Microbeams of heavy charged particles.

We have established a single cell irradiation system, which allows selected cells to be individually hit with defined number of heavy charged particles, using a collimated heavy-ion microbeam apparatus at JAERI-Takasaki. This system has been developed to study radiobiological processes in hit cells and bystander cells exposed to low dose and low dose-rate high-LET radiations, in ways that cannot be achieved using conventional broad-field exposures. Individual cultured cells grown in special dishes were irradiated in the atmosphere with a single or defined numbers of 18.3 MeV/amu 12C, 13.0 MeV/amu 20Ne, and 11.5 MeV/amu 40Ar ions. Targeting and irradiation of the cells were performed automatically at the on-line microscope of the microbeam apparatus according to the positional data of the target cells obtained at the off-line microscope before irradiation. The actual number of particle tracks that pass through cell nuclei was detected with prompt etching of the bottom of the cell dish made of ion track detector TNF-1 (modified CR-39), with alkaline-ethanol solution at 37 degrees C for 15-30 minutes. Using this system, separately inoculated Chinese hamster ovary cells, confluent normal human fibroblasts, and single plant cells (tobacco protoplasts) have been irradiated. These are the first studies in which single-ion direct hit effect and the bystander effect have been investigated using a high-LET heavy particle microbeam.     

Glycosidically bound sialic acid levels as a predictive marker of postoperative adjuvant therapy in gastric cancer

Summary A group of 293 gastric cancer patients were examined to see if the preoperative value of glycosidically bound sialic acid is a predictor of prognosis and effectiveness of postoperative adjuvant therapy. All patients had gastrectomies and were histologically confirmed to have primary adenocarcinoma of the stomach. Some patients then received either postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy or immunochemotherapy. Patients with sialic acid levels less than 74.5 mg/dl survived significantly longer than those with sialic acid levels of 74.5 mg/dl or of 85.3 mg/dl and over. No significant differences in survival were found among patients treated by gastrectomy alone, gastrectomy plus chemotherapy and gastrectomy plus immunochemotherapy. However, patients with abnormally elevated levels of sialic acid survived significantly longer when they were treated with immunochemotherapy after gastrectomy than those treated by gastrectomy alone or with chemotherapy after gastrectomy. By using Cox's multivariate regression model, pTNM stages, postoperative adjuvant therapy (chemotherapy and immunochemotherapy) and preoperative serum levels of sialic acid were examined as prognostic variables. Postoperative therapy was a significant prognostic variable in patients with abnormally elevated levels of sialic acid. The preoperative serum level of sialic acid is a promising predictive marker of the response to postoperative adjuvant immunochemotherapy.     

The sexual behavior of Japanese monkeys

The sexual behavior of four troops of wild Japanese monkeys at Jigokudani and at Takasakiyama was observed for about one month during the middle of the breeding season. Sexual behavior was classified into 46 types from the viewpoint of sign behavior, and a catalogue of this was presented. It was shown that there was high correlation between the two most common types of behavior of the male, hindquarters-display and hand-on-back, and subsequent copulation. Seven stages were noticed in the sequence from initial encounter to leave-taking of a consort pair, and these stages were observed in a fairly regular order in the copulatory sequence. There was correlation between male positive attitude toward females and dominance rank order of the male, but was not between copulation and the dominance rank order. Adult females without infant showed and received positive sexual behavior; females who had an infant neither showed nor received the behavior; juvenile females showed but did not receive the behavior. Males showed positive sexual behavior toward females of their own group, but copulation between them was the most scarce due to female refusal.     

