Chitin-binding lectins form the hevein family in plants, which are defined by the presence of single or multiple structurally conserved GlcNAc (N-acetylglucosamine)-binding domains. Although they ...have been used as probes for chito-oligosaccharides, their detailed specificities remain to be investigated. In this study, we analyzed six chitin-binding lectins, DSA, LEL, PWM, STL, UDA, and WGA, by quantitative frontal affinity chromatography. Some novel features were evident: WGA showed almost comparable affinity for pyridylaminated chitotriose and chitotetraose, while LEL and UDA showed much weaker affinity, and DSA, PWM, and STL had no substantial affinity for the former. WGA showed selective affinity for hybrid-type
-glycans harboring a bisecting GlcNAc residue. UDA showed extensive binding to high-mannose type
-glycans, with affinity increasing with the number of Man residues. DSA showed the highest affinity for highly branched
-glycans consisting of type II LacNAc (N-acetyllactosamine). Further, multivalent features of these lectins were investigated by using glycoconjugate and lectin microarrays. The lectins showed substantial binding to immobilized LacNAc as well as chito-oligosaccharides, although the extents to which they bound varied among them. WGA showed strong binding to heavily sialylated glycoproteins. The above observations will help interpret lectin-glycoprotein interactions in histochemical studies and glyco-biomarker investigations.
Black soybean seed coat extract (BE) is a polyphenol-rich food material consisting of 9.2% cyanidin 3-glucoside, 6.2% catechins, 39.8% procyanidins, and others. This study demonstrated that BE ...ameliorated obesity and glucose intolerance by up-regulating uncoupling proteins (UCPs) and down-regulating inflammatory cytokines in C57BL/6 mice fed a control or high-fat diet containing BE for 14 weeks. BE suppressed fat accumulation in mesenteric adipose tissue, reduced the plasma glucose level, and enhanced insulin sensitivity in the high-fat diet-fed mice. The gene and protein expression levels of UCP-1 in brown adipose tissue and UCP-2 in white adipose tissue were up-regulated by BE. Moreover, the gene expression levels of major inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 were remarkably decreased by BE in white adipose tissue. BE is a beneficial food material for the prevention of obesity and diabetes by enhancing energy expenditure and suppressing inflammation.
Recent practice guidelines strongly recommend evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs) as the first-line treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, previous studies found barriers to ...the implementation of EBPs and a relatively high dropout rate in clinical settings. After proving the efficacy of prolonged exposure (PE) in Japan Asukai, N., Saito, A., Tsuruta, N., Kishimoto, J., & Nishikawa, T. (2010). Efficacy of exposure therapy for Japanese patients with posttraumatic stress disorder due to mixed traumatic events: A randomized controlled study.
, 23(6), 744-750. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20589, we began implementing PE in a real-world clinical setting at the Victim Support Center of Tokyo (VSCT).
We aimed to investigate the effectiveness and benefit of PE for crime-induced PTSD among VSCT clients and what causes dropout from treatment.
Of 311 adult clients who received counselling from clinical psychologists at VSCT due to violent or physical crime victimization from April 2008 through December 2019, 100 individuals received PE and participated in this study. Their PTSD symptoms were evaluated before and after treatment using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised and the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-IV.
A total of 93 participants completed PE and seven dropped out after six sessions or less. The completers group improved in PTSD symptoms with significant score differences between pre- and post-treatment in IES-R and CAPS-IV. Participants' symptoms did not exacerbate after treatment. Forty of 49 completers who left their workplace or college/school after victimization returned to work or study shortly after treatment. Compared to the completers, all dropout participants were women and younger. The majority were rape survivors, with significantly shorter intervals between victimization and treatment. The reasons for dropout were difficulty scheduling treatment between work/study schedules and manifestation of bipolar disorder or physical illness.
PE can be implemented with significant effectiveness and a low dropout rate in a real-world clinical setting if advantages in the system and policies, local organizational context, fidelity support and patient engagement are fortified.
Ricinus communis agglutinin I (RCA120) is considered a versatile tool for the detection of galactose-containing oligosaccharides. However, possible contamination by the highly toxic isolectin 'ricin' ...has become a critical issue for RCA120's continued use. From a practical viewpoint, it is necessary to find an effective substitute for RCA120. For this purpose, we examined by means of frontal affinity chromatography over 100 lectins which have similar sugar-binding specificities to that of RCA120. It was found that Erythrina cristagalli lectin (ECL) showed the closest similarity to RCA120. Both lectins prefer Galβ1-4GlcNAc (type II) to Galβ1-3GlcNAc (type I) structures, with increased affinity for highly branched N-acetyllactosamine-containing N-glycans. Their binding strength significantly decreased following modification of the 3-OH, 4-OH and 6-OH of the galactose moiety of the disaccharide, as well as the 3-OH of its N-acetylglucosamine residue. Several differences were also observed in the affinity of the two lectins for various other ligands, as well as effects of bisecting GlcNAc and terminal sialylation. Although six other Erythrina-derived lectins have been reported with different amino acid sequences, all showed quite similar profiles to that of ECL, and thus, to RCA120. Erythrina lectins can therefore serve as effective substitutes for RCA120, taking the above differences into consideration.
Histidine decarboxylase (HDC) synthesizes histamine from histidine in mammals. To evaluate the role of histamine, we generated HDC-deficient mice using a gene targeting method. The mice showed a ...histamine deficiency and lacked histamine-synthesizing activity from histidine. These HDC-deficient mice are viable and fertile but exhibit a decrease in the numbers of mast cells while the remaining mast cells show an altered morphology and reduced granular content. The amounts of mast cell granular proteases were tremendously reduced. The HDC-deficient mice provide a unique and promising model for studying the role of histamine in a broad range of normal and disease processes.
Pax6 is a transcription factor with key functional roles in the developing brain. Pax6 promotes neuronal differentiation via transcriptional regulation of the Neurogenin2 (Ngn2) gene, although Pax6 ...expression appears in proliferating neuroepithelial cells before the onset of neurogenesis. Here, we identified Fabp7 (BLBP/B-FABP), a member of the fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) family, as a downregulated gene in the embryonic brain of Pax6 mutant rat (rSey2/rSey2) by microarray analysis. Marked reduction of Fabp7 expression was confirmed by quantitative PCR. Spatiotemporal expression patterns of Fabp7 in the wild-type rat embryos from embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5) to E14.5 were similar to those of Pax6, and expression of Fabp7 was undetectable in the rSey2/rSey2 cortex. The expression pattern of Fabp7 in the wild-type mouse embryo at E10.5 (corresponding to E12.5 rat) was different from that in the rat embryo, and no change of expression was observed in the Sey/Sey mouse embryo. Overexpression of exogenous Pax6 mainly induced ectopic expression of Fabp7, rather than of Ngn2, in the early cortical primordium. Interestingly, knocking-down FABP7 function by electroporation of Fabp7 small interfering RNA severely curtailed cell proliferation but promoted neuronal differentiation. We conclude that Fabp7 is a downstream gene of Pax6 transcription factor in the developing rat cortex and essential for maintenance of neuroepithelial cells during early cortical development.
Key message
Fra a 1 protein in strawberry causes oral allergic syndrome. Over 39
Fra a 1
paralogs have been identified in strawberry genome. Fra a 1.01 is major accumulating protein in edible organs.
...Strawberry fruits contain allergenic proteins that cause oral allergic syndrome. The hypothesized major allergen is Fra a 1, an ortholog of the birch pollen allergen protein Bet v 1. We organized
Fra a 1
genes and analyzed their localizations at the transcriptional and translational levels. In total, 15 new Fra a 1 proteins were identified from the genomic database, increasing the total number of Fra a 1 to 30 proteins encoded by 39 genes.
Fra a 1.02
was mostly expressed in receptacles, and
Fra a 1.01
in achenes, when analyzed by RNA sequencing. Immunoblotting showed that the Fra a 1.01 protein was broadly accumulated in strawberry organs, while the Fra a 1.02 protein was mostly expressed in receptacles. Recombinant Fra a 1.01 strongly reacted with human IgE. The mRNA and protein expression levels of Fra a 1 did not correlate, indicating the importance of protein levels when evaluating the abundance of allergens in strawberry. Based on the localizations, accumulation levels and reactivity to human IgE, we determined that Fra a 1.01 was the most important allergen, followed by Fra a 1.02, and then other Fra a 1 proteins. The information obtained here will be useful for selecting the target
Fra a 1
paralogs when breeding hypoallergenic strawberry.
Abnormal survivin expression has been reported to be involved in many types of cancer. A single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), C‐31G, located in the promoter region of survivin reportedly may alter ...the mRNA level, while the significance of the nonsynonymous SNP A9194G in exon 4 has not yet been clarified. Here, the association between the two survivin SNPs and bladder cancer susceptibility and progression was investigated in 235 patients with bladder cancer and 346 healthy controls. Regarding the C‐31G SNP, subjects with the CC genotype had a significantly higher risk of bladder cancer compared to those with the GG + CG genotype odds ratio (OR) = 1.85, p = 0.001. Regarding the A9194G SNP, the presence of the G allele was associated with a significantly reduced risk with a gene dosage effect (OR = 0.69, p = 0.002). Using the C‐A haplotype as a reference, the G‐G haplotype was associated with a significantly lower risk (OR = 0.11, p = 0.00006), indicating the cooperative effect of the two SNPs. Immunohistological evaluation of surgical specimens showed that cancer cells of the C‐31G CC genotype had significantly higher nuclear survivin expression than those of the C‐31G GG + CG genotype. With reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction analysis, a significantly higher survivin mRNA expression level was observed in surgical specimens with an increase in the number of the C‐31G
C allele (p = 0.016). These results indicate that the two SNPs have a significant and cooperative influence on bladder cancer susceptibility.
Our previous studies identified the extract of
Beta vulgaris (beetroot), commercially also known as betanin, as a potent cancer chemopreventive agent in both in vitro Epstein–Barr early antigen ...activation assay and in an in vivo two-stage mouse lung and skin carcinogenesis. To explore this issue further, we have now investigated its cancer chemopreventive potentials in three different chemical carcinogen initiation–promotion experimental tumor models in mice. Following tumor initiation with 390
nmol of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) in 100
μl of acetone, the mouse skin tumor promotion with 3430
J/m
2 of ultraviolet light-B (UV-B) as well as splenomegaly was significantly inhibited by oral administration of 0.0025% betanin. At the same dose, betanin also afforded significant protection in the mouse skin cancer model following the topical application of 390
nmol of (±)-(E)-4-methyl-2-(E)-hydroxyamino-5-nitro-6-methoxy-3-hexanamide (NOR-1) in 100
μl of acetone and promoted by topical administration of 1.7
nmol of 12-
O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). In the two-stage model of hepatocarcinogenesis in mice with
N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN, 30
mg/kg) as the initiator and phenobarbital as the promoter, oral administration of 0.0025% betanin also showed a very significant inhibition of both the incidence and multiplicity of the liver tumors. These findings along with our initial reports suggest that betanin which is a regularly consumed natural product colorant is an effective cancer chemopreventive agent in mice. The most interesting observation is that the cancer chemopreventive effect was exhibited at a very low dose used in the study and thus indicating that beetroot warrants more attention for possible human applications in the control of malignancy.
Typhoon Jebi in 2018 caused severe damage along areas of Osaka Bay, Japan. After the storm, a Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) coastal survey group surveyed the coastal impacts and recorded ...watermarks inside Osaka Bay and along the Pacific. The maximum storm tide recorded by a tide gauge was 3.29 m at the Osaka Tide Station, which is a historical high for Osaka Bay. Coastal flooding consisted of both storm surge and wave run-up in almost all locations, with flooding exceeding 5 m and 12 m in elevation from mean sea level in the inner parts of Osaka Bay and along the Pacific coast, respectively. Coastal damage was severe in areas located outside of coastal barriers, such as ports and harbors, while residential areas were mainly well protected and spared due to coastal protection systems. In addition, some inland flooding occurred in the Kobe-Ashiya regions due to the storm surge propagating up several small rivers. This survey report summarizes the findings of the post-event survey by JSCE and analyzes the relation between maximum water level and resulting damage.
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