Field trial of differential-phase-shift quantum key distribution using polarization independent frequency up-conversion detectors.

We report a field trial of differential phase shift quantum key distribution (QKD) using polarization independent frequency up-conversion detectors. A frequency up-conversion detector is a promising device for achieving a high key generation rate when combined with a high clock rate QKD system. However, its polarization dependence prevents it from being applied to practical QKD systems.

AID-deficient Bcl-xL transgenic mice develop delayed atypical plasma cell tumors with unusual Ig/Myc chromosomal rearrangements.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is required for immunoglobulin (Ig) class switch recombination and somatic hypermutation, and has also been implicated in translocations between Ig switch regions and c-Myc in plasma cell tumors in mice. We asked if AID is required for accelerated tumor development in pristane-treated Bcl-xL transgenic BALB/c mice deficient in AID (pBxAicda-/-). pBxAicda-/- mice developed tumors with a lower frequency (24 vs.

Hormonal, pH, and calcium regulation of connexin 43-mediated dye transfer in osteocytes in chick calvaria.

Unlabelled: Gap junctional intercellular communication among osteocytes in chick calvaria, their natural 3D environment, was examined using FRAP analysis. Cell-cell communication among osteocytes in chick calvaria was mediated by Cx43 and was regulated by extracellular pH, extracellular calcium ion concentration, and PTH.

Introduction: The intercellular network of communication among osteocytes is mediated by gap junctions.

Long-distance distribution of time-bin entangled photon pairs over 100 km using frequency up-conversion detectors.

We report an experimental demonstration of the distribution of time-bin entangled photon pairs over 100 km of optical fiber. In our experiment, 1.5-mum non-degenerated time-bin entangled photon pairs were generated with a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide by using the parametric down conversion process.

The monolayer formation of Bergmann glial cells is regulated by Notch/RBP-J signaling.

The Bergmann glia is a unipolar astrocyte in the cerebellar cortex, displaying a tight association with Purkinje cells. The cell bodies of Bergmann glia are located in a row around Purkinje cell somata; they extend radially arranged Bergmann fibers which enwrap the synapses on the Purkinje cell dendrites. It is well known that Bergmann glial somata migrate from the ventricular zone through the mantle zone, forming an epithelium-like lining in the Purkinje cell layer during development.

Tributyltin causes abnormal development in embryos of medaka, Oryzias latipes.

We examined the effects of tributyltin (TBT) on embryonic development, hatching success and sexual differentiation in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). Embryos (within 8h after fertilization) were exposed to TBT in ovo via nanoinjection at concentrations of 0 (control), 0.16, 0.

PD-1 and PD-1 ligands: from discovery to clinical application.

Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1, Pdcd1), an immunoreceptor belonging to the CD28/CTLA-4 family negatively regulates antigen receptor signaling by recruiting protein tyrosine phosphatase, SHP-2 upon interacting with either of two ligands, PD-L1 or PD-L2. Because of the wide range of ligand distribution in the body, its biological significance pervades almost every aspect of immune responses including autoimmunity, tumor immunity, infectious immunity, transplantation immunity, allergy and immunological privilege. In this review, we would like to summarize the history of PD-1 research since its discovery and recent findings that suggest promising future for the clinical application of PD-1 agonists and antagonists to various human diseases.

Specific and high-affinity binding of tetramerized PD-L1 extracellular domain to PD-1-expressing cells: possible application to enhance T cell function.

The negative co-stimulatory receptor, programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), is induced on activated T cells and delivers inhibitory signals upon engagement with its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2, which are expressed on various somatic cells and certain cancers. Accumulating evidence suggests that interfering with the PD-1-PD-L1 interaction may result in the restoration of defective T cell functions in cancer and chronic viral infection. Herein, we established procedures to produce large amounts of renatured recombinant extracellular domain proteins of mouse PD-1 (mPD-1) and PD-L1.

Quantitative bioimaging analysis of gonads in olvas-GFP/ST-II YI Medaka (transgenic Oryzias latipes) exposed to ethinylestradiol.

This study investigates the adverse and persistent effects of ethinylestradiol (EE2) on mature gonads of transgenic olvas-GFPIST II-YI medaka (Oryzias latipes). The measurement of gonadal size calculating the GFP-fluorescent area was used as a technique that enabled monitoring gonads in living specimens by GFP fluorescence. First, mature medaka were exposed to EE2 (47.

Role of AID in tumorigenesis.

A hallmark of mature B-cell lymphomas is reciprocal chromosomal translocations involving the Ig locus and a proto-oncogene, which usually result in the deregulated, constitutive expression of the translocated gene. In addition to such translocations, proto-oncogenes are frequently hypermutated in germinal center (GC)-derived B-cell lymphomas. Although aberrant, mistargeted class switch recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM) events have long been suspected of causing chromosomal translocations and mutations in oncogenes, and thus of playing a critical role in the pathogenesis of most B-cell lymphomas, the molecular basis for such deregulation of CSR and SHM is only beginning to be elucidated by recent genetic approaches.

Discovery of activation-induced cytidine deaminase, the engraver of antibody memory.

Discovery of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) paved a new path to unite two genetic alterations induced by antigen stimulation; class switch recombination (CSR) and somatic hypermutation (SHM). AID is now established to cleave specific target DNA and to serve as engraver of these genetic alterations. AID of a 198-residue protein has four important domains: nuclear localization signal and SHM-specific region at the N-terminus; the alpha-helical segment (residue 47-54) responsible for dimerization; catalytic domain (residues 56-94) shared by all the other cytidine deaminase family members; and nuclear export signal overlapping with class switch-specific domain at the C-terminus.

