IL-7 promotes long-term in vitro survival of unique long-lived memory subset generated from mucosal effector memory CD4(+) T cells in chronic colitis mice

Colitogenic memory CD4(+) T cells are important in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although memory stem cells with high survival and self-renewal capacity were recently identified in both mice and humans, it is unclear whether a similar subset is present in chronic colitis mice. We sought to identify and purify a long-lived subset of colitogenic memory CD4(+) T cells, which may be targets for treatment of IBD. A long-lived subset of colitogenic memory CD4(+) T cells was purified using a long-term culture system. The characteristics of these cells were assessed. Interleukin (IL)-7 promoted the in vitro survival for >8 weeks of lamina propria (LP) CD4(+) T cells from colitic SOD mice previously injected with CD4(+)CD45RB(high) T cells. These cells were in a quiescent state and divided a maximum of 5 times in 4 weeks. LP CD4(+) T cells expressed higher levels of Bcl-2, integrin-alpha 4 beta 7, CXCR3 and CD25 after than before culture, as well as secreting high concentrations of IL-2 and low concentrations of IFN-gamma and IL-17 in response to intestinal bacterial antigens. LP CD4(+) T cells from colitic mice cultured with IL-7 for 8 weeks induced more severe colitis than LP CD4(+) T cells cultured for 4 weeks. We developed a novel culture system to purify a long-lived, highly pathogenic memory subset from activated LP CD4(+) T cells. IL-7 promoted long-term in vitro survival of this subset in a quiescent state. This subset will be a novel, effective target for the treatment of IBD

Slow slip rate and excitation efficiency of deep low-frequency tremors beneath southwest Japan

金沢大学理工研究域地球社会基盤学系Background and purpose: Hemodynamic impairments are considered risk factors of cerebral hyperperfusion after carotid artery stenting (CAS); measurement by Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using a subjective region of interest (ROI) method lacks consistency and reproducibility. Materials and methods: The present study compared objective perfusion analysis (stereotactic extraction estimation [SEE] method) with the ROI method for preoperative SPECT to predict the hyperperfusion phenomenon (HPP) after CAS. Preoperative resting asymmetry index (cerebral blood flow [CBF] ratio from the affected to unaffected hemisphere) and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to acetazolamide were measured by N-isopropyl-p-[123I]-iodoamphetamine SPECT using the SEE and ROI method in 84 patients. CBF was also measured the day after CAS. Perfusion data with the highest area under the curve (AUC) by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was considered a perfusion risk factor of HPP. Multivariate analyses for clinical characteristics and perfusion risk factors were performed to determine predictors of HPP. Results: The HPP was observed in 10 patients (11.9%). Female sex, contralateral stenosis, and degree of stenosis were significantly associated with HPP development on univariate analysis, and symptomatic stenosis was not found to be a significant factor. On SPECT analysis, CVR in the MCA area by SEE method had the highest AUC (0.981). Multivariate analysis showed that CVR in the MCA area was a significant predictor of HPP (P = 0.041). To predict hyperperfusion, the ROC curve of the CVR showed a cutoff value of –0.60%, sensitivity of 94.6%, and specificity of 100% (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Objective SEE method had better a predictive capability than ROI method to identify risk of hyperperfusion after CAS. © 2018 Elsevier Masson SASEmbargo Period 12 monthe

Variations in the Characteristic Amplitude of Tectonic Tremor Induced by Long-Term Slow Slip Events

金沢大学理工研究域地球社会基盤学系Long-term slow slip events (L-SSEs) often excite short-term slow slips events (S-SSEs) and tectonic tremor in the zone of episodic tremor and slip (ETS). However, the factors controlling the occurrence of primary versus excited tremor events remain unclear. To elucidate these factors, we analyzed tectonic tremor events in and around the Bungo Channel (Nankai subduction zone), where L-SSEs are known to excite tremor and S-SSEs in the ETS zone. We focused on the spatial distribution of the characteristic amplitude (CA) of tremor, determined from the duration-amplitude distributions of tremor events, as an indicator of the properties of the tremor source. CAs are large in L-SSE slip areas and small in adjacent areas. The difference between CA values during tremor-excitation periods (L-SSEs) and the intervening periods (ΔCA) is positive in the slip area, negative in adjacent areas, and tends toward zero in the far field. We suggest that the heterogeneous distributions of CA and ΔCA reflect the heterogeneous effective strengths of tremor patches, which might be related to petrological properties, and stress and pore-fluid pressure variations induced by L-SSEs, respectively. The upward migration of fluid from the ETS zone along the plate interface might modulate the effective stress and strength states of tremor patches during L-SSEs

Detectability of very low frequency earthquakes in Nankai subduction zone

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How to cite this data&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;data DOI&nbsp;of this repository&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Preprint&nbsp;&lt;a href="https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2351814/v1"&gt;https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2351814/v1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;source_meca.dat&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Assumed focal mechanisms. Longitude, Latitude, depth, strike, dip, and rake are listed.&nbsp;Focal mechanisms at each source grid were assumed to be low-angle thrust faulting mechanisms from the plate geometry of Koketsu et al. (2012) and the convergence direction of NUVEL-1A (DeMets et al. 2010).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VLFEdetectability_Fnet.dat&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The detectable limits of very low frequency earthquakes (VLFEs) in Nankai using F-net only.&nbsp;Longitude, Latitude, depth, and detectable limit (the lowest moment rate of detectable VLFEs) at each source grid are listed. The file with "Z" is the detectability of VLFEs using only vertical components.&nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;VLFEdetectability_FnetDONET.dat&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The detectable limits of VLFEs&nbsp;in Nankai using F-net and DONET.&nbsp;Longitude, Latitude, depth, and detectable limit (the lowest moment rate of detectable VLFEs) at each source grid are listed. The file with "Z" is the detectability of VLFEs using only vertical components.&nbsp;&lt;/p&gt