Domain unfolding plays a role in superfibronectin formation

Superfibronectin (sFN) is a fibronectin (FN) aggregate that is formed by mixing FN with anastellin, a fragment of the first type III domain of FN. However, the mechanism of this aggregation has not been clear. In this study, we found that anastellin co-precipitated with FN in a ratio of approximately 4:1, anastellin:FN monomer. The primary binding site for anastellin was in the segment (III)1-3, which bound three molecules of anastellin and was able to form a precipitate without the rest of the FN molecule. Anastellin binding to (III)3 caused a conformational change in that domain that exposed a cryptic thermolysin-sensitive site. An additional anastellin binds to (III)11, where it enhances thermolysin digestion of (III)11. An engineered disulfide bond in (III)3 inhibited both aggregation and protease digestion, suggesting that the stability of (III)3 is a key factor in sFN formation. We propose a three-step model for sFN formation: 1) FN-III domains spontaneously unfold and refold; 2) anastellin binds to an unfolded domain, preventing its refolding and leaving it with exposed hydrophobic surfaces and beta-sheet edges; and 3) these exposed elements bind to similar exposed elements on other molecules, leading to aggregation. The model is consistent with our observation that the kinetics of aggregation are first order, with a reaction time of 500-700 s. Similar mechanisms may contribute to the assembly of the native FN matrix.     

Critical regulation of bone morphogenetic protein-induced osteoblastic differentiation by Delta1/Jagged1-activated Notch1 signaling

Functional involvement of the Notch pathway in osteoblastic differentiation has been previously investigated using the truncated intracellular domain, which mimics Notch signaling by interacting with the DNA-binding protein CBF-1. However, it is unclear whether Notch ligands Delta1 and Jagged1 also induce an identical cellular response in osteoblastic differentiation. We have shown that both Delta1 and Jagged1 were expressed concomitantly with Notch1 in maturating osteoblastic cells during bone regeneration and that overexpressed and immobilized recombinant Delta1 and Jagged1 alone did not alter the differentiated state of MC3T3-E1 and C2C12 cells. However, they augmented bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2)-induced alkaline phosphatase activity and the expression of several differentiation markers, except for osteocalcin, and ultimately enhanced calcified nodule and in vivo ectopic bone formation of MC3T3-E1. In addition, both ligands transmitted signal through the CBF-1-dependent pathway and stimulated the expression of HES-1, a direct target of Notch pathway. To test the necessity of Notch signaling in BMP2-induced differentiation, Notch signaling was inhibited by the dominant negative extracellular domain of Notch1, specific inhibitor, or small interference RNA. These treatments decreased alkaline phosphatase activity as well as the expression of other differentiation markers and inhibited the promoter activity of Id-1, a target gene of the BMP pathway. These results indicate the functional redundancy between Delta1 and Jagged1 in osteoblastic differentiation whereby Delta1/Jagged1-activated Notch1 enhances BMP2-induced differentiation through the identical signaling pathway. Furthermore, our data also suggest that functional Notch signaling is essential not only for BMP2-induced osteoblast differentiation but also for BMP signaling itself.     

Role of a new member of IGFBP superfamily, IGFBP-rP10, in proliferation and differentiation of osteoblastic cells

Bone regeneration is critically regulated by various molecules. To identify the new genes involved in bone regeneration, we performed microarray-based gene expression analysis using a mouse bone regeneration model. We identified a new member of the IGFBP superfamily, designated IGFBP-rP10, whose expression is up-regulated at the early phase of bone regeneration. IGFBP-rP10 consists of an IGFBP homologous domain followed by a Kazal-type protein inhibitor domain and an immunoglobulin G-like domain. A real-time-based RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that various tissues including bone expressed IGFBP-rP10 mRNA in various degrees, and confirmed an up-regulation at the early phase of bone regeneration. In situ hybridization revealed that osteoblastic cells expressed IGFPB-rP10 mRNA during bone regeneration. Bone morphogenetic protein-2 increased the expression level of IGFBP-rP10 mRNA in various cells including C3H10T1/2, MC3T3-E1, C2C12, and primary murine osteoblastic cells. The addition of recombinant mouse IGFBP-rP10 promoted the proliferation of these cells but failed to stimulate alkaline phosphatase activity. These results suggest that IGFBP-rP10 is involved in the proliferation of osteoblasts during bone formation and bone regeneration.     

