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Biomedical subjects

K Hatta

Publications and source records attributed to K Hatta.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Opioid peptides mediate heat stress-induced immunosuppression during pregnancy.

To clarify the involvement of the opioid system in enhanced immunosuppression induced by heat stress during pregnancy, we examined the effects of heat exposure and intraperitoneal administration of opioid receptor antagonist naloxone on beta-endorphin (beta-EP) in blood, pituitary lobes, and placenta as well as splenic natural killer cell activity (NKCA) and placental steroids in pregnant rats at 15-16 days gestation. Two-way analysis of variance revealed significant increases in blood beta-EP induced by heat and naloxone and a significant interaction between heat and naloxone on blood beta-EP and progesterone (P). Whereas heat reduced NKCA, intraperitoneal administration of naloxone reversed it. Significant increases in blood and placental beta-EP induced by both heat and naloxone administration and a significant interaction on blood and placental beta-EP was observed. These results suggest that immunosuppression produced by heat stress during pregnancy is mediated by the opioid system. A positive correlation between beta-EP in blood and placenta during heat and naloxone administration suggests that increased placental beta-EP during heat results in hypersecretion of beta-EP into blood. P increased by heat during pregnancy may be involved in the immunosuppression.

Animals↗

Temporal separation in the specification of primary and secondary motoneurons in zebrafish.

In zebrafish there are two populations of motoneurons, primary and secondary, that are temporally separate in their development. To determine if midline cells play a role in the specification of these neurons, we analyzed both secondary and primary motoneurons in mutants lacking floor plate, notochord, or both floor plate and notochord. Our data show that the specification of secondary motoneurons, those most similar to motoneurons in birds and mammals, depends on the presence of either a differentiated floor plate or notochord. In the absence of both of these structures, secondary motoneurons fail to form. In contrast, primary motoneurons, early developing motoneurons found in fish and amphibians, can develop in the absence of both floor plate and notochord. A spatial correspondence is found between secondary motoneurons and sonic hedgehog-expressing floor plate and notochord. In contrast, primary motoneuronal specification depends on the presence of sonic hedgehog in gastrula axial mesoderm, the tissue that will give rise to the notochord. These results suggest that both primary and secondary motoneurons are specified by signals from midline tissues, but at very different stages of embryonic development.

Animals↗

Genetic interactions in zebrafish midline development.

Mutational analyses have shown that the genes no tail (ntl, Brachyury homolog), floating head (flh, a Not homeobox gene), and cyclops (cyc) play direct and essential roles in the development of midline structures in the zebrafish. In both ntl and flh mutants a notochord does not develop, and in cyc mutants the floor plate is nearly entirely missing. We made double mutants to learn how these genes might interact. Midline development is disrupted to a greater extent in cyc;flh double mutants than in either cyc or flh single mutants; their effects appear additive. Both the notochord and floor plate are completely lacking, and other phenotypic disturbances suggest that midline signaling functions are severely reduced. On the other hand, trunk midline defects in flh;ntl double mutants are not additive, but are most often similar to those in ntl single mutants. This finding reveals that loss of ntl function can suppress phenotypic defects due to mutation at flh, and we interpret it to mean that the wild-type allele of ntl (ntl+) functions upstream to flh in a regulatory hierarchy. Loss of function of ntl also strongly suppresses the floor plate deficiency in cyc mutants, for we found trunk floor plate to be present in cyc;ntl double mutants. From these findings we propose that ntl+ plays an early role in cell fate choice at the dorsal midline, mediated by the Ntl protein acting to antagonize floor plate development as well as to promote notochord development.

Animals↗

Involvement of central neurotensin in thermoregulatory and neuroimmune function in pregnant rats exposed to heat.

