X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein mediates neddylation by itself but does not function as a NEDD8–E3 ligase for caspase-7

AbstractX-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) is a potent antagonist of caspases, and functions as a ubiquitin–E3 ligase by itself and for caspases. Recently, NEDD8, a ubiquitin-like modifier, has been suggested to be used for modification of caspase-7 mediated by XIAP. However, it is not clear whether caspase-7 is a bona fide target for NEDD8. Here we showed that no neddylation of caspase-7 but that of XIAP itself was observed under the conditions in which caspase-7 was modified with ubiquitin. These results reveal that XIAP does not function as a NEDD8–E3 ligase for caspase-7 in vivo.Structured summary of protein interactionsNEDD8 physically interacts with Caspase-7 by pull down (View interaction)XIAP physically interacts with NEDD8 by anti-bait coimmunoprecipitation (View interaction

Micro-textures of Hematite in the Liesegang Rocks, Found in Pyrophyllite Deposits, Shobara District, Southwest Japan.

Characteristic micro-textures of hematite found commonly in the Liesegang rocks collected from pyrophyllite ore deposits, Shobara district, southwest Japan were investigated. Detailed observations of the Liesegang rocks under the high magnification reflection microscope with oil immersion lens reveal that almost all of opaque grains are composed of needle-shaped very fine crystals with less than few microns in width and 5-10 microns in length. Moreover, doughnut-like texture, which is characteristic in the Liesegang rock (Yamashita et al., 1996), is mainly composed of the needle-shaped fine crystals. In many cases, the rings are composed of radiated aggregates of the needle-shaped hematite crystals. The size of the most predominant rings is less than 10µm in diameter, and double, triple and multi rings are also common. The optical properties of these opaque crystals under the reflection microscope are almost similar to those of ordinary hematite, i.e., weak but noticeable bireflectance and distinct anisotropism (e.g., Uytenbogaardt, 1971). X-ray powder diffraction data indicate that most of the opaque minerals are hematite with small amount of goethite. However, under the reflection microscope, distinguishment of the two minerals is not possible

Spherulitic Textures Found in Pyrophyllite Ore Deposits, Shobara District, Southwest Japan: Photograph Collection

Spherulitic textures are commonly found in pyrophyllite ore deposits in Shobara district, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Color photographs of the mode of occurrence, hand specimens and characteristic micro-textures are presented. The spherulitic textures occur mainly in the upper most horizon of the ore deposits, i.e., in pyrophyllite zone and weakly altered host rhyolitic rocks. The size of the spherulites is from few millimeters to several centimeters in diameter and the spherulites with several millimeters diameter is the most predominant. Color of the spherulites is also variable such as grey, dark blue, dark purple and greenish color. Under the microscope, the textures can be divided into two types, one is "radiation" and the other is "aggregation" types, respectively. The aggregation type is further subdivided into a) with fine grain rim and b) with coarse grain rim. The constituent minerals of the spherulite are feldspar, quartz, pyrophyllite, sericite, diaspore, hematite and goethite

Successful Management of an Elderly Patient with Dementia Using a Dual Gastric Tube After Surgical Treatment of Gastroduodenal Ulcer

We describe a technique which was employed for simultaneous drainage and enteral nutrition using a dual gastric tube from a gastrostomy for postoperative management of a gastroduodenal ulcer. Gastrostomy was performed and a 18 Fr. gastric drainage tube was inserted into the body of the stomach intraoperatively. A second tube was inserted into the jejunum through the gastric tube postoperatively. Use of the gastric tube for drainage and the second tube for feeding enabled an early start of enteral nutrition without consideration of the gastric condition. The technique is simple and could be beneficial for patients who experience complications such as minor leakage and severe pylorus stenosis, particularly those in older age group with dementia

TORC1 regulates autophagy induction in response to proteotoxic stress in yeast and human cells

