Fast-Ion-Diagnostics for CHS Experiment

Fast-ion-diagnostics have played an important role in investigating issues related to fast ion orbits and fast-ion-driven MHD instabilities in CHS experiments. The fast-ion diagnostics employed in CHS are reviewed and experimentally obtained knowledge is summarized

肺癌におけるREG Iα遺伝子の発現は、腺癌、肩平上皮癌で異なったメカニズムにより、予後不良を示唆する。

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the REG Iα and REG Iβ genes on lung cancer cell lines, and thereafter, the expression of REG family genes (REG Iα, REG Iβ, REG III, HIP/PAP and REG IV) in lung cancer in relation to patient prognosis was evaluated. Lung adenocarcinoma (AD) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cell lines expressing REG Iα or REG Iβ (HLC-1 REG Iα/Iβ and EBC-1 REG Iα/Iβ) were established, and cell number, cell invasive activity, and anchorage-independent cell growth were compared with these variables in the control cells. The expression levels of REG family genes were evaluated by real-time RT-PCR in surgically resected lung cancers, and disease-specific survival (DSS) curves were generated. The HLC-1 REG Iα/Iβ cell line showed significant increases in cell number and anchorage-independent cell growth compared with the control cells. EBC-1 REG Iα/Iβ cells showed significant increases in cell invasive activity and anchorage-independent cell growth as compared with the control cells. Except for the REG Iβ gene, expression of other REG family genes was observed in the surgically resected samples; however, DSS was significantly worse only in stage I patients who were positive for REG Iα expression than in patients who were negative for REG Iα expression. The effects of REG Iα on AD and SCC cells were different in the in vitro study, and a correlation between REG Iα expression and patient prognosis was noted in the in vivo study. Therefore, overexpression of REG Iα is a risk factor for poor prognosis caused by discrete mechanisms in AD and SCC patients.博士（医学）・乙第1339号・平成26年5月28日本文のリンク：http://dx.doi.org/10.3892/or.2013.2739Copyright © Spandidos Publications 201

Putative Neural Network Within an Olfactory Sensory Unit for Nestmate and Non-nestmate Discrimination in the Japanese Carpenter Ant: The Ultra-structures and Mathematical Simulation

Ants are known to use a colony-specific blend of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) as a pheromone to discriminate between nestmates and non-nestmates and the CHCs were sensed in the basiconic type of antennal sensilla (S. basiconica). To investigate the functional design of this type of antennal sensilla, we observed the ultra-structures at 2D and 3D in the Japanese carpenter ant, Camponotus japonicus, using a serial block-face scanning electron microscope (SBF-SEM), and conventional and high-voltage transmission electron microscopes. Based on the serial images of 352 cross sections of SBF-SEM, we reconstructed a 3D model of the sensillum revealing that each S. basiconica houses > 100 unbranched dendritic processes, which extend from the same number of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). The dendritic processes had characteristic beaded-structures and formed a twisted bundle within the sensillum. At the “beads,” the cell membranes of the processes were closely adjacent in the interdigitated profiles, suggesting functional interactions via gap junctions (GJs). Immunohistochemistry with anti-innexin (invertebrate GJ protein) antisera revealed positive labeling in the antennae of C. japonicus. Innexin 3, one of the five antennal innexin subtypes, was detected as a dotted signal within the S. basiconica as a sensory organ for nestmate recognition. These morphological results suggest that ORNs form an electrical network via GJs between dendritic processes. We were unable to functionally certify the electric connections in an olfactory sensory unit comprising such multiple ORNs; however, with the aid of simulation of a mathematical model, we examined the putative function of this novel chemosensory information network, which possibly contributes to the distinct discrimination of colony-specific blends of CHCs or other odor detection

