Blockade of constitutively activated ERK signaling enhances cytotoxicity of microtubule-destabilizing agents in tumor cells.

The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway is constitutively activated in many human tumor cell types. Given the cytoprotective role of this pathway, we examined whether its specific blockade might sensitize human tumor cells to the induction of apoptosis by various anticancer drugs. Although blockade of ERK signaling alone did not induce substantial cell death, it resulted in marked and selective enhancement of the induction of apoptosis by microtubule-destabilizing agents in tumor cells in which the ERK pathway is constitutively activated. The synergistic activation of c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase by the combination of an ERK pathway inhibitor and a microtubule-destabilizing agent appeared to be responsible, at least in part, for this effect. These results suggest that administration of the combination of an ERK pathway inhibitor and a microtubule-destabilizing agent is a potential chemotherapeutic strategy for the treatment of tumor cells with constitutive activation of the ERK pathway

豊橋技術科学大学における学生と教員の英語学習に対する意識

This is a report based on a general survey given to undergraduate students and professors at Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT) about English education at TUT. Regarding students, the main purposes of the survey, conducted in the fall of 2005, were to find how students had studied English before enrolling in TUT, what the students thought of English teaching and learning at TUT, and how important they thought English was for their majors. As for the survey to professors, the main purposes were finding out instructor attitudes toward the teaching and learning of English at TUT and how necessary they felt the acquisition of English was for their students. In this study, attention is paid to the differences of awareness and attitudes between the professors and students toward English teaching and learning. Based on the results of this study, discussions on and refinements to the current English curriculum will be made in the near future at TUT with the aim of raising student English fluency, particularly in the areas of written and oral communication ability

Internal modulations of the pulsating aurora observed by sCMOS camera

第6回極域科学シンポジウム[OS] 宙空圏11月16日（月）　国立極地研究所１階交流アトリウ