大腸菌で効率良く発現させたC型肝炎ウイルスNS3セリンプロテイナーゼの蛋白質切断活性

京都大学0048新制・課程博士博士(医学)甲第6773号医博第1873号新制||医||662(附属図書館)15845UT51-97-H157京都大学大学院医学研究科内科系専攻(主査)教授 石本 秋稔, 教授 下遠野 邦忠, 教授 千葉 勉学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of Medical ScienceKyoto UniversityDA

Molecular Mechanism of Hepatitis C Virus-Induced Glucose Metabolic Disorders

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection causes not only intrahepatic diseases but also extrahepatic manifestations, including metabolic disorders. Chronic HCV infection is often associated with type 2 diabetes. However, the precise mechanism underlying this association is still unclear. Glucose is transported into hepatocytes via glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2). Hepatocytes play a crucial role in maintaining plasma glucose homeostasis via the gluconeogenic and glycolytic pathways. We have been investigating the molecular mechanism of HCV-related type 2 diabetes using HCV RNA replicon cells and HCV J6/JFH1 system. We found that HCV replication down-regulates cell surface expression of GLUT2 at the transcriptional level. We also found that HCV infection promotes hepatic gluconeogenesis in HCV J6/JFH1-infected Huh-7.5 cells. HCV infection transcriptionally up-regulated the genes for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose 6-phosphatase (G6Pase), the rate-limiting enzymes for hepatic gluconeogenesis. Gene expression of PEPCK and G6Pase was regulated by the transcription factor forkhead box O1 (FoxO1) in HCV-infected cells. Phosphorylation of FoxO1 at Ser319 was markedly diminished in HCV-infected cells, resulting in increased nuclear accumulation of FoxO1. HCV NS5A protein was directly linked with the FoxO1-dependent increased gluconeogenesis. This paper will discuss the current model of HCV-induced glucose metabolic disorders

Comprehensive behavioral phenotyping of a new Semaphorin 3 F mutant mouse

Background: Semaphorin 3 F (Sema3F) is a secreted type of the Semaphorin family of axon guidance molecules. Sema3F and its receptor neuropilin-2 (Npn-2) are expressed in a mutually exclusive manner in the embryonic mouse brain regions including olfactory bulb, hippocampus, and cerebral cortex. Sema3F is thought to have physiological functions in the formation of neuronal circuitry and its refinement. However, functional roles of Sema3F in the brain remain to be clarified. Here, we examined behavioral effects of Sema3F deficiency through a comprehensive behavioral test battery in Sema3F knockout (KO) male mice to understand the possible functions of Sema3F in the brain. Results: Male Sema3F KO and wild-type (WT) control mice were subjected to a battery of behavioral tests, including neurological screen, rotarod, hot plate, prepulse inhibition, light/dark transition, open field, elevated plus maze, social interaction, Porsolt forced swim, tail suspension, Barnes maze, and fear conditioning tests. In the open field test, Sema3F KO mice traveled shorter distance and spent less time in the center of the field than WT controls during the early testing period. In the light/dark transition test, Sema3F KO mice also exhibited decreased distance traveled, fewer number of transitions, and longer latency to enter the light chamber compared with WT mice. In addition, Sema3F KO mice traveled shorter distance than WT mice in the elevated plus maze test, although there were no differences between genotypes in open arm entries and time spent in open arms. Similarly, Sema3F KO mice showed decreased distance traveled in the social interaction test. Sema3F KO mice displayed reduced immobility in the Porsolt forced swim test whereas there was no difference in immobility between genotypes in the tail suspension test. In the fear conditioning test, Sema3F KO mice exhibited increased freezing behavior when exposed to a conditioning context and an altered context in absence of a conditioned stimulus. In the tests for assessing motor function, pain sensitivity, startle response to an acoustic stimulus, sensorimotor gating, or spatial reference memory, there were no significant behavioral differences between Sema3F KO and WT mice. Conclusions: These results suggest that Sema3F deficiency induces decreased locomotor activity and possibly abnormal anxiety-related behaviors and also enhances contextual memory and generalized fear in mice. Thus, our findings suggest that Sema3F plays important roles in the development of neuronal circuitry underlying the regulation of some aspects of anxiety and fear responses

Concurrent Determination of Magnesium and Calcium in Iron Ores by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

Examinations were made for the concurrent determination of magnesium and calcium in iron ores when present in about equal amounts, using the magnesium-calcium coupled type hollow-cathode lamp in atomic absorption spectroscopy, and a method of measurement was established. Concurrent determination was found to be easily possible by removal of the majority of iron by extraction with methyl isobutyl ketone and addition of strontium. Analytical precision was calculated and found to give satisfactory results (standard deviations : ±0.004% for Ca, ±0.006% for Mg)

Estimation of the local concentration of the markedly dense hydroxyl radical generation induced by X-rays in water

The density of X-ray-induced markedly dense hydroxyl radicals (•OH) in water was estimated based on EPR spin-trapping measurement using DMPO as the spin-trapping agent. A lower (0.13 mM‒2.3 M) concentration series of DMPO water solutions and higher (1.7‒4.8 M) concentration series of DMPO water solutions plus neat DMPO liquid (8.8 M as DMPO) were irradiated with 32 Gy of X-rays. Then, the yield of DMPO-OH in DMPO water solutions and the total spin-adduct of DMPO in neat DMPO were quantified. Estimating the EPR signal peak area by the line fitting method is only available for well-separated single EPR lines. For the higher concentration DMPO series, the EPR signal peak area was estimated by double integration. The baseline correction of the integral spectrum is necessary for accurate estimation of the double integration of EPR spectrum. In addition, using the suitable standard sample corresponding to the EPR sensitivity, which was variable by the electric permittivity according to DMPO concentration, was quite important for quantification of DMPO-OH especially in the higher DMPO concentration beyond 2 mM. The local density of •OH generation in water by X-ray irradiation was estimated from the inflection point on the plot of the DMPO-OH yield versus DMPO density. The density of X-ray-induced markedly dense •OH was estimated as 1184 μm-1, which was converted to 0.84 nm as the intermolecular distance and 2.8 M as the local concentration