Human Molecular Chaperone Hsp60 and Its Apical Domain Suppress Amyloid Fibril Formation of α-Synuclein

Heat shock proteins play roles in assisting other proteins to fold correctly and in preventing the aggregation and accumulation of proteins in misfolded conformations. However, the process of aging significantly degrades this ability to maintain protein homeostasis. Consequently, proteins with incorrect conformations are prone to aggregate and accumulate in cells, and this aberrant aggregation of misfolded proteins may trigger various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease. Here, we investigated the possibilities of suppressing α-synuclein aggregation by using a mutant form of human chaperonin Hsp60, and a derivative of the isolated apical domain of Hsp60 (Hsp60 AD(Cys)). In vitro measurements were used to detect the effects of chaperonin on amyloid fibril formation, and interactions between Hsp60 proteins and α-synuclein were probed by quartz crystal microbalance analysis. The ability of Hsp60 AD(Cys) to suppress α-synuclein intracellular aggregation and cytotoxicity was also demonstrated. We show that Hsp60 mutant and Hsp60 AD(Cys) both effectively suppress α-synuclein amyloid fibril formation, and also demonstrate for the first time the ability of Hsp60 AD(Cys) to function as a mini-chaperone inside cells. These results highlight the possibility of using Hsp60 AD as a method of prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Notices about using elementary statistics in psychology

Improper uses of elementary statistics that were often observed in beginners' manuscripts and papers were collected and better ways were suggested. This paper consists of three parts: About descriptive statistics, multivariate analyses, and statistical tests

Relations of time management ability to self-efficacy, metacognitive ability, and time anxiety

大学生(N103)の時間管理能力を,提出期限の約3ケ月前に提示されたレポート課題に対する意識と行動の自己評価ならびに教官のレポート評価を分析することによって調べた.その結果次のようなことが明らかになった.教官のレポート評価に影響する時間管理能力とは,「(a)『時間が十分とれないのではないか』と最初から思うことのないような予定をたて,(b)早くからレポートにとりかかり,(C)レポート課題を提示された時点で予定した時間をできるだけ下まわらないように時間をかけてレポートを作成する」というものであった.このような時間管理能力は,自己効力感やメタ認知能力と深く関わっていたが,時間不安とは関係なかった

Involvement of Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitric Oxide in Expression of the Ipomoelin Gene from Sweet Potato

The IPO (ipomoelin) gene was isolated from sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas cv Tainung 57) and used as a molecular probe to investigate its regulation by hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and nitric oxide (NO) after sweet potato was wounded. The expression of the IPO gene was stimulated by H(2)O(2) whether or not the plant was wounded, but its expression after wounding was totally suppressed by the presence of diphenylene iodonium, an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase, both in the local and systemic leaves of sweet potato. These results imply that a signal transduction resulting from the mechanical wounding of sweet potato may involve NADPH oxidase, which produces endogenous H(2)O(2) to stimulate the expression of the IPO gene. The production of H(2)O(2) was also required for methyl jasmonate to stimulate the IPO gene expression. On the contrary, NO delayed the expression of the IPO gene, whereas N(G)-monomethyl-l-arginine monoacetate, an inhibitor of NO synthase, enhanced the expression of the IPO gene after the plant was wounded. This study also demonstrates that the production of H(2)O(2) stained with 3,3′-diaminobenzidine hydrochloride could be stimulated by wounding but was suppressed in the presence of NO. Meanwhile, the generation of NO was visualized by confocal scanning microscope in the presence of 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate after sweet potato was wounded. In conclusion, when sweet potato was wounded, both H(2)O(2) and NO were produced to modulate the plant's defense system. Together, H(2)O(2) and NO regulate the expression of the IPO gene, and their interaction might further stimulate plants to protect themselves from invasions by pathogens and herbivores