Regulation of functional KCNQ1OT1 lncRNA by β-catenin

Naohiro Sunamura, Takahito Ohira, Miki Kataoka, Daigo Inaoka, Hideyuki Tanabe,13;13; Yuji Nakayama, Mitsuo Oshimura & Hiroyuki Kugoh. Regulation of functional KCNQ1OT1 lncRNA by β-catenin. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. 2016;6

A Surprisingly Non-attractiveness of Commercial Poison Baits to Newly Established Population of White-Footed Ant, Technomyrmex brunneus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in a Remote Island of Japan

The white-footed ant, Technomyrmex brunneus, was newly introduced and established in a remote island of Japan and has caused unacceptable damage to the daily life of residents. To establish proper control measures, the present study investigated whether T. brunneus is effectively attracted to commercially available poison baits used to exterminate common household pest ants and the Argentine ant in Japan. Cafeteria experiments using three types of nontoxic baits and eight types of commercial poison baits for ants were conducted in the field, and the attractiveness was compared among the baits. The liquid poison bait “Arimetsu,” which consists of 42.6% water, 55.4% sugar, and 2.0% borate, and nontoxic 10% (w/v) sucrose water showed the highest attractiveness. On the other hand, other commercial poison baits were not as attractive. Therefore, sucrose liquid is the most effective attractive component to use in poison baits for T. brunneus

Predicting coastal cliff erosion using a Bayesian probabilistic model

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Marine Geology 278 (2010): 140-149, doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2010.10.001.Regional coastal cliff retreat is difficult to model due to the episodic nature of failures and the along-shore variability of retreat events. There is a growing demand, however, for predictive models that can be used to forecast areas vulnerable to coastal erosion hazards. Increasingly, probabilistic models are being employed that require data sets of high temporal density to define the joint probability density function that relates forcing variables (e.g. wave conditions) and initial conditions (e.g. cliff geometry) to erosion events. In this study we use a multi-parameter Bayesian network to investigate correlations between key variables that control and influence variations in cliff retreat processes. The network uses Bayesian statistical methods to estimate event probabilities using existing observations. Within this framework, we forecast the spatial distribution of cliff retreat along two stretches of cliffed coast in Southern California. The input parameters are the height and slope of the cliff, a descriptor of material strength based on the dominant cliff-forming lithology, and the long-term cliff erosion rate that represents prior behavior. The model is forced using predicted wave impact hours. Results demonstrate that the Bayesian approach is well-suited to the forward modeling of coastal cliff retreat, with the correct outcomes forecast in 70–90% of the modeled transects. The model also performs well in identifying specific locations of high cliff erosion, thus providing a foundation for hazard mapping. This approach can be employed to predict cliff erosion at time-scales ranging from storm events to the impacts of sea-level rise at the century-scale

Cardiac rehabilitation revisited

The aim of this thesis was to investigate the outcome after ‘standard’ Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) which was developed in the late 1970s, in Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) patients (Part 1), and to study if ‘extended’ CR will improve patient outcomes (Part 2)

長鎖非コードRNA による染色体ドメインレベルの遺伝子発現制御

　ヒトゲノムの解読により, タンパクをコードするmRNAは全RNAのわずか1.5％に過ぎず, 残りの98％はタンパクをコードしていない非コードRNA(non-coding RNA: ncRNA)で占めていることが明らかとなった. それに加え, 近年, ENCODEプロジェクトにおいて, 長鎖非コードRNA(long non-coding RNA: lncRNA)は, ヒトの〜9000ものゲノム領域から転写されていた1). これまでlncRNAには, がん抑制遺伝子Ink4遺伝子座の発現制御に関わるANRIL, ゲノムインプリンティングに関わるKCNQ1OT1/LIT1, Air, HOX遺伝子の転写抑制に関わるHOTAIRなどが知られている. 最近では, 代謝の再プログラミング化に関与するlncRNAとしてlincRNA-p21が見出された. このように, lncRNAもまた機能性RNAとして様々な生体制御機構に重要な役割を担っている.　本稿では, lncRNAの中でもクロマチン上に集積(コーティング)することで染色体全体あるいは, 局所的にヘテロクロマチン化を誘導するユニークな遺伝子発現制御に関わるXistおよびKCNQ1OT1/LIT1に着目し, 最新の知見から遺伝子発現制御や疾患との関わりについて考察する

