Complete nucleotide sequence of the genomic RNA of an Amami-O-shima strain of East Asian Passiflora potyvirus.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Base Sequence↗
Biomedical subjects
H Iwai
Publications and source records attributed to H Iwai.
The potyvirus associated with the dappled fruit of Passiflora edulis in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan is the third strain of the proposed new species East Asian Passiflora virus (EAPV) phylogenetically distinguished from strains of Passion fruit woodiness virus.
A potyvirus (isolate IB) causing dappled or faded fruits and foliar mosaic symptoms of purple passionfruit, was found in the botanical garden of Kagoshima University, Japan. This isolate--differed in host range from isolates of Passion fruit woodiness virus (PWV)-AO, previously reported to cause "woodiness" in Japan. Isolates IB and AO had 83% amino acid identity in their coat proteins (CPs). In phylogenetic analysis, East Asian isolates IB, AO, and PWV-Taiwan clustered together, and were distinguishable from Australian PWV and Brazilian Cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus isolates, which also cause "woodiness" in passionfruit. We propose the name "East Asian Passiflora virus (EAPV)" for the new potyvirus species.
Capsid Proteins↗
Isolation of equine herpesvirus-1 lacking glycoprotein C from a dead neonatal foal in Japan.
We isolated a variant equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1), strain 5089, from the lung of a dead neonatal foal in Japan and characterized the biological nature of the virus. The virus spread in cultured cells mainly by cell-to-cell infection, unlike wild-type EHV-1, which spreads efficiently as a cell-free virus. The virus titer in cultured supernatant and the intracellular virus titer were low compared to those of wild-type EHV-1. Heparin treatment of the virus had no effect on viral infectivity in cell culture. Glycoprotein C (gC) was not detected by Western blotting and fluorescent antibody tests in 5089 virions and 5089-infected cells, respectively. RT-PCR analysis revealed that the expression level of 5089 gC mRNA was reduced considerably compared to that of wild-type EHV-1. Sequencing analysis of the 5089 gC coding region showed a point mutation in the promoter region of the gC open reading frame. However, the mutation did not affect the promoter activity. These results suggested that the lack of gC in 5089 virions might be one of the reasons for spread of the virus by cell-to-cell infection and that gC mRNA expression might not be activated efficiently due to factors other than the mutation in the gC promoter region.
Animals↗
Experimental vertical transmission of Borna disease virus in the mouse.
We demonstrated the experimental vertical transmission of Borna disease virus (BDV) in pregnant BALB/c mice. Giessen strain He/80 of BDV was used in the present study. Six six-week-old mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with 10(5) 50% tissue culture infective doses (TCID50), and were bred immediately. Four pregnant mice were sacrificed under anaesthesia on the 10th and 14th days after vaginal plug formation. Nine newborns from two maternal mice were sacrificed under anaesthesia on the 7th day after birth. Positive signals with RT-nested PCR techniques for BDV p24-RNAs were seen in the fetuses, placentas and brains of all newborn mice. No immunopositivities for BDV p40 were found in the fetuses or placentas at 10 days' gestation. BDV p40 immunopositivities were found in neurons of the fetal brains and in decidual cells of the placentas at 14 days' gestation. They were also found in neurons of the brains of newborn mice. At 10 days' gestation, no positive signals for BDV p40 sense or antisense riboprobes were seen in the fetal brains or placentas. Positive signals were found in neurons of the fetal brains and decidual cells of the placentas at 14 days' gestation. Positive signals for BDV p40 sense and antisense riboprobes were found in almost all neurons throughout the brains of nine newborn mice. These results suggest that persistent infection with BDV in newborn mice may be induced by vertical transmission during gestation.
Animals↗
Front-loading of Groningen voice prosthesis in alaryngeal patients requiring prosthetic replacement.
The Groningen voice prosthesis can be successfully replaced using the back-loading system. We have attempted to minimize patient stress by developing a front-loading system that does not require insertion of the introducer via the tracheo-oesophageal shunt to the oral cavity or the mesopharyngeal anaesthetization regularly used with the back-loading system. Using our front-loading system, the existing prosthesis is removed, then the posterior portion of the replacement Groningen prosthesis is grasped by a pair of nasal forceps with a small jaw to make an acute angle and inserted into the oesophageal cavity through the shunt at a stroke. All 20 patients who underwent forward-loading replacement of a Groningen (n = 17) or Blom-Singer (n = 3) valve with a Groningen valve tolerated the procedure well and experienced no complications except, in some cases, for minor bleeding just after insertion of the prosthesis. The procedure was completed within 30 seconds.
