Experimental studies of tumor immunotherapy. I. Macrophage migration inhibitory activity as an immunological parameter

The macrophage migration inhibition activity [MI activity) was stable in sensitized lymphocyte-to-marcophage ratios of 1:5 to 1:20 in mice. Antigen protein concentrations under 100 mug/ml did not induce nonspecific macrophage migration inhibition. Inhibition of tumor proliferation and survival was observed after a combined injection of BCG and MH-134 cells. After a single injection of MH-134 tumor cells, MI activity was reinforced and prolonged, demonstrating the clear effects of BCG as adjuvant. In DDS mice MI activity was weakened in the regional lymph node after a subcutaneous injection of just above or below 10(5) Ehrlich cancer cells previously treated with mitomycin C. This finding suggests the presence of an optimal tumor antigen concentration.</p

Experimental studies of tumor immunotherapy. II. Tumor immunotherapy following tumor extirpation

In order to approach human cancer immunotherapy, the author carried out the immunotherapy with BCG on mice having homotransplanted cancer, observed the posttransplantation results with lapse of time, conduced daily macrophage inhibition test (MI test) and found the immunotherapy to be effective. At the same time the MI test proved to be a useful criterion in determining the course of cancer progress and effectiveness of the immunotherapy.</p

Two-step regulation of trachealess ensures tight coupling of cell fate with morphogenesis in the Drosophila trachea

動物の発生において形と機能を調和させる仕組みを発見 --形の変化が細胞分化を方向づける--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2019-08-28.During organogenesis, inductive signals cause cell differentiation and morphogenesis. However, how these phenomena are coordinated to form functional organs is poorly understood. Here, we show that cell differentiation of the Drosophila trachea is sequentially determined in two steps and that the second step is synchronous with the invagination of the epithelial sheet. The master gene trachealess is dispensable for the initiation of invagination, while it is essential for maintaining the invaginated structure, suggesting that tracheal morphogenesis and differentiation are separately induced. trachealess expression starts in bipotential tracheal/epidermal placode cells. After invagination, its expression is maintained in the invaginated cells but is extinguished in the remaining sheet cells. A trachealess cis-regulatory module that shows both tracheal enhancer activity and silencer activity in the surface epidermal sheet was identified. We propose that the coupling of trachealess expression with the invaginated structure ensures that only invaginated cells canalize robustly into the tracheal fate

Tissue-specific laminin expression facilitates integrin-dependent association of the embryonic wing disc with the trachea in Drosophila

AbstractThe interaction of heterologous tissues involves cell adhesion mediated by the extracellular matrix and its receptor integrins. The Drosophila wing disc is an ectodermal invagination that contacts specific tracheal branches at the basolateral cell surface. We show that an α subunit of laminin, encoded by wing blister (wb), is essential for the establishment of the interaction between the wing and trachea. During embryogenesis, wing disc cells present Wb at their basolateral surface and extend posteriorly, expanding their association to more posteriorly located tracheal branches. These migratory processes are impaired in the absence of the trachea, Wb, or integrins. Time-lapse and transmission electron microscopy analyses suggest that Wb facilitates integrin-dependent contact over a large surface and controls the cellular behavior of the wing cells, including their exploratory filopodial activity. Our data identify Wb laminin as an extracellular matrix ligand that is essential for integrin-dependent cellular migration in Drosophila

Estimation of the frequency of the recessive gene of acatalasemia in Japan

The frequency of recessive gene, heterozygotes and homozygotes in Japanese acatalasemia were estimated as 0.0038, 7.5 X 10-3 and 3.0 X 10-5 by DAHLBERG'S formula, and estimated as 0.00087, 1.73 xl 0-3 and 4.23 X 10-6 by KIMURA'S formula. The frequency of recessive gene was calcu. lated from the frequency of hypocatalasemia obtained by the screening method as 0.00083, and it was almost identical with that calculated 1:'&#62;y KIMURA'S formula. The number of acatalasemia was estimated as about 423 by KIMURA'S formula.</p

Sustained Elongation of Sperm Tail Promoted by Local Remodeling of Giant Mitochondria in Drosophila

