心臓線維芽細胞と骨髄前駆細胞におけるSmooth muscle protein 22α‐Cre組み替えの検討

京都大学新制・課程博士博士(医学)甲第24782号医博第4974号新制||医||1066(附属図書館)京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻(主査)教授 濵﨑 洋子, 教授 湊谷 謙司, 教授 斎藤 通紀学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of Medical ScienceKyoto UniversityDFA

Smooth muscle protein 22α-Cre recombination in resting cardiac fibroblasts and hematopoietic precursors.

The Cre-loxP system has been widely used for cell- or organ-specific gene manipulation, but it is important to precisely understand what kind of cells the recombination takes place in. Smooth muscle 22α (SM22α)-Cre mice have been utilized to alter genes in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), activated fibroblasts or cardiomyocytes (CMs). Moreover, previous reports indicated that SM22α-Cre is expressed in adipocytes, platelets or myeloid cells. However, there have been no report of whether SM22α-Cre recombination takes place in nonCMs in hearts. Thus, we used the double-fluorescent Cre reporter mouse in which GFP is expressed when recombination occurs. Immunofluorescence analysis demonstrated that recombination occurred in resting cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) or macrophages, as well as VSMCs and CMs. Flow cytometry showed that some CFs, resident macrophages, neutrophils, T cells, and B cells were positive for GFP. These results prompted us to analyze bone marrow cells, and we observed GFP-positive hematopoietic precursor cells (HPCs). Taken together, these results indicated that SM22α-Cre-mediated recombination occurs in resting CFs and hematopoietic cell lineages, including HPCs, which is a cautionary point when using SM22α-Cre mice

Fermi surface with Dirac fermions in CaFeAsF determined via quantum oscillation measurements

Despite the fact that 1111-type iron arsenides hold the record transition temperature of iron-based superconductors, their electronic structures have not been studied much because of the lack of high-quality single crystals. In this study, we completely determine the Fermi surface in the antiferromagnetic state of CaFeAsF, a 1111 iron-arsenide parent compound, by performing quantum oscillation measurements and band-structure calculations. The determined Fermi surface consists of a symmetry-related pair of Dirac electron cylinders and a normal hole cylinder. From analyses of quantum-oscillation phases, we demonstrate that the electron cylinders carry a nontrivial Berry phase $\pi$. The carrier density is of the order of 10$^{-3}$ per Fe. This unusual metallic state with the extremely small carrier density is a consequence of the previously discussed topological feature of the band structure which prevents the antiferromagnetic gap from being a full gap. We also report a nearly linear-in-$B$ magnetoresistance and an anomalous resistivity increase above about 30 T for $B \parallel c$, the latter of which is likely related to the quantum limit of the electron orbit. Intriguingly, the electrical resistivity exhibits a nonmetallic temperature dependence in the paramagnetic tetragonal phase ($T >$ 118 K), which may suggest an incoherent state. Our study provides a detailed knowledge of the Fermi surface in the antiferromagnetic state of 1111 parent compounds and moreover opens up a new possibility to explore Dirac-fermion physics in those compounds.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Rab13 Is Involved in the Entry Step of Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Membrane transport probably participates in the lifecycle of hepatitis C virus (HCV). Rab proteins are essential host factors for HCV RNA replication, but these proteins’ roles in other steps of the HCV lifecycle are not clear. The tight junction (TJ) plays a key role in HCV infection. Rab13 regulates the endocytic recycling of the TJ-associated proteins. Here we investigated whether Rab13 is involved in the HCV entry step. We used HuH-7-derived RSc cells and Li23-derived D7 cells. To evaluate the effect of Rab13 in HCV infection, we transfected the cells with siRNA targeting Rab13 before HCV infection. The down-regulation of Rab13 inhibited HCV infection. The D7 cells had showed a greater inhibitory effect against HCV infection compared to that in the RSc cells by Rab13 knockdown. Next, to evaluate the effect of Rab13 after infection, we inoculated the cells with HCV before transfection of the siRNA. The down-regulation of Rab13 did not show any effects after HCV infection. We further examined whether Rab13 would influence HCV RNA replication by using HCV replicon-harboring cells. The results revealed that Rab13 did not affect the step of HCV RNA replication. These results suggest that Rab13 plays an important role in the step of HCV entry

Baryon interactions from lattice QCD with physical quark masses -- Nuclear forces and ΞΞ\Xi\Xi forces --

We present the latest lattice QCD results for baryon interactions obtained at nearly physical quark masses. $N_f = 2+1$ nonperturbatively ${\cal O}(a)$-improved Wilson quark action with stout smearing and Iwasaki gauge action are employed on the lattice of (96a)^4 \simeq (8.1\mbox{fm})^4 with $a^{-1} \simeq 2.3$ GeV, where $m_\pi \simeq 146$ MeV and $m_K \simeq 525$ MeV. In this report, we study the two-nucleon systems and two-$\Xi$ systems in $^1S_0$ channel and $^3S_1$-$^3D_1$ coupled channel, and extract central and tensor interactions by the HAL QCD method. We also present the results for the $N\Omega$ interaction in $^5S_2$ channel which is relevant to the $N\Omega$ pair-momentum correlation in heavy-ion collision experiments.Comment: Talk given at 35th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2017), Granada, Spain, 18-24 Jun 2017, 8 pages, 9 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1702.0160

Most Strange Dibaryon from Lattice QCD

The $\Omega\Omega$ system in the $^1S_0$ channel (the most strange dibaryon) is studied on the basis of the (2+1)-flavor lattice QCD simulations with a large volume (8.1 fm)$^3$ and nearly physical pion mass $m_{\pi}\simeq 146$ MeV at a lattice spacing $a\simeq 0.0846$ fm. We show that lattice QCD data analysis by the HAL QCD method leads to the scattering length $a_0 = 4.6 (6)(^{+1.2}_{-0.5}) {\rm fm}$, the effective range $r_{\rm eff} = 1.27 (3)(^{+0.06}_{-0.03}) {\rm fm}$ and the binding energy $B_{\Omega \Omega} = 1.6 (6) (^{+0.7}_{-0.6}) {\rm MeV}$. These results indicate that the $\Omega\Omega$ system has an overall attraction and is located near the unitary regime. Such a system can be best searched experimentally by the pair-momentum correlation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 6 pages and 4 figure

Morphological, molecular and developmental characterization of the thelastomatid nematode Thelastoma bulhoesi (de Magalhães, 1900) (Oxyuridomorpha: Thelastomatidae) parasite of Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus, 1758) (Blattodea: Blattidae) in Japan

The American cockroach Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus, 1758) (Blattodea: Blattidae) has been spreading worldwide by commerce and has successfully adjusted to living with humans. There are many reports of thelastomatid parasitic nematode iso- lated from P. americana in many countries including USA, Canada, India, Argentina, Bulgaria, but not in Japan. We have in- vestigated the parasitic nematodes in P. americana lab strain and field-captured individuals in Japan and found that Thelastoma bulhoesi (de Magalhães, 1900) (Oxyuridomorpha: Thelastomatidae) parasitizes with high infection rates. We described mor- phological, molecular, and developmental characters of the parasitic nematode because such information was missing despite it has been discovered more than one hundred years ago. We described morphometrics with DIC microscopy and fine structure of male and female adult with SEM observation. We also reveal the embryonic and postembryonic development of this nema- tode. This is the first report of a thelastomatid nematode isolated from American cockroach in Japan, and the data showed here is also very useful and fundamental for further analysis of the cockroach and parasite relations