To examine a functional relationship among pregnancy and central neurotensin and thermoregulatory and neuroimmune systems during heat stress, we monitored colonic temperature in six virgin female rats and six pregnant rats (9 to 11 days gestation) exposed to a microwave source. We also assayed splenic natural killer cell activity (NKCA), blood corticosterone (CS), and ACTH as indicators of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, beta-endorphin (beta-EP), and neurotensin (NT) in discrete brain regions. Additionally, we clarified the effects of intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of NT antiserum on these same responses in pregnant rats exposed to heat stress. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant main effects of heat and pregnancy and a significant interactive effect on colonic temperature. Significant elevation in blood CS, ACTH, beta-EP, and NT in the hypothalamus and significant reductions in splenic NKCA and NT in the nucleus accumbens were produced by heat. In the experiment examining the effect of icv administration of NT antiserum, significant main effects of heat and administration and a significant interactive effect on colonic temperature were observed. Icv administration of NT antiserum increased splenic NKCA and decreased blood beta-EP. These results show that pregnancy enhances thermal homeostasis, suggesting central thermoregulatory mechanisms through NT in nucleus accumbens and hypothalamus in which placental or pituitary beta-EP may be involved. NT and beta-EP seem to play central roles simultaneously in heat-induced immunosuppression during pregnancy. Clarification for the effects of NT antiserum on beta-EP in virgin rats or manipulation of agents related to opioid system should be the focus of future work.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

one-eyed pinhead is required for development of the ventral midline of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) neural tube.

Axial midline structures play a central role as signalling centres during the development of the vertebrate embryo. We have isolated mutant alleles of a new locus, one-eyed pinhead (oep), in the zebrafish that are characterized by cyclopia and impaired development of the floor plate. oep mutants fail to establish expression of axial (zebrafish HNF3beta) and sonic hedgehog in the midline of the neural plate but form a notochord that expresses both genes. In the spinal cord of the 1-day-old embryo, mutation of oep impairs floor-plate but not motor-neuron development. Floor-plate development is absolutely dependent on oep only at early stages, since partial recovery of the floor plate can be detected at 48 h in the spinal cord, suggesting compensatory pathways. Ectopic expression of sonic hedgehog and a dominant-negative protein kinase A regulatory subunit induces expression of floor-plate marker genes in the oep mutant neural tube in a manner indistinguishable from wild-type embryos. Our data suggest that the oep mutation does not impair Sonic hedgehog signalling and thus implicate a second process that acts synergistically with Sonic hedgehog signalling in the specification of the midline of the neuroectoderm and that can partially be compensated for during later development.

Alleles↗

[Consultation system in Tenri Hospital from a physician's perspective].

Tenri hospital is a large hospital with 1,001 beds, and is famous in Japan for its unique resident system. Two doctors and more than 120 technicians work in the department of clinical pathology. In this paper, the status of the consultation system in the field of clinical pathology is described from the perspective of a physician. Most physicians do not find it inconvenient to consult about laboratory tests and they come to know whom and how to consult. However, some new doctors sometimes have difficulties with consulting. As for residents, they can rotate in clinical pathology if they wish. All residents who rotated in each of the 4 divisions of clinical pathology said that their training was very useful. They did not learn procedures in depth because the period was short. However, they came to understand the entire departmental system, became acquainted with medical technologists and laboratory physicians, and could easily consult concerning laboratory tests. Communication and mutual understanding is a very important factor in consultation.

Clinical Laboratory Information Systems↗

Secondary axis induction by heterospecific organizers in zebrafish.

