Computer-assisted design of organic synthesis

The computer programs to design synthetic pathways of organic compounds have been utilized throughout the world since the first system was reported by Corey in 1969, and the LHASA was reported in1972 to become the predominant system. Many programs have been reported mainly in the United States and Europe, and groups of corporations, especially chemical companies, have been trying to improve programs and increase the efficiency of research. In Japan, unfortunately, no concrete movement in this area has been seen. Of course, it goes without saying that these kinds of programs are effective for efficient research, but the remarkable aspect is that these can present unexpected data to the researchers to stimulate them to develop new ideas

A 55-kDa endonuclease of mammalian mitochondria: comparison of its subcellular localization and endonucleolytic properties with those of endonuclease G

A novel endonuclease of 55-kDa was found in rat liver mitochondria by a zymographic assay, in addition to the 29 kDa enzyme that is well-known as endonuclease G (Endo G). Subcellular localization of these enzymes in rat liver cells was examined by biochemical fractionation. Endo G was located in both nuclei and mitochondria as has been previously reported, while the 55-kDa enzyme was only detected in the mitochondrial fraction. The levels of the endonucleases in the mitochondria varied greatly among the rat organs, and the activity in the heart was about 30 times higher than that in the liver. The 55-kDa enzyme and Endo G were extracted from bovine heart mitochondria with 0.4 M NaCl. During purification the 55-kDa enzyme and Endo G were copurified because of their similar chromatographic behavior, so they were separated by gel filtration or electrophoresis in the presence of SDS and the proteins were then renatured. The nucleolytic properties of the 55-kDa enzyme resembled those of Endo G and other known mitochondrial nucleases. The enzyme degraded single-stranded DNA more rapidly than duplex DNA at a weak alkaline pH, requiring Mg2+ or Mn2+ but not Ca2+ or Zn2+. Nicks generated by the enzyme had 5&#8242;-P and 3&#8242;-OH ends. The 55-kDa enzyme, like Endo G, displayed an unusually strong preference to nick within a (dG)n · (dC)n tract.</p

Quantitative evaluation of protocorm growth and fungal colonization in Bletilla striata (Orchidaceae) reveals less-productive symbiosis with a non-native symbiotic fungus

Quantitative evaluation of symbiotic cells in Pecteilis radiata protocorm. (a) Symbiotic cells with hyphal coils in P. radiata protocorm. Scale bars, 50 Οm. (b) Ratio of the number of symbiotic cells at each stage in a symbiotic protocorm. Each value represents the average number of symbiotic cells in ten protocorms. The experiments were repeated six times with similar results. (PDF 959 kb

Protein/CaCO3/Chitin Nanofiber Complex Prepared from Crab Shells by Simple Mechanical Treatment and Its Effect on Plant Growth

A protein/CaCO3/chitin nanofiber complex was prepared from crab shells by a simple mechanical treatment with a high-pressure water-jet (HPWJ) system. The preparation process did not involve chemical treatments, such as removal of protein and calcium carbonate with sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid, respectively. Thus, it was economically and environmentally friendly. The nanofibers obtained had uniform width and dispersed homogeneously in water. Nanofibers were characterized in morphology, transparency, and viscosity. Results indicated that the shell was mostly disintegrated into nanofibers at above five cycles of the HPWJ system. The chemical structure of the nanofiber was maintained even after extensive mechanical treatments. Subsequently, the nanofiber complex was found to improve the growth of tomatoes in a hydroponics system, suggesting the mechanical treatments efficiently released minerals into the system. The homogeneous dispersion of the nanofiber complex enabled easier application as a fertilizer compared to the crab shell flakes

Medical expenses for cilostazol to treat Alzheimer\u27s disease in Japan

Background: Cilostazol (CL) is an antithrombotic agent that was approved for prescribing under Japan’s national health insurance system in 2000. Clinical and experimental studies of CL to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have been reported since 2009.Aims: To use the propensity score method to ascertain whether CL reduced medical expenses among patients with AD in a prefecture of Japan.Methods: Records of 21,181 patients with AD (6,484 males and 14,697 females) from April 2010 to March 2011 were selected from a claims database of the National Health Insurance and the Long-term Care Insurance systems in a prefecture in Japan. Covariates were patient characteristics, comorbidities, and drugs prescribed for AD, i.e. psychoactive agents, narcotics, anticonvulsants, or cholinesterase inhibitors. The outcome variable was medical expenses for the whole year.Results: The propensity score indicated that patients receiving CL had medical expenses ¥10.9 higher than those of patients not receiving CL.Conclusion: According to the propensity score method, CL did not efficiently reduce medical expenses for patients with AD based on claims data

