84 research outputs found
Genetic and cellular aspects of the establishment of histocompatible stem cells: information gained from an animal model
The establishment of patient-specific histocompatible stem cells may be an alternative for overcoming current limitations in stem cell engineering. We are developing an animal model to assist the establishment of histocompatible, autologous stem cells. In this process, we obtained valuable information on establishing and characterizing stem cells. As an initial step, we succeeded in establishing histocompatible stem cells using preantral follicle cultures and subsequent parthenogenetic activation. The gene expression profile of the established stem cells was similar to that of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) derived from normal fertilization. On the other hand, we propose a way to derive histocompatible, ESC-like cells by co-culturing ovarian stromal cells with feeder fibroblasts, which may allow the derivation of stem cells from somatic tissue. However, more progress regarding the establishment and elucidation on origination of established cell lines is necessary to use this genetic manipulation-free procedure. Nevertheless, relevant information on the process will help to stimulate preclinical research on cell transformation into differentiated, undifferentiated, and even cancerous cells, as well as clinical studies on the application of induced pluripotent cells
Toxoplasma gondii Infection in the Brain Inhibits Neuronal Degeneration and Learning and Memory Impairments in a Murine Model of Alzheimer's Disease
Immunosuppression is a characteristic feature of Toxoplasma gondii-infected murine hosts. The present study aimed to determine the effect of the immunosuppression induced by T. gondii infection on the pathogenesis and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Tg2576 AD mice. Mice were infected with a cyst-forming strain (ME49) of T. gondii, and levels of inflammatory mediators (IFN-γ and nitric oxide), anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β), neuronal damage, and β-amyloid plaque deposition were examined in brain tissues and/or in BV-2 microglial cells. In addition, behavioral tests, including the water maze and Y-maze tests, were performed on T. gondii-infected and uninfected Tg2576 mice. Results revealed that whereas the level of IFN-γ was unchanged, the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines were significantly higher in T. gondii-infected mice than in uninfected mice, and in BV-2 cells treated with T. gondii lysate antigen. Furthermore, nitrite production from primary cultured brain microglial cells and BV-2 cells was reduced by the addition of T. gondii lysate antigen (TLA), and β-amyloid plaque deposition in the cortex and hippocampus of Tg2576 mouse brains was remarkably lower in T. gondii-infected AD mice than in uninfected controls. In addition, water maze and Y-maze test results revealed retarded cognitive capacities in uninfected mice as compared with infected mice. These findings demonstrate the favorable effects of the immunosuppression induced by T. gondii infection on the pathogenesis and progression of AD in Tg2576 mice
c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation has a prognostic implication and is negatively associated with FOXO1 activation in gastric cancer
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Magnetic Field of the Barnard 1 Star-Forming Region
This is the final version. Available from American Astronomical Society / IOP Publishing via the DOI in this record.We present the POL-2 850 um linear polarization map of the Barnard 1 clump in the Perseus molecular cloud complex
from the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. We find a trend of decreasing polarization fraction as a function of total intensity, which we link to depolarization effects towards higher density regions of the cloud. We then use the polarization data at 850 um to infer the plane-of-sky orientation of the large-scale magnetic field in Barnard 1. This magnetic field runs North-South across most of the cloud, with the exception of B1-c where it turns more East-West. From the dispersion of polarization angles, we calculate a turbulence correlation length of 5.0 +/- 2.5 arcsec (1500 au), and a turbulent-to-total magnetic energy ratio
of 0.5 +/- 0.3 inside the cloud. We combine this turbulent-to-total magnetic energy ratio with observations of NH3
molecular lines from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS) to estimate the strength of the plane-of-sky component
of the magnetic field through the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method. With a plane-of-sky amplitude of 120 +/- 60 uG
and a criticality criterion lambda_c = 3.0 +/- 1.5, we find that Barnard 1 is a supercritical molecular cloud with a magnetic field nearly dominated by its turbulent component.National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)National Key R&D Program of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Magnetic Fields Associated with a Network of Filaments in NGC 1333
We present new observations of the active star formation region NGC 1333 in the Perseus molecular cloud complex from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope B-Fields In Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey with the POL-2 instrument. The BISTRO data cover the entire NGC 1333 complex (~1.5 pc × 2 pc) at 0.02 pc resolution and spatially resolve the polarized emission from individual filamentary structures for the first time. The inferred magnetic field structure is complex as a whole, with each individual filament aligned at different position angles relative to the local field orientation. We combine the BISTRO data with low- and high- resolution data derived from Planck and interferometers to study the multiscale magnetic field structure in this region. The magnetic field morphology drastically changes below a scale of ~1 pc and remains continuous from the scales of filaments (~0.1 pc) to that of protostellar envelopes (~0.005 pc or ~1000 au). Finally, we construct simple models in which we assume that the magnetic field is always perpendicular to the long axis of the filaments. We demonstrate that the observed variation of the relative orientation between the filament axes and the magnetic field angles are well reproduced by this model, taking into account the projection effects of the magnetic field and filaments relative to the plane of the sky. These projection effects may explain the apparent complexity of the magnetic field structure observed at the resolution of BISTRO data toward the filament network
