Effects of Lipid Peroxidation-Derived Products on the Growth of Human Colorectal Cancer Cell Line HT-29

Epidemiologic investigations indicate a close relationship between colorectal cancer and fat intake. However, to date the effects of lipid peroxidation-derived products that are formed from fat (especially free or esterified unsaturated fatty acids) on the initiation or progression of colorectal cancer have not been investigated extensively. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the effects of fatty acids, fatty acid hydroperoxides and aldehydes on the growth of human colorectal cancer cell line HT-29. At concentrations of 1 and 10 µM, linoleic, arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids, and 13-hydroperoxyoctadecadienoic and 15-hydroperoxyeicosapentaenoic acids had no significant effects on the growth of HT-29 cells. 4-Hydroxynonenal and 4-hydroxyhexenal had no significant effects on the growth of HT-29 cells up to 10 µM, whereas 4-oxononenal potently inhibited HT-29 cell growth (1–10 µM, 16–85% inhibition). Further experiments concerning DNA fragmentation, expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 mRNA, expression levels of pro-caspase-3 and caspase-3 proteins, and activity of caspase-3 suggested that 4-oxononenal may increase the sensitivity of HT-29 cells to apoptosis through a decreased expression level of Bcl-2 and then increased formation of caspase-3 from pro-caspase-3

チョウセン ノ シュッパン ブンカ

東洋文化講座「大陸から目白へ : 学習院の東アジア学資料」講演

Report on the method for determining the location of the polar vortex boundary region

To determine the boundary region of the polar vortex objectively using the PV distribution on isentropic surfaces, the equivalent latitude(Eql) of the polar vortex boundary was calculated using a slightly modified form of the technique of E.R. Nash et al.(J. Geophys. Res., 101D, 9471, 1996). Using the NCEP/NCAR reanal- ysis data, the Eql of the polar vortex boundary region in the winter of 1999/2000 was calculated, and compared with the ozone mixing ratio in the lower stratosphere over Eureka observatory(80°N , 86°W ). The results indicate that this method determines the boundary region of the polar vortex well

Portable Electrochemical Sensing System Attached to Smartphones and Its Incorporation with Paper-based Electrochemical Glucose Sensor

This paper described the development of a small and low cost biosensor consisting of a smartphone-based electrochemical biosensor device and a paper-based biosensor. The device harvested power from the smartphone and transferred data through audio jack. We designed CMOS circuits including a power supply circuit, a potentiostat, and a ΔΣ modulator. The fabrication of a paper-based biosensor was simple: the three electrodes were directly drawn on chromatography paper using a carbon pencil. The paper-based biosensor was low cost, disposable, portable and friendly to the environment. The sensing system was designed to perform the chronoamperometry measurement, and the glucose concentration in a liquid specimen was detected. Results showed that the sensing system was capable of measuring the glucose concentration as precisely as expensive equipments

Deficiency of the basic helix‐loop‐helix transcription factor DEC1 prevents obesity induced by a high‐fat diet in mice

Obesity is a major public health problem in developed countries resulting from increased food intake and decreased energy consumption and usually associated with abnormal lipid metabolism. Here, we show that DEC1, a basic helix‐loop‐helix transcription factor, plays an important role in the regulation of lipid consumption in mouse brown adipose tissue (BAT), which is the major site of thermogenesis. Homozygous Dec1 deletion attenuated high‐fat‐diet‐induced obesity, adipocyte hypertrophy, fat volume and hepatic steatosis. Furthermore, DEC1 deficiency increased body temperature during daytime and enhanced the expression of uncoupler protein 1, a key factor of thermogenesis, and various lipolysis‐related genes in interscapular BAT. In vitro experiments suggested that DEC1 suppresses the expression of various lipolysis‐related genes induced by the heterodimer of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ and retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) through direct binding to RXRα. These observations suggest that enhanced lipolysis in BAT caused by DEC1 deficiency leads to an increase in lipid consumption, thereby decreasing lipid accumulation in adipose tissues and the liver. Thus, DEC1 may serve as an energy‐saving factor that suppresses lipid consumption, which may be relevant to managing obesity.This work was supported by Grants‐in‐Aid for Science from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant numbers 22590223 and 2339042351)

Comparison of severity classification in Japanese patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis in a nationwide, prospective, inception cohort study

OBJECTIVE: To compare disease severity classification systems for six-month outcome prediction in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). METHODS: Patients with newly diagnosed AAV from 53 tertiary institutions were enrolled. Six-month remission, overall survival, and end-stage renal disease (ESRD)-free survival were evaluated. RESULTS: According to the European Vasculitis Study Group (EUVAS)-defined disease severity, the 321 enrolled patients were classified as follows: 14, localized; 71, early systemic; 170, generalized; and 66, severe disease. According to the rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) clinical grading system, the patients were divided as follows: 60, grade I; 178, grade II; 66, grade III; and 12, grade IV. According to the Five-Factor Score (FFS) 2009, 103, 109, and 109 patients had ≤1, 2, and ≥3 points, respectively. No significant difference in remission rates was found in any severity classification. The overall and ESRD-free survival rates significantly differed between grades I/II, III, and IV, regardless of renal involvement. Severe disease was a good predictor of six-month overall and ESRD-free survival. The FFS 2009 was useful to predict six-month ESRD-free survival but not overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: The RPGN grading system was more useful to predict six-month overall and ESRD-free survival than the EUVAS-defined severity or FFS 2009