Changing faces: Factors associated with the intention to pursue plastic surgery and practice in underserved areas

UNLABELLED: Improving the number of plastic and reconstructive surgeons who provide care to patients in underserved communities is critical to achieving health equity. We aimed to identify factors associated with graduating medical students\u27 intentions to pursue plastic surgery and practice in underserved areas. METHODS: De-identified data for US medical school graduates were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges for students who matriculated in academic years 2007-2008 and 2011-2012. Data collected included self-reported demographic and future practice intentions. Multivariate analysis was conducted to determine indicators of students\u27 interest in plastic surgery, and their intention to practice in underserved areas. RESULTS: Of the 57,307 graduating US medical students in our cohort who completed the Graduation Questionnaire, 532 (0.9%) reported an intention to pursue plastic surgery. Hispanic [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.45; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.07-1.98] and multiracial (aOR: 1.59; 95% CI, 1.03-2.45) students were more likely to pursue plastic surgery compared with other surgical specialties. Among students interested in plastic surgery, compared with non-Hispanic White students, Black (aOR: 6.15; 95% CI, 1.96-19.26) students were more likely to report intention to practice in underserved areas. Students with community-engagement experiences were more likely to report intention to practice in underserved areas. CONCLUSIONS: Diversity among medical trainees pursuing plastic and reconstructive surgery is critical for maintaining and expanding plastic surgery services rendered in underserved areas. These findings suggest that student demographics and experiences with community-engagement experiences are positive indicators of practicing in underserved communities

Deep UV resonant Raman spectroscopy for photodamage characterization in cells

We employed deep UV (DUV) Raman spectroscopy for characterization of molecular photodamage in cells. 244 nm light excitation Raman spectra were measured for HeLa cells exposed to the excitation light for different durations. In the spectra obtained with the shortest exposure duration (0.25 sec at 16 µW/µm2 irradiation), characteristic resonant Raman bands of adenine and guanine at 1483 cm−1 and tryptophan and tyrosine at 1618 cm−1 were clearly visible. With increasing exposure duration (up to 12.5 sec), these biomolecular Raman bands diminished, while a photoproduct Raman band at 1611 cm−1 grew. By exponential function fitting analyses, intensities of these characteristic three bands were correlated with sample exposure duration at different intensities of excitation light. We then suggest practical excitation conditions effective for DUV Raman observation of cells without photodamage-related spectral distortion

Novel functional anti-HER3 monoclonal antibodies with potent anti-cancer effects on various human epithelial cancers

Resistance of progressive cancers against chemotherapy is a serious clinical problem. In this context, human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3) can play important roles in drug resistance to HER1- and HER2- targeted therapies. Since clinical testing of anti-HER3 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) such as patritumab could not show remarkable effect compared with existing drugs, we generated novel mAbs against anti-HER3. Novel rat mAbs reacted with HEK293 cells expressing HER3, but not with cells expressing HER1, HER2 or HER4. Specificity of mAbs was substantiated by the loss of mAb binding with knockdown by siRNA and knockout of CRISPR/Cas9-based genome-editing. Analyses of CDR sequence and germline segment have revealed that seven mAbs are classified to four groups, and the binding of patritumab was inhibited by one of seven mAbs. Seven mAbs have shown reactivity with various human epithelial cancer cells, strong internalization activity of cell-surface HER3, and inhibition of NRG1 binding, NRG1-dependent HER3 phosphorylation and cell growth. Anti-HER3 mAbs were also reactive with in vivo tumor tissues and cancer tissue-originated spheroid. Ab4 inhibited in vivo tumor growth of human colon cancer cells in nude mice. Present mAbs may be superior to existing anti-HER3 mAbs and support existing anti-cancer therapeutic mAbs