Consecutive Intake of Fermented Milk Containing Bifidobacterium breve Strain Yakult and Galacto-oligosaccharides Benefits Skin Condition in Healthy Adult Women.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial was conducted to investigate the beneficial effect of probiotic and prebiotic fermented milk on the skin of healthy adult women. Forty healthy Japanese adult female volunteers with healthy skin randomly received either a bottle of probiotic and prebiotic fermented milk containing Bifidobacterium breve strain Yakult and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) (active group) or a non-fermented placebo milk containing neither probiotics nor GOS (placebo group) daily for 4 weeks. Before and after intake, hydration levels and cathepsin L-like activity in the stratum corneum and phenol levels in the serum and urine were determined.

Gene expression profiles in the common marmoset brain determined using a newly developed common marmoset-specific DNA microarray.

To facilitate common marmoset brain research, we produced a DNA microarray with 7557 probe sets derived from the common marmoset brain. Gene expression profiles in the frontal lobe, hippocampus, cerebellum and amygdaloid nucleus were then analyzed and the top 100 probe sets expressed in each structure were compared. The three lists for the frontal lobe, hippocampus and amygdaloid nucleus were very similar but the probe sets for the cerebellum demonstrated specific differences.

A comparative study of gene expression profiles in rat liver after administration of alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane and lindane.

Alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane (alpha-HCH) is a stereoisomer of gamma-HCH, the active ingredient of lindane (> 99% gamma-HCH). In the present study, cDNA microarray technology was employed to identify changes in gene expression associated with toxicity in livers of male Fischer 344 rats after treatment with alpha-HCH (2, 20 mg/kg/day) and lindane (1, 10 mg/kg/day) by daily oral gavage for up to 28 days. Liver samples were obtained after 1, 3, 7, 14 and 28 days and compared for gene expression profiles.

Characterization of Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans NXF-like-factors, putative homologs of mammalian NXF.

The basic helix-loop-helix/Per-Arnt-Sim (bHLH-PAS) homology protein family is an important class of transcriptional regulators that are involved in a wide variety of biological processes. In a previous study, we characterized a novel bHLH-PAS factor 'NXF' as a new member of the mammalian bHLH-PAS family. If model animals have ortholog genes for NXF, they might have advantages for characterization of its function and regulation in vivo.

Optimization of an animal test protocol for toxicogenomics studies (ii); a cross-laboratory gene expression analysis.

Toxicogenomics is a promising new tool for prediction of chemical toxicities including carcinogenicity in a relatively short period. However, it is important to develop a reliable animal test protocol for toxicogenomics studies. The preparation of RNA and tissues is also crucial, since it greatly influences outcomes of gene expression analysis.