Mycorrhizal status of alpine plant communities on Mt. Maedake Cirque in the Japan South Alps

To clarify the mycorrhizal status of alpine plants, we sampled roots of 33 species from 15 families growing on Mt. Maedake Cirque in the Japan South Alps. Ericoid mycorrhiza, ectomycorrhiza and arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) were observed in the study site. Colonization classified as ericoid mycorrhizal was observed with Phyllodoce aleutica, Tripetaleia bracteata, Vaccinium uliginosum, Rhododendron aureum, Arcterica nana and Shortia soldanelloides f. alpina, and ectomycorrhizal colonization with Pinus pumila and Polygonum viviparum. AM plants were found in species belonging to the following families: Compositae, Geraniaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Gramineae, Liliaceae, Violaceae, Crassulaceae, Gentianaceae and Campanulaceae. AM was the predominant mycorrhizal type in the study site and average colonization levels of AM fungi were within a wide range of 1.2 to 76.1%. In conclusion, mycorrhizal associations were observed in most (91%) of the plant species examined under the severe climate conditions of the study site

Morphological and genetic differences on vegetative plant

第2回極域科学シンポジウム/第33回極域生物シンポジウム 11月18日（金） 統計数理研究所 3階リフレッシュフロ

Inhibition of constitutively active Jak-Stat pathway suppresses cell growth of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-infected T-cell lines and primary adult T-cell leukemia cells

BACKGROUND: Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), the etiologic agent for adult T-cell leukemia (ATL), induces cytokine-independent proliferation of T-cells, associated with the acquisition of constitutive activation of Janus kinases (Jak) and signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stat) proteins. Our purposes in this study were to determine whether activation of Jak-Stat pathway is responsible for the proliferation and survival of ATL cells, and to explore mechanisms by which inhibition of Jak-Stat pathway kills ATL cells. RESULTS: Constitutive activation of Stat3 and Stat5 was observed in HTLV-1-infected T-cell lines and primary ATL cells, but not in HTLV-1-negative T-cell lines. Using AG490, a Jak-specific inhibitor, we demonstrated that the activation of Stat3 and Stat5 was mediated by the constitutive phosphorylation of Jak proteins. AG490 inhibited the growth of HTLV-1-infected T-cell lines and primary ATL cells by inducing G(1 )cell-cycle arrest mediated by altering the expression of cyclin D2, Cdk4, p53, p21, Pim-1 and c-Myc, and by apoptosis mediated by the reduced expression of c-IAP2, XIAP, survivin and Bcl-2. Importantly, AG490 did not inhibit the growth of normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that activation of Jak-Stat pathway is responsible for the proliferation and survival of ATL cells. Inhibition of this pathway may provide a new approach for the treatment of ATL

Regulation of Adrenal Aldosterone Production by Serine Protease Prostasin

A serine protease prostasin has been demonstrated to have a pivotal role in the activation of the epithelial sodium channel. Systemic administration of adenovirus carrying human prostasin gene in rats resulted in an increase in plasma prostasin and aldosterone levels. However, the mechanism by which the elevation of prostasin levels in the systemic circulation stimulated the plasma aldosterone levels remains unknown. Therefore, we examined if prostasin increases the aldosterone synthesis in a human adrenocortical cell line (H295R cells). Luciferase assay using CYP11B2 promoter revealed that prostasin significantly increased the transcriptional activity of CYP11B2. Prostasin significantly increased both CYP11B2 mRNA expression and aldosterone production in a dose-dependent manner. Surprisingly, treatment with camostat mesilate, a potent prostasin inhibitor, had no effect on the aldosterone synthesis by prostasin and also a protease-dead mutant of prostasin significantly stimulated the aldosterone production. A T-type/L-type calcium channel blocker and a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor significantly reduced the aldosterone synthesis by prostasin. Our findings suggest a stimulatory effect of prostasin on the aldosterone synthesis by adrenal gland through the nonproteolytic action and indicate a new role of prostasin in the systemic circulation

顎関節におけるHIF-1αの役割

Objective: Temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) is a degenerative disease characterized by permanent cartilage loss. Articular cartilage is maintained in a low-oxygen environment. The chondrocyte response to hypoxic conditions involves expression of hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), which induces chondrocytes to increase expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Here, we investigated the role of HIF-1α in mechanical load effects on condylar cartilage and subchondral bone in heterozygous HIF-1α-deficient mice (HIF-1α+/-). Design: Mechanical stress was applied to the TMJ of C57BL/6NCr wild-type (WT) and HIF-1α+/- mice with a sliding plate for 10 days. Histological analysis was performed by HE staining, Safranin-O/Fast green staining, and immunostaining specific for articular cartilage homeostasis. Results: HIF-1α+/- mice had thinner cartilage and smaller areas of proteoglycan than WT controls, without and with mechanical stress. Mechanical stress resulted in prominent degenerative changes with increased expression of HIF-1α, VEGF, and the apoptosis factor cleaved Caspase-3 in condylar cartilage. Conclusion: Our results indicate that HIF-1a may be important for articular cartilage homeostasis and protective against articular cartilage degradation in the TMJ under mechanical stress condition, therefore HIF-1α could be an important new therapeutic target in TMJ-OA

Antitumor studies. Part 1: Design, synthesis, antitumor activity, and AutoDock study of 2-deoxo-2-phenyl-5-deazaflavins and 2-deoxo-2-phenylflavin-5-oxides as a new class of antitumor agents

Novel 2-deoxo-2-phenyl-5-deazaflavins and 2-deoxo-2-phenylflavin-5-oxides were prepared as a new class of antitumor agents and showed significant antitumor activities against NCI-H 460, HCT 116, A 431, CCRF-HSB-2, and KB cell lines. In vivo investigation, 2-deoxo-10-methyl-2-phenyl-5-deazaflavin exhibited the effective antitumor activity against A 431 human adenocarcinoma cells transplanted subcutaneously into nude mouse. Furthermore, AutoDock study has been done by binding of the flavin analogs into PTK pp60(c-src), where a good correlation between their IC50 and AutoDock binding free energy was exhibited. In particular, 2-deoxo-2-phenylflavin-5-oxides exhibited the highest potential binding affinity within the binding pocket of PTK

SRST2: Rapid genomic surveillance for public health and hospital microbiology labs.

Rapid molecular typing of bacterial pathogens is critical for public health epidemiology, surveillance and infection control, yet routine use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) for these purposes poses significant challenges. Here we present SRST2, a read mapping-based tool for fast and accurate detection of genes, alleles and multi-locus sequence types (MLST) from WGS data. Using >900 genomes from common pathogens, we show SRST2 is highly accurate and outperforms assembly-based methods in terms of both gene detection and allele assignment. We include validation of SRST2 within a public health laboratory, and demonstrate its use for microbial genome surveillance in the hospital setting. In the face of rising threats of antimicrobial resistance and emerging virulence among bacterial pathogens, SRST2 represents a powerful tool for rapidly extracting clinically useful information from raw WGS data. Source code is available from http://katholt.github.io/srst2/