A Human Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line with Acquired cis-Diamminedichloroplatinum-Resistance Shows Remarkable Upregulation of BRCA1 and Hypersensitivity to Taxane

Recently, an inverse relationship between resistance to platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents and taxanes has been implicated in breast and ovarian cancers, and a possible pivotal role for BRCA1 has also been suggested. Because cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (CDDP) and taxanes are the most active antitumor agents against head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), we analyzed the sensitivity of nine HNSCC cell lines and their previously established derived CDDP-resistant cell lines to two representative taxanes: docetaxel and paclitaxel. None of the nine original cell lines showed any cross resistance between CDDP and taxanes, but one of the CDDP-resistant cell lines, RPMI2650CR, demonstrated hypersensitivity to both taxanes when compared to the parental cell line, RPMI2650. Furthermore, RPMI2650CR exhibited increased expression of BRCA1. These data suggest that (i) taxanes are a good candidate for a second-line therapeutic drug for HNSCC patients with acquired CDDP resistance and (ii) BRCA1 can be a candidate marker for predicting an inverse CDDP/taxane sensitivity phenotype in HNSCC

Regulation of functional KCNQ1OT1 lncRNA by β-catenin.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in many biological processes through epigenetic mechanisms. We previously reported that KCNQ1OT1, an imprinted antisense lncRNA in the human KCNQ1 locus on chromosome 11p15.5, is involved in cis-limited silencing within an imprinted KCNQ1 cluster. Furthermore, aberration of KCNQ1OT1 transcription was observed with a high frequency in colorectal cancers. However, the molecular mechanism of the transcriptional regulation and the functional role of KCNQ1OT1 in colorectal cancer remain unclear. Here, we show that the KCNQ1OT1 transcriptional level was significantly increased in human colorectal cancer cells in which β-catenin was excessively accumulated in the nucleus. Additionally, overexpression of β-catenin resulted in an increase in KCNQ1OT1 lncRNA-coated territory. On the other hand, knockdown of β-catenin resulted in significant decrease of KCNQ1OT1 lncRNA-coated territory and an increase in the mRNA expression of the SLC22A18 and PHLDA2 genes that are regulated by KCNQ1OT1. We showed that β-catenin can promote KCNQ1OT1 transcription through direct binding to the KCNQ1OT1 promoter. Our evidence indicates that β-catenin signaling may contribute to development of colorectal cancer by functioning as a novel lncRNA regulatory factor via direct targeting of KCNQ1OT1

Physical activity and sedentary behaviour changes during and after cardiac rehabilitation:Can patients be clustered?

Objective: To identify clusters of patients according to changes in their physical behaviour during and after cardiac rehabilitation, and to predict cluster membership. Methods: The study included 533 patients (mean age 57.9 years; 18.2% females) with a recent acute coronary syndrome who participated in a 12-week multi-disciplinary cardiac rehabilitation programme, within a cohort study design. Physical behaviour (light physical activity, moderate-to vigorous physical activity, step count, and sedentary behaviour) was measured using accelerometry at 4 time-points. To identify clusters of patients according to changes in physical behaviour during and after cardiac rehabilitation, latent class trajectory modelling was applied. Baseline factors to predict cluster membership were assessed using multinomial logistic regression. Results: During and after cardiac rehabilitation, 3 separate clusters were identified for all 4 physical behaviour outcomes: patients with steady levels (comprising 68–83% of the patients), and improving (6–21%) or deteriorating (4–23%) levels. Main predictor for membership to a specific cluster was baseline physical behaviour. Patients with higher starting physical behaviour were more likely to be a member of clusters with deteriorating levels. Conclusion: Separate clusters of physical behaviour changes during and after cardiac rehabilitation could be identified. Clusters were mainly distinguis-hed by baseline physical behaviour level.</p