Ca2+-permeable mechanosensitive channels MCA1 and MCA2 mediate cold-induced cytosolic Ca2+ increase and cold tolerance in Arabidopsis

Cold shock triggers an immediate rise in the cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]cyt) in Arabidopsis thaliana and this cold-induced elevation of [Ca2+]cyt is inhibited by lanthanum or EGTA. It is suggested that intracellular calcium mainly contributes to the cold-induced [Ca2+]cyt response by entering into the cytosol. Two calcium-permeable mechanosensitive channels, MCA1 and MCA2 (mid1-complementing activity), have been identified in Arabidopsis. Here, we demonstrate that MCA1 and MCA2 are involved in a cold-induced increase in [Ca2+]cyt. The cold-induced [Ca2+]cyt increase in mca1 and mca2 mutants was markedly lower than that in wild types. The mca1 mca2 double mutant exhibited chilling and freezing sensitivity, compared to wild-type plants. Expression of At5g61820, At3g51660, and At4g15490, which are not regulated by the CBF/DREB1s transcription factor, was down-regulated in mca1 mca2. These results suggest that MCA1 and MCA2 are involved in the cold-induced elevation of [Ca2+]cyt, cold tolerance, and CBF/DREB1-independent cold signaling

Ferromagnetism in multi--band Hubbard models: From weak to strong Coulomb repulsion

We propose a new mechanism which can lead to ferromagnetism in Hubbard models containing triangles with different on-site energies. It is based on an effective Hamiltonian that we derive in the strong coupling limit. Considering a one-dimensional realization of the model, we show that in the quarter-filled, insulating case the ground-state is actually ferromagnetic in a very large parameter range going from Tasaki's flat-band limit to the strong coupling limit of the effective Hamiltonian. This result has been obtained using a variety of analytical and numerical techniques. Finally, the same results are shown to apply away from quarter-filling, in the metallic case.Comment: 12 pages, revtex, 12 figures,needs epsf and multicol style file

Add-on effectiveness of methotrexate or iguratimod in patients with rheumatoid arthritis exhibiting an inadequate response to Janus kinase inhibitors: The ANSWER cohort study

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Modern Rheumatology following peer review. The version of record, Ebina K., Hirano T., Maeda Y., et al. Add-on effectiveness of methotrexate or iguratimod in patients with rheumatoid arthritis exhibiting an inadequate response to Janus kinase inhibitors: The ANSWER cohort study. Modern Rheumatology 33, 690 (2023) is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/mr/article-abstract/33/4/690/6664276?redirectedFrom=fulltext and https://doi.org/10.1093/mr/roac092Objectives: This multicenter, retrospective study evaluated the effectiveness of add-on methotrexate (MTX) or iguratimod (IGU) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis exhibiting an inadequate response to Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKis). Methods: Forty-five patients were treated with new additional MTX (n = 22) or IGU (n = 23) and followed for 6 months. Patients' background is as follows: age, 59.2 years; disease activity score of 28 joints with C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP), 3.4; clinical disease activity index, 15.7; biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)-switched cases, 77.8%; first JAKi cases, 95.6%; and JAKi treatment: tofacitinib (n = 25), baricitinib (n = 17), upadacitinib (n = 2), and peficitinib (n = 1) for 9.6 months. Results: Thirty-five patients continued the combination therapy for 6 months without a significant change in concomitant glucocorticoid or other conventional synthetic DMARDs. DAS28-CRP (MTX, 3.6 to 2.6, p < 0.05; IGU, 3.3 to 2.1, p < 0.001) and clinical disease activity index (MTX, 16.7 to 8.8, p < 0.05; IGU, 14.6 to 6.5, p < 0.01) improved significantly from baseline. Using the 2019 European League Against Rheumatism criteria, 45.4% (MTX) and 39.1% (IGU) achieved moderate or good response and 40.9% (MTX) and 39.1% (IGU) achieved American College of Rheumatology 20% improvement criteria. Conclusions: Adding MTX or IGU to inadequate responders of JAKi can be considered as a complementary treatment