JCMT BISTRO Observations: Magnetic Field Morphology of Bubbles Associated with NGC 6334
We study the Hii regions associated with the NGC 6334 molecular cloud observed in the submillimeter and taken as part of the B-fields In STar-forming Region Observations Survey. In particular, we investigate the polarization patterns and magnetic field morphologies associated with these Hii regions. Through polarization pattern and pressure calculation analyses, several of these bubbles indicate that the gas and magnetic field lines have been pushed away from the bubble, toward an almost tangential (to the bubble) magnetic field morphology. In the densest part of NGC 6334, where the magnetic field morphology is similar to an hourglass, the polarization observations do not exhibit observable impact from Hii regions. We detect two nested radial polarization patterns in a bubble to the south of NGC 6334 that correspond to the previously observed bipolar structure in this bubble. Finally, using the results of this study, we present steps (incorporating computer vision; circular Hough transform) that can be used in future studies to identify bubbles that have physically impacted magnetic field lines
Observations of Magnetic Fields Surrounding LkH alpha 101 Taken by the BISTRO Survey with JCMT-POL-2
We report the first high spatial resolution measurement of magnetic fields surrounding LkHα 101, part of the Auriga–California molecular cloud. The observations were taken with the POL-2 polarimeter on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope within the framework of the B-fields In Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO) survey. Observed polarization of thermal dust emission at 850 μm is found to be mostly associated with the redshifted gas component of the cloud. The magnetic field displays a relatively complex morphology. Two variants of the Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi method, unsharp masking and structure function, are used to calculate the strength of magnetic fields in the plane of the sky, yielding a similar result of BPOS ~ 115 μG. The mass-to-magnetic-flux ratio in critical value units, λ ~ 0.3, is the smallest among the values obtained for other regions surveyed by POL-2. This implies that the LkHα 101 region is subcritical, and the magnetic field is strong enough to prevent gravitational collapse. The inferred δB/B0 ~ 0.3 implies that the large-scale component of the magnetic field dominates the turbulent one. The variation of the polarization fraction with total emission intensity can be fitted by a power law with an index of α = 0.82 ± 0.03, which lies in the range previously reported for molecular clouds. We find that the polarization fraction decreases rapidly with proximity to the only early B star (LkHα 101) in the region. Magnetic field tangling and the joint effect of grain alignment and rotational disruption by radiative torques can potentially explain such a decreasing trend
Revealing the diverse magnetic field morphologies in Taurus dense cores with sensitive sub-millimeter polarimetry
We have obtained sensitive dust continuum polarization observations at 850 μm in the B213 region of Taurus using POL-2 on SCUBA-2 at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), as part of the BISTRO (B-fields in STar-forming Region Observations) survey. These observations allow us to probe magnetic field (B-field) at high spatial resolution (∼2000 au or ∼0.01 pc at 140 pc) in two protostellar cores (K04166 and K04169) and one prestellar core (Miz-8b) that lie within the B213 filament. Using the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, we estimate the B-field strengths in K04166, K04169, and Miz-8b to be 38±14 μG, 44±16 μG, and 12±5 μG, respectively. These cores show distinct mean B-field orientations. B-field in K04166 is well ordered and aligned parallel to the orientations of the core minor axis, outflows, core rotation axis, and large-scale uniform B-field, in accordance with magnetically regulated star formation via ambipolar diffusion taking place in K04166. B-field in K04169 is found to be ordered but oriented nearly perpendicular to the core minor axis and large-scale B-field, and not well-correlated with other axes. In contrast, Miz-8b exhibits disordered B-field which show no preferred alignment with the core minor axis or large-scale field. We found that only one core, K04166, retains a memory of the large-scale uniform B-field. The other two cores, K04169 and Miz-8b, are decoupled from the large-scale field. Such a complex B-field configuration could be caused by gas inflow onto the filament, even in the presence of a substantial magnetic flux
Configurable, wearable sensing and vibrotactile feedback system for real-time postural balance and gait training: proof-of-concept
Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018):a position statement of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles and update of the MISEV2014 guidelines
The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the number of scientific publications describing physiological and pathological functions of extracellular vesicles (EVs), a collective term covering various subtypes of cell-released, membranous structures, called exosomes, microvesicles, microparticles, ectosomes, oncosomes, apoptotic bodies, and many other names. However, specific issues arise when working with these entities, whose size and amount often make them difficult to obtain as relatively pure preparations, and to characterize properly. The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) proposed Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles (“MISEV”) guidelines for the field in 2014. We now update these “MISEV2014” guidelines based on evolution of the collective knowledge in the last four years. An important point to consider is that ascribing a specific function to EVs in general, or to subtypes of EVs, requires reporting of specific information beyond mere description of function in a crude, potentially contaminated, and heterogeneous preparation. For example, claims that exosomes are endowed with exquisite and specific activities remain difficult to support experimentally, given our still limited knowledge of their specific molecular machineries of biogenesis and release, as compared with other biophysically similar EVs. The MISEV2018 guidelines include tables and outlines of suggested protocols and steps to follow to document specific EV-associated functional activities. Finally, a checklist is provided with summaries of key points
- …