Development of a High-Throughput Diagnosis Method for Detecting the ALDH2 Gene Using Fingernail DNA

A clinical method for effective genetic screening of the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) gene was developed, using the fingernail as a source of DNA material. A highly effective protease that could solubilize fingernail keratin and inactivate any DNase co-existing in the tissue was obtained by cloning and sequencing the gene for alkaline protease from Bacillus alcalophilus, followed by expression of the gene in Bacillus subtilis. The amino acid sequence of MIB029 protease contained common regions found in four other subtilisin-like proteases. In the fingernails of 113 female university students (average age 20.8 ± 0.7 years; body mass index, 20.4 ±1.6), ALDH2 frequency was 0.66 for the typical Glu homozygote, 0.32 for the heterozygote (Glu487Lys), and 0.020 for the atypical Lys homozygote. Through a questionnaire, it was found that the subjects had not previously received information regarding the relationship between their genetic background and consumption of alcoholic beverages. We found that the genetic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) background to alcoholism can be easily detected by collecting fingernails, which is convenient for subjects or patients

Nominal-Predicate Sentences of Rhetorical Nature

論文Article

Target pollen isolation using automated infrared laser-mediated cell disruption

Single-cell analysis is important to understand how individual cells work and respond at the cell population level. Experimental single-cell isolation techniques, including dilution, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, microfluidics, and micromanipulation, have been developed in recent decades. However, such applications typically require large cell populations and skilled professionals. Additionally, these methods are unsuitable for sequential analysis before and after cell isolation. In this study, we propose a method for target cell isolation using automated infrared laser-mediated disruption of pollen grains in pollen populations. Germination of the target pollen was observed at the same location as that before laser irradiation, and germinated pollen grains were enriched in the cell population. Pollination of laser-irradiated bulk pollen populations also showed that the target pollen preferentially germinated on the stigma. This method is expected to facilitate physiological analyses of target cells at the single-cell level and effectively produce seeds derived from target pollen

20１１ネン カラ ２０１３ネン ノ ヤマガタケン ニ オケル ミッツ ノ コトナル イデンシガタ ノ ハイエン マイコプラズマ ノ チイキテキ ヒロガリ ト マクロライド タイセイ カブ シュツゲン ノ タイミング ニ カンスル ケントウ

Background: We previously revealed that several multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analyses（MLVA）and P1 types of Mycoplasma pneumoniae（M. pneumoniae）cocirculated between 2011 and 2013 in Yamagata, Japan. However, the regional spread of M. pneumoniae infection by genotype is not reported yet. It remains unclear whether there is a difference in the spread of macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae among genotypes. Methods: Genotypes were labeled according to 4-locus（Mpn 13, 14, 15, and 16）MLVA and P1 types. A total of 208 strains belonging to three major genotypes, i.e., type 4-5-7-2, 1; 4-5-7-3, 1; and 3-5-6-2, 2c, were analyzed by combining with the information of macrolide resistance-associated mutation and the patients’ information including residence. Results and Discussion: The three genotypes were widely distributed over more than four cities and towns in Yamagata Prefecture, cocirculating between late 2011 and early 2013, and there was little difference in the duration of their epidemics. Timing of macrolide-resistant strain appearance during the epidemic period differed between type 4-5-7-2, 1 and type 4-5-7-3, 1, and it did not appear throughout type 3-5-6-2, 2c epidemic. These genotypic differences can account for the variation in the prevalence of macrolide resistance-associated mutations in each of the studied areas