Radiotheranostics coupled between an At-211-Labeled RGD peptide and the corresponding radioiodine-labeled RGD peptide

金沢大学疾患モデル総合研究センターAlpha particle-emitting radionuclides have gained considerable attention for radionuclide therapy. Astatine-211 ( 211 At) is a promising alpha particle-emitting radionuclide. 211 At is a halogen that has similar chemical properties to iodine and exhibits a half-life of 7.2 h. However, direct labeling of proteins or peptides into the tyrosine residue with 211 At was shown to be impractical. Herein, we demonstrate a novel 211 At-labeling method using the RGD peptide as a model peptide. An 211 At-labeled RGD peptide, [ 211 At]c[RGDf(4-At)K], was prepared from a precursor with a tributylstannyl group on the phenylalanine residue in c(RGDfK) with a radiochemical yield of 63% and a radiochemical purity of >96%, and its potential for targeted radionuclide therapy was evaluated. Based on the results of biodistribution experiments, [ 125 I]c[RGDf(4-I)K] and [ 211 At]c[RGDf(4-At)K] showed high accumulation in the tumor and similar biodistribution. This study provides useful information for radiotheranostics between an 211 At-labeled peptide and the corresponding radioiodine-labeled peptide. © 2019 American Chemical Society.This is an open access article published under an ACS AuthorChoice License, which permits copying and redistribution of the article or any adaptations for non-commercial purposes

STUDIES ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF SOIL ANIMALS IN PASOH FOREST RESERVE, WEST MALAYSIA : V. SEASONAL CHANGE IN THE DENSITY AND BIOMASS OF SOIL MACROFAUNA: OLIGOCHAETA, HIRUDINEA AND ARTHROPODA(Natural science)

本報は,IBP(国際生物学事業計画)のひとつとして,マレーシア・日本・イギリスが共同で研究した熱帯多雨林の研究のひとつで,土壌動物に関する一連の報告のひとつである。1971年4月から1972年8月までの間に,毎月5個,計68個の土壌塊を検査し,次の結果を得た。検査された土壌塊は,面積50cm×50cm,深さ20cmを単位とするものである。1.個体数が最も多いのは,アリを含む膜翅類の動物で全体の85.4%を占め,第2位は鞘翅類の幼虫の4.1%であった。現存量では膜翅類の26.6%,鞘翅類の成虫19.4%となった。2.全土壌大形動物の平均密度は1903個体/m^2,同現存量は3.1g/m^2であった。3.季節変化はすべての生物群について見られる共通点は明瞭ではないが,密度は6～8月に高く,現存量はむしろ7月に高くなっていた。4.Iδ-indexを用いた検討によると,ヒル類・サソリ類が少いが均等に分布し,貧毛類・半翅類・直翅類・鱗翅類・ヤスデ類・ムカデ類・ゴキブリ類についてはいくぶんかたまり気味であったが,かなり分散していることがわかった。アジを含む膜翅類とシロアリ(等翅類)はともに強い集合性を示していた。5.落葉が堆積している場所と,落葉がない場所との密度や現存量を比較してみたが,直翅類や鱗翅類幼虫については差が認められ難く,メクラグモ類・貧毛類・鞘翅類の幼虫と成虫・クモ類は集合性には差がなかったが,落葉のある土壌の方が高密度であった。双翅類の幼虫やアリを含む膜翅類は落葉の多い土壌の方が高い集合性を示した。6.これらの資料とA_(1979)のシロアリの密度や現存量の資料を加えて,この地域の土壌大形動物の密度は5000～5700個体/m^2同現存量は11.8～13.2g/m^2(湿重量)と推定することができる。ここに推定された密度は,今迄の報告にくらべて大きい値をとっているが,アリ・シロアリ以外の動物群のみを比較するとW_ et al. (1966)のタイにおける値とほぼ同様になる

