Transcriptional regulation of connective tissue growth factor by sphingosine 1-phosphate in rat cultured mesangial cells

AbstractConnective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is induced by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) via Smad activation in mesangial cells. We recently reported that sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) induces CTGF expression in rat cultured mesangial cells. However, the mechanism by which S1P induces CTGF expression is unknown. The present study revealed that S1P-induced CTGF expression is mediated via pertussis toxin-insensitive pathways, which are involved in the activation of small GTPases of the Rho family and protein kinase C. We also showed by luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation that S1P induces CTGF expression via Smad activation as TGF-β does

卵巣子宮内膜症性嚢胞の嚢胞液鉄濃度が不妊に及ぼす影響について

The causes of infertility in women with endometriosis may range from anatomical distortions to various pathophysiological disturbances. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of the cyst fluid (CF) concentration of iron on infertility in patients with ovarian endometrioma (OMA). Patients with histologically confirmed OMA were enrolled at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nara Medical University Hospital between 2013 and 2019. The patients were divided into 2 groups, namely women experiencing current infertility (infertile group) and those without complaints of infertility (non‑infertile group). There were 2 types of patients in the infertile group: Patients who failed to achieve a clinical pregnancy following ≥12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse and those who had already been treated at fertility clinics. The CF concentration of iron was measured by the inductively coupled plasma‑optical emission spectrometry (ICP‑OES) method. The clinical data were analyzed retrospectively. A total of 77 patients were enrolled in the present study. Among these, 32 (41.6%) patients had infertility. When compared with the non‑infertile women, the infertile women were significantly younger (median age, 35 years; range, 24‑47 years; vs. median age, 40 years; range, 21‑53 years; respectively; P=0.003). The CF concentrations of iron (median, 324.8 mg/l; range, 71.3‑1046.3 mg/l; vs. median, 226.5 mg/l; range, 65.3‑737.5 mg/l; respectively; P=0.019) were significantly higher in the infertile group compared with the non‑infertile group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that age at diagnosis (≤38 years), the CF concentrations of iron (>326.6 mg/l) and the infertility index (iron/age ratio, >8.37) were independent risk factors for endometriosis‑related infertility. Multivariate analysis revealed that age (HR, 6.44; 95% CI, 2.06‑20.12) and iron (HR, 4.90; 95% CI, 1.48‑16.22) were independent factors for the identification of patients with OMA who presented with a complaint of infertility. In addition, the infertility index (iron/age ratio, >8.37; HR, 4.85; 95% CI, 1.01‑23.27) was an important predictor of infertility. ROC curve analysis also revealed that the areas under the ROC (AUC) for age, iron and infertility index were 0.699, 0.666 and 0.731, respectively. On the whole, the findings of the present study demonstrate that age at diagnosis and the CF concentration of iron may be potentially effective markers for predicting infertility in women with OMA.博士（医学）・乙第1500号・令和3年3月15日Copyright © Nagayasuet al. This is an open access article distributed under theterms of CreativeCommons Attribution License(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Influence of Different Calcium Amendments upon Methane Emission under Na-salinized Paddy Soil

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Influence of different Ca amendments on CH4 emission under Na-salinized paddy soil

Session 2: Nitrogen, Green House Gasses and Agricultur

Tiam1 interaction with the PAR complex promotes talin-mediated Rac1 activation during polarized cell migration.

Migrating cells acquire front-rear polarity with a leading edge and a trailing tail for directional movement. The Rac exchange factor Tiam1 participates in polarized cell migration with the PAR complex of PAR3, PAR6, and atypical protein kinase C. However, it remains largely unknown how Tiam1 is regulated and contributes to the establishment of polarity in migrating cells. We show here that Tiam1 interacts directly with talin, which binds and activates integrins to mediate their signaling. Tiam1 accumulated at adhesions in a manner dependent on talin and the PAR complex. The interactions of talin with Tiam1 and the PAR complex were required for adhesion-induced Rac1 activation, cell spreading, and migration toward integrin substrates. Furthermore, Tiam1 acted with talin to regulate adhesion turnover. Thus, we propose that Tiam1, with the PAR complex, binds to integrins through talin and, together with the PAR complex, thereby regulates Rac1 activity and adhesion turnover for polarized migration

Rpd3/CoRest-mediated activity-dependent transcription regulates the flexibility in memory updating in Drosophila

Consolidated memory can be preserved or updated depending on the environmental change. Although such conflicting regulation may happen during memory updating, the flexibility of memory updating may have already been determined in the initial memory consolidation process. Here, we explored the gating mechanism for activity-dependent transcription in memory consolidation, which is unexpectedly linked to the later memory updating in Drosophila. Through proteomic analysis, we discovered that the compositional change in the transcriptional repressor, which contains the histone deacetylase Rpd3 and CoRest, acts as the gating mechanism that opens and closes the time window for activity-dependent transcription. Opening the gate through the compositional change in Rpd3/CoRest is required for memory consolidation, but closing the gate through Rpd3/CoRest is significant to limit future memory updating. Our data indicate that the flexibility of memory updating is determined through the initial activity-dependent transcription, providing a mechanism involved in defining memory state

Loss of histone H4K20 trimethylation predicts poor prognosis in breast cancer and is associated with invasive activity

INTRODUCTION: Loss of histone H4 lysine 20 trimethylation (H4K20me3) is associated with multiple cancers, but its role in breast tumors is unclear. In addition, the pathological effects of global reduction in H4K20me3 remain mostly unknown. Therefore, a major goal of this study was to elucidate the global H4K20me3 level in breast cancer tissue and investigate its pathological functions. METHODS: Levels of H4K20me3 and an associated histone modification, H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3), were evaluated by immunohistochemistry in a series of breast cancer tissues. Univariate and multivariate clinicopathological and survival analyses were performed. We also examined the effect of overexpression or knockdown of the histone H4K20 methyltransferases, SUV420H1 and SUV420H2, on cancer-cell invasion activity in vitro. RESULTS: H4K20me3, but not H3K9me3, was clearly reduced in breast cancer tissue. A reduced level of H4K20me3 was correlated with several aspects of clinicopathological status, including luminal subtypes, but not with HER2 expression. Multivariate analysis showed that reduced levels of H4K20me3 independently associated with lower disease-free survival. Moreover, ectopic expression of SUV420H1 and SUV420H2 in breast cancer cells suppressed cell invasiveness, whereas knockdown of SUV420H2 activated normal mammary epithelial-cell invasion in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: H4K20me3 was reduced in cancerous regions of breast-tumor tissue, as in other types of tumor. Reduced H4K20me3 level can be used as an independent marker of poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. Most importantly, this study suggests that a reduced level of H4K20me3 increases the invasiveness of breast cancer cells in a HER2-independent manner

A Tracking Method for 2D canvas in MR-based interactive painting system

Abstract-We have proposed a mixed reality based painting system. In this paper, we tackle a problem in our previous painting system that fully relies on magnetic sensor that is attached on the canvas; the users needed to detach and attach a sensor on the canvas during painting when they want to switch the canvas. Instead of that, in this paper, we aim to automatically detect the shape of the canvas for registration purpose. Using the shape or region detection method such as MSER (maximally stable extremal regions), we detect and track the shape on the canvas on the captured camera image. We then compute the camera pose for virtually overlay the painting result. Using the brush device, we can draw and paint freely on the tracked canvases. We show that using visual based tracking method, we can generate the equivalent result compared to the result of using the sensor