Brother of the regulator of the imprinted site (BORIS) variant subfamily 6 is involved in cervical cancer stemness and can be a target of immunotherapy

子宮頸がん幹細胞にはがん精巣抗原の一つである BORIS サブファミリー６(sf6)が優位に発現する. BORIS sf6 特異的細胞障害性T細胞（CTL） はがん幹細胞を傷害した. BORIS sf6を標的とする免疫療法は, 治療抵抗性子宮頸がん幹細胞に対する有望な治療選択となる可能性が示唆された

Evaluation of the Effect of Culling on Browse Damage by the Japanese Serow in Gifu Prefecture, Japan

The Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus; serow) is a protected territorial ungulate native to Japan. However, locally overabundant serow populations can damage forest plantations and agriculture through browsing. Despite government permitted annual culling of serows on forest lands of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, browse damage continues to be reported in hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa; cypress) plantations. Sika deer (Cervus nippon; deer), which are co-located with serows can also browse cypress, but their impacts have never been evaluated. The objective of our research was to evaluate the involvement of each species in browse damage and to establish the damage-causing mechanisms after serow culling at selected study sites (T1 [0.3 ha], T2 [0.2 ha], and T3 [1.1 ha]) in 3 cypress plantations in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture, where serow culling was conducted. In 2019 and 2020, 2 and 2 serows were culled in T1, 3 and 0 in T2, and 1 and 1 in T3, respectively. Forestry workers also applied a chemical repellent (ziram-based fungicide) to some stands in T3 in October 2019 and May 2020. Between December 2018 and September 2020, we used camera traps to monitor activity patterns of serows and deer and the replacement of territorial serows before and after culling. We also investigated seasonal browsing impacts between August 2019 and June 2020 by thoroughly checking for browsing marks on the terminal shoot. Serows and deer accounted for 79% and 21% of camera-trap videos, respectively. Despite annual culling, serows were recorded at all browsed sites before the next growing season. Browse damage was higher in autumn and winter, but in T3 it was reduced when the repellent was applied. Management of ungulate browse damage to cypress will require accurate identification of species causing the damage, monitoring serow activity before and after culling, and a using repellent immediately before browsing seasons

A sacrificial millipede altruistically protects its swarm using a drone blood enzyme, mandelonitrile oxidase

Soldiers of some eusocial insects exhibit an altruistic self-destructive defense behavior in emergency situations when attacked by large enemies. The swarm-forming invasive millipede, Chamberlinius hualienensis, which is not classified as eusocial animal, exudes irritant chemicals such as benzoyl cyanide as a defensive secretion. Although it has been thought that this defensive chemical was converted from mandelonitrile, identification of the biocatalyst has remained unidentified for 40 years. Here, we identify the novel blood enzyme, mandelonitrile oxidase (ChuaMOX), which stoichiometrically catalyzes oxygen consumption and synthesis of benzoyl cyanide and hydrogen peroxide from mandelonitrile. Interestingly the enzymatic activity is suppressed at a blood pH of 7, and the enzyme is segregated by membranes of defensive sacs from mandelonitrile which has a pH of 4.6, the optimum pH for ChuaMOX activity. In addition, strong body muscle contractions are necessary for de novo synthesis of benzoyl cyanide. We propose that, to protect its swarm, the sacrificial millipede also applies a self-destructive defense strategy—the endogenous rupturing of the defensive sacs to mix ChuaMOX and mandelonitrile at an optimum pH. Further study of defensive systems in primitive arthropods will pave the way to elucidate the evolution of altruistic defenses in the animal kingdom

Association between Serum Soluble Klotho Levels and Mortality in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients

Klotho is a single-pass transmembrane protein predominantly expressed in the kidney. The extracellular domain of Klotho is subject to ectodomain shedding and is released into the circulation as a soluble form. Soluble Klotho is also generated from alternative splicing of the Klotho gene. In mice, defects in Klotho expression lead to complex phenotypes resembling those observed in dialysis patients. However, the relationship between the level of serum soluble Klotho and overall survival in hemodialysis patients, who exhibit a state of Klotho deficiency, remains to be delineated. Here we prospectively followed a cohort of 63 patients with a mean duration of chronic hemodialysis of 6.7±5.4 years for a median of 65 months. Serum soluble Klotho was detectable in all patients (median 371 pg/mL, interquartile range 309–449). Patients with serum soluble Klotho levels below the lower quartile (<309 pg/mL) had significantly higher cardiovascular and all-cause mortality rates. Furthermore, the higher all-cause mortality persisted even after adjustment for confounders (hazard ratio 4.14, confidence interval 1.29–13.48). We conclude that there may be a threshold for the serum soluble Klotho level associated with a higher risk of mortality

Detection of the Far-infrared [O III] and Dust Emission in a Galaxy at Redshift 8.312: Early Metal Enrichment in the Heart of the Reionization Era

We present the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) detection of the [O III] 88 $\mu$m line and rest-frame 90 $\mu$m dust continuum emission in a Y-dropout Lyman break galaxy (LBG), MACS0416_Y1, lying behind the Frontier Field cluster MACS J0416.1-2403. This [O III] detection confirms the LBG with a spectroscopic redshift of $z = 8.3118 \pm 0.0003$, making this object one of the furthest galaxies ever identified spectroscopically. The observed 850 $\mu$m flux density of $137 \pm 26$ $\mu$Jy corresponds to a de-lensed total infrared (IR) luminosity of $L_{\rm IR} = (1.7 \pm 0.3) \times 10^{11} L_{\odot}$ if assuming a dust temperature of $T_{\rm dust} = 50$ K and an emissivity index of $\beta = 1.5$, yielding a large dust mass of $4 \times 10^6 M_{\odot}$. The ultraviolet-to-far IR spectral energy distribution modeling where the [O III] emissivity model is incorporated suggests the presence of a young ($\tau_{\rm age} \approx 4$ Myr), star-forming (SFR $\approx 60 M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$), moderately metal-polluted ($Z \approx 0.2 Z_{\odot}$) stellar component with a mass of $M_{\rm star} = 3 \times 10^8 M_{\odot}$. An analytic dust mass evolution model with a single episode of star-formation does not reproduce the metallicity and dust mass in $\tau_{\rm age} \approx 4$ Myr, suggesting a pre-existing evolved stellar component with $M_{\rm star} \sim 3 \times 10^9 M_{\odot}$ and $\tau_{\rm age} \sim 0.3$ Gyr as the origin of the dust mass.Comment: Accepted by ApJ. 18 pages, 10 figures, 5 table