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Biomedical subjects

Naohiro Hashimoto

Publications and source records attributed to Naohiro Hashimoto.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Immortalization of human myogenic progenitor cell clone retaining multipotentiality.

Human myogenic cells have limited ability to proliferate in culture. Although forced expression of telomerase can immortalize some cell types, telomerase alone delays senescence of human primary cultured myogenic cells, but fails to immortalize them. In contrast, constitutive expression of both telomerase and the E7 gene from human papillomavirus type 16 immortalizes primary human myogenic cells. We have established an immortalized primary human myogenic cell line preserving multipotentiality by ectopic expression of telomerase and E7. The immortalized human myogenic cells exhibit the phenotypic characteristics of their primary parent, including an ability to undergo myogenic, osteogenic, and adipogenic terminal differentiation under appropriate culture conditions. The immortalized cells will be useful for both basic and applied studies aimed at human muscle disorders. Furthermore, immortalization by transduction of telomerase and E7 represents a useful method by which to expand human myogenic cells in vitro without compromising their ability to differentiate.

Adult↗

Natural history of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy in Japan.

The natural history of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) was investigated, using a nation-wide retrospective study based on a questionnaire survey. The data on 145 patients, including 46 patients with the childhood cerebral form, 39 with adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN), 33 with the adult cerebral form, 14 with the adolescent form and 13 with the olivo-ponto-cerebellar (OPC) form, were analyzed. Initial symptoms of the childhood cerebral form were intellectual (n=16) and visual (n=11) disturbances, whereas those of AMN were gait (n=37) and sensory (n=3) disturbances; the adult cerebral form, psychic (n=19) and gait (n=11) disturbances; the adolescent form, visual n=5) and gait (n=4) disturbances; and the OPC form, gait (n=9) disturbance. Patients with onset under the age of 8 years progressed more rapidly than those over 8 years old. Visual, hearing, gait and swallowing disturbances progressed more slowly in the older group. About half of AMN patients showed cerebral involvement about 10 years after onset. Patients with the OPC form also showed a similar progression. A Kaplan-Meier plot clarified the characteristic pattern of progression of neurological symptoms in each phenotype. These finding will improve the understanding of the natural history of X-linked ALD and will provide a basis for the evaluation of specific treatment for X-linked ALD.

Adolescent↗

Muscle reconstitution by muscle satellite cell descendants with stem cell-like properties.

Recent studies have demonstrated that a distinct subpopulation with stem cell-like characteristics in myoblast culture is responsible for new muscle fiber formation after intramuscular transplantation. The identification and isolation of stem-like cells would have significant implications for successful myogenic cell transfer therapy in human muscle disorders. Using a clonal culture system for mouse muscle satellite cells, we have identified two cell types, designated 'round cells' and 'thick cells', in clones derived from single muscle satellite cells that have been taken from either slow or fast muscle. Clonal analysis of satellite cells revealed that the round cells are immediate descendants of quiescent satellite cells in adult muscle. In single-myofiber culture, round cells first formed colonies and then generated progeny, thick cells, that underwent both myogenic and osteogenic terminal differentiation under the appropriate culture conditions. Thick cells, but not round cells, responded to terminal differentiation-inducing signals. Round cells express Pax7, a specific marker of satellite cells, at high levels. Myogenic cell transfer experiments showed that round cells reconstitute myofibers more efficiently than thick cells. Furthermore, round cells restored dystrophin in myofibers of mdx nude mice, even when as few as 5000 cells were transferred into the gastrocnemius muscle. These results suggest that round cells are satellite-cell descendants with stem cell-like characteristics and represent a useful source of donor cells to improve muscle regeneration.

Animals↗

Revised nomenclature for the mammalian long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase gene family.

By consensus, the acyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) community, with the advice of the human and mouse genome nomenclature committees, has revised the nomenclature for the mammalian long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases. ACS is the family root name, and the human and mouse genes for the long-chain ACSs are termed ACSL1,3-6 and Acsl1,3-6, respectively. Splice variants of ACSL3, -4, -5, and -6 are cataloged. Suggestions for naming other family members and for the nonmammalian acyl-CoA synthetases are made.

Acyl Coenzyme A↗

Down-regulation of an ankyrin repeat-containing protein, V-1, during skeletal muscle differentiation and its re-expression in the regenerative process of muscular dystrophy.

Using Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical methods, we examined the expression of V-1, a member of the ankyrin repeat-containing protein family, during differentiation and regeneration of skeletal muscle. The expression of V-1 was high in cultured myoblasts and decreased during their differentiation into myotubes, while high expression was maintained when muscle differentiation was inhibited by treatment with basic fibroblast growth factor. Down-regulation of V-1 also occurred during in vivo muscle differentiation from embryonic to postnatal stages, reaching an undetectable level in mature skeletal muscle. In contrast, strong V-1 immunoreactivity was detected again in myoblasts and regenerating muscle fibers with a small diameter, which were observed in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and its animal model, mdx mouse. Thus, it seems that V-1 is a good marker for early stage of muscle regeneration and changes of its expression suggest that V-1 plays a role in prenatal muscle differentiation and postnatal muscle regeneration.

Adult↗

Generation of different fates from multipotent muscle stem cells.

Although neuronal and mesenchymal stem cells exhibit multipotentiality, this property has not previously been demonstrated for muscle stem cells. We now show that muscle satellite cells of adult mice are able to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes and myotubes. Undifferentiated muscle progenitor cells derived from a single satellite cell co-expressed multiple determination genes including those for MyoD and Runx2, which are specific for myogenic and osteogenic differentiation, respectively. Determination genes not relevant to the induced differentiation pathway were specifically downregulated in these cells. Similar multipotent progenitor cells were isolated from adult human muscle. Based on these observations, we propose a 'stock options' model for the generation of different fates from multipotent stem cells.

Animals↗