To investigate the inductive activities of the vertebrate organizer, we transplanted the chicken organizer (Hensen's node) into zebrafish gastrula and analyzed resulting secondary axes. Grafted Hensen's node did not differentiate or participate in the secondary axis. It also did not induce a secondary notochord or expression of the genes normally expressed by the fish organizer including no tail, axial, goosecoid. Nevertheless, it recruited fish cells to organize a variety of tissues: the dorsal portion of the central nervous system including Rohon-Beard sensory neurons, otic vesicles, dorsal pigment stripe, dorsal fin, somites, heart, and pronephric ducts. Enlarged neural plate induced by the organizer was shown by the expression pattern of dlx3 and msxB genes, which demarcates the early presumptive neural tissue. In addition, Hensen's node of an earlier stage chicken embryo displayed differential movement in zebrafish from that of a later stage. This might reflect unknown differences in properties between the organizer at two different developmental stages related to its normal organizer activity. To create a model system to study the molecular mechanisms of the organizer, we next transplanted genetically modified mouse cells into zebrafish embryos. We found that Wnt3A-transfected NIH3T3 cells are much more potent in inducing a secondary axis than NIH3T3 cells alone. These results suggest that formation of a variety of tissues are controlled by signalling from the organizer itself with no requirement of participation of the organizer-derived tissues. Additionally, the activities of the organizer may involve a function of Wnt-family genes.

3T3 Cells↗

Salazosulfapyridine-induced angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy.

A 20-year-old man with ulcerative colitis was admitted because of fever, eruption and lymphadenopathy. He had started taking salazosulfapyridine one month previously. Lymph node biopsy revealed angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy. Autoantibody titers were all negative, and viral antibody titers were not increased retrospectively. Rearrangement of T-cell receptor beta and chromosomal aberration were not seen on the lymph node. This case is considered not to be a peripheral T-cell lymphoma but rather salazosulfapyridine-induced angioimmunoblastic lymphadenopathy (AIL), which is the second case in English language literature.

Adult↗

Prolyl-leucyl-glycinamide, thyrotropin-releasing hormone and beta-endorphin-(10-16), like antidepressants, antagonize melatonin-induced behavioural changes in rats.

beta-Endorphin-(10-16), as well as a variety of antidepressants, has been reported to block the behavioural changes induced by injecting melatonin into the nucleus accumbens. In the present study the influence of subcutaneously administered prolyl-leucyl-glycinamide (PLG) and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) on the behavioural changes induced by melatonin administration in the nucleus accumbens were investigated and compared with that of beta-endorphin-(10-16). PLG and TRH were found to be as effective as beta-endorphin-(10-16) in counteracting the melatonin-induced behavioural changes. The data suggest that these peptides may serve as a starting point for the development of a new class of antidepressants.

Animals↗

Expression of a type II collagen gene in the zebrafish embryonic axis.

To understand the hierarchy of developmental controls underlying axis specification in vertebrate embryos, it is helpful to identify relationships between regulatory molecules and the genes that give axial cells their differentiated phenotypes. This work reports the cloning and expression pattern of one of these differentiation genes, a type II collagen (col2a1) gene from the zebrafish Danio rerio. Along the embryonic axis, col2a1 is expressed dynamically in three rows that are each a single cell wide: the notochord and the rows of cells immediately dorsal and ventral to it--the floor plate of the central nervous system, and the hypochord. In addition, col2a1 is expressed in the pharyngeal arches, the epithelium of the otic capsule, and in the mesenchyme of the neurocranium. Experiments probed the expression pattern of col2a1 relative to that of known or potential regulators of axis development, including axial, sonic hedgehog, twist, and cyclops. The results showed that the spatial and temporal pattern of col2a1 expression in axial mesoderm follows the expression of twist closer than other genes tested. In cyclops embryos, which lack an intact floor plate, col2a1 expression was usually low, but not missing in cells in the ventral spinal cord. Because col2a1 expression reveals abnormalities in the notochord of cyclopsb16 embryos, and less col2a1-expressing mesenchyme accumulates rostral to the notochord in cyclops embryos, the effects of the cyclopsb16 mutation are not confined to the central nervous system.

Animals↗

Thiamine deficiency and pulmonary hypertension in Crow-Fukase syndrome.

A 57-year-old woman with Crow-Fukase syndrome presented thiamine deficiency and pulmonary hypertension of unknown etiology. After oral administration of prednisolone and thiamine, echocardiogram showed marked improvement of the pulmonary hypertension. To our knowledge, this is the first case of this syndrome associated with thiamine deficiency and precapillary pulmonary hypertension, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of polyneuropathy and heart failure of this syndrome.

