Showing papers by "Kagawa University published in 1995"
TL;DR: Determination of plasma (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan with factor G is a highly sensitive and specific test for invasive deep mycosis and fungal febrile episodes, and will substantially benefit immunocompromised patients.
516 citations
TL;DR: GM1 directly and tightly associates with Trk, the high-affinity tyrosine kinase-type receptor for NGF, and strongly enhances neurite outgrowth and neurofilament expression in rat PC12 cells elicited by a low dose of NGF that alone is insufficient to induce neuronal differentiation.
Abstract: Several lines of evidence have suggested that ganglioside GM1 stimulates neuronal sprouting and enhances the action of nerve growth factor (NGF), but its precise mechanism is yet to be elucidated. We report here that GM1 directly and tightly associates with Trk, the high-affinity tyrosine kinase-type receptor for NGF, and strongly enhances neurite outgrowth and neurofilament expression in rat PC12 cells elicited by a low dose of NGF that alone is insufficient to induce neuronal differentiation. The potentiation of NGF activity by GM1 appears to involve tyrosine-autophosphorylation of Trk, which contains intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity that has been localized to the cytoplasmic domain. In the presence of GM1 in culture medium, there is a > 3-fold increase in NGF-induced autophosphorylation of Trk as compared with NGF alone. We also found that GM1 could directly enhance NGF-activated autophosphorylation of immunoprecipitated Trk in vitro. Monosialoganglioside GM1, but not polysialogangliosides, is tightly associated with immunoprecipitated Trk. Furthermore, such tight association of GM1 with Trk appears to be specific, since a similar association was not observed with other growth factor receptors, such as low-affinity NGF receptor (p75NGR) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Thus, these results strongly suggest that GM1 functions as a specific endogenous activator of NGF receptor function, and these enhanced effects appear to be due, at least in part, to tight association of GM1 with Trk.
409 citations
TL;DR: Results clearly show that C3G is an activator for Rap1, and expression of C2G with a membrane localization signal in a v-Ki-ras transformant induced a reversion of the cells to the flat form, possibly through the activation of endogenous Rap1.
Abstract: C3G, which was identified as a Crk SH3 domain-binding guanine nucleotide-releasing factor, shows sequence similarity to CDC25 and Sos family proteins (S. Tanaka, T. Morishita, Y. Hashimoto, S. Hattori, S. Nakamura, M. Shibuya, K. Matuoka, T. Takenawa, T. Kurata, K. Nagashima, and M. Matsuda, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:3443-3447, 1994). The substrate specificity of C3G was examined by in vitro and in vivo experiments. C3G markedly stimulated dissociation of bound GDP from Rap1B but marginally affected the same reaction of other Ras family proteins (Ha-Ras, N-Ras, and RalA). C3G also stimulated binding of GTP-gamma S [guanosine 5'-3-O-(thio)triphosphate] to Rap1B. When C3G and Rap1A were expressed in COS7 cells, marked accumulation of the active GTP-bound form of Rap1A was observed, while Sos was not effective in the activation of Rap1A. These results clearly show that C3G is an activator for Rap1. Furthermore, expression of C3G with a membrane localization signal in a v-Ki-ras transformant, DT, induced a reversion of the cells to the flat form, possibly through the activation of endogenous Rap1.
350 citations
TL;DR: Results indicate that the very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) receptor recognizes both triglyceride-rich lipoproteins that are also relatively rich in apoE, as well as the remnants of triglycerides-rich LipoE after catabolism and the interaction with heparan sulfate proteoglycans by LPL.
227 citations
TL;DR: Endoscopic papillary dilation may be an effective and safe alternative to EST in the management of patients with bile duct stones who require maintenance of papillary function.
