ER Stress, Secretory Granule Biogenesis, and Insulin

Insulin is secreted from pancreatic β-cells, and the high demand of insulin biosynthesis is known to cause β-cell dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The insulin biosynthetic pathway has been extensively studied and is still an exciting area for future studies. In this chapter, first, we focus on proinsulin biosynthetic pathway in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and recent progress of our knowledge about ER stress. We discuss about how ER stress is involved in the development of diabetes. Second, we focus on the formation of insulin secretory granules. The biogenesis of secretory granules has been explored for several decades; however, it still has been debated and has yet to be understood. We review the current knowledge about the secretory granules and discuss about the problems for future studies

Demand for a Transgenic Food with a Medical Benefit

The perceived health and environmental risks of genetically modified (GM) technology have impeded its diffusion in developed countries. However, GM crops, which can provide direct consumer as well as producer value, have recently been developed. This study applies a stated choice experiment to examine whether the addition of a medical benefit can improve the welfare of the beneficiaries of the newly developed GM variety. Our results show a tradeoff between general worries over GM technology and GM food’s specific health benefits. A marketing program should therefore be designed to inform and persuade consumers of these features

Demand for a Transgenic Food with a Medical Benefit

The perceived health and environmental risks of genetically modified (GM) technology have impeded its diffusion in developed countries. However, GM crops, which can provide direct consumer as well as producer value, have recently been developed. This study applies a stated choice experiment to examine whether the addition of a medical benefit can improve the welfare of the beneficiaries of the newly developed GM variety. Our results show a tradeoff between general worries over GM technology and GM food’s specific health benefits. A marketing program should therefore be designed to inform and persuade consumers of these features

An analysis method for flavan-3-ols using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with a fluorescence detector

Procyanidins belong to a family of flavan-3-ols, which consist of monomers, (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin, and their oligomers and polymers, and are distributed in many plant-derived foods. Procyanidins are reported to have many beneficial physiological activities, such as antihypertensive and anticancer effects. However, the bioavailability of procyanidins is not well understood owing to a lack of convenient and high-sensitive analysis methods. The aim of this study was to develop an improved method for determining procyanidin content in both food materials and biological samples. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with a fluorescence detector was used in this study. The limits of detection (LODs) of (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, procyanidin B2, procyanidin C1, and cinnamtannin A2 were 3.0 x 10(-3) ng, 4.0 x 10(-3) ng, 14.0 x 10(-3) ng, 18.5 x 10(-3) ng, and 23.0 x 10(-3) ng, respectively; the limits of quantification (LOQs) were 10.0 x 10(-3) ng, 29.0 x 10(-3) ng, 28.5 x 10(-3) ng, 54.1 x 10(-3) ng, and 115.0 x 10(-3) ng, respectively. The LOD and LOQ values indicated that the sensitivity of the fluorescence detector method was around 1000 times higher than that of conventional HPLC coupled with a UV-detector. We applied the developed method to measure procyanidins in black soybean seed coat extract (BE) prepared from soybeans grown under three different fertilization conditions, namely, conventional farming, basal manure application, and intertillage. The amount of flavan-3-ols in these BEs decreased in the order intertillage > basal manure application > conventional farming. Commercially available BE was orally administered to mice at a dose of 250 mg/kg body weight, and we measured the blood flavan-3-ol content. Data from plasma analysis indicated that up to the tetramer oligomerization, procyanidins were detectable and flavan-3-ols mainly existed in conjugated forms in the plasma. In conclusion, we developed a highly sensitive and convenient analytical method for the analysis of flavan-3-ols, and applied this technique to investigate the bioavailability of flavan-3-ols in biological samples and to measure flavan-3-ol content in food material and plants

日本におけるコナラ属クヌギ節樹木の遺伝構造とその形成要因

学位の種別: 論文博士審査委員会委員 : （主査）東京大学教授 井出 雄二, 東京大学教授 吉田 薫, 東京大学教授 大黒 俊哉, 東京大学教授 丹下 健, 国立研究開発法人森林研究・整備機構森林総合研究所林木育種センター育種第一課長 高橋 誠University of Tokyo(東京大学