Diagnosis of abortion and fetal death by the ultrasonographical device in cynomolgus monkeys under indoor individually-caged conditions

This paper describes the rate of naturally occurring abortion and fetal death that were diagnosed by the use of an ultrasonographical device in 683 pregnant cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) of which 542 were wild-imported monkeys and 141 were colony-bred monkeys. All of these animals had become pregnant by the 3-day timed mating system. The combined rate of abortion and fetal death was 7.0% in the wild-imported animals and 7.8% in the colony-bred animals. There were no significant differences in the rate with respect to different ages and to different period of feeding at Tsukuba Primate Center. Seventy-eight per cent (38 monkeys) of the total cases occurred during the first 5 to 9 pregnancy-weeks.     

Development of a tactical screening method to investigate the characteristics of functional peptides

Using spot-synthesized peptide arrays, a functional peptide can be screened as a high-binding peptide for a target molecule. We have developed a rational screening method for functional peptides by analyzing the physicochemical rules of high-binding peptide sequences. To screen the peptides simply and strategically, we prepared an exhaustive 4-mer peptide library consisting of 256 peptides (4⁴ = 256) characterized by four physicochemical groups of 20 amino acids: Group 1, non-charged hydrophobic amino acids; Group 2, non-charged hydrophilic amino acids; Group 3, positive-charged hydrophilic amino acids; Group 4, negative-charged hydrophilic amino acids. First, our previous screening data from cell adhesion, bile acid-binding, and nanoparticle-binding peptides were applied to the four-category analysis, and target-specific physicochemical characteristics were obtained. We then prepared an exhaustive 4-mer peptide library using these four physicochemical groups, and screened for high-binding peptides that bind model proteins interleukin-2 and IgG. We obtained individual physicochemical rules for high-binding peptides: group 1 or 4 amino acids in position (P) 1, group 1 in P2 and P4 for IL-2, and group 2 and 3 amino acids at all position for IgG. Therefore, this system, which employs the use of a simple and strategic peptide library, will be useful in the development of functional peptides.     

Characterization of interleukin 2-stimulated phosphorylation of 67 and 63 kDa proteins in human T-cells.

We have investigated rapid and marked phosphorylation of cellular proteins induced by interleukin 2 (IL-2) in both phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated normal peripheral blood leucocytes, and IL-2-dependent or -independent human T-cell lines bearing human T-cell leukaemia (lymphotropic) virus type I. Two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis showed that the IL-2-induced phosphoprotein was of Mr 67,000 with a pI of 5.8 (pp67) and was distinct from the IL-2 receptor. IL-2 also stimulated phosphorylation of four other proteins, with an Mr of 63,000 and pI values 5.3-6.1 (pp63s). The stimulation of pp67 phosphorylation was observed within 5 min after addition of IL-2 and was maximal after 15 min. The maximal phosphorylation was more than 10-fold that observed initially. In IL-2-dependent cells, IL-2 dose responses of pp67 phosphorylation and cell proliferation were exactly correlated. Phosphoamino acid analysis showed that the phosphorylation site of pp67 and pp63s was a serine residue. Subcellular-fractionation studies indicated that pp67 was localized in cytosol, whereas pp63s phosphorylation was induced by IL-2 in nuclear and cytosol fractions. Similar phosphorylation of pp67 and pp63s was observed when the cells were treated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate instead of IL-2. These results suggest that IL-2-IL-2-receptor interaction leads to activation of protein kinase(s), resulting in phosphorylation of certain cellular proteins such as pp67 and pp63s, and that this phosphorylation could be an early event in the transmission of intracellular growth signalling from the IL-2 receptors.     

Isolation of the hemopexin receptor from human placenta

A hemopexin receptor detected in detergent-solubilized placental membranes was purified from the human placenta, using hemopexin-Sepharose affinity chromatography. The solubilized membranes exhibited binding sites of 2.77 pmol of hemopexin/mg of protein with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 6.6 X 10(-8) M. The purified receptor has a molecular weight of 80,000, determined on sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. Immunoinhibition experiments using the antibody against the placental receptor revealed inhibition of binding of 125I-hemopexin to human leukemia K562 and HL 60 cells, thereby strongly supporting that the polypeptide isolated from the human placenta was the hemopexin receptor.     

