薬物探索におけるタンパク質間相互作用に対する生物物理学的研究

筑波大学 (University of Tsukuba)201

Hypoxia/reoxygenation-mediated induction of astrocyte interleukin 6: a paracrine mechanism potentially enhancing neuron survival.

This is the published version. Copyright 1994 The Rockefeller University Press.To elucidate mechanisms underlying neuroprotective properties of astrocytes in brain ischemia, production of neurotrophic mediators was studied in astrocytes exposed to hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R). Rat astrocytes subjected to H/R released increased amounts of interleukin (IL) 6 in a time-dependent manner, whereas levels of tumor necrosis factor and IL-1 remained undetectable. IL-6 transcripts were induced in hypoxia and the early phase of reoxygenation, whereas synthesis and release of IL-6 antigen/activity occurred during reoxygenation. Elevated levels of IL-6 mRNA were due, at least in part, to increased transcription, as shown by nuclear runoff analysis. The mechanism stimulating synthesis and release of IL-6 antigen by astrocytes was probably production of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs), which occurred within 15-20 minutes after placing hypoxia cultures back into normoxia, as the inhibitor diphenyl iodonium inhibited the burst of ROIs and subsequent IL-6 generation (blockade of nitric oxide formation had no effect on ROI generation or IL-6 production). Enhanced IL-6 generation was also observed in human astrocytoma cultures exposed to H/R. Survival of differentiated PC12 cells exposed to H/R was potentiated by conditioned medium from H/R astrocytes, an effect blocked by neutralizing anti-IL-6 antibody. In a gerbil model of brain ischemia, IL-6 activity was lower in the hippocampus, an area sensitive to ischemia, compared with IL-6 activity in the cortex, an area more resistant to ischemia. IL-6 antigen, demonstrated immunohistochemically, was increased in astrocytes from ischemic regions of gerbil brain. These data suggest that H/R enhances transcription of IL-6, resulting in increased translation and release of IL-6 antigen after the burst of ROI generated early during reoxygenation. Release of IL-6 from astrocytes could exert a paracrine neurotrophic effect in brain ischemia

Education for Disaster Prevention in England : Analysis of Secondary Geography Textbooks

The purpose of this study is to clarify the aims, contents and activities of education for disaster prevention on geographical education in England, by analysis of secondary textbooks. Thereby, we want to contribute the improvement of Japanese geographical education. As a result, we clarified the following: 1) when students study a natural disaster in UK, they learn a plurality of cases including domestic and foreign regions, 2) all textbooks contain activities that students can form attitudes and decide what to do for disaster prevention. On the basis of these results, we suggest improvements of education for disaster prevention. The first is to develop a clear understanding of a natural disaster with multi-area including Japan. The second is to place contents and activities for forming a value relevant to awareness of disaster prevention into Japanese geography textbook. The third is to set an activity to learn practical strategies for disaster prevention in the real world

Characteristics of the stone monuments in Saijo, Higashi-Hiroshima City, southwest Japan, and their significance for teaching materials of social studies.

本稿の目的は，広島県東広島市旧西条町に分布する石碑の特徴を明らかにすると共に，小学校や中学校社会科の地域学習における石碑の教材的意義を検討することである。調査の結果，202基の石碑が確認され，寺社や公共施設，溜池などに石碑の立地が多くみられた。石碑の建立年との関連を検討すると，第二次世界大戦の終戦を境に，石碑の主な建立目的が地域社会に貢献した人物や行為の顕彰から，寺社への寄附に関連したものへと変化していったことが明らかになった。社会科教材としての意義については，1）学習指導要領への適合と2）石碑の情報量という観点から検討を行い，石碑のもつ教材的意義を3つに分類した。各分類において，具体的な活用方法を考察し想定される学習の展開を提示した。本稿は，「地域学習」の不振の要因のひとつである，地域に即した資料の不足の改善の一助になると期待される。An objective of this study is to clarify the characteristics and distribution of the stone monuments in Saijo, Higashi-Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and discuss their significance for elementary and junior high school social studies teaching materials. Two hundred two monuments were recognized in this area. They were mostly located in temples, shrines, public institutions, roadsides, and irrigation ponds. The purpose of erecting monuments has changed over 150 years from the Meiji era to the present day, which reflects the transition of the history of the local community or local people’s consciousness about their community. All monuments were classified into three levels considering their significance for elementary and junior high school social studies teaching materials: i.e., A. Useful and sufficient information; B. Useful but insufficient information; and C. Others. As a result, we defined 6 monuments as level A, 71 as level B, and 125 as level C. We propose an example of a social studies teaching plan including information about the monuments according to each level. The monuments directly provided information about the history of the local community and the location of historical events; therefore, the teaching plan using information about the monuments has possibility to improve for social studies

Magnifying Endoscopy with Blue Laser Imaging Improves the Microstructure Visualization in Early Gastric Cancer: Comparison of Magnifying Endoscopy with Narrow-Band Imaging

Backgrounds. Magnifying endoscopy with blue laser imaging (ME-BLI) for diagnosis of early gastric cancer (EGC) is as effective as magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (ME-NBI). However, there are different EGCs in microstructure visualization between ME-BLI and ME-NBI. This study aimed to clarify the pathological features of the EGCs, in which microstructure visualization was different between ME-NBI and ME-BLI. Methods. EGCs were classified into groups A (irregular microsurface pattern (MSP) in ME-BLI and absent MSP in ME-NBI), B (irregular MSP in two modalities), or C (absent MSP in two modalities), according to the vessel plus surface classification. We compared the pathological features of EGCs between the three groups. Results. 17, four, and five lesions could be evaluated in detail in groups A, B and C, respectively. Well-differentiated adenocarcinomas with shallow crypts were more frequent in group A than in group B (58.8 and 0%, resp.). The mean crypt depth of group A was significantly shallower than that of group B (56 ± 20, 265 ± 64 μm, resp., P=0.0002). Conclusions. ME-BLI could better visualize the microstructures of the EGCs with shallow crypts compared with ME-NBI. Therefore, ME-BLI could enable a more accurate diagnosis of EGC with shallow crypts