A Study on the Relationship between Children's Developmental Stages and Sense of Color

It is well known that human sensitivity to color and expressive ability varies with age and gender. In addition, the perception, understanding, and comprehension of color vary according to developmental stage and color-related experiences. This study is one approach to research to clarify the relationship between such "sense of color" as above and the developmental stages of children. In this study, the coloring behavior of teenage subjects; elementary school, junior high school, and university students, to coloring book images were investigated using iPads. The characteristics of coloring and color schemes used in the coloring books were analyzed to explore the relationship with the developmental stages of the children. The coloring book images, mandala-like patterns, used in the investigation were designed originally based on some preliminary investigations. In addition, the original palette of colors systematically arranged in hues and tones was specified to quantitatively analyze the characteristics of the colors used in the coloring book. The results showed that the hues of colors used with high frequency in coloring books changed as the developmental stage progressed and that the range of tones by the combination of saturation and lightness widened. It was also found that the color schemes were simple and easy to understand at younger ages, while the complexity of the color schemes increased as the children grew older

Unexpected A-form formation of 4′-thioDNA in solution, revealed by NMR, and the implications as to the mechanism of nuclease resistance

Fully modified 4′-thioDNA, an oligonucleotide only comprising 2′-deoxy-4′-thionucleosides, exhibited resistance to an endonuclease, in addition to preferable hybridization with RNA. Therefore, 4′-thioDNA is promising for application as a functional oligonucleotide. Fully modified 4′-thioDNA was found to behave like an RNA molecule, but no details of its structure beyond the results of circular dichroism analysis are available. Here, we have determined the structure of fully modified 4′-thioDNA with the sequence of d(CGCGAATTCGCG) by NMR. Most sugars take on the C3′-endo conformation. The major groove is narrow and deep, while the minor groove is wide and shallow. Thus, fully modified 4′-thioDNA takes on the A-form characteristic of RNA, both locally and globally. The only structure reported for 4′-thioDNA showed that partially modified 4′-thioDNA that contained some 2′-deoxy-4′-thionucleosides took on the B-form in the crystalline form. We have determined the structure of 4′-thioDNA in solution for the first time, and demonstrated unexpected differences between the two structures. The origin of the formation of the A-form is discussed. The remarkable biochemical properties reported for fully modified 4′-thioDNA, including nuclease-resistance, are rationalized in the light of the elucidated structure

Structure of Musashi1 in a complex with target RNA: the role of aromatic stacking interactions

Mammalian Musashi1 (Msi1) is an RNA-binding protein that regulates the translation of target mRNAs, and participates in the maintenance of cell ‘stemness’ and tumorigenesis. Msi1 reportedly binds to the 3′-untranslated region of mRNA of Numb, which encodes Notch inhibitor, and impedes initiation of its translation by competing with eIF4G for PABP binding, resulting in triggering of Notch signaling. Here, the mechanism by which Msi1 recognizes the target RNA sequence using its Ribonucleoprotein (RNP)-type RNA-binding domains (RBDs), RBD1 and RBD2 has been revealed on identification of the minimal binding RNA for each RBD and determination of the three-dimensional structure of the RBD1:RNA complex. Unique interactions were found for the recognition of the target sequence by Msi1 RBD1: adenine is sandwiched by two phenylalanines and guanine is stacked on the tryptophan in the loop between β1 and α1. The minimal recognition sequences that we have defined for Msi1 RBD1 and RBD2 have actually been found in many Msi1 target mRNAs reported to date. The present study provides molecular clues for understanding the biology involving Musashi family proteins

Neurotrophin-3 increases the DNA-binding activities of several transcription factors in a mouse osteoblastic cell line

AbstractIn the mouse osteoblastic cell line MC3T3-E1, the signaling responses of several DNA-binding proteins induced by the treatment of neurotrophin-3 were examined using electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Neurotrophin-3 increased binding activities in nuclear extracts of MC3T3-E1 cells to TPA-responsive element (TRE), cyclic AMP-responsive element (CRE) and serum-responsive element (SRE), but not binding activity in the nuclear extracts to c-Myc binding DNA element. Competition experiments revealed that the binding activity to TRE in the nuclear extracts of neurotrophin-3-treated MC3T3-E1 cells was entirely inhibited by the both unlabeled TRE and CRE probes. On the other hand, the binding activity to CRE was abolished by the unlabeled CRE probe but not by the same amount of unlabeled TRE probe. Moreover, immunodepletion/supershift assay using antibodies directed to Fos, Jun and CREB proteins, showed that the binding activities to TRE and CRE in the nuclear extracts were derived in part from these proteins

Unexpected A-form formation of 4’-thioDNA in

solution, revealed by NMR, and the implications as to the mechanism of nuclease resistanc