Effect of various treatments on the enhancement effect of cattle saliva.

<p>(a) Denatured and dialyzed cattle saliva. Denaturation of cattle saliva: Cattle saliva was autoclaved for 13 minites at 121°C to denature proteins. After that, the saliva was centrifuged at 20,400 x <i>g</i> for 10 min. The supernatant (called ‘Autoclaved saliva’) was collected and subsequently used in experiments. Dialysis of cattle saliva: Cattle saliva was dialyzed against distilled water for 72 h at room temperture. The water was exchanged every other day. (b) Proteinase K treatment. Twenty microliters cattle saliva was mixed with 20 μL proteinase K (20 mg/mL) and the mixture was incubated at 50°C for 12 h. After the incubation, the mixture was incubated at 96°C for 10 min to denature proteinase K. This mixture was called ‘Proteinase K Saliva’ and used in the cellulose degradation assay. The concentration of cattle saliva in the reaction mixture was 5%. All experiments were performed in triplicate and average mean values were plotted. Error bars indicate ± standard deviations. Values labeled with asterisk are statistically different as established by Student's t-test (P < 0.05).</p

Addition order assay.

<p>(a) Schematic representation of the experimental design. (b) Effect on the production of reducing sugar. The amount of reducing sugar produced at each addition order experimental condition, shown schematically in (a), was measured. Simultaneous: A mixture in which cellulose, cellulase and cattle saliva were added simultaneously. Added with cellulase: Cellulase was added to a mixture containing cellulose and cattle saliva. Added with cellulose: Cellulose was added to a mixture containing cellulase and cattle saliva. Added with saliva: Cattle saliva was added to a mixture containing cellulose and cellulase. Simultaneous (25 hours): A mixture in which cellulose, cellulase and cattle saliva were added simultaneously and incubated for 25 h. Error bars indicate ± standard deviations (n = 9). Values labeled with asterisk are statistically different as established by Student's t-test (P < 0.05).</p

Effects of cattle saliva on cellulose degradation.

<p>(a) Enhancement effect of cattle saliva. Effect of cattle saliva addition on the production of reducing sugar from micro-crystalline cellulose. Reaction mixtures containing 10 μg/mL cellulase and 0.8% (wt%) cellulose were incubated in the presence or absence of 10% cattle saliva at 50°C for 24 h. Effects of (b) cellulase concentration, (c) incubation time and (d) cattle saliva concentration on reducing sugar production. In (b), concentrations of cellulase used were 0, 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 μg/mL, while the concentration of cellulose was kept same as in (a) above and the reaction mixtures were incubated at 50°C for 24 h. In <b>(c),</b> different incubation times were used (0, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h) while keeping the composition of the reaction mixture same as in (a) above. In (d), different concentrations of cattle saliva were used here: 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 10%; concentrations of cellulase and cellulose and reaction conditions were same as in (a) above. All experiments were performed in triplicate and results are expressed as average means. Error bars indicate ± standard deviations. Values labeled with asterisk are statistically different as established by Student's t-test (P < 0.05).</p

Removal of protein in cattle saliva.

<p>(a) Protein concentration in cattle saliva treated with methanol or acetone. Protein concentration was measured using Bradford protein assay. (b) Enhancement effect of cattle saliva treated with methanol or acetone. Cattle saliva treated with methanol or acetone used in the cellulose degradation assay. The reaction condition follows the basic experimental protocol. All experiments were performed in triplicate and average mean values were plotted. Error bars indicate ± standard deviations. Values labeled with asterisk are statistically different as established by Student's t-test (P < 0.05).</p

Properties of cattle saliva on real biomass degradation.