Abstract: To circumvent the long-term effects of papillary ablation for extracting common bile duct stones (< 12 mm in diameter) in endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST), endoscopic papillary dilation (EPD) was attempted in 20 patients. To evaluate papillary function before and after the procedures, manometry of the sphincter of Oddi was carried out in 13 with EPD and 10 of 20 patients with EST. Extraction of all stones was successful (100%) in both groups at an equal rate. Repeated numbers of procedures were common in both groups. However, the mean duration of the procedure was high in EPD compared to EST (63 min vs 42 min, P < NS). Adjunctive therapies like mechanical lithotripsy (ML), nasobiliary drainage, and choledochoscopy were included in EPD, while EST required a basket catheter and ML. There was no significant difference on manometry before and after the procedures (P = NS), although papillary function was found to have decreased after the EPD. In contrast, all patients in the EST group lost papillary function after the procedure. Thirty-day morbidity and mortality rate were absent in both groups. Immediate and 2.5-year follow up complications were uncommon in both groups. As a simple method, EPD may be an effective and safe alternative to EST in the management of patients with bile duct stones who require maintenance of papillary function.
188 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: It is shown that CTL responses in transgenic mice expressing human HLA-A2.1 prospectively predict the same four of 11 hepatitis C virus (HCV) structural protein-derived peptides, expressing a sequence motif for Hla-A 2.1 binding, that are actually recognized by human A2.
Abstract: Vaccine development in animal models depends on ability to recognize epitopes seen by human T cells. In this work, we show that CTL responses in transgenic mice expressing human HLA-A2.1 prospectively predict the same four of 11 hepatitis C virus (HCV) structural protein-derived peptides, expressing a sequence motif for HLA-A2.1 binding, that are actually recognized by human A2.1-restricted CTLs. The CTLs also recognized targets endogenously expressing these proteins. Human CTLs from HCV-infected patients, tested by using the same peptides, revealed a virtually identical response repertoire. A highly conserved HCV core peptide was the most immunogenic, and may be a valuable component of a vaccine against a broad range of HCV isolates in HLA-A2-positive patients. These results suggest that, in spite of species differences, the T cell repertoire is plastic enough to allow a similar response when the same class I MHC molecule is presenting the peptide. Thus, the HLA molecule plays the primary role in determining which peptides are recognized by CTLs. This transgenic mouse model is important for the study of HLA-restricted CTL determinants and for an approach to design a potential HCV vaccine.
185 citations
TL;DR: The cochlodinium polysaccharides showed no antiviral activity against parainfluenza virus types 2 and 3, measles virus, mumps virus or herpes simplex virus type 1 in HMV-2 cells.
151 citations
TL;DR: Nocturnal flying insects were collected monthly for 13 months using ultra violet light-traps set at various vertical levels in a weakly-seasonal, tropical lowland dipterocarp forest in Sarawak, Malaysia to detect non-random, seasonal trends of insect abundance.
Abstract: Nocturnal flying insects were collected monthly for 13 months using ultra violet light-traps set at various vertical levels in a weakly-seasonal, tropical lowland dipterocarp forest in Sarawak, Malaysia. Abundance, faunal composition, size distribution and guild structure of these samples were analyzed with respect to temperal and vertical distributions. The nocturnal flying insect community in the canopy level was highly dominated by fig wasps (84%) in individual number, and by scarabaeid beetles (28%) in weight. A principal component analysis on monthly catches detected non-random, seasonal trends of insect abundance. The first two principal trends were an alternation of wetter (September to January) and less wet seasons (February to August) and an alternation between the least wet (January to March) and the other seasons. Many insect groups were less abundant in the least wet season than the other seasons, whilst inverse patterns were found in Scarabaeidae and Tenebrionidae. Significantly positive and negative correlations between monthly catch and rainfall were detected only in ovule-feeders and in phloem-feeders, respectively. Delayed, significant negative correlations between monthly catch and 1–3 month preceding rainfall were more frequently detected in phytophages, phloem-feeders, seed-feeders, wood-borers and scavengers. The peak in abundance along vertical levels were found at the canopy level (35 m) for phloem-, ovule-, seed-, root-, fungal-feeders and nectar collectors, at an upper subcanopy level (25 m) for scavengers and aquatic predators, and at a middle subcanopy level (17 m) for ants. Catches at the emergent level (45 m) did not exceed those at the canopy level.