Humans↗
Borna disease in a dog in Japan.
Borna disease (BD) was diagnosed in a 3-year-old male Welsh corgi suffering from a severe and acute progressive disorder of the central nervous system. Histopathologically, neuronal lesions were characterized by a non-suppurative encephalomyelitis dominated by large perivascular cuffs consisting of lymphocytes, macrophages and plasma cells; also present were inflammatory cell infiltrates in the neural parenchyma, neuronophagia and focal gliosis. Strong immunolabelling with BD virus (BDV) p40 antibody was diffusely distributed in the cytoplasm of small and large neurons in areas of the brain with and without inflammatory changes, and also in the spinal cord. Positive hybridization signals with BDV p40 sense and antisense riboprobes were seen in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the neurons throughout the whole brain and spinal cord. BDV p24 RNA in formalin-fixed brain tissue was detected by reverse transcriptase (RT)-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). BDV p24 RNA-positive signals were detected in the temporal lobe. This is the first report of spontaneous canine BD in Japan.
Animals↗
New method for thyroid transplantation across major histocompatibility complex barriers using allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
BACKGROUND: It has been shown that allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) after lethal irradiation elicits donor-specific tolerance for organ or tissue transplantation across major histocompatibility complex (MHC) barriers. Recently, we have demonstrated that the portal venous (p.v.) administration of donor bone marrow cells (BMCs) elicits donor-specific tolerance across MHC barriers by only two administrations of an immunosuppressant (CsA or FK-506). In our study, using the central and intrahepatic tolerance-inducing system, we have established a new method for thyroid transplantation with BMT that would be more applicable to humans. METHODS: In addition to sublethal (6-5 Gy) irradiation, recipient B6 (H-2b) mice received injections i.p. with the myeloablative drug busulfan (BU) on day -2 to provide a sufficient "space" for the donor hematopoietic cells to expand in the recipients. To induce the intrahepatic tolerance, donor BALB/c (H-2d) BMCs were treated with neuraminidase (Neu), which enhances the trapping of i.v. injected BMCs in the liver. After the injection of Neu-treated BMCs, the thyroid organs from the BALB/c mice were engrafted under the renal capsules. RESULTS: A 90% graft survival rate was obtained over 100 days by a combination of BU administration, 6 Gy irradiation, and i.v. injection of Neu-treated BMCs [BU+6 Gy+(Neu) i.v.], and a 70% graft survival rate was obtained by [BU+5 Gy+(Neu) i.v.]. However, the graft survival rate significantly decreased when either the BU or Neu treatment was omitted. T cells collected from the tolerant recipients suppressed the proliferative responses to donor alloantigens. CONCLUSIONS: Using both BU and Neu treatments, we have succeeded in inducing long-term tolerance and preventing the rejection of thyroid allografts by the single-day protocol.
Animals↗
Oral administration of IL-1 beta enhanced the proliferation of lymphocytes and the O(2)(-) production of neutrophil in newborn calf.
Recently, we demonstrated the presence of IL-1 beta in the colostral whey from dairy cows. Here, authors examined oral transmission of colostral IL-1 beta and its immunological effects on the neonatal calves. Biotin-labeled recombinant bovine (rb) IL-1 beta was administered orally to newborn calves and monitored in the serum. The results disclosed the passive transfer of colostral cytokines via the oral route, and a potent increase in white blood cell (WBC) count was observed in all calves administered with rbIL-1 beta. Oral administration of IL-1 beta significantly increased the proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) stimulated with concanavalin A, and the O(2)(-) production of stimulates neutrophils in newborn calves. These results suggest that the oral administration of IL-1 beta has an immunostimulatory activity in the newborn calf.
Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
Asymmetric Mukaiyama-Michael addition of acyclic enones catalyzed by allo-threonine-derived B-aryloxazaborolidinones.