<p>Effects of (a) cellulase concentration and (b) incubation time on cellulose conversion. (a) Cellulase concentrations were 0, 10, 50, 100 and 250 μg/mL, while concentration of cattle saliva was constantly 10%. The reaction mixtures were incubated at 50°C for 24 h. (b) Different incubation times were tested (0, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h), while concentrations of cellulase and cattle saliva were constantly 50 μg/mL and 10%, respectively. The reaction mixtures were incubated at 50°C. All experiments were performed in triplicate and average mean values were plotted. Error bars indicate ± standard deviations. Values labeled with asterisk are statistically different as established by Student's t-test (P < 0.05).</p

Adsorption analysis of cattle saliva proteins.

<p>Adsorption of cattle saliva proteins to cellulose was analyzed using (a) SDS-PAGE and (b) Bradford protein assay. (a) SDS-PAGE analysis. Lane 1: Cattle saliva solution (80%). Lane 2: Supernatant, supernatant after the mixture was incubated at 50°C for an hour. Lane 3: Wash 1, supernatant of Wash buffer 1. Lane 4: Wash 2, supernatant of Wash buffer 2. Lane 5: Wash 3, supernatant of Wash buffer 3. Lane 6: Elute, eluted fraction after the cellulose pellet was mixed with 0.5% SDS and incubated at 96°C for 1 h. (b) Amount of protein in each sample used for SDS-PAGE analysis was quantified by Bradford protein assay. Error bars indicated ± deviations (n = 3).</p

Crystal structure analysis of cellulose.

<p>The crystal structure of cellulose in the presence of cattle saliva (Saliva(+)) or in the absence of cattle saliva (Saliva(-)) was analyzed by (a) X-ray diffraction and (b) FT-IR.</p

fMRI Study of Social Anxiety during Social Ostracism with and without Emotional Support

<div><p>Social anxiety is characterized by an excessive fear of being embarrassed in social interactions or social performance situations. Emotional support can help to decrease or diminish social distress. Such support may play an important role at different points of social interaction. However, it is unclear how the beneficial effects of social support are represented in the brains of socially anxious individuals. To explore this, we used the same paradigm previously used to examine the effects of emotional support on social pain caused by exclusion. Undergraduates (n = 46) showing a wide range of social anxiety scores underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participating in a Cyberball game. Participants were initially included and later excluded from the game. In the latter half of the session in which participants were excluded, they were provided with supportive messages. In line with our previous work, we found that social exclusion led to increased anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity, whereas emotional support led to increased left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activity. Despite validation of the paradigm, social anxiety was not associated with increased ACC activity during social exclusion, or during perceived emotional support. Instead, fear of negative evaluation as assessed by the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation (BFNE) scale showed positive associations with left DLPFC activation while receiving emotional support, compared to while being socially excluded. The more socially anxious an individual was, the greater was the left DLPFC activity increased during receipt of messages. This suggests that highly socially anxious people still have the ability to perceive social support, but that they are nevertheless susceptible to negative evaluation by others.</p></div

Correlation of the activation in the DLPFC between social anxiety and social distress.

<p>The left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L.DLPFC), for which significant positive correlation between changes of brain activation and BFNE scores were found (A). To illustrate the correlation between L.DLPFC activation and social anxiety, a scatter plot of the relationship between changes in blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signals in the L.DLPFC and BFNE scores during the social support condition compared to during the social exclusion condition is presented (B). To illustrate the correlation of L.DLPFC activation and subjective feelings of social distress, a scatter plot of the relationship between changes in blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal in the L.DLPFC and subjective feelings of social distress during the social support condition compared to during the social exclusion condition is presented (C). BFNE = the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale.</p

Local maxima of brain activity showing significant social exclusion and social support effects.

<p>BA, Brodmann area, Size, cluster size, T, t value of the peak activation within the cluster, Bi, bilateral, L, Left, R, Right, ACC, Anterior Cingulate Cortex, MCC, Middle Cingulate Cortex, SMA, Supplementary Motor Area. Coordinates for the peak voxel are listed as MNI coordinates.</p><p>Local maxima of brain activity showing significant social exclusion and social support effects.</p