Effect of linear polarized near-infrared light irradiation and light exercise on muscle performance

This study aimed to determine the effect of active warm-up by local muscle light exercise and passive warm-up by polarized light irradiation on skin and muscle temperatures and forearm muscle performance (muscle strength, power, endurance, and controlled force-exertion). Ten healthy males performed various grip tests before and after active (local muscle light exercise) and passive (linear polarized near-infrared light irradiation) warm-ups. An active warm-up involved intermittent gripping exercise (contraction: 1 second and relaxation: 1 second) for 10 minutes using a sponge. A passive warm-up consisted of polarized light irradiation to the forearm (superficial digital flexor) for 10 minutes (irradiation: 5 seconds and rest: 1 second). Skin and muscle temperatures were measured during both warm-ups. Skin and muscle temperatures increased significantly after 5 minutes of local muscle light exercise and after 10 minutes of polarized light irradiation. Temperatures were significantly higher after 6 minutes of local muscle light exercise than after 6 minutes of polarized light irradiation. There were no significant differences of muscle strength, power, and controlled force-exertion before and after either warm-up. Average force outputs in all conditions significantly decreased with exertion time, and at 30, 60, 90, and 120 seconds they were higher in both warm-up conditions than in the non-warm-up condition. In conclusion, both warm-ups may contribute to improve muscle endurance performance in the decreasing force phase.     

Synthesis and in vitro insulin-mimetic activities of zinc(ii) complexes of ethyl 2,5-dihydro-4-hydroxy-5-oxo-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxylates

Several Zn(II) complexes (2a-e) of 1-arylmethyl-2,5-dihydro-4-hydroxy-5-oxo-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxylates (1a-e), known drug candidates for diabetic complications, were synthesized and proved to have in vitro insulin-mimetic activities, suggesting that these complexes are potential chemotherapeutics that are effective against both diabetes and diabetic complications.     

Gene expression profiles of endothelial progenitor cells by oligonucleotide microarray analysis

Among the many tissue stem or progenitor cells recently being unveiled, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have attracted particular attention, not only because of their cardinal role in vascular biology and embryology but also because of their potential use in the therapeutic development of a variety of postnatal diseases, including cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disorders and cancer. The aim of this study is to provide some basic and comprehensive information on gene expression of EPCs to characterize the cells in molecular terms. Here, we focus on EPCs derived from CD34-positive mononuclear cells of human umbilical cord blood. The EPCs were purified and expanded in culture and analyzed by a high-density oligonucleotide microarray and real-time RT-PCR analysis. We identified 169 up-regulated and 107 down-regulated genes in the EPCs compared with three differentiated endothelial cells of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), human lung microvascular endothelial cells (LMEC) and human aortic endothelial cells (AoEC). It is expected that the obtained list include key genes which are critical for EPC function and survival and thus potential targets of EPC recognition in vivo and therapeutic modulation of vasculogenesis in cancer as well as other diseases, in which de novo vasculogenesis plays a crucial role. For instance, the list includes Syk and galectin-3, which encode protein tyrosine kinase and β-galactoside-binding protein, respectively, and are expressed higher in EPCs than the three control endothelial cells. In situ hybridization showed that the genes were expressed in isolated cells in the fetal liver at E11.5 and E14.5 of mouse development.     

Species‐dependent microarchitectural traits of iridescent scales in the triad taxa of Ornithoptera birdwing butterflies

Ornithoptera birdwing butterflies have blue, green, or orange iridescent scales in different species or subspecies. To understand the species‐ or subspecies‐dependent scale color differences, we performed comparative morphometric analyses of iridescent scales from three closely related taxa: O. priamus priamus (green), O. priamus urvillianus (blue), and O. croesus (orange). The three types of Ornithoptera wings exhibited reversible color changes to longer wavelengths with different kinetics upon immersion in methanol, suggesting that their color differences are at least partly based on differences in the size of air cavities made by nanostructures. Cover scales of all three color types were visually semi‐transparent glass scales that exhibited color when placed on a dark background. The dorsoventral differences in coloration were observed in single scales, suggesting the optical importance of scale surfaces. Scanning electron microscopy of cover scales in cross section revealed that all color types exhibited finely sculpted tapered ridges and thick, irregular basal multilayers containing tandemly clustered granular objects and air cavities. Scale thickness, ridge height, and multilayer thickness were significantly different among the three color types, and granular object size was significantly different between orange scales and blue and green scales. We conclude that each of the three taxa of Ornithoptera butterflies possesses unique quantitative size values on tapered ridges and irregular multilayers with granular objects and air cavities to express unique structural color. These species‐ or subspecies‐dependent structural colors might have evolved via quantitative shifts in these microarchitectural traits rather than via changes in the basic developmental or architectural plan for color expression.     

