Missense allele of a single nucleotide polymorphism rs2294008 attenuated antitumor effects of prostate stem cell antigen in gallbladder cancer cells

Background: Prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), an organ-dependent tumor suppressor, is down regulated in gallbladder cancer (GBC). It is anticipated that the missense allele C of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2294008 (T/C) in the translation initiation codon of the gene affects the gene′s biological function and has some influence on GBC susceptibility. We examined the biological effect of the C allele on the function of the gene and the relation between the C allele and GBC susceptibility. Materials and Methods: Functional analysis of the SNP was conducted by introducing PSCA cDNA harboring the allele to a GBC cell line TGBC- 1TKB and performing colony formation assays in vitro and tumor formation assays in mice. The effect on transcriptional regulation was assessed by reporter assays. The association study was conducted on 44 Japanese GBC cases and 173 controls. Results: The PSCA cDNA harboring the C allele showed lower cell growth inhibition activity (20% reduction) than that with the T allele. Concordantly, when injected into subcutaneous tissues of mice, the GBC cell line stably expressing the cDNA with the C allele formed tumors of almost the same size as that of the control cells, but the cell line expressing the cDNA with the T allele showed slower growth. The upstream DNA fragment harboring the C allele had more transcriptional activity than that with the T allele. The C allele showed positive correlation to GBC but no statistical significant odds ratio (OR = 1.77, 95% confidence interval 0.85-3.70, P value = 0.127 in dominant model). Conclusions: The missense allele was shown to have a biological effect, attenuating antitumor activities of PSCA, and consequently it may be a potential risk for GBC development. An association study in a larger sample size may reveal a significant association between the allele and GBC

Plastid signalling under multiple conditions is accompanied by a common defect in RNA editing in plastids

Retrograde signalling from the plastid to the nucleus, also known as plastid signalling, plays a key role in coordinating nuclear gene expression with the functional state of plastids. Inhibitors that cause plastid dysfunction have been suggested to generate specific plastid signals related to their modes of action. However, the molecules involved in plastid signalling remain to be identified. Genetic studies indicate that the plastid-localized pentatricopeptide repeat protein GUN1 mediates signalling under several plastid signalling-related conditions. To elucidate further the nature of plastid signals, investigations were carried out to determine whether different plastid signal-inducing treatments had similar effects on plastids and on nuclear gene expression. It is demonstrated that norflurazon and lincomycin treatments and the plastid protein import2-2 (ppi2-2) mutation, which causes a defect in plastid protein import, all resulted in similar changes at the gene expression level. Furthermore, it was observed that these three treatments resulted in defective RNA editing in plastids. This defect in RNA editing was not a secondary effect of down-regulation of pentatricopeptide repeat protein gene expression in the nucleus. The results indicate that these three treatments, which are known to induce plastid signals, affect RNA editing in plastids, suggesting an unprecedented link between plastid signalling and RNA editing

Far-East Asian Toxoplasma isolates share ancestry with North and South/Central American recombinant lineages

Ihara F., Kyan H., Takashima Y., et al. Far-East Asian Toxoplasma isolates share ancestry with North and South/Central American recombinant lineages. Nature Communications 15, 4278 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47625-6.Toxoplasma gondii is a global protozoan pathogen. Clonal lineages predominate in Europe, North America, Africa, and China, whereas highly recombinant parasites are endemic in South/Central America. Far East Asian T. gondii isolates are not included in current global population genetic structure analyses at WGS resolution. Here we report a genome-wide population study that compared eight Japanese and two Chinese isolates against representative worldwide T. gondii genomes using POPSICLE, a novel population structure analyzing software. Also included were 7 genomes resurrected from non-viable isolates by target enrichment sequencing. Visualization of the genome structure by POPSICLE shows a mixture of Chinese haplogroup (HG) 13 haploblocks introgressed within the genomes of Japanese HG2 and North American HG12. Furthermore, two ancestral lineages were identified in the Japanese strains; one lineage shares a common ancestor with HG11 found in both Japanese strains and North American HG12. The other ancestral lineage, found in T. gondii isolates from a small island in Japan, is admixed with genetically diversified South/Central American strains. Taken together, this study suggests multiple ancestral links between Far East Asian and American T. gondii strains and provides insight into the transmission history of this cosmopolitan organism

Results of the search for inspiraling compact star binaries from TAMA300's observation in 2000-2004

We analyze the data of TAMA300 detector to search for gravitational waves from inspiraling compact star binaries with masses of the component stars in the range 1-3Msolar. In this analysis, 2705 hours of data, taken during the years 2000-2004, are used for the event search. We combine the results of different observation runs, and obtained a single upper limit on the rate of the coalescence of compact binaries in our Galaxy of 20 per year at a 90% confidence level. In this upper limit, the effect of various systematic errors such like the uncertainty of the background estimation and the calibration of the detector's sensitivity are included.Comment: 8 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses revtex4.sty The author list was correcte

microRNA-33 maintains adaptive thermogenesis via enhanced sympathetic nerve activity