Combination of gemcitabine and anti-PD-1 antibody enhances the anticancer effect of M1 macrophages and the Th1 response in a murine model of pancreatic cancer liver metastasis

金沢大学疾患モデル総合研究センターBackground Pancreatic ductular adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the most dreadful of malignancies, in part due to the lack of efficacious chemotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, including anti-programmed cell death 1 (anti-PD-1) antibodies, are novel promising forms of systemic immunotherapy. In the current study, we assessed whether gemcitabine (GEM) combined with anti-PD-1 antibody treatment was efficacious as immunochemotherapy for advanced PDAC using a murine model of liver metastasis. Methods The murine model of PDAC liver metastasis was established by intrasplenically injecting the murine pancreatic cancer cell line PAN02 into immunocompetent C57BL/6J mice. The mice were treated with an anti-PD-1 antibody, GEM, or a combination of GEM plus anti-PD-1 antibody, and compared with no treatment (control); liver metastases, immune cell infiltration, gene expression, immune cell response phenotypes, and overall survival were investigated. Results In the metastatic tumor tissues of mice treated with GEM plus anti-PD-1 antibody, we observed the increased infiltration of Th1 lymphocytes and M1 macrophages. Gene expression profile analysis of peripheral blood cells obtained from mice treated with GEM plus anti-PD-1 antibody clearly highlighted T cell and innate immune signaling pathways. Survival of PDAC liver metastasis mice was significantly prolonged by the combination therapy (median survival, 66 days) when compared with that of GEM alone treatment (median survival, 56 days). Expanded lymphocytes, which were isolated from the splenocytes of PDAC liver metastasis mice treated with GEM plus anti-PD-1 antibody, had an increased number of M1 macrophages. Conclusion The combination of anti-PD-1 antibody immunotherapy with GEM was beneficial to treat a murine model of PDAC liver metastasis by enhancing the immune response mediated by Th1 lymphocytes and M1 macrophages and was associated with CD8+ T cells.

Control strategy for rice stripe virus transmitted by small brown plant hopper (Laodelphax striatellus)

Rice stripe virus (RSV) causes chlorotic stripes, mottling, and necrotic streaks on rice leaves (Oryza sativa), resulting in a loss of production. RSV disease mainly occurs in Asian countries, including Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and China. In Japan, the disease devastated rice production from 1960 to 1985, and subsided thereafter owing to the introduction of new varieties resistant to RSV. However, its incidence has begun to increase again since 2004. Its vector, small brown plant hopper (Laodelphax striatellus, SBPH) persistently transmit RSV, and transmitted it from female adults to their progeny via egg. In this presentation, the molecular characteristics of transovarial transmission of RSV in SBPH are introduced. Countermeasures including adjusted timing of pesticide application and use of resistant varieties are discussed

Usefulness of Surgical Media Center as a Cataract Surgery Educational Tool

Purpose. This study retrospectively analyzed cataract surgeries to examine the usefulness of Surgical Media Center (SMC) (Abbott Medical Optics Inc.), a new cataract surgery recording device, for training of cataract surgery. Methods. We studied five hundred cataract surgeries conducted with a phacoemulsification system connected to the SMC. After surgery, the surgical procedures were reviewed, with changes in aspiration rate, vacuum level, and phaco power displayed as graphs superimposed on the surgical video. We examined whether use of SMC is able to demonstrate the differences in technique between experienced and trainee operators, to identify inappropriate phacoemulsification techniques from analyzing the graphs, and to elucidate the cause of intraoperative complications. Results. Significant differences in the time taken to reach maximum vacuum and the speed of increase in vacuum during irrigation and aspiration were observed between experienced and trainee operators. Analysis of the graphs displayed by SMC detected inappropriate phacoemulsification techniques mostly in cases operated by trainee operators. Conclusions. Using SMC, it was possible to capture details of cataract surgery objectively. This recording device allows surgeons to review cataract surgery techniques and identify the cause of intraoperative complication and is a useful education tool for cataract surgery