Phosphatidylglucoside: a new marker for lipid rafts

Lipid rafts are functional microdomains enriched with sphingolipids and cholesterol. The fatty acyl chain composition of sphingolipids is a critical factor in the localization of lipids in lipid rafts. The recent studies suggest that lipid rafts are more heterogeneous than previously thought. In addition, our discovery of a new glycolipid, phosphatidylglucoside (PtdGlc), also supports the notion of raft heterogeneity. The complete structural characterization of PtdGlc shows that it consists solely of saturated fatty acyl chains: C18:0 at the sn-1 and C20:0 at the sn-2 positions of the glycerol backbone. This unique fatty acyl composition comprising a single molecular species rarely occurs in known mammalian lipids. Although the structure of PtdGlc is similar to that of phosphatidylinositol, PtdGlc localizes to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane and is possibly involved in cell-cell interaction signaling in the central nervous system.     

Pivotal role of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21WAF1/CIP1 in apoptosis and autophagy

Programmed cell death (PCD) is involved in a variety of biologic events. Based on the morphologic appearance of the cells, there are two types of PCD as follows: apoptotic (type I) and autophagic (type II). However, the molecular machinery that determines the type of PCD is poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to show whether the presence of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1), a modulator of apoptosis, determines which type of PCD the cell undergoes. Treatment with C(2)-ceramide was associated with both the cleavage of caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and the degradation of autophagy-related Beclin 1 and Atg5 proteins, without a change in the cyclin-CDK activity, which culminated in apoptosis in p21(+/+) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). On the other hand, C(2)-ceramide did not cleave caspase-3 or poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and kept Beclin 1 and Atg5 proteins stable in p21(-/-) MEFs, events that this time culminated in autophagy. When expression of the p21 protein was inhibited by small interfering RNA or when the overexpression of Beclin 1 or Atg5 was induced, autophagy rather than apoptosis was initiated in the p21(+/+) MEFs treated with C(2)-ceramide. In contrast, the exogenous expression of p21 or the silencing of Beclin 1 and Atg5 with small interfering RNA increased the number of apoptotic cells and decreased the number of autophagic cells among C(2)-ceramide-treated p21(-/-) MEFs. gamma-Irradiation, which endogenously generates ceramide, induced a similar tendency in these MEFs. These results suggest that p21 plays an essential role in determining the type of cell death, positively for apoptosis and negatively for autophagy.     

A prodigiosin analogue inactivates NADPH oxidase in macrophage cells by inhibiting assembly of p47phox and Rac

Prodigiosins are natural red pigments that have multi-biological activities. Recently, we discovered a marine bacterial strain, which produces a red pigment. Extensive two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry analysis showed that the pigment is a prodigiosin analogue (PG-L-1). Here, we investigated the effect of PG-L-1 on NADPH oxidase activity in macrophage cells. PG-L-1 significantly inhibited superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) production by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, a mouse macrophage cell line. The ED(50) value was estimated to be approximately 0.3 microM. PG-L-1 had no direct scavenging effect on O(2)(-) generated by hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase system in electron spin resonance-spin trapping determinations, suggesting that this compound directly acts on the O(2)(-) production system, NADPH oxidase, in macrophage cells. We further investigated the effect of PG-L-1 on the behaviour of the cytosolic components of the NADPH oxidase, p67(phox), p47(phox), p40(phox), Rac and protein kinase C (PKC), in PMA-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Although PG-L-1 showed no effect on the activation of PKC, the immunoblotting analysis using specific antibodies showed that PG-L-1 strongly inhibits the association of p47(phox) and Rac in the plasma membrane of PMA-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. These results suggest that PG-L-1 inactivates NADPH oxidase through the inhibition of the binding of p47(phox) and Rac to the membrane components of NADPH oxidase.