PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Kenji Sugiyama

Publications and source records attributed to Kenji Sugiyama.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Involvement of NF-kappaB in TGF-beta-mediated suppression of IL-4 signaling.

Control of immune response requires the coordinated integration of both stimulatory and inhibitory factors. Therefore, the cross-talk of different signaling pathways is critical in providing an integrated cellular response to multiple external signals. Both interleukin-4 (IL-4) and transforming growth factor (TGF-beta) are pleiotropic cytokines and play critical roles in controlling immune responses. For example, IL-4 mediates important pro-inflammatory functions in asthma including induction of the IgE isotype switch and expression of vascular cell adhesion molecules. Whereas, TGF-beta is secreted from B, T, and dendritic cells as well as macrophages, and negatively regulates their proliferation, differentiation, and activation by other cytokines. In this study, we examined the effect of TGF-beta on IL-4 signaling using B cells as well as embryonic kidney cells. TGF-beta inhibited IL-4-induced IgG1 production and gene expression of germline epsilon transcripts in B cells. In embryonic kidney cells, TGF-beta signals suppressed IL-4-induced transcription, when we monitored using germline epsilon promoter DNA. Furthermore, activation of NF-kappaB resulted in a resistance to TGF-beta-mediated suppression of IL-4 signaling. These results indicate that TGF-beta-mediated regulation of IL-4 signaling may act by targeting NF-kappaB signaling.

Animals↗

Differences in diffusion-weighted and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging findings in the acute and chronic stages of ischemic cerebrovascular disease--two case reports.

A 71-year-old man presented with sudden onset of vertigo and a 77-year-old man suffered consciousness disturbance. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging on admission showed hyperintense areas in the left cerebellar hemisphere in the first patient and in the brainstem in the second patient. Both patients were treated with argatroban and edaravone, and the neurological deficits markedly improved one month after admission. T2-weighted MR imaging one month after the onset showed much smaller hyperintense areas compared with the findings on admission in both patients. These results indicate that findings of hyperintense areas by diffusion-weighted MR imaging in the acute stage of ischemic cerebrovascular disease indicate not only the ischemic core but also parts of the reversible incomplete ischemic lesion and suggest that intensive treatment in the acute stage might reverse ischemic brain damage in some patients.

Acute Disease↗

Regulation of transforming growth factor-beta signaling by protein inhibitor of activated STAT, PIASy through Smad3.

Smads proteins play a key role in the intracellular signaling of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta family of growth factors, which exhibits a diverse set of cellular responses, including cell proliferation and differentiation. In particular, Smad7 acts as an antagonist of TGF-beta signaling, which could determine the intensity or duration of its signaling cascade. In this study we identified a protein inhibitor of activated STAT (signal transducers and activators of transcription), PIASy, as a novel interaction partner of Smad7 by yeast two-hybrid screening using the MH2 domain of Smad7 as bait. The association of Smad7 and PIASy was confirmed using co-expressed tagged proteins in 293T cells. Moreover, we found that other Smads including Smad3 also associated with PIASy through its MH2 domain, and PIASy suppressed TGF-beta-mediated activation of Smad3. PIASy also stimulated the sumoylation of Smad3 in vivo. Furthermore, endogenous PIASy expression was induced by TGF-beta in Hep3B cells. These findings provide the first evidence that a PIAS family protein, PIASy, associates with Smads and involves the regulation of TGF-beta signaling using the negative feedback loop.

Animals↗

Daxx enhances Fas-mediated apoptosis in a murine pro-B cell line, BAF3.

Daxx has been shown to play an essential in type I interferon (IFN-alpha/beta)-mediated suppression of B cell development and apoptosis. Recently, we demonstrated that Tyk2 is directly involved in IFN signaling for the induction and nuclear translocation of Daxx, which may result in growth arrest and/or apoptosis of B lymphocyte progenitors. To clarify the mechanism of Daxx-mediated apoptosis signaling in B lymphocyte progenitors, here we introduced an efficient suicide switch in a murine pro-B cell line, BAF3, by expressing FK506-binding protein-fused Fas intracellular domain (FKBP-Fas) and Daxx. It allows us to monitor Fas/Daxx-mediated signal by induction of Fas dimerization with the dimerizer drug AP20187. AP20187-mediated Fas dimerization induced not only apoptosis but also Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation. However, AP20187 had no effect on cells expressing either Fas or Daxx only. Furthermore, expression of a JNK inhibitor, the JNK-binding domain of JIP-1, resulted in resistance to AP20187-mediated apoptosis in cells expressing FKBP-Fas and Daxx. These results imply that our novel suicide switch system may provide a powerful tool to delineate or identify the signaling molecules for Daxx-mediated apoptotic machinery in B lymphocyte progenitors through JNK activation.

Animals↗

Conformational change of the chloroplast ATP synthase on the enzyme activation process detected by the trypsin sensitivity of the gamma subunit.

Delta mu H(+) is known to stimulate the enzyme activity of chloroplast ATP synthase in addition to its important role as energy supply for ATP synthesis. In the present study, we focused on the relationship between the proton translocation via the membrane sector of ATP synthase, F(o), and the conformational change of the central stalk subunit gamma. The conformational change of CF(1) mainly at the gamma subunit was induced by the proton flow via F(o) in the absence of substrates. The effects of inhibitors on CF(o) or CF(1) for this conformational change were also examined. The observed conformational change was partially suppressed by ADP binding. From these results, we propose the Delta mu H(+)-dependent conformational change of CF(1) on the enzyme activation process, which is affected by both ADP binding to the catalytic sites and proton flow via F(o) portion.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