139 citations
TL;DR: The transglycosylation activity of endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Arthrobacter protophormiae (endo-A) was enhanced by inclusion of organic solvents in the reaction mixture as analyzed by high performance anion exchange chromatography.
115 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that GRH plays a potential role not only in the neuroendocrine axis, but also in the autocrine and paracrine systems in extrahypothalamic tissues.
Abstract: Growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone (GRH) acts on specific receptors in the anterior pituitary to stimulate the synthesis and release of GH. Recent reports suggest that GRH is also synthesized in extrahypothalamic tissues. To evaluate the potential roles of extrahypothalamic GRH, we studied the gene expression of GRH and GRH receptors in various rat tissues by reverse transcribed (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Total RNA was extracted from twenty-three rat organs and RT-PCR was performed with GRH and GRH receptor primers. Highly-sensitive RT-PCR-Southern blotting showed that GRH and GRH receptor mRNA coexist in the widespread tissues (14 of 25 tissues). GRH mRNA was relatively abundant in the cerebral cortex, brain stem, testis, and placenta, while GRH receptor mRNA was abundant in renal medulla and renal pelvis. Northern blot hybridization using poly A+ RNA indicated that the transcript of GRH receptor gene found in the renal medulla was similar to the longer transcript (about 4 Kb) of pituitary ...
113 citations
TL;DR: ST-24 immobilized on Chitopearl beads of BCW 2503 was used in the preparation of d -psicose from d -fructose and through the coupling with immobilized d -TE and d -xylose isomerase, d -PSicose could be prepared directly from d-glucose.
TL;DR: A novel method for the enzymatic synthesis of neoglycoproteins from Arthrobacter protophormiae with high levels of transglycosylation activity is described and all of the N-linked sugar chains of the synthetic neoribonuclease of the pyridylamino derivatives were modified to (Man)6(GlcNAc)2.
TL;DR: This is the first report on the simultaneous occurrence of two carcinogenic mycotoxins, fumonisins and aflatoxin, together with Fusarium mycot oxins (nivalenol and zearlenone) in corn from Asian tropics.
Abstract: Corn samples collected from the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia were surveyed for the natural occurrence of Fusarium mycotoxins (fumonisins, trichothecenes, and zearalenone) and aflatoxins. Fumonisins B1 and B2 were found in over 50% of corn samples in individual countries, and their co-occurrences with aflatoxins at the incidence of 48% were noted. In addition to these mycotoxins, a trichothecene, nivalenol, and an estrogen, zearalenone, both mycotoxins of Fusarium species, were detected in these Southeast Asian samples. This is the first report on the simultaneous occurrence of two carcinogenic mycotoxins, fumonisins and aflatoxins, together with Fusarium mycotoxins (nivalenol and zearlenone) in corn from Asian tropics.
01 Sep 1995-Food Additives and Contaminants Part A-chemistry Analysis Control Exposure & Risk Assessment
TL;DR: The results of the analysis of samples of domestic wheat and barley grains in Japan suggest the possibility of a geographic difference in the distribution of different chemotypes of Fusarium species producing these trichothecenes in Japan.
Abstract: Thirty‐four samples of domestic wheat and barley grains, collected from eight prefectures of different locations in Japan and previously determined to be positive for deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV) and/or zearalenone (ZEA), were analysed for acetylated derivatives of DON and NIV by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry. In addition to DON and NIV, 3‐acetyldeoxynivalenol (3‐ADON), 15‐acetyldeoxynivalenol (15‐ADON) and 4‐acetylnivalenol (4‐ANIV) were found in 25, 4 and 14 samples, respectively. A regional difference in the DON and NIV contamination of Japanese wheat and barley was suggested: DON was the major trichothecene in the northern district and NIV in the central districts, whereas in the southern districts the DON level was similar to or slightly higher than the NIV level. 3‐ADON occurred together with DON in almost all prefectures examined, whereas 15‐ADON was found only in samples from northern districts. In addition, a high correlation (r = 0.974, n = 23) between levels of DON and its aceta...