Misfolded and aggregated proteins are eliminated to maintain protein homeostasis. Autophagy contributes to the removal of protein aggregates. However, if and how proteotoxic stress induces autophagy is poorly understood. Here we show that proteotoxic stress after treatment with azetidine-2-carboxylic acid (AZC), a toxic proline analog, induces autophagy in budding yeast. AZC treatment attenuated target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) activity, resulting in the dephosphorylation of Atg13, a key factor of autophagy. By contrast, AZC treatment did not affect target of rapamycin complex 2 (TORC2). Proteotoxic stress also induced TORC1 inactivation and autophagy in fission yeast and human cells. This study suggested that TORC1 is a conserved key factor to cope with proteotoxic stress in eukaryotic cells

The Expression Level of HIV-1 Vif Is Optimized by Nucleotide Changes in the Genomic SA1D2prox Region during the Viral Adaptation Process

HIV-1 Vif plays an essential role in viral replication by antagonizing anti-viral cellular restriction factors, a family of APOBEC3 proteins. We have previously shown that naturally-occurring single-nucleotide mutations in the SA1D2prox region, which surrounds the splicing acceptor 1 and splicing donor 2 sites of the HIV-1 genome, dramatically alter the Vif expression level, resulting in variants with low or excessive Vif expression. In this study, we investigated how these HIV-1 variants with poor replication ability adapt and evolve under the pressure of APOBEC3 proteins. Adapted clones obtained through adaptation experiments exhibited an altered replication ability and Vif expression level compared to each parental clone. While various mutations were present throughout the viral genome, all replication-competent adapted clones with altered Vif expression levels were found to bear them within SA1D2prox, without exception. Indeed, the mutations identified within SA1D2prox were responsible for changes in the Vif expression levels and altered the splicing pattern. Moreover, for samples collected from HIV-1-infected patients, we showed that the nucleotide sequences of SA1D2prox can be chronologically changed and concomitantly affect the Vif expression levels. Taken together, these results demonstrated the importance of the SA1D2prox nucleotide sequence for modulating the Vif expression level during HIV-1 replication and adaptation

Krafft temperature and enthalpy of solution of N-acyl amino acid surfactants and their racemic modifications: Effect of the amino acid residue

金沢大学工学部The Krafft temperatures and the enthalpies of solution of six kinds of N-hexadecanoyl amino acid surfactant (Gly, Ala, Val, Leu, Ile, and Phe) were obtained from both solubility measurements and differential scanning calorimetry. It was shown that the Krafft temperature of N-hexadecanoyl amino acid surfactant increased with decreasing size of the amino acid residue except for the case of phenylalanine. On the other hand, the enthalpy of solution was endothermic and increased with decreasing size of the amino acid residue except for the cases of glycine and phenylalanine. It was found from these results that the D-L interaction was superior to the L-L interaction in solid state of N-hexadecanoyl amino acid surfactant salt for both the alanine and phenylalanine systems. It was suggested by ab initio calculations that the difference of the magnitude of the peptide-peptide hydrogen bonding was the dominant factor for the chiral effect

Krafft temperature and enthalpy of solution of N-acyl amino acid surfactants and their racemic modifications: Effect of the counter ion

金沢大学工学部The Krafft temperatures and enthalpies of solution of N-hexadecanoyl alaninate and valinate, and N-tetradecanoyl phenylalaninate were obtained from differential scanning calorimetry. The Krafft temperature of N-acyl amino acid surfactant increased with decreasing size of the counter ion, with some exceptions. The enthalpy of solution was endothermic and increased with decreasing size of the counter ion except for the cases of lithium salt. The results showed that the L-L interaction in the solid state of N-hexadecanoyl amino acid surfactant salt was superior to the D-L interaction for both the alanine and valine systems when the counter ion size increased. However, the D-L interaction was still advantageous for the phenylalanine system with Cs+ as a counter ion. Both Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies and theoretical calculations suggested that the difference in magnitudes of the interactions between peptide and counter ion was a dominant factor for the chiral effect