Functional Expression of Heme Oxygenase-1 in Human Differentiated Epidermis and Its Regulation by Cytokines

Although heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is induced in keratinocytes after UV radiation, HO-1 expression during normal epidermal differentiation has not yet been reported. We showed by real-time PCR, western blotting, and ELISA that HO-1 mRNA and protein expression by cultured normal human keratinocytes was upregulated during epidermal differentiation induced by a high-calcium medium. Immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridization showed the graduated expression of HO-1 in the upper epidermis, which was accompanied by suprabasal HO-1 mRNA expression, and the accumulation of bilirubin (BR) in the stratum corneum. We examined the activation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), which is a pivotal transcription factor for HO-1 expression, by western blotting and by examining the mRNA expression of Nrf2 target genes, and excluded its role in HO-1 expression in epidermal differentiation. Next, we examined the regulation of HO-1 expression by inflammatory cytokines. IL-4 and IL-22 significantly reduced HO-1 mRNA and protein expression, whereas IL-1β, IL-17A, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) increased it. Finally, immunohistochemical studies on psoriatic lesional skin showed that HO-1 expression was downregulated in the parakeratotic epidermis, whereas it was retained in the orthokeratotic epidermis. These studies demonstrate that HO-1 is functionally expressed by keratinocytes in parallel with epidermal differentiation and that its expression is independently affected by several cytokines

The Learning Place of Creative Arts in Education: The Role of Teachers in Students’ Inspired Thoughts and Activities

本研究は，芸術教育の学校現場でみられる多様な創造的な学びに目を向け，個性豊かな創造性の芽生えとその育ちに寄り添う教師の役割について検討したものである。高等学校の美術の授業では，教師は具体的な指示をあえて避け，生徒に自らの目的や問いを立てさせることを通して渾沌とした状況と向き合わせた。美術と音楽活動を連携させた中学校では，設定した場面ごとに，生徒の創造性を引き出すための例示，他者や事物との多彩な関わり方，省察の視点など多くの支援をおこなった。生徒たちの「表現したい」という創造的な思いを拾い上げ唯一無二のモノとして育てるためには，その芽生えの瞬間を見逃さず丁寧に支援することが重要である。学校教育で目指す自己実現的創造性の育成（フロントランナー型創造性）は，生徒自身の新しい価値を追求することであり，同時に，社会にとっての新しい創造性の追求へとつながる

高齢者への長期ビタミンD投与

Daily １，０００ IU vitamin D was supplemented to ８７ years old female（Case １）and ６８ years old male（Case ２）subjects with sarcopenia and vitamin D insufficiency／deficiency for ２ years and ５ months and ２ years and ７ months, respectively. Before, １ year and ９ months, and ２ years and ５ months after vitamin D supplementation in Case １, serum ２５‐hydroxyvitamin D［２５（OH）D］level was ９ ng/ml, ２３．８ ng/ml and ２３．１ ng/ml, skeletal muscle mass was ８．９５ kg, １０．２ kg and １０．０ kg, handgrip strength was ７．３ kg, ８．９ kg and ９．９ kg, and Barthel index was ４０, ８５ and ９０, respectively. Before, and ２ years and ７ months after vitamin D supplementation in Case ２, serum ２５（OH）D level was ２６ ng/ml and ３４．４ ng/ml, skeletal muscle mass was ２４．６ kg and ２５．１ kg, handgrip strength was ３７．２ kg and ３８．３ kg, and Barthel index was １００ and １００, respectively. Thus, activity of daily living（ADL）markedly improved in Case １ and keep high in Case ２. Therefore, it is suggested that daily １，０００ IU vitamin D supplementation is effective to keep QOL of aged persons higher

Social and cognitive functions in schizophrenia

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to examine clinical factors related to social function in people with schizophrenia. Patients and methods: The participants were 55 stabilized outpatients with schizophrenia. Their mean age was 39.36 (SD =10.65) years. Social function was assessed using the Quality of Life Scale (QLS). Cognitive function was evaluated with the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Clinical symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia, and the Drug-Induced Extrapyramidal Symptoms Scale. Results: Neither the MCCB cognitive domain score nor composite score was correlated with the QLS scores. However, of the 10 MCCB subtests, the Trail Making Test Part A and the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia-Symbol Coding (BACS-SC) scores were positively correlated with the QLS scores. Among clinical variables, especially the PANSS negative syndrome scale score had a strong negative correlation with the QLS scores. Stepwise regression analyses showed that the PANSS negative syndrome scale score was an independent predictor of the QLS scores, and although the BACS-SC score predicted the QLS common objects and activities subscale score, the association was not so strong compared to the PANSS negative syndrome scale score. Conclusion: These results indicate that speed of processing evaluated by BACS-SC could predict some aspect of social function but negative symptoms have a much stronger impact on global social function in people with schizophrenia