TL;DR: In this paper, two xylanases and an arabinofuranosidase were obtained from a solid-state culture of Aspergillus sojae and their molecular weights were estimated to be 32,700, 35,500 and 34,300, respectively, by SDS-PAGE.
TL;DR: Characteristics of cases were as follows: a huge abdominal mass and jaundice with alcoholic stool were typically found, no symptom suggesting acute pancreatitis was observed, and amylase levels in bile were usually low, despite the presence of pancreatobiliary malunion.
Abstract: Les auteurs procedent a l'analyse de 36 enfants atteints de kyste du choledoque parmi lesquels 28 nourrissons d'âge inferieur a un an et 8 d'âge intermediaire entre 13 et 24 mois. Ces enfants presentaient les caracteristiques suivantes: - il s'agissait habituellement d'un type kystique, - d'une volumineuse masse abdominale avec ictere et selles decolorees, - il n'y a pas eu de symptome evoquant une pancreatite aigue, - le taux des amylases dans la bile etait habituellement tres bas en depit de la presence d'une anastomose pancreatico-biliaire mal situee ce qui etait demontre parce que les autres enzymes pancreatiques etaient tres concentres dans le canal biliaire commun, - l'excision primitive du kyste et la reconstruction biliaire on ete le traitement de choix et peuvent etre pratiques en securite avec des suites favorables meme chez les enfants d'âge inferieur a un an.
TL;DR: Findings show the activation of specific subsets of neurons in areas of the hypothalamus following hypoglycemic stimulation.
TL;DR: The phylogenetic interrelationships between strains of 5 toxin types of Clostridium perfringens were examined and it was suggested that the variation in phospholipase C activity among different strains is not due to mutation in the plc coding region but to that in an extragenic region.
Abstract: The phylogenetic interrelationships between strains of 5 toxin types (A to E) of Clostridium perfringens were examined by analysis of differences in the nucleotide sequences of phospholipase C genes (plc genes) among 10 strains, including 3 strains for which the plc gene sequences have been previously reported. A plc gene was also cloned from a Clostridium novyi type A strain and sequenced to analyze the interspecies diversity of plc genes. Phylogenetic trees constructed by the neighbor-joining method revealed that the phylogeny of C. perfringens strains is not related to toxin typing, in agreement with the results of a comparative genome mapping study by Canard et al. (B. Canard, B. Saint-Joanis, and S. T. Cole, Mol. Microbiol. 6:1421-1429, 1992). Various C. perfringens phospholipase C enzymes were purified from cultures of Escherichia coli cells into which the encoding plc genes had been cloned. All of the enzymes showed the same specific activity. On the other hand, the level of plc transcripts differed greatly (up to 40-fold) from one C. perfringens strain to another. No significant difference in the nucleotide sequence of the plc promoter region was observed for any of the plc genes. These results suggest that the variation in phospholipase C activity among different strains is not due to mutation in the plc coding region but to that in an extragenic region. The evolution of C. perfringens phospholipase C is discussed on the basis of similarities and differences between clostridial plc genes.
TL;DR: The highest activity was found in d -TE immobilized on Chitopearl beads of BCW 2503, the yield being about 80% of free enzyme applied, and in a batch reaction repeated five times, about 70% of d -tagatose was converted to d -sorbose each time.
TL;DR: To study the mechanism of regulation and structure/function relationship of the Pleurotus ostreatus manganese (II) peroxidase (MnP), the full-length genomic and complementary DNAs for the major isozyme were amplified by the cassette-primer PCR technique and then sequenced them.
TL;DR: In this article, a new mycotoxin, sambutoxin (1), has been isolated from wheat culture of Fusarium sambucinum which was obtained from rotted potato tuber.
