-1^C5aR) cells using 24 trans-well chamber and western blotting assays, respectively. HSC-1^C5aR cells were attracted by RP S19^122-145 dimer and vice versa by RP S19^122-145 trimer. The RP S19^122-145 dimer-induced attraction was competitively blocked by pre-treatment with RP S19^122-145 trimer. Moreover, RP S19^122-145 trimer-induced p38 MAPK phosphorylation was stronger than RP S19^122-145 dimer-induced p38 MAPK phosphorylation. RP S19^122-145 trimer appeared to act as a C5aR antagonist. The agonistic and antagonistic effects of RP S19^122-145 dimers and trimers were reflected by monocytic, THP-1-derived macrophage-like cells. Unlike the C5aR agonist C5a, which acts at the inflammation phase of acute inflammation, RP S19 trimer might act as a C5aR antagonist at the resolution phase.     

Testing a method for reconstructing structural development of even-aged Abies sachalinensis stands

Accuracy of a stand reconstruction technique was examined by comparing the estimated values of the aboveground biomass, total stem volume, stem volume growth, and stand density of Abies sachalinensis stands to those observed between 1980 and 1998 in Hokkaido, northern Japan. Census data from two stands established in 1973, one fertilized and the other unfertilized, were used for the examination. The stand statistics in the past were estimated from the DBH and height of individual trees measured in 1998, data on the aboveground biomass and stem volume with bark for nine living trees of various sizes harvested in each plot in 1998 or in 1999, and data from the stem analysis of the same harvested trees. We showed that the reconstructed patterns of the frequency distribution in aboveground biomass and in stem volume were generally the same as those observed in both plots and in any year in the past (except for 1982 and/or 1980), and that the reproduced patterns of stand development over time were similar to those observed directly in the past. Accuracy in predicting stand statistics was generally in the order of ±10% relative error. We consider that the present method of stand reconstruction could be used to estimate aboveground biomass, total stem volume, and stem volume growth of a stand in the past. Interpretation of results for the early years (1982 and 1980) and for the stand density requires caution.     

Aging-related occurrence in Ashkenazi Jews of leukocyte heteroplasmic mtDNA mutation adjacent to replication origin frequently remodeled in Italian centenarians

Our previous observation that a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) homoplasmic C150T transition adjacent to the heavy strand replication origin at position 151 is greatly increased in frequency in Italian centenarians, as compared to the rest of the population, has prompted us to analyze a genetically distinct population to determine how robust the association of the C150T mutation with longevity is. In particular, we have analyzed leukocyte mtDNA from three groups of an Ashkenazi Jew population, namely, a large number (124) of female centenarians and near-centenarians (95-108 years-old), their mixed gender offspring, and mixed gender control subjects. This analysis revealed a very low incidence of the C150T transition in the probands and the other two groups, and by contrast, the fairly high frequency of a homoplasmic T152C transition and of a homoplasmic T195C transition in all three groups of subjects. Furthermore, most significantly, an aging-related increase in incidence of the heteroplasmic T152C transition, presumably resulting from somatic events, was demonstrated in the Ashkenazi Jews. The T152C transition was not associated with a change in the replication origin at position 151, unlike the C150T transition in the Italian centenarians.     

Calnexin Delta 185-520 partially reverses the misprocessing of the Delta F508 cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator

We analyzed the interrelation between the efficiency of a gene expression and the nucleotide composition of all protein-coding sequences in 38 unicellular organisms whose complete genomic sequences are known. These organisms comprise 37 prokaryotic (29 eubacteria and eight archaebacteria) and one eukaryotic (yeast) species. We demonstrated that frequency analysis of gene codon composition fails to reflect adequately the gene expression efficiency of all these organisms. We constructed a measure, the elongation efficiency index, that considers simultaneously the information on codon frequencies and the degree of mRNA local self-complementarity. This measure recognizes the ribosome-coding genes as highly expressed in all the unicellular organisms studied. According to our analysis, these species fall into five groups differentiated by the process that makes the key contribution to the elongation rate.     

Flower-Inducing Activity of Phloem Exudate in Cultured Apices from Pharbitis Seedlings

Phloem exudate from cotyledons of photoperiodically inducedPharbitis plants induced flowering in apices excised from non-inducedseedlings and cultured in vitro. The exudate also stimulatedflowering in apices excised from photo-induced seedlings andcultured under long-day conditions. The application of benzoicacid had similar effects. Both the exudate from non-inducedplants and gallic acid suppressed flowering in apices from photo-inducedseedlings. It appears that the phloem exudate contains flower-inducingor flower-suppressing substance(s), depending on the plant materialsfrom which it was collected. (Received August 15, 1989; Accepted May 14, 1990)     

Prevalence of antibodies against human respiratory viruses potentially involving anthropozoonoses in wild bonobos

Primates - One of the current threats to the bonobo (Pan paniscus), a highly endangered ape species only found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are anthropozoonoses caused by human...     

Bonobos apparently search for a lost member injured by a snare

This is the first report to demonstrate that a large mixed-sex party of bonobos travelled a long distance to return to the location of a snare apparently to search for a member that had been caught in it. An adult male was caught in a metallic snare in a swamp forest at Wamba, Luo Scientific Reserve, Democratic Republic of the Congo. After he escaped from the snare by breaking a sapling to which the snare was attached, other members of his party assisted him by unfastening the snare from lianas in which it was caught and licked his wound and tried to remove the snare from his fingers. In the late afternoon, they left him in the place where he was stuck in the liana and travelled to the dry forest where they usually spend the night. The next morning, they travelled back 1.8 km to revisit the location of the injured male. When they confirmed that he was no longer there, they returned to the dry forest to forage. This was unlike the usual ranging patterns of the party, suggesting that the bonobos travelled with the specific intention of searching for this injured individual who had been left behind. The incident described in this report likely occurred because bonobos usually range in a large mixed-sex party and try to maintain group cohesion as much as possible.