Establishment of a monoclonal antibody PMab-233 for immunohistochemical analysis against Tasmanian devil podoplanin

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against not only human, mouse, and rat but also rabbit, dog, cat, bovine, pig, and horse podoplanins (PDPNs) have been established in our previous studies. PDPN is used as a lymphatic endothelial cell marker in pathological diagnoses. However, mAbs against Tasmanian devil PDPN (tasPDPN), which are useful for immunohistochemical analysis, remain to be developed. Herein, mice were immunized with tasPDPN-overexpressing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-K1 (CHO/tasPDPN) cells, and hybridomas producing mAbs against tasPDPN were screened using flow cytometry. One of the mAbs, PMab-233 (IgG₁, kappa), specifically detected CHO/tasPDPN cells by flow cytometry and recognized tasPDPN protein by western blotting. Furthermore, PMab-233 strongly detected CHO/tasPDPN cells by immunohistochemistry. These findings suggest that PMab-233 may be useful as a lymphatic endothelial cell marker of the Tasmanian devil.     

Participation of CD14 in the Phagocytosis of Smooth-Type Salmonella typhimurium by the Macrophage-Like Cell Line,J774.1

The role of CD14 in the phagocytosis and killing of microorganisms was investigated using macrophage-like cell lines, CD14-positive J774.1 cells and CD14-negative mutant J7.DEF3 cells derived from J744.1 cells. The cells were infected with Salmonella typhimurium organisms of the smooth (S)-form LT2, mutant rough (R)-form TV148 or Staphylococcus aureus 248βH. At 30 or 180 min incubation, the cells were washed and disrupted. Colony-forming units (CFUs) liberated from the disrupted cells were determined by quantitative cultivation, and the phagocytic index and killing rate were calculated. Both the phagocytic index and killing rate of J774.1 cells against LT2 organisms were greater than those of J7.DEF.3 cells. However, the index and rate of J774.1 cells against TV148 and 248βH organisms were similar to those of the J7.DEF.3 cells. The phagocytosis of LT2 organisms by J774.1 cells was partially inhibited by S-form LPS (S-LPS) and anti-CD14 antibody, but not by R-chemotype LPS (R-LPS). These results suggest that CD14 participates in the phagocytosis of S-form Salmonella.     

Studies on substantially increased proteins in follicular fluid of bovine ovarian follicular cysts using 2-D PAGE and MALDI-TOF MS

Background  

The objective of this study was to identify substantially increased proteins in bovine cystic follicular fluid (FF) in order to clarify the pathology and etiology of bovine ovarian follicular cysts (BOFC).     

Critical roles of threonine 187 phosphorylation in cellular stress-induced rapid and transient activation of transforming growth factor-beta-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) in a signaling complex containing TAK1-binding protein TAB1 and TAB2

Transforming growth factor-beta-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase has been shown to be activated by cellular stresses including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Here, we characterized the molecular mechanisms of cellular stress-induced TAK1 activation, focusing mainly on the phosphorylation of TAK1 at Thr-187 and Ser-192 in the activation loop. Thr-187 and Ser-192 are conserved among species from Caenorhabditis elegans to human, and their replacement with Ala resulted in inactivation of TAK1. Immunoblotting with a novel phospho-TAK1 antibody revealed that TNF-alpha significantly induced the phosphorylation of endogenous TAK1 at Thr-187, and subsequently the phosphorylated forms of TAK1 rapidly disappeared. Intermolecular autophosphorylation of Thr-187 was essential for TAK1 activation. RNA interference and overexpression experiments demonstrated that TAK1-binding protein TAB1 and TAB2 were involved in the phosphorylation of TAK1, but they regulated TAK1 phosphorylation differentially. Furthermore, SB203580 and p38alpha small interfering RNA enhanced TNF-alpha-induced Thr-187 phosphorylation as well as TAK1 kinase activity, indicating that the phosphorylation is affected by p38alpha/TAB1/TAB2-mediated feedback control of TAK1. These results indicate critical roles of Thr-187 phosphorylation in the stress-induced rapid and transient activation of TAK1 in a signaling complex containing TAB1 and TAB2.