Drug Therapy, Combination↗

Midline signaling in the primordium of the zebrafish anterior central nervous system.

In all vertebrates the brain develops from the enlarged anterior part of the neural plate. However, in the zebrafish mutant cyclops, the girth of the central nervous system (CNS) is nearly uniform along its length. Changes in expression patterns of homeobox genes and neuronal markers reveal a massive deletion of the ventral forebrain, particularly the diencephalon, as well as its precursor region in the neural plate. The deletion is due to a nonautonomous action of the mutation: very few wild-type cells transplanted to the midline of a mutant embryo can rescue the forebrain phenotype, including cyclopia. Establishment of forebrain ventral positional coordinates may thus require inductive signaling by forebrain midline cells whose specification depends upon the cyclops gene product.

Animals↗

Developmental regulation of islet-1 mRNA expression during neuronal differentiation in embryonic zebrafish.

Islet-1 (Isl-1) is a LIM domain/homeodomain-type transcription regulator that has been originally identified as an insulin gene enhancer binding protein. Isl-1 is also expressed by subsets of neurons in the central nervous system of rat and chick embryos. We have cloned the Isl-1 cDNA from zebrafish and examined its expression pattern using in situ hybridization to whole-mount embryos. Isl-1 mRNA first appears immediately after gastrulation in the polster, the cranial ganglia, and in Rohon-Beard neurons and ventromedial cells of the spinal cord. The expression by the ventromedial cells is segmentally repeated and becomes restricted to the one or two cells slightly anterior to the segment borders. Double staining by in situ hybridization and an antibody which stains most axons suggested that these segmentally distributed cells may be either the rostral primary motoneuron (RoP) or middle primary motoneuron (MiP). This raises a possibility that Isl-1 may be involved during determination of subtype identities of the primary motoneurons. Furthermore, the specific Isl-1 mRNA expression in the spinal cord is under the control of the somites, since mutant embryo with defective somite failed to maintain this pattern.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Midline structures and central nervous system coordinates in zebrafish.

The embryonic zebrafish provides a relatively simple and accessible experimental system for understanding the underlying Bauplan of a vertebrate central nervous system (CNS) and for uncovering interactions critical for patterning. We show that features of CNS organization in normal, mutant, and developmentally ventralized zebrafish embryos can be explained by a three-axis hypothesis: Specifications occur according to position relative to coordinates along the anterior-posterior, dorsal-ventral, and luminal-pial axes of the neural tube. Midline tissues may be responsible for directly establishing the dorsal-ventral coordinates, but may only be indirectly involved in patterning along the anterior-posterior axis.

Animals↗

Effects of glycine antagonists on Mg(2+)- and glycine-induced [3H]N-(1-[2-thienyl]cyclohexyl)-3,4-piperidine binding.

We investigated the effects of glycine antagonists, 3-amino-1-hydroxy-2- pyrrolidone (HA-966), 7-chlorokynurenic acid (7-Cl-KYNA), 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX), 6,7-dichloro-3-hydroxy-2-quinoxalinecarboxylic acid (DHQXC), 6,7-dichloroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (DCQX), and 5-chloro-indole-2-carboxylic acid (5-Cl-I2CA), on Mg(2+)- and glycine-induced [3H]N-(1-[2-thienyl]cyclohexyl)-3,4-piperidine ([3H]TCP) binding to well-washed rat cortical membranes. Except for 5-Cl-I2CA, all the glycine antagonists completely inhibited not only glycine- but also Mg(2+)-induced [3H]TCP binding in a concentration-dependent manner. Out of all the glycine antagonists examined DHQXC most selectively inhibited Mg(2+)-induced [3H]TCP binding, while DCQX was the most selective for inhibiting glycine-induced [3H]TCP binding.

Animals↗