[reaction: see text] O-(2-Naphthoyl)-N-tosyl-L-allo-threonine-derived B-phenyloxazaborolidinone catalyzes the asymmetric Mukaiyama-Michael addition of simple acyclic enones to give adducts of 54-85% ee. 2,6-Diisopropylphenol as an additive is demonstrated to effectively retard the undesirable Si(+)-catalyzed racemic pathway.
Journal Article↗
Cyclic green fluorescent protein produced in vivo using an artificially split PI-PfuI intein from Pyrococcus furiosus.
A cyclic protein was produced in vivo using the intein from Pyrococcus furiosus PI-PfuI in a novel approach to create a circular permutation of the precursor protein by introducing new termini in the intein domain. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) was cyclized with this method in vivo on milligram scales. There was no by-product of linear or polymerized species isolated, unlike with other in vitro or in vivo cyclization methods utilizing inteins. Cyclized GFP unfolded at half the rate of the linear form upon chemical denaturation and required >2 days in 7 m guanidine hydrochloride until a residual fast folding phase (consistent with a persistent cis-proline) had disappeared. Cyclic GFP might become a novel tool for studying the role of termini and backbone topology in various biological processes such as protein degradation and translocation in vivo as well as in vitro.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Alteration of peripheral blood dendritic cells in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.
OBJECTIVE: We recently identified 3 fractions of human peripheral blood (PB) dendritic cells (DC), including the monocyte-associated fractions 1 and 2 (CD1a+,CD11c+ and CD1a-,CD11c+, respectively) and the lymphoid-associated fraction 3 (CD1a-,CD11c-). We attempted to determine whether these fractions were altered in Sjögren's syndrome (SS). METHODS: We examined 23 patients with primary SS and 22 normal control subjects. DC were purified from PB and analyzed by flow cytometry. Immunohistochemical staining of labial salivary glands of SS patients was performed with monoclonal antibodies against fascin, which is known to be specific for DC. RESULTS: The total numbers of PB DC and fraction 1 DC were decreased in SS. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated that fascin+,CD11c+,HLA-DR+ mononuclear cells were present and scattered among numerous fascin-hyperfiltrating cells in SS patients. Interferon-gamma (IFNgamma)-producing Th1 cells were shown to be increased in both PB and salivary glands of patients, indicating the presence of general IFNgamma-producing Th1 polarization in SS. Furthermore, numbers of Thl cells were increased when naive T cells were cocultured with fraction 1 DC in vitro. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest selective trafficking of fraction 1 DC into focal sites of inflammation and subsequent promotion of Th1 balance, suggesting a novel pathogenesis of SS.
Adult↗
Absence of arabinan in the side chains of the pectic polysaccharides strongly associated with cell walls of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia non-organogenic callus with loosely attached constituent cells.
When leaf disks from haploid plants of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia Viv. were transformed with T-DNA and cultured on shoot-inducing medium, nonorganogenic callus. designated nolac (for non-organogenic callus with loosely attached cells), appeared on approximately 7% of leaf disks. In contrast, normal callus was generated on T-DNA-transformed leaf disks from diploid plants and on non-transformed leaf disks from haploid and diploid plants. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the middle lamellae and the cell walls of one line of mutant callus (nolac-H14) were barely stained by ruthenium red. even after demethylesterification with NaOH, whereas the entire cell wall and the middle lamella were strongly stained in normal callus. In cultures of nolac-H14 callus, the level of sugar components of pectic polysaccharides in the hemicellulose fraction was reduced and that in the culture medium was elevated, as compared with cultures of normal callus. These results indicate that pectic polysaccharides are not retained in the cell walls and middle lamellae of nolac-H14 callus. In nolac-H14, the ratio of arabinose to galactose was low in the pectic polysaccharides purified from all cell wall fractions and from the medium, in particular, in the hemicellulose fractions. The low levels of arabinofuranosyl (T-Araf, 5-Araf, 2,5-Araf, and 3,5-Araf) residues in the pectic polysaccharides of the hemicellulosic fraction of nolac-H,14 indicated that no neutral-sugar side chains, composed mainly of linear arabinan. were present in nolac-H14. Arabinose-rich pectins. which are strongly associated with cellulose-hemicellulose complexes, might play an important role in intercellular attachment in the architecture of the cell wall.
