Enhancement by streptozotocin of O−2 radical generation by the xanthine oxidase system of pancreatic β-cells

AbstractSpin-trapping techniques and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy were used to study the relationship between the effect of streptozotocin (STZ) on pancreatic β-cells and free radical formation by these cells. Results showed that STZ enhanced generation of the DMPO-OH radical adduct, which is a degradation product of the superoxide anion (O−2) in the presence of cellular components, in a hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase (XOD) system with a homogenate of β-cells. This enhancing effect was also observed in a system without cellular components; STZ increased the signal height due to the O−2 radical in a concentration-dependent manner and caused a maximum of 150% enhancement at a concentration of 1.5 mM. Thus, STZ seemed to enhance the generation of the O−2 radical in the XOD system, probably by some mechanism of its interaction with XOD. Pancreatic β-cells exhibited a high XOD activity and a very low superoxide dismutase activity. Therefore, the present result supports the possibility that the cytotoxic effect of STZ is closely related to free radical generation in pancreatic β-cells

Hysteretic Tricolor Electrochromic Systems Based on the Dynamic Redox Properties of Unsymmetrically Substituted Dihydrophenanthrenes and Biphenyl-2,2 '-Diyl Dications: Efficient Precursor Synthesis by a Flow Microreactor Method

A series of biphenyl-2, 2'-diylbis(diarylmethanol)s 3, which have two kinds of aryl groups at the bay region, were efficiently obtained by integrated flow microreactor synthesis. The diols 3NO/NX are the precursors of unsymmetric biphenylic dications 2NO/NX^[2+] which are transformed into the corresponding dihydrophenanthrenes 1NO/NX via 2NO/NX^[+•] upon reduction, when they exhibit two-stage color changes. On the other hand, the steady-state concentration of the intermediate 2NO/NX^[+•] is negligible during the oxidation of 1NO/NX to 2NO/NX^[2+], which reflects unique tricolor electrochromicity with a hysteretic pattern of color change [color 1→color 2→color 3→color 1]

装着型サイバニック・インタフェースによる主体的な自己体験の変容

筑波大学 (University of Tsukuba)201

アポトーシス過程におけるリボソームの構造変化 : ドキソルビシンで処理したJurkat細胞でのリボソームタンパク質の分解と局在変化

取得学位：博士(薬学)，学位授与番号：博甲第473号，学位授与年月日：平成14年3月22日,学位授与年：200

装着型サイバニック・インタフェースによる主体的な自己体験の変容

この博士論文は全文公表に適さないやむを得ない事由があり要約のみを公表していましたが、解消したため、令和３(2021)年1月18日に全文を公表しました。筑波大学 (University of Tsukuba)201

Ultra-high temperature Soret effect in a silicate melt: SiO2 migration to cold side

The Soret effect, temperature gradient driven diffusion, in silicate melts has been investigated intensively in the earth sciences from the 1980s. The SiO2 component is generally concentrated in the hotter region of silicate melts under a temperature gradient. Here, we report that at ultra-high temperatures above approximately 3000 K, SiO2 becomes concentrated in the colder region of the silicate melts under a temperature gradient. The interior of an aluminosilicate glass (63.3SiO2-16.3Al2O3-20.4CaO(mol%)) was irradiated with a 250 kHz femtosecond laser pulse for local heating. SiO2 migrated to the colder region during irradiation with an 800 pulse (3.2 ms irradiation). The temperature analysis indicated that migration to the colder region occurred above 3060 K. In the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulation, SiO2 migrated to the colder region under a temperature gradient, which had an average temperature of 4000 K; this result supports the experimental result. SiO2 exhibited a tendency to migrate to the colder region at 2400 K in both the NEMD and experimental study. The second-order like phase transition was observed at ~ 2000-3400 K when calculated using MD without a temperature gradient. Therefore, the second-order phase transition could be related to the migration of SiO2 to colder region. However, the detailed mechanism has not been elucidated

CCN2 as a Novel Molecule Supporting Energy Metabolism of Chondrocytes

CCN2/connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a unique molecule that promotes both chondrocytic differentiation and proliferation through its matricellular interaction with a number of extracellular biomolecules. This apparently contradictory functional property of CCN2 suggests its certain role in basic cellular activities such as energy metabolism, which is required for both proliferation and differentiation. Comparative metabolomic analysis of costal chondrocytes isolated from wild-type and Ccn2-null mice revealed overall impaired metabolism in the latter. Among the numerous metabolites analyzed, stable reduction in the intracellular level of ATP, GTP, CTP, or UTP was observed, indicating a profound role of CCN2 in energy metabolism. Particularly, the cellular level of ATP was decreased by more than 50% in the Ccn2-null chondrocytes. The addition of recombinant CCN2 (rCCN2) to cultured Ccn2-null chondrocytes partly redeemed the cellular ATP level attenuated by Ccn2 deletion. Next, in order to investigate the mechanistic background that mediates the reduction in ATP level in these Ccn2-null chondrocytes, we performed transcriptome analysis. As a result, several metabolism-associated genes were found to have been up-regulated or down-regulated in the mutant mice. Up-regulation of a number of ribosomal protein genes was observed upon Ccn2 deletion, whereas a few genes required for aerobic and anaerobic ATP production were down-regulated in the Ccn2-null chondrocytes. Among such genes, reduction in the expression of the enolase 1 gene was of particular note. These findings uncover a novel functional role of CCN2 as a metabolic supporter in the growth-plate chondrocytes, which is required for skeletogenesis in mammals

Helmholtz: A Verifier for Tezos Smart Contracts Based on Refinement Types

27th International Conference, TACAS 2021, Held as Part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2021, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, March 27 - April 1, 2021Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNTCS, volume 12652)A smart contract is a program executed on a blockchain, based on which many cryptocurrencies are implemented, and is being used for automating transactions. Due to the large amount of money that smart contracts deal with, there is a surging demand for a method that can statically and formally verify them. This tool paper describes our type-based static verification tool HELMHOLTZ for Michelson, which is a statically typed stack-based language for writing smart contracts that are executed on the blockchain platform Tezos. HELMHOLTZ is designed on top of our extension of Michelson’s type system with refinement types. HELMHOLTZ takes a Michelson program annotated with a user-defined specification written in the form of a refinement type as input; it then typechecks the program against the specification based on the refinement type system, discharging the generated verification conditions with the SMT solver Z3. We briefly introduce our refinement type system for the core calculus Mini-Michelson of Michelson, which incorporates the characteristic features such as compound datatypes (e.g., lists and pairs), higher-order functions, and invocation of another contract. HELMHOLTZ successfully verifies several practical Michelson programs, including one that transfers money to an account and that checks a digital signature