Rab8a and Rab8b are essential for several apical transport pathways but insufficient for ciliogenesis

The small GTP-binding protein Rab8 is known to play an essential role in intracellular transport and cilia formation. We have previously demonstrated that Rab8a is required for localising apical markers in various organisms. Rab8a has a closely related isoform, Rab8b. To determine whether Rab8b can compensate for Rab8a, we generated Rab8b-knockout mice. Although the Rab8b-knockout mice did not display an overt phenotype, Rab8a and Rab8b double-knockout mice exhibited mislocalisation of apical markers and died earlier than Rab8a-knockout mice. The apical markers accumulated in three intracellular patterns in the double-knockout mice. However, the localisation of basolateral and/or dendritic markers of the double-knockout mice seemed normal. The morphology and the length of various primary and/or motile cilia, and the frequency of ciliated cells appeared to be identical in control and double-knockout mice. However, an additional knockdown of Rab10 in double-knockout cells greatly reduced the percentage of ciliated cells. Our results highlight the compensatory effect of Rab8a and Rab8b in apical transport, and the complexity of the apical transport process. In addition, neither Rab8a nor Rab8b are required for basolateral and/or dendritic transport. However, simultaneous loss of Rab8a and Rab8b has little effect on ciliogenesis, whereas additional loss of Rab10 greatly affects ciliogenesis

Charge-Transfer Excitations in One-Dimensional Dimerized Mott Insulators

We investigate the optical properties of one-dimensional (1D) dimerized Mott insulators using the 1D dimerized extended Hubbard model. Numerical calculations and a perturbative analysis from the decoupled-dimer limit clarify that there are three relevant classes of charge-transfer (CT) states generated by photoexcitation: interdimer CT unbound states, interdimer CT exciton states, and intradimer CT exciton states. This classification is applied to understanding the optical properties of an organic molecular material, 1,3,5-trithia-2,4,6-triazapentalenyl (TTTA), which is known for its photoinduced transition from the dimerized spin-singlet phase to the regular paramagnetic phase. We conclude that the lowest photoexcited state of TTTA is the interdimer CT exciton state and the second lowest state is the intradimer CT exciton state.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Photoinduced Structural Phase Transitions in Polyacene

There exist two types of structural instability in polyacene: double bonds in a cis pattern and those in a trans pattern. They are isoenergetic but spectroscopically distinct. We demonstrate optical characterization and manipulation of Peierls-distorted polyacene employing both correlated and uncorrelated Hamiltonians. We clarify the phase boundaries of the cis- and trans-distorted isomers, elucidate their optical-conductivity spectra, and then explore their photoresponses. There occurs a photoinduced transformation in the polyacene structure, but it is one-way switching: The trans configuration is well convertible into the cis one, whereas the reverse conversion is much less feasible. Even the weakest light irradiation can cause a transition of uncorrelated electrons, while correlated electrons have a transition threshold against light irradiation.Comment: 14 pages with 15 figures embedde

Density of Neutral Solitons in Weakly Disordered Peierls Chains

We study the effects of weak off-diagonal disorder on Peierls systems with a doubly degenerate ground state. We show that for these systems disorder in the electron hopping amplitudes induces a finite density of solitons in the minimal-energy lattice configuration of a single chain. These disorder-induced dimerization kinks are neutral and have spin 1/2. Using a continuum model for the Peierls chain and treating the lattice classically, we analytically calculate the average free energy and density of kinks. We compare these results to numerical calculations for a discrete model and discuss the implications of the kinks for the optical and magnetic properties of the conjugated polymer trans-polyacetylene.Comment: 28 pages, revtex, 5 Postscript figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Topological (Sliced) Doping of a 3D Peierls System: Predicted Structure of Doped BaBiO3

At hole concentrations below x=0.4, Ba_(1-x)K_xBiO_3 is non-metallic. At x=0, pure BaBiO3 is a Peierls insulator. Very dilute holes create bipolaronic point defects in the Peierls order parameter. Here we find that the Rice-Sneddon version of Peierls theory predicts that more concentrated holes should form stacking faults (two-dimensional topological defects, called slices) in the Peierls order parameter. However, the long-range Coulomb interaction, left out of the Rice-Sneddon model, destabilizes slices in favor of point bipolarons at low concentrations, leaving a window near 30% doping where the sliced state is marginally stable.Comment: 6 pages with 5 embedded postscript figure

Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions: the importance of changing cell state in development and disease

The events that convert adherent epithelial cells into individual migratory cells that can invade the extracellular matrix are known collectively as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Throughout evolution, the capacity of cells to switch between these two cellular states has been fundamental in the generation of complex body patterns. Here, we review the EMT events that build the embryo and further discuss two prototypical processes governed by EMT in amniotes: gastrulation and neural crest formation. Cells undergo EMT to migrate and colonize distant territories. Not surprisingly, this is also the mechanism used by cancer cells to disperse throughout the body

Soliton excitations in halogen-bridged mixed-valence binuclear metal complexes

Motivated by recent stimulative observations in halogen (X)-bridged binuclear transition-metal (M) complexes, which are referred to as MMX chains, we study solitons in a one-dimensional three-quarter-filled charge-density-wave system with both intrasite and intersite electron-lattice couplings. Two distinct ground states of MMX chains are reproduced and the soliton excitations on them are compared. In the weak-coupling region, all the solitons are degenerate to each other and are uniquely scaled by the band gap, whereas in the strong-coupling region, they behave differently deviating from the scenario in the continuum limit. The soliton masses are calculated and compared with those for conventional mononuclear MX chains.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures embedded, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 71, No. 1 (2002

Molecular cloning and transcriptional activity of a new Petunia calreticulin gene involved in pistil transmitting tract maturation, progamic phase, and double fertilization

Calreticulin (CRT) is a highly conserved and ubiquitously expressed Ca2+-binding protein in multicellular eukaryotes. As an endoplasmic reticulum-resident protein, CRT plays a key role in many cellular processes including Ca2+ storage and release, protein synthesis, and molecular chaperoning in both animals and plants. CRT has long been suggested to play a role in plant sexual reproduction. To begin to address this possibility, we cloned and characterized the full-length cDNA of a new CRT gene (PhCRT) from Petunia. The deduced amino acid sequence of PhCRT shares homology with other known plant CRTs, and phylogenetic analysis indicates that the PhCRT cDNA clone belongs to the CRT1/CRT2 subclass. Northern blot analysis and fluorescent in situ hybridization were used to assess PhCRT gene expression in different parts of the pistil before pollination, during subsequent stages of the progamic phase, and at fertilization. The highest level of PhCRT mRNA was detected in the stigma–style part of the unpollinated pistil 1 day before anthesis and during the early stage of the progamic phase, when pollen is germinated and tubes outgrow on the stigma. In the ovary, PhCRT mRNA was most abundant after pollination and reached maximum at the late stage of the progamic phase, when pollen tubes grow into the ovules and fertilization occurs. PhCRT mRNA transcripts were seen to accumulate predominantly in transmitting tract cells of maturing and receptive stigma, in germinated pollen/growing tubes, and at the micropylar region of the ovule, where the female gametophyte is located. From these results, we suggest that PhCRT gene expression is up-regulated during secretory activity of the pistil transmitting tract cells, pollen germination and outgrowth of the tubes, and then during gamete fusion and early embryogenesis