TL;DR: The sequence analyses of the ARP and cDNA coding for ARP showed that a mature ARP consists of 344 amino acids with a N-terminal pyroglutamic acid preceded by a signal peptide of 20 amino acid residues, and that protein-encoding DNA is interrupted by 14 intervening sequences.
Abstract: To understand the relationship between the structure and functions of the peroxidase of Arthromyces ramosus, a novel taxon of hyphomycete, and the evolutionary relationship of the A.ramosus peroxidase (ARP) with the other peroxidases, we isolated complementary and genomic DNA clones encoding ARP and characterized them. The sequence analyses of the ARP and cDNA coding for ARP showed that a mature ARP consists of 344 amino acids with a N-terminal pyroglutamic acid preceded by a signal peptide of 20 amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence of ARP was 99% identical to that of the peroxidase of Coprinus cinereus, a basidiomycete, and also had very high similarities (41-43% identity) to those of basidiomycetous lignin peroxidases, although we could find no lignin peroxidase activities for ARP when assayed with lignin model compounds. We could identified His184 and His56 as proximal and distal ligands to heme, respectively, and Arg52 as an essential Arg. Comparison of the sequences of complementary and genomic DNAs found that protein-encoding DNA is interrupted by 14 intervening sequences. The ARP cDNA was expressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae under the promoter of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene, yielding 0.02 units/ml of a secreted active peroxidase.
TL;DR: It is suggested that BMP-6 is neuron-specific and may play important roles in neuronal maturation and synapse formation and the temporal and spatial expression patterns of B MP-6 mRNA in the developing rat and gerbil brain are described.
TL;DR: The findings suggest that annexin-I might be involved in the regulatory mechanism of glucose-induced insulin secretion in rat pancreatic islets via phosphorylation-dephosphorylation processes.
Abstract: Annexin-I was demonstrated to specifically present in islets and not in exocrine tissues of the rat pancreas and to have a diffuse and homogeneous distribution in all islet cells in our previous study. In the present report, to clarify the functions of annexin-I in rat pancreatic islets, especially in beta-cells, we investigated the role of annexin-I in insulin secretion. Immunoelectron microscopic analysis of pancreatic beta-cells demonstrated that immunogold particles reactive to annexin-I were almost exclusively observed on most of the insulin-containing granules (approximately 90%) and less frequently located in cytosol and other organelles, such as the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. The number of annexin-I gold particles located on insulin granules after oral glucose administration was significantly increased compared with that observed in fasted rats. Moreover, when the isolated islets were stimulated by a high concentration of glucose (20 mM), the phosphorylation of annexin-I was markedly enhanced, and it was synchronized to insulin secretion. This phosphorylation mainly occurred on serine residues. H-7 (100 microM), a potent inhibitor of protein kinase-C, inhibited the phosphorylation to about 90%. These findings suggest that annexin-I might be involved in the regulatory mechanism of glucose-induced insulin secretion in rat pancreatic islets via phosphorylation-dephosphorylation processes.
TL;DR: The transglycosylation activity of endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Arthrobacter protophormiae (endo-A) can be enhanced dramatically by inclusion of organic solvent in the reaction mixture, which extended to synthesis of important intermediates for preparation of neoglycoconjugates.
TL;DR: The findings suggest that recombinant CENP‐B ELISA appears to be more sensitive in identifying ACA than IIF, underlying its potential value as a screening test for the diagnosis of PBC complicated with other autoimmune‐like disorders.