Recent Results from LHD Experiment with Emphasis on Relation to Theory from Experimentalist’s View

he Large Helical Device (LHD) has been extending an operational regime of net-current free plasmas towardsthe fusion relevant condition with taking advantage of a net current-free heliotron concept and employing a superconducting coil system. Heating capability has exceeded 10 MW and the central ion and electron temperatureshave reached 7 and 10 keV, respectively. The maximum value of β and pulse length have been extended to 3.2% and 150 s, respectively. Many encouraging physical findings have been obtained. Topics from recent experiments, which should be emphasized from the aspect of theoretical approaches, are reviewed. Those are (1) Prominent features in the inward shifted configuration, i.e., mitigation of an ideal interchange mode in the configuration with magnetic hill, and confinement improvement due to suppression of both anomalous and neoclassical transport, (2) Demonstration ofbifurcation of radial electric field and associated formation of an internal transport barrier, and (3) Dynamics of magnetic islands and clarification of the role of separatrix

Mycobacteria Exploit Host Hyaluronan for Efficient Extracellular Replication

In spite of the importance of hyaluronan in host protection against infectious organisms in the alveolar spaces, its role in mycobacterial infection is unknown. In a previous study, we found that mycobacteria interact with hyaluronan on lung epithelial cells. Here, we have analyzed the role of hyaluronan after mycobacterial infection was established and found that pathogenic mycobacteria can grow by utilizing hyaluronan as a carbon source. Both mouse and human possess 3 kinds of hyaluronan synthases (HAS), designated HAS1, HAS2, and HAS3. Utilizing individual HAS-transfected cells, we show that HAS1 and HAS3 but not HAS2 support growth of mycobacteria. We found that the major hyaluronan synthase expressed in the lung is HAS1, and that its expression was increased after infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Histochemical analysis demonstrated that hyaluronan profoundly accumulated in the granulomatous legion of the lungs in M. tuberculosis-infected mice and rhesus monkeys that died from tuberculosis. We detected hyaluronidase activity in the lysate of mycobacteria and showed that it was critical for hyaluronan-dependent extracellular growth. Finally, we showed that L-Ascorbic acid 6-hexadecanoate, a hyaluronidase inhibitor, suppressed growth of mycobacteria in vivo. Taken together, our data show that pathogenic mycobacteria exploit an intrinsic host-protective molecule, hyaluronan, to grow in the respiratory tract and demonstrate the potential usefulness of hyaluronidase inhibitors against mycobacterial diseases

Tetratricopeptide Repeat Protein-Associated Proteins Contribute to the Virulence of Porphyromonas gingivalis▿ †

Porphyromonas gingivalis is one of the most etiologically important microorganisms in periodontal disease. We found in a previous study that PG1385 (TprA) protein, a tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) protein, was upregulated in P. gingivalis wild-type cells placed in a mouse subcutaneous chamber and that a tprA mutant was clearly less virulent in the mouse subcutaneous abscess model (M. Yoshimura et al., Oral Microbiol. Immunol. 23:413-418, 2008). In the present study, we investigated the gene expression profile of tprA mutant cells placed in a mouse subcutaneous chamber and found that 9 genes, including PG2102 (tapA), PG2101 (tapB), and PG2100 (tapC) genes, were downregulated in the tprA mutant compared with those in the wild type. Expression of a cluster of tapA, tapB, and tapC genes of the mutant was also downregulated in an in vitro culture with enriched brain heart infusion medium. The TprA protein has three TPR motifs known as a protein-protein interaction module. Yeast two-hybrid system analysis and in vitro protein binding assays with immunoprecipitation and surface plasmon resonance detection revealed that the TprA protein could bind to TapA and TapB proteins. TprA and TapB proteins were located in the periplasmic space, whereas TapA, which appeared to be one of the C-terminal domain family proteins, was located at the outer membrane. We constructed tapA, tapB, and tapC single mutants and a tapA-tapB-tapC deletion mutant. In the mouse subcutaneous infection experiment, all of the mutants were less virulent than the wild type. These results suggest that TprA, TapA, TapB, and TapC are cooperatively involved in P. gingivalis virulence