Life skills in schizophrenia

Objective : The purpose of the present study is to examine clinical factors related to life skills in people with schizophrenia. Method : The participants were 51 stabilized outpatients with schizophrenia. Their mean age was 38.91 (SD = 10.73) years. Life skills were assessed using the Life skills profile (LSP). Cognitive function was evaluated with the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Clinical symptoms were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome scale (PANSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) and the Drug-Induced Extrapyramidal Symptoms Scale (DIEPSS). Results : Cognitive function was not correlated with the LSP scores at all. Among clinical symptoms, scores of the PANSS positive and negative syndrome scales, the CDSS, and the DIEPSS had negative correlations with the LSP total score and the subscales. Stepwise regression analyses showed that the CDSS and PANSS negative syndrome scale scores were independent predictors of the LSP total score and two of the subscales. Conclusions : These results indicate that cognitive function is not associated with life skills but clinical symptoms such as depressive and negative symptoms have considerable impacts on life skills in people with schizophrenia

Dynamic Changes in Ultrastructure of the Primary Cilium in Migrating Neuroblasts in the Postnatal Brain

New neurons, referred to as neuroblasts, are continuously generated in the ventricular-subventricular zone of the brain throughout an animal's life. These neuroblasts are characterized by their unique potential for proliferation, formation of chain-like cell aggregates, and long-distance and high-speed migration through the rostral migratory stream (RMS) toward the olfactory bulb (OB), where they decelerate and differentiate into mature interneurons. The dynamic changes of ultrastructural features in postnatal-born neuroblasts during migration are not yet fully understood. Here we report the presence of a primary cilium, and its ultrastructural morphology and spatiotemporal dynamics, in migrating neuroblasts in the postnatal RMS and OB. The primary cilium was observed in migrating neuroblasts in the postnatal RMS and OB in male and female mice and zebrafish, and a male rhesus monkey. Inhibition of intraflagellar transport molecules in migrating neuroblasts impaired their ciliogenesis and rostral migration toward the OB. Serial section transmission electron microscopy revealed that each migrating neuroblast possesses either a pair of centrioles or a basal body with an immature or mature primary cilium. Using immunohistochemistry, live imaging, and serial block-face scanning electron microscopy, we demonstrate that the localization and orientation of the primary cilium are altered depending on the mitotic state, saltatory migration, and deceleration of neuroblasts. Together, our results highlight a close mutual relationship between spatiotemporal regulation of the primary cilium and efficient chain migration of neuroblasts in the postnatal brain

RNA-sequencing reveals positional memory of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells from oral and maxillofacial tissue transcriptomes

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Mutant analyses reveal different functions of fgfr1 in medaka and zebrafish despite conserved ligand–receptor relationships

AbstractMedaka (Oryzias latipes) is a small freshwater teleost that provides an excellent developmental genetic model complementary to zebrafish. Our recent mutagenesis screening using medaka identified headfish (hdf) which is characterized by the absence of trunk and tail structures with nearly normal head including the midbrain–hindbrain boundary (MHB). Positional-candidate cloning revealed that the hdf mutation causes a functionally null form of Fgfr1. The fgfr1hdf is thus the first fgf receptor mutant in fish. Although FGF signaling has been implicated in mesoderm induction, mesoderm is induced normally in the fgfr1hdf mutant, but subsequently, mutant embryos fail to maintain the mesoderm, leading to defects in mesoderm derivatives, especially in trunk and tail. Furthermore, we found that morpholino knockdown of medaka fgf8 resulted in a phenotype identical to the fgfr1hdf mutant, suggesting that like its mouse counterpart, Fgf8 is a major ligand for Fgfr1 in medaka early embryogenesis. Intriguingly, Fgf8 and Fgfr1 in zebrafish are also suggested to form a major ligand–receptor pair, but their function is much diverged, as the zebrafish fgfr1 morphant and zebrafish fgf8 mutant acerebellar (ace) only fail to develop the MHB, but develop nearly unaffected trunk and tail. These results provide evidence that teleost fish have evolved divergent functions of Fgf8–Fgfr1 while maintaining the ligand–receptor relationships. Comparative analysis using different fish is thus invaluable for shedding light on evolutionary diversification of gene function