Arabinose↗
Concentrations of IL-6 in serum and whey from healthy and mastitic cows.
Inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6, have been shown to reflect clinical signs in certain conditions in diseased animals. In this study, we quantified the IL-6 concentrations in the serum and milk whey from 94 dairy cows with acute clinical mastitis and 55 healthy lactating cows. The IL-6 concentrations in serum from mastitic cows were significantly higher on the first day of illness compared to those of normal cows. Higher concentrations of IL-6 were also detected in the whey from mastitic cows, whereas low concentrations of IL-6 were detected in both serum and whey samples from normal cows. IL-6 concentrations in the serum taken at the onset of illness from cows that later required euthanasia were significantly higher than those in samples from cows that later recovered. These results suggest that serum IL-6 concentrations may be of prognostic value in identifying cows with severe mastitis.
Animals↗
Prevention of accelerated presbycusis by bone marrow transplantation in senescence-accelerated mice.
A substrain of the senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM), the SAMP1 mouse, is an animal model for accelerated senescence including the age-related acceleration of both immunological dysfunction and hearing loss caused by the impairment of spiral ganglion cells. In the present study, we examine whether the accelerated presbycusis can be prevented by allogeneic BMT. Young SAMP1 (H-2(k)) mice were irradiated with 9 Gy and then reconstituted with bone marrow cells from normal BALB/c (H-2(d)) mice. Allogeneic BMT was found to prevent the development of immunological dysfunction, hearing loss, and apoptosis of spinal ganglion cells in SAMP1 mice. These findings indicate that some types of accelerated presbycusis do not result from defects in the cochlea, but do from defects in the hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and immunocompetent cells derived from the HSC. If this is the case, either allogeneic BMT, which replaces abnormal HSC with normal HSC and reconstructs a normal immune system in the recipients, or autologous BMT using genetically modified bone marrow cells, could become a new strategy for the treatment of presbycusis.
Age Factors↗
Neurofibromatosis type 2 associated with cranial nerve schwannomas.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adult↗
Protective effect of OK-432 on mice against endotoxemia and infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella enteritidis.
OK-432 has been used clinically as a biological response modifier for cancer therapy. We investigated here the protective effects of OK-432 against endotoxic shock and infectious death caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella enteritidis in mice and proposed a possible mechanism. Pretreatment of OK-432 reduced the lethality of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxic shock in D-(+)-galactosamine-sensitized C3H/HeN mice. OK-432 did not affect the TNFalpha production in blood, but it did decrease the susceptibility to TNFalpha. Furthermore, an acceleration of LPS clearance from blood was detected. The pretreatment of OK-432 also decreased the lethality of mice in bacterial infection caused by P. aeruginosa and S. enteritidis. The rapid decrease of the viable bacteria from the circulating blood and in spleen and liver in mice was observed in a manner similar to LPS clearance. These findings indicate that the protective effect of OK-432 against the endotoxemia and bacteremia may depend on an up-regulation of clearance of LPS and bacteria and the augmented resistance to TNFalpha.
Animals↗
Secondary flow effect to heat transfer of a duct with discrete rib turbulators.
In the present study, three-dimensional numerical simulation is carried out for discrete rib arrays to investigate the local fluid and heat transfer characteristics. Rib pitch and gap width were varied in several steps. Furthermore, two kinds of rib arrays were studied, i.e. an array of ribs having the gaps at both spanwise ends and a staggered array of ribs with gaps at both spanwise ends and with gaps in the middle. Eventually, the staggered arrayed ribs is suggested to be best in performance of heat transfer.
Journal Article↗
Interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels in sera and whey of cattle with naturally occurring coliform mastitis.
Concentrations of interferon-gamma (lFN-gamma) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were determined in serum and whey samples from cattle with naturally occurring coliform mastitis for two weeks after onset using bovine INF-gamma and TNF-alpha-specific ELISA. In serum and whey samples from healthy cows. IFN-gamma was almost undetectable and TNF-alpha was detected at low levels. At the onset of illness, INF-gamma in sera and whey and TNF-alpha in whey from the mastitic cows were significantly higher than their respective values in healthy cows. Concentrations of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in whey from mastitic cattle decreased significantly as the cows recovered.
Animals↗