Cellular Polyamine Catalogues of the Five Classes of the PhylumProteobacteria: Distributions of Homospermidine within the ClassAlphaproteobacteria, Hydroxyputrescine within the ClassBetaproteobacteria, Norspermidine within the ClassGammaproteobacteria, and Spermine within the ClassesDeltaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria

Cellular polyamines extracted from reclassified or newly validated 47 alphaproteobacteria, 46 betaproteobacteria, 96 gammaproteobacteria, 12 deltaproteobacteria and 10 epsilonproteobacteria were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Homospermidine was widely distributed within the class Alphaproteobacteria, however, homospermidine-dominant type, spermidine-dominant type and homospermidine/spermidinedominant type were found and the three triamine profiles were genus-specific. The all genera belonging to the class Betaproteobacteria, ubiquitously contained putrescine and 2- hydroxyputrescine. Triamines were absent in almost betaproteobacteria. Many genera, including psychrophilic species, of the class Gammaproteobacteria, contained putrescine and spermidine as the major polyaminenes. Diaminopropane and norspermidine were selectively distributed in several genera of the class Gammaproteobacteria. Spermidine was the major polyamine in the classes Deltaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria. Spermine was found in some thermophiles within Betaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobacteria, suggesting that the occurrence of spermine correlate to their thermophily. Additional these polyamine catalogues serve for the classification of the phylum Proteobacteria, as a chemotaxonomic marker

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of primary ocular adnexal MALT lymphoma

BACKGROUND: It remains unknown whether primary ocular adnexal extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma) is a homogeneous entity, as there are few reports of the results of cytogenetic or molecular analyses of these tumors. METHODS: We performed interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis to detect translocations and aneuploidy in 34 cases of primary ocular adnexal MALT lymphoma, and reviewed the histopathological findings. Correlations between the results of FISH analysis, the histopathological features and the clinical data were also analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 34 cases, FISH analysis revealed t(14;18)(q32;q21) in one case, trisomy 3 in 21 cases (62%), and trisomy 18 in 16 cases (47%). The cases with trisomy 18 had significantly more prominent lymphoepithelial lesions (LELs) and less nodularity in the tumors. In regard to the clinical correlations, tumors with trisomy 18 were observed predominantly in females and younger patients; also, in the majority of the cases, the tumor was of conjunctival origin. All the cases with recurrence showed trisomy 18 in the tumor. CONCLUSION: Primary ocular adnexal MALT lymphoma is a significantly heterogeneous entity. Cases with trisomy 18 may have unique clinicopathological features

ピルビンサン ダッスイソ コウソ フクゴウタイ イジョウショウ ジョジ カンジャ ノ イデンシ シンダン システム ノ カクリツ

Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex deficiency is one of the important causes of congenital lactic acidemia and mostly due to defect in the α subunit of PDH (E1α), of which gene is located on the X chromosome. The diagnosis of the PDH E1α deficiency is usually established by the measurement of the PDH complex activity in cultured cells. However, some female patients, who are heterozygous for the mutant allele, cannot be diagnosed only by the assay of PDH complex activity, because of the skewed X-chromosome inactivation in cultured cells. Then, we established DNA diagnostic system for PDH E1α deficiency using X inactivation assay, no RI PCR-SSCP, and direct sequencing. With this DNA diagnostic system we could diagnose 4 female patients as PDH E1α deficiency from 14 female patients who were suspected PDH complex deficiency from the clinical features and concentrations of lactate and pyruvate in the blood but showed normal PDH complex activity in their cultured cells. These results indicate that this DNA diagnostic system for PDH E1 αdeficiency is very useful

Controlling factors of large-scale harmful algal blooms with Karenia selliformis after record-breaking marine heatwaves

Unprecedented, large-scale harmful algal blooms (HABs) dominated by Karenia selliformis occurred off the southeastern coast of Hokkaido, Japan, from late September to early November 2021, about a month after intense and extensive marine heatwaves (MHWs) had subsided. The aims of the present study were to understand the mechanism of development, maintenance, and decay of the HABs as well as to investigate the effect of the MHWs on the HABs. We developed a one-dimensional, lower trophic-level ecosystem model (NEMURO+) to simulate the HABs. The model successfully simulated the 2021 HABs and indicated that their development, maintenance, and decay were controlled primarily by changes of water temperature. Nitrate supply from subsurface layers by seasonal vertical diffusion in autumn also helped to maintain the HABs. Vertical diffusion following MHWs in 2021 contributed to the long duration of the preferred temperature for K. selliformis and the occurrence of pre-bloom of K. selliformis, resulting in preconditioning and accelerating the HABs. However, simulations for normal years (i.e., the climatological mean during 2003–2018) showed that HABs could have occurred, even in the absence of MHWs. The simulations indicated that massive blooms of other phytoplankton species (e.g., diatoms) would not have occurred in 2021, even in the absence of a K. selliformis bloom. The implication was that the HABs in 2021 were the species-specific responses of K. selliformis. The proposed mechanism of the HABs was peculiar to our study area and differed from that previously reported for other K. selliformis blooms. Specifically, the preferred temperature for the HABs of K. selliformis was clearly lower than the previously reported preferred temperature of K. selliformis; thus, the physiological characteristics of the K. selliformis that bloomed in our study area differed from those of other K. selliformis strains. These discoveries provide the first evidence to explain how MHWs affect HABs, and to understand how inter-regional dissimilarities of K. selliformis can lead to large-scale, devastating outbreaks under different oceanographic conditions

