Inositol pyrophosphate profiling reveals regulatory roles of IP6K2-dependent enhanced IP7 metabolism in the enteric nervous system

Inositol pyrophosphates regulate diverse physiological processes; to better understand their functional roles, assessing their tissue-specific distribution is important. Here, we profiled inositol pyrophosphate levels in mammalian organs using an originally designed liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) protocol and discovered that the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) contained the highest levels of diphosphoinositol pentakisphosphate (IP7) and its precursor inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6). Although their absolute levels in the GIT are diet dependent, elevated IP7 metabolism still exists under dietary regimens devoid of exogenous IP7. Of the major GIT cells, enteric neurons selectively express the IP7-synthesizing enzyme IP6K2. We found that IP6K2-knockout mice exhibited significantly impaired IP7 metabolism in the various organs including the proximal GIT. In addition, our LC-MS analysis displayed that genetic ablation of IP6K2 significantly impaired IP7 metabolism in the gut and duodenal muscularis externa containing myenteric plexus. Whole transcriptome analysis of duodenal muscularis externa further suggested that IP6K2 inhibition significantly altered expression levels of the gene sets associated with mature neurons, neural progenitor/stem cells, and glial cells, as well as of certain genes modulating neuronal differentiation and functioning, implying critical roles of the IP6K2-IP7 axis in developmental and functional regulation of the enteric nervous system. These results collectively reveal an unexpected role of mammalian IP7-a highly active IP6K2-IP7 pathway is conducive to the enteric nervous system

部分加水分解した羊毛繊維および羊毛粉末のサクシニル化とその吸水性への効果

Wool fiber and powder were succinylated with succinic anhydride in aqueous alkaline solution in order to improve water absorbability after partial hydrolysis with HCl that was a pretreatment to enhance the reactivity. Succinylation after partial hydrolysis raised the water absorbabilities of both samples to ca. 5 times. The water absorbabilitiy of the succinylated samples and add-ons of succinic anhydride showed a linear relationship in each case of wool fiber and powder, which suggests that carboxyl groups introduced in the samples by succinylation contribute the absorbance of water. Water regain of these samples also increased by 1.0～4.1% after the partial hydrolysis and succinylation

PHOTODEGRADATION OF LINEN BY SUNLIGHT

セルロースの劣化機構を解明することを最終目的として,アンダーグラス屋外暴露試験台を用いて3年5ケ月間,麻布を太陽光に暴露し,暴露期間の異なる麻布試料について酸化度(カルボキシル基,ケトン基およびアルデヒド基量),セルロースの重合度,結晶化度,微結晶粒の幅と長さおよび機械的性質を測定した。この結果,暴露初期では,カルボニル基,特に,アルデヒド基は著しく増加したが,その後減少することが明らかになった。一方,重合度および強度は,受光量の増加と共にほぼ単調に低下した。また,セルロースの微結晶粒の幅には明らかな変化は認められなかったが,長さは受光量の増加と共に減少していたことから,劣化反応は,繊維表面から内部へというよりむしろ,繊維軸に沿って進行していることが予想された。In order to elucidate the mechanism of degradation of cellulosic fibers, linens have been exposed to sunlight on an underglass-exposure-rack for 3 years and 5 months and changes of their properties have been investigated as a function of incident sunlight energies. Carbonyl groups, especially aldehyde groups, increased remarkably in the samples after early exposure times, while carboxyl groups were not observed to increase. Degree of polymerization (D. P.) decreased with an increase in light energy and became less than 1/6 of the value of the unexposed control at the incident UV light energy of ca. 900 Mj/m^2. These facts suggest that degradative reactions including oxidation took place at glycosidic bonds as well as hydroxyl groups of cellulose to cause scission of the molecular chains. Their crystallite size of longitudinal dimension decreased markedly at first and then only slowly, while the size of their lateral dimension and crystallinity index remained almost unchanged. These results indicate that the degaradation did not proceed from the surface to the inner of the fibers, but proceeded longitudinally. The tensile strength monotonously decreased until ca. 4% of the value of the unexposed control

イソシアナート化合物による羊毛の処理とその機械的性質への影響

Wool fibers were treated with cyclohexyl and α -naphthyl isocyanates (designated as CI and NI, respectively) in N, N-dimethylformamide, and their contents of cystine and cysteine and the effects of these treatments on several mechanical properties were investigated. Treatments with CI and NI were found to have very little effect on the contents of cystine and cysteine. Treatments with phenyl isocyanate, phenyl glycidyl ether, CI and NI were found to affect on the extention set of wool fibers. The tensile strength under standard conditions was decreased, and the young\u27s modulus and toughness in water were increased by these treatments

〔研究ノート〕ベトナムの伝統的な衣服に関する研究 ―2014年，2015年の調査から―

　　For the purpose of preserving traditional clothing and recording its history of Vietnam, the authors visited Hoi An and Tan Chau Village in 2014 and in 2015. This paper offers a brief history of Hoi An and reports the result of interviews with 25 Hoi An residents including experienced elderly ex-tailors; the paper also details figures and describes traditional clothing such as the ao ba ba（jackets）and the quan（bottoms）and formal traditional clothing for funeral attendants and the dead; the paper also discusses ritual practices found mainly in Hoi An. In addition, the report looks at the process of traditional manufacturing of a silk dye work using mac nua（ebony fruits）and other materials. This includes chemical analysis and explanation of the dying handicrafts

化学処理による羊毛への消臭機能の付与

Some chemical treatments were applied to convert wool fibers into a polymeric material with high deodorization performance for the purpose of effective re-use of waste wool fibers. Oxidation with performic acid remarkably accelerates sorption of ammonia to wool fibers, which suggests that enrichment in -SO_3H is very effective in sorption of ammonia. Succinylation with succinic anhydride of the oxidized wool fibers shows no improvement of the sorpability, because sulfonic and carboxylic groups in the wool fibers respectively formed the sodium salts through succinylation reaction in phosphate buffer solution with using NaOH. On the other hand, it was found that wool fibers reduced with 2-mercaptoethanol slowly sorb vapor of ethylmercaptan

染色したセルロース繊維の光劣化について

The influence of reactive dyes on the photodegradation rates of cellulosic fabrics (cotton, linen, rayon) were evaluated. Cellulosic fabrics were dyed with reactive dyes and then exposed to xenon arc lamp light for incremental doses for up to 40 days. Changes in color, tensile strength, a degree of polymerization (D.P.) and cellulose crystallinities were evaluated. After exposure each undyed cellulosic fabric showed a greater loss in tensile strength and D.P. than the dyed fabrics. Tensile strength and D.P. of dyed rayon fabrics decreased at a constant rate. The tensile strength of dyed cotton and linen also decreased similar to that of the dyed rayon, but D.P. of cotton and linen didn\u27t decrease severely as the tensile strength. This suggests that cleavages of glycoside linkage as well as pyranose ring and/or hydrogen bonds may occur by exposure to the light. Crystallinity did not change after the exposure. From this result, it was thought that both crystalline and amorphous regions in the fibers degraded