Disappearance of terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase in human malignant T-lymphoblasts treated with a human alpha interferon preparation

Human T-lymphoblastoid cell lines RPMI 8402, MOLT-3, and CCRF-CEM were treated with interferon (IFN) to determine if the treatment would result in the disappearance of cellular terminaldeoxynucleotidyltransferase (TdT), a possible differentiation marker for T-lymphocytes. Incubation of RPMI 8402 cells in the presence of IFN preparation caused a decrease in the number of TdT-positive cells and in TdT activity of the cell extract. The inhibition of cell multiplication was dose dependent. The anticellular effect of IFN preparation was cytostatic, not cytocidal. The IFN preparation modified neither the TdT content nor proliferation of MOLT-3 and CCRF-CEM cell lines. The effects of IFN preparation thus varied with the cell line.     

Concurrent Bursty Behavior of Social Sensors in Sporting Events

The advent of social media expands our ability to transmit information and connect with others instantly, which enables us to behave as “social sensors.” Here, we studied concurrent bursty behavior of Twitter users during major sporting events to determine their function as social sensors. We show that the degree of concurrent bursts in tweets (posts) and retweets (re-posts) works as a strong indicator of winning or losing a game. More specifically, our simple tweet analysis of Japanese professional baseball games in 2013 revealed that social sensors can immediately react to positive and negative events through bursts of tweets, but that positive events are more likely to induce a subsequent burst of retweets. We confirm that these findings also hold true for tweets related to Major League Baseball games in 2015. Furthermore, we demonstrate active interactions among social sensors by constructing retweet networks during a baseball game. The resulting networks commonly exhibited user clusters depending on the baseball team, with a scale-free connectedness that is indicative of a substantial difference in user popularity as an information source. While previous studies have mainly focused on bursts of tweets as a simple indicator of a real-world event, the temporal correlation between tweets and retweets implies unique aspects of social sensors, offering new insights into human behavior in a highly connected world.     

Modulation of brain progestin and glucocorticoid receptors by unsaturated fatty acid and phospholipid

In an attempt to learn how nonsteroidal factors modulate brain progestin and glucocorticoid receptors, the effects of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, and phosphatidylinositol on the binding of [3H]R5020 or [3H]dexamethasone, determined by sucrose density gradient and gel filtration on LH20, were examined in the cerebral cortical cytosol from 10-day-old female rats which contain a considerable amount of progestin and glucocorticoid receptors. Unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic (C18:1), arachidonic (C20:4) and docosahexaenoic acid (C22:4) depressed the [3H]R5020 or [3H]dexamethasone binding in increasing order, but saturated fatty acids had no effect. Arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids, which were strong inhibitors, lowered the binding dose dependently. The fatty acid inhibition on brain progestin and glucocorticoid receptors was thus a function of acid dose and degree of acid unsaturation. Interestingly, prostaglandin D2 did not show any effect. Among phospholipids tested the inhibitory effect of phosphatidylinositol on the [3H]R5020 binding was evident, but no significant effect was found with phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine or sphingomyelin. The phosphatidylinositol inhibition was dose dependent. Analysis on kinetics and Scatchard plot have revealed the noncompetitive type of inhibition by arachidonic acid and phosphatidylinositol. From these results it is suggested that the unsaturated nonestrified fatty acid, arachidonic acid, and phosphoinositides modulate the brain progestin and, possibly, glucocorticoid receptors through their binding at sites different from steroid binding sites on the respective receptor molecules.     

Purification and characterization of erythroid differentiation factor (EDF) isolated from human leukemia cell line THP-1

We isolated a protein, from a cell line of human origin, which exhibits extensive differentiation inducing activity toward Friend leukemia cells. The protein, called Erythroid Differentiation Factor (EDF), was found in a 4 day culture of THP-1 cells performed in the presence of 4 beta-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate(PMA). EDF is a homodimer of a molecular weight of 25,000, with an NH2-terminal sequence identical to that of the beta A-chain of porcine Inhibin. It was suggested that a single protein species is responsible for the activities of both EDF and FRP, a FSH releasing protein isolated from porcine ovarian follicular fluid.     

Multiple forms of calpastatin in pig brain

Pig brain was found to contain two calpain-specific, heat-stable inhibitory fractions which could be separated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. CS-0.1, which was eluted from the column at 0.1 M NaCl, was identified as an ordinary, well-known calpastatin. CS-0.2, eluted at 0.2 M NaCl, was different from CS-0.1 in that it inhibited calpain 1 more strongly than calpain II and that it did not cross-react with anti-calpastatin antibodies. Partial purification indicated that CS-0.2 contained inhibitor proteins smaller than ordinary calpastatin, but whether they are the products derived from CS-0.1 or entirely different genetic products has not yet been determined.     

Development of nephrotic ICGN mice--the origin, reproductive ability, and incidence of glomerulonephritis

ICGN is a strain of spontaneous nephrotic mice with nonproliferative glomerular lesions. It was derived from an outbred Yok: ICR colony in our laboratory. The renal disease constantly occurred in animals of the first to the tenth generations (greater than 13.0%; 70 days of age). When affected males were mated with unaffected females, the incidence of the disease in their offspring was 38.8% (n = 49) at 70 days after birth. When both parents were affected, their offspring were all affected (n = 12). The disease evenly progressed in both sexes. It usually began 40 to 150 days after birth and death occurred within two months after onset. The animals usually showed sufficient reproductive ability as long as unaffected females were used for mating.     

The direct activation of human multidrug resistance gene (MDR1) by anticancer agents

Enhanced expression of a multidrug-resistance gene (MDR1) is observed in some cancer patient, but any regulatory mechanisms of MDR1 gene expression in this phenomenon is not yet known. In this study, the regulation of MDR1 gene was analysed by transient expression assays in the presence of anticancer agents. We found that MDR1 promoter could be activated directly on the addition of anticancer agents including vincristine, daunomycin, adriamycin and colchicine. The results suggest that the level of MDR1 mRNA expression is associated with previous chemotherapy, including drugs that select the multidrug resistance phenotype.     

Functions of the COOH-terminal region of cyclodextrin glucanotransferase of alkalophilic Bacillus sp. #1011: relation to catalyzing activity and pH stability

Cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (beta-CGTase) of alkalophilic Bacillus sp. #1011 degrades starch to mainly beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD). This enzyme is considered to contain an extra-polypeptide in its COOH-terminal region in addition to its NH2-terminal domain which exhibits the starch-degrading activity. To analyze the functions of this extra-polypeptide in the beta-CGTase, two mutated enzymes, in which DNA regions encoding 10 or 13 amino acids from the COOH-terminus were deleted, were obtained. The mutated enzymes degraded starch to glucose, maltooligosaccharides and alpha-CD, in addition to beta-CD. Furthermore, the pH stability of the mutated enzymes in the alkaline pH range (pH 9-11) was reduced.     

Ischemic flow threshold for striatal dopamine release in rats

To determine the level of cerebral blood flow reduction which causes striatal dopamine release, extracellular dopamine and cerebral blood flow was simultaneously determined using in vivo brain dialysis and a hydrogen clearance method, respectively, in the striatum of spontaneously hypertensive rats, before and during experimental cerebral ischemia. The ischemic flow threshold for neurotransmitter dopamine release was found to be 20% of the resting value or 8–10 ml/100g/min of cerebral blood flow, being similar to those for energy and membrane failures.