Intravenous dosing of tocilizumab in patients younger than two years of age with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis

The anti-interleukin-6 receptor-alpha antibody tocilizumab was approved for intravenous (IV) injection in the treatment of patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) aged 2 to 17 years based on results of a randomized controlled phase 3 trial. Tocilizumab treatment in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) patients younger than 2 was investigated in this open-label phase 1 trial and compared with data from the previous trial in patients aged 2 to 17 years.Patients younger than 2 received open-label tocilizumab 12 mg/kg IV every 2 weeks (Q2W) during a 12-week main evaluation period and an optional extension period. The primary end point was comparability of pharmacokinetics during the main evaluation period to that of the previous trial (in patients aged 2-17 years), and the secondary end point was safety; pharmacodynamics and efficacy end points were exploratory. Descriptive comparisons for pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety, and efficacy were made with sJIA patients aged 2 to 17 years weighing < 30 kg (n = 38) who received tocilizumab 12 mg/kg IV Q2W in the previous trial (control group).Eleven patients (mean age, 1.3 years) received tocilizumab during the main evaluation period. The primary end point was met: tocilizumab exposures for patients younger than 2 were within the range of the control group (mean [±SD] μg/mL concentration at the end-of-dosing interval [Cmin]: 39.8 [±14.3] vs 57.5 [±23.3]; maximum concentration [Cmax] postdose: 288 [±40.4] vs 245 [±57.2]). At week 12, pharmacodynamic measures were similar between patients younger than 2 and the control group; mean change from baseline in Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score-71 was - 17.4 in patients younger than 2 and - 28.8 in the control group; rash was reported by 14.3 and 13.5% of patients, respectively. Safety was comparable except for the incidence of serious hypersensitivity reactions (27.3% in patients younger than 2 vs 2.6% in the control group).Tocilizumab 12 mg/kg IV Q2W provided pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and efficacy in sJIA patients younger than 2 comparable to those in patients aged 2 to 17 years. Safety was comparable except for a higher incidence of serious hypersensitivity events in patients younger than 2 years.Juvenile idiopathic arthritis.ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01455701 . Registered, October 20, 2011, Date of enrollment of first participant: October 26, 2012

日本，台湾およびフィリピンにおけるハママンネングサ(ベンケイソウ科) の分子系統解析を用いた分類学的再検討

We conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses of plants treated as Sedum alfredii or S. formosanum collected from Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines (Batan Island) with other 19 Sedum species primarily in East Asia using the internal transcribed spacer region of nuclear DNA to reexamine the taxonomic status of S. formosanum. Our results indicate that 15 plants treated as S. alfredii or S. formosanum included a clade with two Taiwanese endemic species, but were not sister to S. alfredii from Guangdong, China. In conclusion, this study supports the taxonomic treatment of Hatusima (1975), Ohba (1984, 2001), and Tang and Huang (1993) of S. formosanum as a separate species from S. alfredii.日本，台湾およびフィリピンに分布が知られているハママンネングサの分類に関しては，中国を基準産地とする Sedum alfrediiとする見解 （Liu and Chung 1977; 島袋1997） とS. alfredii とは独立した S. formosanum とする見解 （初島1975; Ohba 1984, 2001; Tang and Huang 1993） の2つがある。本研究ではハママンネングサの分類見解を再検討するため，東アジアに産するマンネングサ属他種19種を含めた核 DNAの ITS 領域を用いた分子系統解析 （ベイズ法と最節約法） を行った。解析の結果，日本 （九州・琉球列島），台湾およびフィリピンから採集したハママンネングサは中国から採集したS. alfredii と同じクレードにはまとまらず，台湾に固有のマンネングサ属2種とクレードを形成した。以上の結果から，ハママンネングサをS. alfrediiから独立した S. formosanumとする見解 （ 初島1975; Ohba 1984, 2001; Tang and Huang 1993）が支持された

OAZ-t/OAZ3 Is Essential for Rigid Connection of Sperm Tails to Heads in Mouse

Polyamines are known to play important roles in the proliferation and differentiation of many types of cells. Although considerable amounts of polyamines are synthesized and stored in the testes, their roles remain unknown. Ornithine decarboxylase antizymes (OAZs) control the intracellular concentration of polyamines in a feedback manner. OAZ1 and OAZ2 are expressed ubiquitously, whereas OAZ-t/OAZ3 is expressed specifically in germline cells during spermiogenesis. OAZ-t reportedly binds to ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and inactivates ODC activity. In a prior study, polyamines were capable of inducing a frameshift at the frameshift sequence of OAZ-t mRNA, resulting in the translation of OAZ-t. To investigate the physiological role of OAZ-t, we generated OAZ-t–disrupted mutant mice. Homozygous OAZ-t mutant males were infertile, although the polyamine concentrations of epididymides and testes were normal in these mice, and females were fertile. Sperm were successfully recovered from the epididymides of the mutant mice, but the heads and tails of the sperm cells were easily separated in culture medium during incubation. Results indicated that OAZ-t is essential for the formation of a rigid junction between the head and tail during spermatogenesis. The detached tails and heads were alive, and most of the headless tails showed straight forward movement. Although the tailless sperm failed to acrosome-react, the heads were capable of fertilizing eggs via intracytoplasmic sperm injection. OAZ-t likely plays a key role in haploid germ cell differentiation via the local concentration of polyamines