Nucleic Acid Metabolism Involved in Auxin-induced Elongation of Yeast Cells

The following results were obtained using a variant yeast strain, N55, which can respond to the cell-elongating action of auxin. Base analogs of nucleic acids (2-thiouracil, 8-azaguanine, and 5-fluorouracil) inhibited the auxin-induced elongation of yeast cells only when they were added to the preculture prior to auxin treatment. The inhibitory effect of 2-thiouracil and 5-fluorouracil was reversed by uracil and that of 8-azaguanine by guanine. Actino-mycin D inhibited the auxin-induced elongation when given to the culture containing auxin, but not when given to the preculture. The similarity in these respects between yeast and tissues of higher plants is discussed.     

The antibacterial activity of plaunotol against Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis.

Plaunotol was tested for possible antibacterial activity against twenty strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and fourteen strains of methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) which had been isolated from the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis under growth-promoting conditions. Plaunotol was effective against all strains tested. The dose of plaunotol for 50% inhibition of growth (ID50) ranged from 2.5 to 16 micrograms/ml for strains of MRSA and from 2.5 to 7.0 micrograms/ml for those of MSSA. These results suggest that plaunotol may be useful in the prevention of infection by MRSA and in skin care for patients with atopic dermatitis.     

Phosphopeptide enrichment by aliphatic hydroxy acid-modified metal oxide chromatography for nano-LC-MS/MS in proteomics applications

We developed novel methods for phosphopeptide enrichment using aliphatic hydroxy acid-modified metal oxide chromatography (MOC). Titania and zirconia were successfully applied to enrich phosphopeptides with the aid of aliphatic hydroxy acids, such as lactic acid and beta-hydroxypropanoic acid, to reduce the interaction between acidic non-phosphopeptides and the metal oxides. These methods removed the vast majority of non-phosphopeptides from phosphoprotein standard digests, and large numbers of phosphopeptides could be readily identified. The methods were coupled with nano-LC-MS/MS systems without difficulty. Recovery of phosphopeptides in MOC varied greatly from peptide to peptide, ranging from a few percent to 100%, and the average was almost 50%. Repeatability and linearity were satisfactory. In an examination of the cytoplasmic fraction of HeLa cells, more than 1000 phosphopeptides were identified using lactic acid-modified titania MOC and beta-hydroxypropanoic acid-modified zirconia MOC, respectively. The overlap between phosphopeptides enriched by these two methods was 40%, and the combined results provided 1646 unique phosphopeptides. To our knowledge, this is the first successful application of a single MOC-based approach to phosphopeptide enrichment from complex biological samples such as cell lysates.     

Demonstration and Characterization of the Heterodimerization of ZnT5 and ZnT6 in the Early Secretory Pathway

The majority of CDF/ZnT zinc transporters form homo-oligomers. However, ZnT5, ZnT6, and their orthologues form hetero-oligomers in the early secretory pathway where they load zinc onto zinc-requiring enzymes and maintain secretory pathway functions. The details of this hetero-oligomerization remain to be elucidated, and much more is known about homo-oligomerization that occurs in other CDF/ZnT family proteins. Here, we addressed this issue using co-immunoprecipitation experiments, mutagenesis, and chimera studies of hZnT5 and hZnT6 in chicken DT40 cells deficient in ZnT5, ZnT6, and ZnT7 proteins. We found that hZnT5 and hZnT6 combine to form heterodimers but do not form complexes larger than heterodimers. Mutagenesis of hZnT6 indicated that the sites present in transmembrane domains II and V in which many CDF/ZnT proteins have conserved hydrophilic amino acid residues are not involved in zinc binding of hZnT6, although they are required for zinc transport in other CDF/ZnT family homo-oligomers. We also found that the long N-terminal half of hZnT5 is not necessary for its functional interaction with hZnT6, whereas the cytosolic C-terminal tail of hZnT5 is important in determining hZnT6 as a partner molecule for heterodimer formation. In DT40 cells, cZnT5 variant lacking the N-terminal half was endogenously induced during periods of endoplasmic reticulum stress and so seemed to function to supply zinc to zinc-requiring enzymes under these conditions. The results outlined here provide new information about the mechanism of action through heterodimerization of CDF/ZnT proteins that function in the early secretory pathway.     