NF-kappa B-inducing kinase establishes self-tolerance in a thymic stroma-dependent manner

Physical contact between thymocytes and the thymic stroma is essential for T cell maturation and shapes the T cell repertoire in the periphery. Stromal elements that control these processes still remain elusive. We used a mouse strain with mutant NF-kappaB-inducing kinase (NIK) to examine the mechanisms underlying the breakdown of self-tolerance. This NIK-mutant strain manifests autoimmunity and disorganized thymic structure with abnormal expression of Rel proteins in the stroma. Production of immunoregulatory T cells that control autoreactive T cells was impaired in NIK-mutant mice. The autoimmune disease seen in NIK-mutant mice was reproduced in athymic nude mice by grafting embryonic thymus from NIK-mutant mice, and this was rescued by supply of exogenous immunoregulatory T cells. Impaired production of immunoregulatory T cells by thymic stroma without normal NIK was associated with altered expression of peripheral tissue-restricted Ags, suggesting an essential role of NIK in the thymic microenvironment in the establishment of central tolerance.     

The disulfide bonding pattern in ficolin multimers

Ficolin is a plasma lectin, consisting of a short N-terminal multimerization domain, a middle collagen domain, and a C-terminal fibrinogen-like domain. The collagen domains assemble the subunits into trimers, and the N-terminal domain assembles four trimers into 12-mers. Two cysteine residues in the N-terminal domain are thought to mediate multimerization by disulfide bonding. We have generated three mutants of ficolin alpha in which the N-terminal cysteines were substituted by serines (Cys4, Cys24, and Cys4/Cys24). The N-terminal cysteine mutants were produced in a mammalian cell expression system, purified by affinity chromatography, and analyzed under nondenaturing conditions to resolve the multimer structure of the native protein and under denaturing conditions to resolve the disulfide-linked structure. Glycerol gradient sedimentation and electron microscopy in nondenaturing conditions showed that plasma and recombinant wild-type protein formed 12-mers. The Cys4 mutant also formed 12-mers, but Cys24 and Cys4/Cys24 mutants formed only trimers. This means that protein interfaces containing Cys4 are stable as noncovalent protein-protein interactions and do not require disulfides, whereas those containing Cys24-Cys24 require the disulfides for stability. Proteins were also analyzed by nonreducing SDS-PAGE to show the covalent structure under denaturing conditions. Wild-type ficolin was covalently linked into 12-mers, whereas elimination of either Cys4 or Cys24 gave dimers and monomers. We present a model in which symmetric Cys24-Cys24 disulfide bonds between trimers are the basis for multimerization. The model may also be relevant to collectin multimers.     

Diterpenoid glucosides from Salvia greggii

The structure of four diterpenoid glucosides, designated as salvigresides A-D (1-4), isolated from the aerial parts of Salvia greggii, have been confirmed by spectroscopic and chemical investigation.     

Expression of PAC1 receptor in rat thymus after irradiation

In the present work, PAC1-R (G-protein-coupled receptor specific for PACAP) was detected on cells in the normal thymus. Immunohistochemically PAC1-R was expressed strongly in stromal cells of the thymic medulla. Positive cells were also observed in the thymus of fetal and old adult rats. After 8 Gy irradiation to 9-week-old rats, PAC1-R expressions in the thymus decreased and almost recovered by day 21. The expression of PAC1-R mRNA was weak in the thymus and decreased further after irradiation. The expression almost recovered by day 28. Hip and hip/hop variants, which were not expressed in the normal thymus, were expressed in the thymus on days 3, 5 and 21 after irradiation. The expressions of IL-6 and IL-10 tended to increase initially after irradiation then decreased. Histologically, the thymic structures were destroyed on day 3 after irradiation and the thymus almost recovered by day 21. Thus PACAP is thought to be one of the important factors for cross-talk between cells involved in thymic regeneration.