Data on melanin production in B16F1 melanoma cells in the presence of emu oil

AbstractHere, we present data on the effects of emu oil, obtained from emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) fat deposits, on melanogenesis in B16F1 murine melanoma cells. The cells were cultured in media containing different concentrations of emu oil, and the melanin content of these cells was measured using a microplate reader. Next, melanin content was measured for cells cultured with α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone. This article reports the different melanin contents as μg melanin/mg cellular protein, by using bar graphs with error bars. The present data imply that emu oil reduces the cellular melanin production

マクロファージ ノ イッサンカ チッソ ニ タイスル エミュー オイル ノ コウカ

マクロファージは，細菌感染やがん細胞の発生の際に活性化する細胞であり，一酸化窒素（NO）などの炎症性物質を産生し，生体を防御する働きをもつ。しかし，炎症性物質の過剰産生は，リウマチなど多くの疾患の原因となるため，これを抑える抗炎症物質が広く機能性食品や化粧品，医薬品として利用されている。本研究では，エミュー（Dromaius novaehollandiae）の皮下脂肪から得られるエミューオイルが，マクロファージによって産生されるNOに与える影響を調べた。マウス由来培養マクロファージ（RAW264.7）をリポポリサッカリド（LPS）で刺激すると，NOの産生量は6倍に増加した。一方，エミューオイルを添加した培養液で培養したRAW264.7では，この増加はエミューオイルの存在下で抑制された。また，RAW264.7をLPSで刺激するとNO合成酵素（NOS）の発現量が2倍に増加した。このNOSの発現量の増加は，エミューオイルで培養したRAW264.7では抑制された。したがって，エミューオイルはLPSによるマクロファージのNOS過剰発現を抑制し，NOの産生量を減少させることが明らかとなった。すなわち，エミューオイルには，過剰な炎症性物質の産生を抑制する効果があることが示唆された。Macrophage, which is the cells activated by bacterial infection and growth of cancer cells, produces inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and plays a role in protecting the body. But overproduction of the inflammatory mediators causes various diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, the compounds suppressing the overproduction of inflammatory mediators are widely applied to functional foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In this study, we examined the effects of emu oil, obtained from emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), on the production of NO by macrophage. When a cultured cell line of mouse macrophage (RAW267.4) was stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), NO production was increased by 6-times. Addition of emu oil to the culture medium inhibited the LPS-induced NO production. A stimulation of RAW264.7 by LPS increased twice the expression level of NO synthase (NOS). Emu oil decreased the LPS-induced increase in NOS. These results suggest that emu oil reduced the LPS-induced NO production by inhibiting the expression of NOS in RAW264.7. It is likely that emu oil possesses the ability to reduce the production of anti-inflammatory mediators by macrophage

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

The Association of Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index and Ankle-Brachial Index with Macroangiopathy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Aims: This study elucidates the association of macroangiopathy development in type 2 diabetes patients with various arteriosclerosis risk factors (ARFs) and results of cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI).Methods: The correlation between current and past macroangiopathy development, with ARFs or CAVI/ABI data, was retrospectively analyzed using multivariate logistic regression in 816 patients with type 2 diabetes at a single center. C-statistics combining some independent variables selected using the stepwise method were evaluated.Results: CAVI was significantly correlated with microangiopathies, including coronary artery disease (CAD), arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO), and stroke with odds ratios (OR) of 1.20, 1.22, and 1.19, respectively. ABI significantly correlated with ASO and stroke with respective OR of 13.6 and 2.47, but not with CAD. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (ROCs) revealed the accuracy of detecting ASO and stroke was increased by the combination of CAVI＋ABI (0.94 and 0.74, respectively). However, areas under the ROC for the presence of CAD can be increased by the combination of CAVI and ARFs especially including dyslipidemia.Conclusion: CAVI/ABI and some ARFs are useful tools in daily clinical care units to identify the current and past existence of macroangiopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes, but the prediction weights using these factors were different among CAD, ASO, and stroke

Data describing the flow-mediated vasodilation responses and blood pressure in young adult humans after a single dose of oral edible emu oil

The data provided herein include flow-mediated vasodilation responses, represented by changes in arterial diameter, and blood pressure in young adults after a single oral dose of edible emu oil or placebo (cross-over design). Ten healthy men and 10 healthy women participated. Increased blood flow in the antebrachial region was induced by inflating a pressure cuff and subsequently releasing the pressure by deflating the cuff. After the release, the arterial diameter was continuously monitored for 110 sec using ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. The changes in the arterial diameter from 20 to 110 sec post-cuff deflation are described in line graphs and tables. In addition, systolic and diastolic blood pressure data are provided in a table