Repression of tax expression is associated both with resistance of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-infected T cells to killing by tax-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and with impaired tumorigenicity in a rat model

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) causes adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). Although the viral transactivation factor, Tax, has been known to have apparent transforming ability, the exact function of Tax in ATL development is still not clear. To understand the role of Tax in ATL development, we introduced short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) against Tax in a rat HTLV-1-infected T-cell line. Our results demonstrated that expression of siRNA targeting Tax successfully downregulated Tax expression. Repression of Tax expression was associated with resistance of the HTLV-1-infected T cells to Tax-specific cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte killing. This may be due to the direct effect of decreased Tax expression, because the Tax siRNA did not alter the expression of MHC-I, CD80, or CD86. Furthermore, T cells with Tax downregulation appeared to lose the ability to develop tumors in T-cell-deficient nude rats, in which the parental HTLV-1-infected cells induce ATL-like lymphoproliferative disease. These results indicated the importance of Tax both for activating host immune response against the virus and for maintaining the growth ability of infected cells in vivo. Our results provide insights into the mechanisms how the host immune system can survey and inhibit the growth of HTLV-1-infected cells during the long latent period before the onset of ATL.     

Rad21l1 cohesin subunit is dispensable for spermatogenesis but not oogenesis in zebrafish

During meiosis I, ring-shaped cohesin complexes play important roles in aiding the proper segregation of homologous chromosomes. RAD21L is a meiosis-specific vertebrate cohesin that is required for spermatogenesis in mice but is dispensable for oogenesis in young animals. The role of this cohesin in other vertebrate models has not been explored. Here, we tested if the zebrafish homolog Rad21l1 is required for meiotic chromosome dynamics during spermatogenesis and oogenesis. We found that Rad21l1 localizes to unsynapsed chromosome axes. It is also found between the axes of the mature tripartite synaptonemal complex (SC) in both sexes. We knocked out rad21l1 and found that nearly all rad21l1^-/- mutants develop as fertile males, suggesting that the mutation causes a defect in juvenile oogenesis, since insufficient oocyte production triggers female to male sex reversal in zebrafish. Sex reversal was partially suppressed by mutation of the checkpoint gene tp53, suggesting that the rad21l1 mutation activates Tp53-mediated apoptosis or arrest in females. This response, however, is not linked to a defect in repairing Spo11-induced double-strand breaks since deletion of spo11 does not suppress the sex reversal phenotype. Compared to tp53 single mutant controls, rad21l1^-/- tp53^-/- double mutant females produce poor quality eggs that often die or develop into malformed embryos. Overall, these results indicate that the absence of rad21l1^-/- females is due to a checkpoint-mediated response and highlight a role for a meiotic-specific cohesin subunit in oogenesis but not spermatogenesis.     

Temporal changes of genetic population structure and diversity in the endangered Blakiston's fish owl (Bubo blakistoni) on Hokkaido Island, Japan, revealed by microsatellite analysis

The Blakiston's fish owl (Bubo blakistoni) population on Hokkaido Island, Japan, decreased to less than one hundred individuals over the last century due to habitat disruption by human activity. Although the ongoing conservation management has slightly restored the population, it remains endangered. In order to assess the genetic variation and population structure of the Blakiston's fish owl in Hokkaido, we genotyped eight microsatellite loci on 120 individuals sampled over the past three decades. The genotype data set showed low levels of genetic variation and gene flow among the geographically isolated five subpopulations. Comparative analysis of past and current populations indicated that some alleles shared by past individuals had been lost, and that genetic variation had declined over the last three decades. The result suggests that the genetic decline may have resulted from inbreeding and/or genetic drift due to bottlenecks in the Hokkaido population. The present study provides invaluable genetic information for the conservation and management of the endangered Blakiston's fish owl in Hokkaido.