Convergence of olfactory inputs from both antennae in the brain of the honeybee.

Electrical activities of the olfactory neurones in the brain of the honeybee were investigated. Odorous stimuli were given to each antenna separately or to both simultaneously. The inputs from the antennae affected both the impulse frequency and the latency of the olfactory interneurones in the protocerebrum. The predominant response was to the stimulation of the ipsilateral antenna. Input from the contralateral antenna produced mainly excitatory effects, although a few inputs gave inhibitory effects. No particular relationships between the loci of the units in the brain and the types of responses produced were found. Most of the units were located in the protocerebral lobe and in the central commissure. The units in the deutocerebrum responded only to the stimulation of the ipsilateral antenna, and the magnitude of response and the latency were not different with respect to unilateral or bilateral stimulation of the antennae. Differences in latency between unilateral and bilateral stimulation were observed in some of the units in the protocerebrum. Neural models which explain these phenomena are postulated.     

Clinical study on early changes in thyroid function of hyperthyroidism treated with propylthiouracil and a relatively small dose of iodide.

In order to compare the acute effects of three kinds of antithyroid agents of iodide (I-), propylthiouracil (PTU) and PTU combined with iodide (PTU+I-) on thyroid function in hyperthyroid patients with diffuse goiter, serum concentrations of thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), T3-resin sponge uptake (T3-RU) and free thyroxine index (FT4I) were employed as thyroid function parameters. In the group given iodine (1 mg/day) as iodinated-lecithine, the initial values of T4, T3, T3-RU and FT4I were 20.9 +/- 1.6 microng/100 ml (T4), greater than 740 ng/100 ml (T3), 49.5 +/- 2.3% (T3-RU) and 14.7 +/- 1.8 (FT4I). At the end of one week of therapy, they decreased clearly to 15.6 +/- 2.2 microng/100 ml, 457 +/- 87 ng/100 ml, 42.2 +/- 4.0% and 9.7 +/- 2.4. The so-called "escape phenomenon" from iodide inhibition was observed in serum T4, T3-RU and FT4I values at the end of two weeks of iodide therapy, while serum T3 continued to decrease but the value of T3 was far outside of the normal range. In the PTU group (300 mg/day), thyroid function parameters were 22.5 +/- 0.8 microng/100 ml (T4), greater than 592 ng/100 ml (T3), 54.9 +/- 1.0% (T3-RU) and 18.7 +/- 1.0 (FT4I) before treatment. They decreased continually week by week. At the end of four-week treatment with PTU, the value of each thyroid function parameter was 11.1 +/- 1.9 microng/100 ml, 229 +/- 56 ng/100 ml, 36.6 +/- 4.4% and 5.7 +/- 1.7. In the group of hyperthyroidism simultaneously given both PTU and iodide (300 mg/PTU and 1 mg/iodine), these thyroid function parameters decreased as well as in the group treated with PTU alone for more than two weeks. More rapid or significant decrease of T4, T3, T3-RU and ft4i in PTU+I- group than in PTU group was observed in the present study. These results suggested strongly that iodide alone was not an adequate therapy for hyperthyroidism as well known and they were also compatible with the idea that the concomitant administration of PTU and iodide was more effective in the early phase of therapy of hyperthyroidism than PTU alone.     

Novel mutation that causes a structural change in a lipoprotein in the outer membrane of Escherichia coli.

A novel mutation which caused a structural change in a lipoprotein in the outer-membrane has been found in Escherichia coli K-12. The lipoprotein of the wild-type strain is known to have a peculiar amino terminal structure: glycerylcysteine with two fatty acids attached by ester linkages and one fatty acid by an amide linkage. In contrast to the wild-type lipoprotein, the mutant lipoproteins is isolated from the E. coli envelope as a dimer of molecular weight of about 15,000. The dimer can be reduced by mercaptoethanol to the lipoprotein monomer of molecular weight of about 7,500. The monomer has a free thiol group which is susceptible to monoiodacetie mutant lipoprotein is extremely low in comparison with that into the wild-type lipoprotein. These results suggest that the mutant is defective in transferring a glycerol group to the thiol group of the amino terminal cysteine residue of the lipoprotein. The gene responsible for this modification reaction has been located at 36.5 min on the E. coli chromosome.     