SummaryBackgroundSperm length in Drosophilidae varies from a few hundred microns to 6 cm as a result of evolutionary selection. In postcopulatory competition, longer sperm have an advantage in positioning their head closer to the egg. Sperm cell elongation can proceed in the absence of an axoneme, suggesting that a mechanism besides intraflagellar transport emerged to sustain it.ResultsHere we report that sperm elongation in Drosophila melanogaster is driven by the interdependent extension of giant mitochondria and microtubule array that is formed around the mitochondrial surface. In primary cultures of elongating spermatids, we demonstrated that the mitochondrial integrity and local dynamics of microtubules at the tail tip region are essential for uniaxial elongation of the sperm tail. Mitochondria-microtubule linker protein Milton accumulated on mitochondria near the tail tip and is required for the sliding movement of microtubules. Disruption of Milton and its associated protein dMiro, and of potential microtubule crosslinkers Nebbish and Fascetto, caused strong elongation defects, indicating that mitochondria-microtubule association and microtubule crosslinking are required for spermatid tail elongation.ConclusionsMitochondria play unexpected roles in sperm tail elongation in Drosophila by providing a structural platform for microtubule reorganization to support the robust elongation taking place at the tip of the very long sperm tail. The identification of mitochondria as an organizer of cytoskeletal dynamics extends our understanding of mechanisms of cell morphogenesis

Epidemiological studies on subacute myelo-optico-neuropathy with abdominal symptoms (SMON) in epidemic area of Okayama Prefecture, Japan. XI. Epidemiological studies on SMON

Epidemiological study on the prevalence of SMON III Ibara City, Yoshii Town and Yubara Town in Okayama Prefecture was conducted and the following results were obtained. &#34;Epidemization precession&#34; (Die Prazession der Durchseuchung), described by Rudder which shows that ages common to this disease is shifting to younger generation as incidence rate increases, in the endemic regions was recognized in Ibara City and Yubara Town. The mode of the distribution of the interval between the primary and secondary patients in a family suggests that it corresponds to the incubation period. Distribution of the patients to the size of family is not adaptable to binomial model, but adaptable to chain binomial model, and the intra-household transmitted rate is 5 per cent, and the true intra-household transmitted rate is about two times as high as extra-household transmitted rate by the modified chain binomial model. Intra-hospital incidence among SMON patients and non-SMON patients as well as medical workers were observed at the time when the number of new patients increased in a hospital. In SMON patients, the rate of appendectomized ones was higher than that of non-SMON patients, suggesting that gastrointestinal tract has some relationship to the development of SMON disease.</p

The significance and issues of literary argumentation through US argumentative writing education: An argumentative writing project at Ohio State University

This study reviews the Argumentative Writing Project (AWP) at Ohio State University and dialogic literary argumentation (DLA), which is embedded in the AWP to reveal the relationship between argumentation and literary education in the US. The AWP underscores three argumentative epistemologies (structural, ideational, and social processes), and three kinds of instructional chains (integrated, episodic, and collection). According to DLA, the teacher’s epistemology moves the structural epistemology to the social process, and instruction is put together via the integrated instructional chain. In addition, the foundational principles of DLA state that students should acquire argumentation skills and embrace conflict between themselves and their peers, who may have differences of opinion or different reasoning, by exploring personhood in DLA. This overview suggests that the AWP/DLA helps to build literary argumentation, with an awareness of the diverse skills that have been highlighted in recent years in Japan

Enhanced ionic conductivity through crystallization of glass-Li3_3PS4_4 by machine learning molecular dynamics simulations

Understanding the atomistic mechanism of ion conduction in solid electrolytes is critical for the advancement of all-solid-state batteries. Glass-ceramics, which undergo crystallization from a glass state, frequently exhibit unique properties including enhanced ionic conductivities compared to both the original crystalline and glass forms. Despite these distinctive features, specific details regarding the behavior of ion conduction in glass-ceramics, particularly concerning conduction pathways, remain elusive. In this study, we demonstrate the crystallization process of glass-Li$_3$PS$_4$ through molecular dynamics simulations employing machine learning interatomic potentials constructed from first principles calculation data. Our analyses of Li conduction using the obtained partially crystallized structures reveal that the diffusion barriers of Li decrease as the crystallinity in Li$_3$PS$_4$ glass-ceramics increases. Furthermore, Li displacements predominantly occur in the precipitated crystalline portion, suggesting that percolation conduction plays a significant role in enhanced Li conduction. These findings provide valuable insights for the future utilization of glass-ceramic materials