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Biomedical subjects

Chie Morimoto

Publications and source records attributed to Chie Morimoto.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Loss of HB-EGF in smooth muscle or endothelial cell lineages causes heart malformation.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and ErbB family molecules play a role in heart development and function. To investigate the role of EGF family member, heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) in heart development, smooth muscle and endothelial cell lineage-specific HB-EGF knockout mice were generated using the Cre/loxP system in combination with the SM22alpha or TIE2 promoter. HB-EGF knockout mice displayed enlarged heart valves, and over half of these mice died during the first postnatal week, while survivors showed cardiac hypertrophy. These results suggest that expression of HB-EGF in smooth muscle and/or endothelial cell lineages is essential for proper heart development and function in mice.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor accelerates keratinocyte migration and skin wound healing.

Members of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family are the most important growth factors involved in epithelialization during cutaneous wound healing. Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF), a member of the EGF family, is thought to play an important role in skin wound healing. To investigate the in vivo function of HB-EGF in skin wound healing, we generated keratinocyte-specific HB-EGF-deficient mice using Cre/loxP technology in combination with the keratin 5 promoter. Studies of wound healing revealed that wound closure was markedly impaired in keratinocyte-specific HB-EGF-deficient mice. HB-EGF mRNA was upregulated at the migrating epidermal edge, although cell growth was not altered. Of the members of the EGF family, HB-EGF mRNA expression was induced the most rapidly and dramatically as a result of scraping in vitro. Combined, these findings clearly demonstrate, for the first time, that HB-EGF is the predominant growth factor involved in epithelialization in skin wound healing in vivo and that it functions by accelerating keratinocyte migration, rather than proliferation.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Anti-obese action of raspberry ketone.

Raspberry ketone (4-(4-hydroxyphenyl) butan-2-one; RK) is a major aromatic compound of red raspberry (Rubus idaeus). The structure of RK is similar to the structures of capsaicin and synephrine, compounds known to exert anti-obese actions and alter the lipid metabolism. The present study was performed to clarify whether RK helps prevent obesity and activate lipid metabolism in rodents. To test the effect on obesity, our group designed the following in vivo experiments: 1) mice were fed a high-fat diet including 0.5, 1, or 2% of RK for 10 weeks; 2) mice were given a high-fat diet for 6 weeks and subsequently fed the same high-fat diet containing 1% RK for the next 5 weeks. RK prevented the high-fat-diet-induced elevations in body weight and the weights of the liver and visceral adipose tissues (epididymal, retroperitoneal, and mesenteric). RK also decreased these weights and hepatic triacylglycerol content after they had been increased by a high-fat diet. RK significantly increased norepinephrine-induced lipolysis associated with the translocation of hormone-sensitive lipase from the cytosol to lipid droplets in rat epididymal fat cells. In conclusion, RK prevents and improves obesity and fatty liver. These effects appear to stem from the action of RK in altering the lipid metabolism, or more specifically, in increasing norepinephrine-induced lipolysis in white adipocytes.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2005

Effects of Coleus forskohlii on fat storage in ovariectomized rats.

The antiobesity effects of Coleus forskohlii were investigated in ovariectomized (ovx) rats. Eight-week-old female Wistar rats were assigned to four groups: a sham-operated group fed the control diet (MF, sham-m) ; an ovx-m group fed the control diet; a sham-operated group fed the control diet containing 50 g/kg of Coleus forskohlii extract (sham-c) ; and an ovx-c group fed the control diet containing 50 g/kg of Coleus forskohlii extract. The body weight, adipose tissues, and cell diameter were investigated in ovx rats after Coleus forskohlii extract treatment. Administration of Coleus forskohlii extracts reduced body weight, food intake, and fat accumulation in ovx rats. Our results suggest that Coleus forskohlii may be useful in the treatment of obesity.

Adipocytes↗
PubMed2002

Adequate evaluation of HSL mass and activity in rat adipose tissue in fasting and aging-related obesity.

Adipose tissue is a unique tissue because its mass is readily changed by altering nutritional conditions. Therefore the activity and content of enzyme in the adipose tissue is significantly differed according to the way of their presentation: per g tissue, per whole tissue, or per cell number. In the present study, the effects of the ways of expressing the hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) activity and content were studied in rat by decreasing or increasing adipose tissue. Fasting caused a progressive decline in body weight and in the weight of the epididymal fat pad. When the HSL content was expressed per g of adipose tissue, the lipase activity and immunoreactive HSL protein content in fasting rats were higher than those in fed rats. On the other hand, when they were expressed as per fat pad, the lipase activity and immunoreactive HSL protein in fasting rats were lower than those in fed rats. The opposite results were observed in obesity. When the HSL content was expressed per g of adipose tissue, the lipase activity and immunoreactive HSL protein in obese rats were lower than in control rats. However, when the HSL content was expressed per fat pad, the lipase activity and immunoreactive HSL protein in the obese rats were higher than in the control rats. Therefore we must pay careful attention to the way of presentation of adipose tissue enzyme contents.

Adipose Tissue↗