Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (Ngal, 24p3, SIP24, lipocalin 2, or siderocalin) was originally purified from neutrophils, but with unknown function. Recently, it was identified that Ngal ...activates nephron formation in the embryonic kidney, is rapidly and massively induced in renal failure and possesses kidney-protective activity. We would like to propose that blood, urine, and kidney Ngal levels are the real-time indicators of active kidney damage, rather than one of many markers of functional nephron number (as Forest Fire Theory). Ngal is a novel iron-carrier protein exerting pleiotropic actions including the upregulation of epithelial marker E-cadherin expression, opening an exciting field in cell biology.
Abstract Populations of pluripotent stem cells were isolated from bone marrow, synovial fluid, adult dental pulp, and exfoliated deciduous teeth and their multipotentiality properties compared. ...Osteogenic, chondrogenic, adipogenic, and neurogenic differentiation potentials were examined. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) and synovial fluid-derived cells (SFCs) showed the highest levels of osteogenesis as expressed by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity (0.54 ± 0.094 U/mg protein and 0.57 ± 0.039 U/mg protein, respectively; P = 0.60) and by osteocalcin (BGLAP; determined by real-time RT-PCR). SFCs showed the highest levels of chondrogenesis as expressed by ALP activity (1.75 ± 0.097 U/mg protein) and of COL2A1 and COL10A1 by real-time PCR. In terms of adipogenesis, lipid vesicles were observed in the BMMSCs and SFCs. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) exhibited neurogenesis potential, as shown by increases in expression of class III β-tubulin (TUBB3) and microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) on RT-PCR. Variability was found in the differentiation potential corresponding to the tendency of the original tissue to differentiate. It is suggested that the cell type should be selected depending on the regenerative treatment regimen.
Conservation of the local genetic variation and evolutionary integrity of economically and ecologically important trees is a key aspect of studies involving forest genetics, and a population ...demographic history of the target species provides valuable information for this purpose. Here, the genetic structure of 48 populations of Betula maximowicziana was assessed using 12 expressed sequence tag–simple sequence repeat (EST‐SSR) markers. Genetic diversity was lower in northern populations than southern ones and structure analysis revealed three groups: northern and southern clusters and an admixed group. Eleven more genomic‐SSR loci were added and the demographic history of these three groups was inferred by approximate Bayesian computation (ABC). The ABC revealed that a simple split scenario was much more likely than isolation with admixture, suggesting that the admixture‐like structure detected in this species was due to ancestral polymorphisms. The ABC analysis suggested that the population growth and divergence of the three groups occurred 96 800 (95% CI, 20 500–599 000) and 28 300 (95% CI, 8700–98 400) years ago, respectively. We need to be aware of several sources of uncertainty in the inference such as assumptions about the generation time, overlapping of generations, confidence intervals of the estimated parameters and the assumed model in the ABC. However, the results of the ABC together with the model‐based maps of reconstructed past species distribution and palaeoecological data suggested that the modern genetic structure of B. maximowicziana originated prior to the last glacial maximum (LGM) and that some populations survived in the northern range even during the LGM.
The effect of bio-imprinting and water activity on catalytic activities and the thermostability of lipases was investigated for transesterification using vinyl acetate and benzyl alcohol as ...substrates in ionic liquid, CnmimPF6 (n=4,6,8), and benzene. The catalytic activities were enhanced by imprinting in benzene and C4mimPF6, and the relations between the transesterification activities and the water activity in both solvents were approximately bell shaped. The reactivity of the transesterification in benzene was higher than that in C4
mimPF6. The effects of water activity and imprinting on the kinetic parameters in C4mimPF6 were examined. Without controlling the water content, the values of Km,VA and Km,BA (Michaelis constants of vinyl acetate and benzyl alcohol, respectively) decreased, and the values of Vm (maximum rate) increased by imprinting. On the other hand, by controlling the water content in the organic media, the values of Vm, Km,VA, and Km,BA increased by imprinting. The activities of lipase in ionic liquid are more strongly affected by water activity and imprinting than those in benzene. We observed effects of water activity on thermostability but none from imprinting.
Mps One Binder Kinase Activator (MOB)1A/1B are core components of the Hippo pathway. These proteins, which coactivate LArge Tumour Suppressor homologue kinases, are also tumour suppressors. To ...investigate MOB1A/B's roles in normal physiology and lung cancer, we generated doxycycline (Dox)-inducible, bronchioalveolar epithelium-specific, null mutations of MOB1A/B in mice (SPC-rtTA/(tetO)
-Cre/Mob1a
/Mob1b
; termed luMob1DKO mice). Most mutants (70%) receiving Dox in utero (luMob1DKO (E6.5-18.5) mice) died of hypoxia within 1 h post-birth. Their alveolar epithelial cells showed increased proliferation, impaired YAP1/TAZ-dependent differentiation and decreased surfactant protein production, all features characteristic of human respiratory distress syndrome. Intriguingly, mutant mice that received Dox postnatally (luMob1DKO (P21-41) mice) did not develop spontaneous lung adenocarcinomas, and urethane treatment-induced lung tumour formation was decreased (rather than increased). Lungs of luMob1DKO (P21-41) mice exhibited increased detachment of bronchiolar epithelial cells and decreased numbers of the bronchioalveolar stem cells thought to initiate lung adenocarcinomas. YAP1/TAZ-NKX2.1-dependent expression of collagen XVII, a key hemidesmosome component, was also reduced. Thus, a MOB1-YAP1/TAZ-NKX2.1 axis is essential for normal lung homeostasis and expression of the collagen XVII protein necessary for alveolar stem cell maintenance in the lung niche.
We have developed a reliable fabrication process based on a laser scribing method for multi-filamentary coated conductors with a low alternating current loss. This process consists of shallow laser ...irradiation and two-step chemical etching. The shallow laser irradiation, which penetrates into only a masking polymer tape and a silver stabilizing layer, suppresses generation of dross that is formed due to melting and hardening of a metal substrate. The two-step chemical etching individually for the stabilizing and the superconducting layers prevents over-etching of the superconducting layer and thus suppresses degradation of the critical current (Ic). By using the developed laser scribing process, we realized an improvement of processing speed and a reduction of Ic degradation at the same time. Subsequently, we developed reel-to-reel equipment to apply this process to coated conductors several hundred meters long. We succeeded in fabricating 280 m and 70 m long coated conductors with 5 mm width divided into three and five filaments, respectively. It was confirmed that they had one-third and one-fifth hysteresis loss, respectively, in comparison with that before processing, and high inter-filament resistance, over 0.1 MΩ cm. The typical degradation rates of Ic in the developed laser scribing process were less than 20%.
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