褐色脂肪細胞の燃焼を促す新たなメカニズムを解明 --体の熱産生にマイクロRNA-33が関与--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-02-17.Adaptive thermogenesis is essential for survival, and therefore is tightly regulated by a central neural circuit. Here, we show that microRNA (miR)-33 in the brain is indispensable for adaptive thermogenesis. Cold stress increases miR-33 levels in the hypothalamus and miR-33−/− mice are unable to maintain body temperature in cold environments due to reduced sympathetic nerve activity and impaired brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis. Analysis of miR-33f/f dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH)-Cre mice indicates the importance of miR-33 in Dbh-positive cells. Mechanistically, miR-33 deficiency upregulates gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor subunit genes such as Gabrb2 and Gabra4. Knock-down of these genes in Dbh-positive neurons rescues the impaired cold-induced thermogenesis in miR-33f/f DBH-Cre mice. Conversely, increased gene dosage of miR-33 in mice enhances thermogenesis. Thus, miR-33 in the brain contributes to maintenance of BAT thermogenesis and whole-body metabolism via enhanced sympathetic nerve tone through suppressing GABAergic inhibitory neurotransmission. This miR-33-mediated neural mechanism may serve as a physiological adaptive defense mechanism for several stresses including cold stress

The Japanese space gravitational wave antenna; DECIGO

DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the future Japanese space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to open a new window of observation for gravitational wave astronomy especially between 0.1 Hz and 10 Hz, revealing various mysteries of the universe such as dark energy, formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and inflation of the universe. The pre-conceptual design of DECIGO consists of three drag-free spacecraft, whose relative displacements are measured by a differential Fabry– Perot Michelson interferometer. We plan to launch two missions, DECIGO pathfinder and pre- DECIGO first and finally DECIGO in 2024

DECIGO pathfinder

DECIGO pathfinder (DPF) is a milestone satellite mission for DECIGO (DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) which is a future space gravitational wave antenna. DECIGO is expected to provide us fruitful insights into the universe, in particular about dark energy, a formation mechanism of supermassive black holes, and the inflation of the universe. Since DECIGO will be an extremely large mission which will formed by three drag-free spacecraft with 1000m separation, it is significant to gain the technical feasibility of DECIGO before its planned launch in 2024. Thus, we are planning to launch two milestone missions: DPF and pre-DECIGO. The conceptual design and current status of the first milestone mission, DPF, are reviewed in this article

Observation results by the TAMA300 detector on gravitational wave bursts from stellar-core collapses

We present data-analysis schemes and results of observations with the TAMA300 gravitational-wave detector, targeting burst signals from stellar-core collapse events. In analyses for burst gravitational waves, the detection and fake-reduction schemes are different from well-investigated ones for a chirp-wave analysis, because precise waveform templates are not available. We used an excess-power filter for the extraction of gravitational-wave candidates, and developed two methods for the reduction of fake events caused by non-stationary noises of the detector. These analysis schemes were applied to real data from the TAMA300 interferometric gravitational wave detector. As a result, fake events were reduced by a factor of about 1000 in the best cases. The resultant event candidates were interpreted from an astronomical viewpoint. We set an upper limit of 2.2x10^3 events/sec on the burst gravitational-wave event rate in our Galaxy with a confidence level of 90%. This work sets a milestone and prospects on the search for burst gravitational waves, by establishing an analysis scheme for the observation data from an interferometric gravitational wave detector

The development of \u27simultaneous posture\u27in acquiring daily actions by a person with cervical spinal cord injury : Longot : dinal observation of putting on socks action

We studied about development of putting on socks action performed by a patient with paralytic symptom in rehabilitation of ADL. Our purpose is to reveal what information are available to relearn and improve the action. Especially, it is important how he organized many movement into whole process of action and what patterns of action were used and selected, because we can find in these developmental aspects what information were explored and used to coordinate segments of body. We analyzed 5 videotaped actions over 6 months in these ways : time, number of sub-actions, organization of action process, variation of action patterns. Time decreased gradually, but number of sub-actions didn\u27t correspond to it. Organization of action process and variation of patterns showed that the patient explored posture supporting trunk and manipulation simultaneously and change of such posture varied some kinds of manipulation. These results suggest that putting on socks is based on this basic posture (\u27simultaneous posture\u27) and it is source of generating new patterns of actions

精神病についての態度の調査研究

1 We made surveys on behavior about mental illness and tuberculosis in Japan by means of the same questionare. 2 These surveys consist of both past one and new one. The objects of this survey are population of Kansai Area ; 1) general population of rural and urban area, 2) examinee of short-stay dock of hospital, 3) students. 3 Allowable marks about mental illness are lower than those of tuberculosis among general population, as well as short-stay inpatient and students. 4 Allowable marks of student are higher than those of short-stay inpatient. 5 Allowable marks of men are higher than those of women. 6 Allowable marks of medical and health students are the highest among student groups. 7 Allowable marks of key-persons are higher than those of general residents