Purification and characterization of tributyltin-binding protein type 2 from plasma of Japanese flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus.

We used gel filtration chromatography, anion-exchange chromatography and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to purify tributyltin-binding protein type 2 (TBT-bp 2) from plasma of Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) injected intraperitoneally with TBT (5.0 mg/kg body weight). Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that the molecular mass of TBT-bp 2 was approximately 48 kDa, and isoelectric focusing-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated that the isoelectric point was approximately 3.

Multiple roles of Notch signaling in cochlear development.

Notch signaling inhibits hair cell differentiation, based on studies on mice deficient in Notch signaling-related genes and its downstream genes. However, the precise mechanisms of this inhibition are unknown because it is difficult to control the timing and duration of the suppression of Notch signaling. Here, we developed a novel in vitro culture and analysis method for mouse fetal cochleae and examined the roles of Notch signaling by its reversible inhibition through the use of Notch signaling inhibitors of gamma-secretase and TNF-alpha-converting enzyme.

Generation of a conditional knockout allele for mammalian Spen protein Mint/SHARP.

The Spen protein family is found in worms, flies, and mammals, and is implicated in diverse biological processes from embryogenesis to aging. Spen proteins have three N-terminal RNA recognition motifs and a C-terminal SPOC domain. The mammalian Spen proteins Mint and its human ortholog SHARP interact with the Notch-signaling mediator RBP-J as well as Msx2 and several unliganded nuclear hormone receptors, and impart transcription-repressing activity to these molecules by recruiting corepressors through the SPOC domain.

Regulation of lymphocyte development by Notch signaling.

Notch molecules are well conserved from Drosophila melanogaster to mammals and regulate a broad spectrum of various cell lineage commitment processes. Recent studies using inhibitors, transgenic mice and conditional loss-of-function approaches have demonstrated essential roles for Notch signaling in the differentiation of thymocytes and peripheral T cells, as well as B cells. Here we highlight parallels in the developmental regulation of mammalian lymphocytes and the D.

Differential-phase quantum key distribution experiment using a series of quantum entangled photon pairs.

We report what we believe to be the first differential-phase quantum key distribution experiment using a series of quantum entangled photon pairs. We employed two outstanding techniques. As an entangled photon source, we used a 1.

Expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase in human hepatocytes via NF-kappaB signaling.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is involved in somatic DNA alterations of the immunoglobulin gene for amplification of immune diversity. The fact that constitutive expression of AID in mice causes tumors in various organs, including lymphoid tissues and lungs, suggests the important role of the aberrant editing activity of AID on various tumor-related genes for carcinogenesis. AID expression, however, is restricted to activated B cells under physiological conditions.

Helicobacter pylori infection triggers aberrant expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase in gastric epithelium.

Infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a risk factor for the development of gastric cancer. Here we show that infection of gastric epithelial cells with 'cag' pathogenicity island (cagPAI)-positive H.

Programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 and tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T lymphocytes are prognostic factors of human ovarian cancer.

The ligands for programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), an immunoinhibitory receptor belonging to CD28/cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 family, are PD-1 ligand 1 and 2 (PD-Ls). Recent reports suggest that the aberrant expression of PD-Ls on tumor cells impairs antitumor immunity, resulting in the immune evasion of the tumor cells. Although an inverse correlation between the expression level of PD-Ls and patients' prognosis has been reported for several malignant tumors, the follow-up period was limited because of the lack of the antibody (Ab) applicable to paraffin-embedded specimens.

Generation of energy-time entangled photon pairs in 1.5-mum band with periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide.

We report the generation of 1.5-mm-band energy-time entangled photon pairs using a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide. We performed a two-photon interference experiment and obtained coincidence fringes with 77.

Alteration of monoamine concentrations in the brain of medaka, Oryzias latipes, exposed to tributyltin.

We measured the concentrations of monoamines in the brain of Japanese medaka, Oryzias latipes, exposed to tributyltin (TBT). Fish were exposed to 0, 1, 5, 25, or 125 microg g(-1) of TBT via the diet for 21 days. After the administration period, six males and six females in each treatment group were dissected and their brains were collected.

AID-/-mus-/- mice are agammaglobulinemic and fail to maintain B220-CD138+ plasma cells.

The terminal stage of B cell differentiation culminates in the formation of plasma cells (PC), which secrete large quantities of Igs. Despite recent progress in understanding the molecular aspect of PC differentiation and maintenance, the requirement for the synthesis of secretory Igs as a contributing factor has not been explored. To address this issue, we generated activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID)/secretory mu-chain (mus) double-knockout mice, in which a normally diverse repertoire of B cell receptors is retained, yet B cells are unable to synthesize secretory Igs.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) promotes B cell lymphomagenesis in Emu-cmyc transgenic mice.

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which is essential to both class switch recombination and somatic hypermutation of the Ig gene, is expressed in many types of human B cell lymphoma/leukemia. AID is a potent mutator because it is involved in DNA breakage not only of Ig but also of other genes, including proto-oncogenes. Recent studies suggest that AID is required for chromosomal translocation involving cmyc and Ig loci.