Chronic Nonspecific Jejunitis - A -

A 29-yr-old Japanese man presented with left lumbar pain. Laboratory tests were suggestive of an inflammatory disease but serological, bacteriological, and markers of auto immunity were all negative. Gastroduodenal endoscopy showed slight mucosal congestion of the gastric antrum but the duodenum showed normal villi. Colonoscopy showed no abnormalities, and small bowel enema and jejunoscopy were normal. Abdominal ultrasonography and CT scans showed wall thickening of the small intestine. At laparoscopically-assisted wedge biopsy of jejunum, focal edema was noted mainly affecting the midjejunum together with enlarged mesenteric nodes. Histopathological examination of the surgical biopsy material showed focal neutrophilic infiltration in the mucosa and submucosa without granuloma. The lymph node showed nonspecific changes with no granulomas. Although the etiology could not be identified, the patient responded well to clarythromycin treatment

Separated Transcriptomes of Male Gametophyte and Tapetum in Rice: Validity of a Laser Microdissection (LM) Microarray

In flowering plants, the male gametophyte, the pollen, develops in the anther. Complex patterns of gene expression in both the gametophytic and sporophytic tissues of the anther regulate this process. The gene expression profiles of the microspore/pollen and the sporophytic tapetum are of particular interest. In this study, a microarray technique combined with laser microdissection (44K LM-microarray) was developed and used to characterize separately the transcriptomes of the microspore/pollen and tapetum in rice. Expression profiles of 11 known tapetum specific-genes were consistent with previous reports. Based on their spatial and temporal expression patterns, 140 genes which had been previously defined as anther specific were further classified as male gametophyte specific (71 genes, 51%), tapetum-specific (seven genes, 5%) or expressed in both male gametophyte and tapetum (62 genes, 44%). These results indicate that the 44K LM-microarray is a reliable tool to analyze the gene expression profiles of two important cell types in the anther, the microspore/pollen and tapetum

Zone identification in biology articles as a basis for information extraction

Information extraction (IE) in the biomedical domain is now regarded as an essential technique for the dynamic management of factual information contained in archived journal articles and abstract collections. We aim to provide a technique serving as a basis for pin-pointing and organizing factual information related to experimental results. In this paper, we enhance the idea proposed in (Mizuta and Collier, 2004); annotating articles in terms of rhetorical zones with shallow nesting. We give a qualitative analysis of the zone identification (ZI) process in biology articles. Specifically, we illustrate the linguistic and other features of each zone based on our investigation of articles selected from four major online journals. We also discuss controversial cases and nested zones, and ZI using multiple features. In doing so, we provide a stronger theoretical and practical support for our framework toward automatic ZI.

Functional Expression of GABAB Receptors in Airway Epithelium

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system and exerts its actions via both ionotropic (GABAA) and metabotropic (GABAB) receptors. The GABAB receptor is a dimer composed of R1 and R2 components and classically couples to the heterotrimeric Gi protein. In addition to their location on neurons, GABA and functional GABAB receptors have been detected in peripheral tissue such as airway smooth muscle. We questioned whether airway epithelium expresses receptors that could respond to GABA. We detected the mRNA encoding multiple-splice variants of the GABABR1 and GABABR2 in total RNA isolated from native human and guinea pig airway epithelium and human airway epithelial cell lines (BEAS-2B and H441). Immunoblots identified the GABABR1 and GABABR2 proteins in both guinea pig airway epithelium and BEAS-2B cells. The expression of GABABR1 protein was immunohistochemically localized to basal mucin-secreting and ciliated columnar epithelial cells in guinea pig trachea. Baclofen inhibited adenylyl cyclase activity, induced ERK phosphorylation and cross-regulated phospholipase C, leading to increased inositol phosphates in BEAS-2B cells in a pertussis toxin–sensitive manner, implicating Gi protein coupling. Thus, these receptors couple to Gi and cross-regulate the phospholipase C/inositol phosphate pathway. The second messengers of these pathways, cyclic AMP and calcium, play pivotal roles in airway epithelial cell primary functions of mucus clearance. Furthermore, the enzyme that synthesizes GABA, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65/67), was also localized to airway epithelium. GABA may modulate an uncharacterized signaling cascade via GABAB receptors coupled to Gi protein in airway epithelium