The liquefaction of Japanese beech (Fagus crenata Blume) was studied with various straight-chain alcohols in subcritical and supercritical states using a batch-type reaction vessel to obtain liquid ...fuel from lignocellulosics. Under the reaction condition of 270°C, beech wood was liquefied to some extent in all alcohols with about 50%-65% insoluble residue left after treatment for 30min. Under the condition of 350°C, however, more than 90% of wood was decomposed and liquefied in all alcohols. Alcohols with longer alkyl chains liquefied lignocellulosics in shorter reaction times. Because many kinds of alcohols, such as methanol and ethanol, can be produced from biomass, 100% biomass-based liquid fuel can be prepared by supercritical alcohol technology when using such bioalcohols.
We report four examples of morphological variation in the species of Cephalanthera (Orchidaceae) in Japan. We recognized a new peloric form, C. subaphylla Miyabe & Kudo f. conformis Hiros. Hayak. The ...new form has a tepal-like lip morphology. We also report variegation mutants of C. erecta (Thunb.) Blume var. erecta, which are albino-like in appearance. The above-ground parts of the mutants were withered at the immature seed stage during the end of June. We also observed variegated individuals of C. falcata (Thunb.) Blume f. falcata and C. falcata f. albescens S. Kobay. Finally, we discovered individuals of C. falcata f. falcata with a malformed flower at the top of an inflorescence with normal flowers in other parts of the same inflorescence from two localities.
The transient receptor potential melastatin 5 (TRPM5) channel is a monovalent-permeable cation channel that is activated by intracellular Ca2+. Expression of TRPM5 has been shown in taste cells, ...pancreas, brainstem and olfactory epithelium, and this channel is thought to be involved in controlling membrane potentials. In whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, TRPM5 exhibited voltage-dependent inactivation at negative membrane potentials and time constant of voltage-dependent inactivation of TRPM5 did not depend on the intracellular Ca2+ concentrations between 100 and 500 nM. Alanine substitution at Y913 and I916 in the pore helix of TRPM5 increased time constant of voltage-dependent inactivation. Meanwhile, voltage-dependent inactivation was reduced in TRPM5 mutants having glycine substitution at L901, Y913, Q915 and I916 in the pore helix. From these results, we conclude that the pore helix in the outer pore loop might play a role in voltage-dependent inactivation of TRPM5.
TRPM5, calcium, inactivation, voltage dependence, pore helix.
Hair is easily damaged by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, bleaching agents or permanent wave treatments, and as damage progresses, hair loses its gloss, develops split ends and breaks. However, the ...causes of hair damage due to UV radiation have not yet been clarified. We discovered that in one mechanism facilitating damage to wet hair by UV radiation, the unsaturated fatty acids in wet hair produce hydroxy radicals upon exposure to UV radiation, and these radicals produce cuticle holes between the cuticle layers. In wet hair exposed to UV radiation, cuticle holes were produced only between the cuticle layers, whereas when human hair was immersed in a solution containing hydroxy radicals produced by Fenton’s reaction, a random production of cuticle holes was noted. It is thought that hydroxy radicals are produced only between the cuticle layers by exposure to UV radiation, and cuticle holes are formed only in this region because one of the polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid, with a bis-allyl hydrogen, is found between the cuticle layers.
The diversity of mycorrhizal fungi among four Japanese Cephalanthera (Orchidaceae) species was examined at a total of seven sites, based on sequence variation in nuclear ribosomal DNA. This is the ...first report to detect mycorrhizal fungi in C. subaphylla. Two patterns of mycorrhizal associations were confirmed from our results. C. falcata has lower fungal specificity, associating with Russulaceae, Sebacinales and Thelephoraceae. By contrast, the three Cephalanthera species C. erecta, C. subaphylla, and C. longifolia were associated mainly with Thelephoraceae fungi. There is no large difference found in mycobionts between green and albino individuals of C. falcata and no distinct preference of Japanese Cephalanthera species for a specific fungal group of Thelephoraceae.
Symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi were examined in four Japanese Cephalanthera.
Two patterns of mycorrhizal associations were confirmed in the Cephalanthera.
The Cephalanthera have no specific preferences to the symbiotic Thelephoraceae.
Epigenetic regulation is essential for the modulation of cell- and tissue-specific gene expression. In cancer cells, disruption of the normal patterns of chromatin modifications results in aberrant ...gene expression, which leads to the acquisition of aggressive phenotypes. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common neoplasm of the oral cavity, and the loss of keratin 13 (KRT13) in OSCC lesions is reportedly associated with malignant potential. However, its molecular mechanisms remain unclear.
In this review, we discuss the molecular mechanisms by which the KRT13 gene is epigenetically silenced in OSCC cells. Our recent study identified alterations of the DNA methylation status and histone H3 Lys4 and Lys27 methylation patterns in OSCC cell lines. Furthermore, we demonstrated that pharmacological inhibition of Polycomb group proteins, which are responsible for trimethylation of Lys27 on histone H3, reactivated the transcription of KRT13 and other epithelial markers, and suppressed the expression of aggressive phenotype-related genes in OSCC cells.
Identification of epigenetic alterations underlying OSCC will be useful for the development of epigenetic biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis and the discovery of novel therapeutic targets for OSCC.
We analyzed the proteome of a crenararchaeon, Aeropyrum pernix K1, by using the following four methods: (i) two-dimensional PAGE followed by MALDI-TOF MS, (ii) one-dimensional SDS-PAGE in combination ...with two-dimensional LC-MS/MS, (iii) multidimensional LC-MS/MS, and (iv) two-dimensional PAGE followed by amino-terminal amino acid sequencing. These methods were found to be complementary to each other, and biases in the data obtained in one method could largely be compensated by the data obtained in the other methods. Consequently a total of 704 proteins were successfully identified, 134 of which were unique to A. pernix K1, and 19 were not described previously in the genomic annotation. We found that the original annotation of the genomic data of this archaeon was not adequate in particular with respect to proteins of 10–20 kDa in size, many of which were described as hypothetical. Furthermore the amino-terminal amino acid sequence analysis indicated that surprisingly the translation of 52% of their genes starts with TTG in contrast to ATG (28%) and GTG (20%). Thus, A. pernix K1 is the first example of an organism in which TTG is the most predominant translational initiation codon.
Carbon nanotubes act as a photon antenna that serves as an effective "molecular heater" around the near-infrared (NIR) region. This exothermic generation can be used as a possible heating source for ...hyperthermia therapy. The current study reports the dispersible and exothermic properties with NIR irradiation for single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) treated with a strong acid (acid-treated SWNTs), and the SWNTs further functionalized with double-stranded DNA (DNA-functionalized SWNTs: DNA-SWNTs). DNA-SWNTs significantly improved the dispersibility of SWNTs when compared with the acid-treated SWNTs. The binding ratio of the acid-treated SWNT and DNA was calculated to be 3.1 (DNA/SWNTs) from the phosphorous content in the DNA-SWNT. This interaction of the SWNTs and DNA would contribute to the stable dispersion of the DNA-SWNTs in a culture medium. With NIR irradiation by a halogen lamp light source, the acid-treated SWNTs and the DNA-SWNTs showed strong heat evolution in vitro (in a culture medium) and in vivo (in the subcutaneous tissue of a mouse) condition without any invasive effect on the non-SWNT area. The results of this study suggested that the functionalization with DNA was an efficient approach to improve the dispersibility of SWNTs in body fluids, and the DNA-SWNT would be a promising source for photo-induced exothermic generation.
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