Long-term speeding in perceptual switches mediated by attention-dependent plasticity in cortical visual processing

Binocular rivalry has been extensively studied to understand the mechanisms that control switches in visual awareness and much has been revealed about the contributions of stimulus and cognitive factors. Because visual processes are fundamentally adaptive, however, it is also important to understand how experience alters the dynamics of perceptual switches. When observers viewed binocular rivalry repeatedly over many days, the rate of perceptual switches increased as much as 3-fold. This long-term rivalry speeding exhibited a pattern of image-feature specificity that ruled out primary contributions from strategic and nonsensory factors and implicated neural plasticity occurring in both low- and high-level visual processes in the ventral stream. Furthermore, the speeding occurred only when the rivaling patterns were voluntarily attended, suggesting that the underlying neural plasticity selectively engages when stimuli are behaviorally relevant. Long-term rivalry speeding may thus reflect broader mechanisms that facilitate quick assessments of signals that contain multiple behaviorally relevant interpretations.     

Site-specific labeling of cytoplasmic peptide:N-glycanase by N,N'-diacetylchitobiose-related compounds

Peptide:N-glycanase (PNGase) is the deglycosylating enzyme, which releases N-linked glycan chains from N-linked glycopeptides and glycoproteins. Recent studies have revealed that the cytoplasmic PNGase is involved in the degradation of misfolded/unassembled glycoproteins. This enzyme has a Cys, His, and Asp catalytic triad, which is required for its enzymatic activity and can be inhibited by "free" N-linked glycans. These observations prompted us to investigate the possible use of haloacetamidyl derivatives of N-glycans as potent inhibitors and labeling reagents of this enzyme. Using a cytoplasmic PNGase from budding yeast (Png1), Man9GlcNAc2-iodoacetoamide was shown to be a strong inhibitor of this enzyme. The inhibition was found to be through covalent binding of the carbohydrate to a single Cys residue on Png1, and the binding was highly selective. The mutant enzyme in which Cys191 of the catalytic triad was changed to Ala did not bind to the carbohydrate probe, suggesting that the catalytic Cys is the binding site for this compound. Precise determination of the carbohydrate attachment site by mass spectrometry clearly identified Cys191 as the site of covalent attachment. Molecular modeling of N,N'-diacetylchitobiose (chitobiose) binding to the protein suggests that the carbohydrate binding site is distinct from but adjacent to that of Z-VAD-fmk, a peptide-based inhibitor of this enzyme. These results suggest that cytoplasmic PNGase has a separate binding site for chitobiose and other carbohydrates, and haloacetamide derivatives can irreversibly inhibit that catalytic Cys in a highly specific manner.     

A novel serum chitinase that is expressed in bovine liver

Chitinases are ubiquitous chitin-fragmenting hydrolases. They are synthesized by a vast array of organisms, including those not composed of chitin. Here, we describe a novel serum chitinase (chitin-binding protein b04, CBPb04), which is expressed in bovine liver. Although CBPb04 is secreted as an endocrine chitinase, it shows higher homology with human gastrointestinal tract exocrine chitinase (AMCase) than with macrophage endocrine chitinase (human chitotriosidase). This suggests that cows have a specific defense against chitin-containing microorganisms. CBPb04 mRNA is expressed in hepatocytes. This is the first report of a hepatogenic mammalian chitinase.     

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     

MCPIP1 ribonuclease antagonizes dicer and terminates microRNA biogenesis through precursor microRNA degradation

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are versatile regulators of gene expression and undergo complex maturation processes. However, the mechanism(s) stabilizing or reducing these small RNAs remains poorly understood. Here we identify mammalian immune regulator MCPIP1 (Zc3h12a) ribonuclease as a broad suppressor of miRNA activity and biogenesis, which counteracts Dicer, a central ribonuclease in miRNA processing. MCPIP1 suppresses miRNA biosynthesis via cleavage of the terminal loops of precursor miRNAs (pre-miRNAs). MCPIP1 also carries a vertebrate-specific oligomerization domain important for pre-miRNA recognition, indicating its recent evolution. Furthermore, we observed potential antagonism between MCPIP1 and Dicer function in human cancer and found a regulatory role of MCPIP1 in the signaling axis comprising miR-155 and its target c-Maf. These results collectively suggest that the balance between processing and destroying ribonucleases modulates miRNA biogenesis and potentially affects pathological miRNA dysregulation. The presence of this abortive processing machinery and diversity of MCPIP1-related genes may imply a dynamic evolutional transition of the RNA silencing system.