ヘイヤ ブ ニ ブンプ スル カンシントウ ト カセン テイガイ フクリュウスイ ノ スイシツ トノ カンケイ ニツイテ : トットリケン ノ シュヨウカセン, ヒノガワ オヨビ チヨガワ ノ テイガイ シュスイ オ レイトシテ

We find an increasing demand for city water with the developments of social community and industry. It is possible that water resources can be obtained from fissure-structures in basements, and also from Alluvium and Diluvium strata. In the case that water resources are pumped up from Alluvial strata, we have sometimes perplexed problems as for the chemical properties of ground surface water with large contents of Fe2+, Mn3+ and so on. These phenomena will be owed to the existence of clay beds in reduced state. In this paper, the relationships between Alluvial clay beds and the chemical properties of groundsurface water in rivers will be discussed

Activation of Heat Shock Genes Is Not Necessary for Protection by Heat Shock Transcription Factor 1 against Cell Death Due to a Single Exposure to High Temperatures

Heat shock response, which is characterized by the induction of a set of heat shock proteins, is essential for induced thermotolerance and is regulated by heat shock transcription factors (HSFs). Curiously, HSF1 is essential for heat shock response in mammals, whereas in avian HSF3, an avian-specific factor is required for the burst activation of heat shock genes. Amino acid sequences of chicken HSF1 are highly conserved with human HSF1, but those of HSF3 diverge significantly. Here, we demonstrated that chicken HSF1 lost the ability to activate heat shock genes through the amino-terminal domain containing an alanine-rich sequence and a DNA-binding domain. Surprisingly, chicken and human HSF1 but not HSF3 possess a novel function that protects against a single exposure to mild heat shock, which is not mediated through the activation of heat shock genes. Overexpression of HSF1 mutants that could not bind to DNA did not restore the susceptibility to cell death in HSF1-null cells, suggesting that the new protective role of HSF1 is mediated through regulation of unknown target genes other than heat shock genes. These results uncover a novel role of vertebrate HSF1, which has been masked underthe roles of heat shock proteins

Expression of MHC Class I on breast cancer cells correlates inversely with HER2 expression

HER2 is a promising target for immunotherapeutic interventions with T cell-based approaches since it is amplified and overexpressed in 20–30% of breast cancers. However, several previous studies including ours showed that HER2-overexpressing tumors may escape cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated lysis by downregulating MHC Class I and components of the antigen-processing machinery. The aims of the present study were to analyze the relationship between HER2 and MHC Class I expression and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying MHC Class I downregulation in breast cancer. We explored expression of HER2, MHC Class I, PTEN, Ki67, estrogen and progesterone expression in 70 breast cancer patients by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and analyzed their correlation. We also explored the components of the signal transduction pathway that are involved in the regulation of MHC Class I expression using small-interfering RNAs targeting HER2 as well as an inhibitor of HER2 signaling. HER2 expression in breast cancers correlated inversely with MHC Class I expression analyzed by IHC. HER2 depletion by small-interfering RNAs resulted in MHC Class I upregulation. Moreover, MHC Class I expression on breast cancer cell lines was upregulated by PD98059, an inhibitor of mitogen-associated protein kinases, in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, agents that target the MAPK signaling pathway may increase MHC Class I expression in breast cancer cells

Urinary 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine levels and preterm births: a prospective cohort study from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

Objectives To evaluate the association between urinary 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (U8-OHdG) level—a marker of oxidative stress—and the incidence of preterm births (PTBs).Design Prospective cohort study.Setting The Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS).Participants Data from 92 715 women with singleton pregnancies at and after 22 weeks of gestation who were enrolled in the JECS, a nationwide birth cohort study, between 2011 and 2014 were analysed. U8-OHdG levels were assessed once in the second/third trimester using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Participants were categorised into the following three or five groups: low (<1.95 ng/mg urinary creatinine (Cre)), moderate (1.95–2.94 ng/mg Cre) and high (≥2.95 ng/mg Cre) U8-OHdG groups, or groups with <1.87, 1.87–2.20, 2.21–2.57, 2.58–3.11 and ≥3.12 ng/mg Cre. For stratification, participants with representative causes for artificial PTB were excluded.Primary and secondary outcome measures Adjusted OR (aOR) for PTB before 37 and 34 weeks of gestation were calculated using a multivariable logistic regression model while adjusting for confounding factors; the moderate or lowest U8-OHdG group was used as the reference, respectively.Results The aORs for PTB before 37 weeks of gestation in the high U8-OHdG group were 1.13 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.22) and 1.13 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.23) after stratification. The aOR for PTB before 37 weeks in the fourth group was 0.90 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.99). After stratification, the aORs for PTB before 37 and 34 weeks in the fifth group were 1.15 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.29) and 1.46 (95% CI 1.08 to 1.97), respectively.Conclusions High U8-OHdG levels were associated with increased PTB incidence, especially in participants without representative causes for artificial PTB. Our results can help identify the mechanisms leading to PTB, considering the variable aetiologies of this condition; further validation is needed to clarify clinical impacts