Abstract: The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the centromeric pattern on human laryngeal tumour (HEp-2) cells by indirect immunofluorescent (IIF) test and to compare their reactivities with a newly developed recombinant centromere protein B enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (CENP-B ELISA) test using sera of antinuclear antibody (ANA)-reactive primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) patients. Antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) subtypes (PDC-E2, BCOADC-E2, OGDC, protein X, and PDC-E1 alpha) by Western blot were also investigated to see whether they have any effect on the expression of CENP-B reactivities. A centromeric pattern (anticentromere antibody [ACA]) was detected in 11 of 25 (44%) PBC patients whereas CENP-B reactivity was found in 15 (60%) of them. There were some differences in IIF patterns and CENP-B reactivities. One PBC serum with indistinguishable ANA pattern reacted with CENP-B. Eight of 15 (53%) CENP-B reactive patients had other autoimmune-like disorders. Of 181 healthy sera, none was reactive for ACA either by IIF or by ELISA test. There was a correlation between ACA IIF and CENP-B ELISA titres (r = 0.824, P < 0.001). However, no correlation was observed between either CENP-B or AMA reactivities and/or between either autoantibodies or laboratory and histologic indices of PBC. These findings suggest that recombinant CENP-B ELISA appears to be more sensitive in identifying ACA than IIF, underlying its potential value as a screening test for the diagnosis of PBC complicated with other autoimmune-like disorders. The presence of multiple autoantibodies in PBC sera may reflect heterogeneous antigens recognition, and requires further study to identify target antigens at cellular and molecular levels.
TL;DR: It is concluded that antibodies to histones are common in autoimmune hepatitis and that they are an important species associated with antinuclear reactivity, and in some patients, they may be the only findings.
TL;DR: A new potent proton pump inhibitor, E3810, had an antibacterial effect onH.
Abstract: Helicobacter pylori infection is causally related to atrophic gastritis, and it may also be associated with peptic ulcer and gastric carcinoma. Eradication of H.pylori is recommended in patients with such diseases, especially in those with peptic ulcer. A new potent proton pump inhibitor, E3810, had an antibacterial effect on H. pylori, as has been reported for omeprazole and lansoprazole, two other proton pump inhibitors. The minimum inhibitory concentration of E3810 was 1.57-3.13 micrograms/ml, lower than that of omeprazole or lansoprazole. To clarify the mechanism of the antibacterial effect of E3810, we analyzed the characteristics of E3810 binding to H. pylori. Scatchard plot analysis of this binding showed a curvilinear profile, indicating the presence of several molecules with different affinities to E3810 on H. pylori. The binding capacity of E3810 to H. pylori was calculated to be about 2 x 10(6) sites/cell. These results suggested that E3810 has an antibacterial effect against H. pylori and that the effect may be mediated through direct binding to H. pylori.
TL;DR: It is concluded that the effects of vasoactive agents on renal blood flow and renal vascular resistance can be estimated noninvasively, directly, and repeatedly using Doppler ultrasound.
Abstract: To examine the utility of Doppler ultrasound in assessing renal hemodynamics, we investigated the effects of dopamine and dobutamine on renal blood flow using Doppler ultrasound technique and conventional clearance tests in 7 healthy volunteers. After visualization of arterial blood flow in the right renal hilus by two-dimensional color flow mapping, the phasic blood flow velocity in the vessel was obtained by a pulsed Doppler method. Intravenous infusion of dopamine at a low dose increased the velocity and decreased the waveform pulsatility of renal artery blood flow without causing any significant changes in blood pressure, heart rate, or cardiac index. In contrast, dobutamine infusion increased the peak systolic velocity in a dose-dependent manner, but did not increase the mean velocity or decrease the waveform pulsatility. Percent changes of renal blood flow during infusions of both agents correlated well with those of the mean velocity. Furthermore, the degrees of changes of the waveform pulsatility were consistent with those of renal vascular resistance obtained from clearance tests and blood pressure. Our results suggest that mean velocity reflects renal blood flow and the pulsatility of blood flow waveform represents renal vascular resistance. We conclude that the effects of vasoactive agents on renal blood flow and renal vascular resistance can be estimated noninvasively, directly, and repeatedly using Doppler ultrasound.
TL;DR: Intercellular communication likely is impaired in precancerous or paracancerous lesions of the stomach and may play an important role in the progression from mucosal injury to intestinal metaplasia and/or gastric carcinoma.