Publications by authors named "Akiko Nishikawa"

To identify the effects of Reiki on stress among Japanese nurses. Mixed method and intervention design. A nonprobability snowball sampling was used.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

It is well known that branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) promote protein synthesis in skeletal muscle and can cause muscle hypertrophy. However, it has also been reported that they may inhibit muscle atrophy induced by load-bearing and age-related changes. In this study, we investigated the effects of BCAA intake during joint fixation on the levels of protein kinase B (Akt), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and nebulin in a rat model of joint fixation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Fluoropyrimidine plus platinum (FP)-based chemotherapy has been widely used as a first-line regimen for advanced or recurrent esophageal cancer, and taxanes have shown efficacy after FP-based chemotherapy, but there is no standard regimen for second-line chemotherapy (SLC). We retrospectively investigated the clinical features of taxane therapy in SLC for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: The selection criteria were pathologically proven ESCC; advanced or recurrent disease previously treated with FP at our hospital; performance status (PS) 0-2; and adequate organ function.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rapid and long-distance secretion of membrane components is critical for hyphal formation in filamentous fungi, but the mechanisms responsible for polarized trafficking are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that in Candida albicans, the majority of the Golgi complex is redistributed to the distal region during hyphal formation. Randomly distributed Golgi puncta in yeast cells cluster toward the growing tip during hyphal formation, remain associated with the distal portion of the filament during its extension, and are almost absent from the cell body.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The early steps of N-linked glycosylation involve the synthesis of a lipid-linked oligosaccharide, Glc(3)Man(9)GlcNAc(2)-PP-dolichol, on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. Prior to its lumenal translocation and transfer to nascent glycoproteins, mannosylation of Man(5)GlcNAc(2)-PP-dolichol is catalyzed by the Alg1, Alg2, and Alg11 mannosyltransferases. We provide evidence for a physical interaction between these proteins.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mannoproteins on the cell wall of yeast and fungi help regulate cell shape, porosity, and cell-cell interactions, including those required for attachment to host cells by fungal pathogens. The mannose-containing oligosaccharides on proteins and lipids are extended in the Golgi by glycosyltransferases that use GDP-mannose as the sugar substrate. A membrane-bound transporter that, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is encoded by the VRG4 gene catalyses delivery of GDP-mannose into the lumen of the Golgi.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cell surface mannan is implicated in almost every aspect of pathogenicity of Candida albicans. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Vrg4 protein acts as a master regulator of mannan synthesis through its role in substrate provision. The substrate for mannosylation of proteins and lipids in the Golgi apparatus is GDP-mannose, whose lumenal transport is catalyzed by Vrg4p.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF