A Case of Nemaline Myopathy With Sleep-Related Hypoventilation Diagnosed Using Polysomnography During Daytime Napping.

This is the case of a 49-year-old woman who was admitted to the hospital for a close examination of pulmonary hypertension; however, the next morning, she developed carbon dioxide (CO) narcosis and was started on artificial ventilation. As pulmonary arterial hypertension was ruled out, the patient was extubated, and 24-hour transcutaneous partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO)(transcutaneous carbon dioxide (TcPCO)) monitoring was performed to diagnose sleep-related hypoventilation. Polysomnography (PSG) during daytime napping revealed markedly decreased chest motion and a "pseudo-central event," which was neither central nor obstructive hypopnea.

Invasive Tracheobronchial Aspergillosis with Bronchial Ulcers Complicated by Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disease.

Invasive tracheobronchial aspergillosis (ITBA) complicated by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is rare. An 88-year-old man was admitted for hemoptysis. Bronchoscopy revealed bronchial ulcers, and a tissue biopsy showed Aspergillus fumigatus.

Liraglutide improves pancreatic Beta cell mass and function in alloxan-induced diabetic mice.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists potentiate glucose-induced insulin secretion. In addition, they have been reported to increase pancreatic beta cell mass in diabetic rodents. However, the precise mode of action of GLP-1 receptor agonists still needs to be elucidated.

Syntaxin-3 is required for melanosomal localization of Tyrp1 in melanocytes.

Melanogenic enzymes are transported by vesicular/membrane trafficking to immature melanosomes in melanocytes where they catalyze the synthesis of melanin pigments. Although several factors involved in melanogenic enzyme trafficking have been identified in the past decade, involvement of the SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) proteins, which generally mediate membrane fusion, on melanosomes in the process of melanogenic enzyme trafficking has never been investigated. In this study we identified syntaxin-3, which was originally described as a target SNARE protein at the plasma membrane, as a melanosome-resident protein and investigated whether syntaxin-3 is involved in the trafficking of the melanogenic enzyme Tyrp1 (tyrosinase-related protein 1) in mouse melanocytes.

Loss-of-function of a ubiquitin-related modifier promotes the mobilization of the active MITE mPing.

Miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) are widespread in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes, where their copy numbers can attain several thousands. Little is known, however, about the genetic factor(s) affecting their transpositions. Here, we show that disruption of a gene encoding ubiquitin-like protein markedly enhances the transposition activity of a MITE mPing in intact rice plants without any exogenous stresses.

The Rab21-GEF activity of Varp, but not its Rab32/38 effector function, is required for dendrite formation in melanocytes.

Vacuolar protein sorting 9 (VPS9)-ankyrin-repeat protein (Varp) has recently been identified as an effector molecule for two small GTPases-Rab32 and Rab38-in the transport of a melanogenic enzyme tyrosinase-related protein 1 (Tyrp1) to melanosomes in melanocytes. Although Varp contains a Rab21-guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) domain (i.e.

Pancreatic β-cells are generated by neogenesis from non-β-cells after birth.

The mass of pancreatic β-cells is maintained throughout lifetime to control blood glucose levels. Although the major mechanism of the maintenance of β-cell mass after birth is thought to be selfreplication of pre-existing β-cells, it is possible that pancreatic β-cells are also generated from non-β-cells. Here, we address this issue by using the inducible Cre/loxP system to trace β-cells.

Structure-function analysis of VPS9-ankyrin-repeat protein (Varp) in the trafficking of tyrosinase-related protein 1 in melanocytes.

Because Varp (VPS9-ankyrin-repeat protein)/Ankrd27 specifically binds two small GTPases, Rab32 and Rab38, which redundantly regulate the trafficking of melanogenic enzymes in mammalian epidermal melanocytes, it has recently been implicated in the regulation of trafficking of a melanogenic enzyme tyrosinase-related protein 1 (Tyrp1) to melanosomes. However, the functional interaction between Rab32/38 and Varp and the involvement of the VPS9 domain (i.e.

Varp is a novel Rab32/38-binding protein that regulates Tyrp1 trafficking in melanocytes.

Two small GTPase Rabs, Rab32 and Rab38, have recently been proposed to regulate trafficking of melanogenic enzymes to melanosomes in mammalian epidermal melanocytes; however, the exact molecular mechanism of Rab32/38-mediated transport of melanogenic enzymes has never been clarified, because no Rab32/38-specific effector has ever been identified. In this study, we screened for a Rab32/38-specific effector by a yeast two-hybrid assay using a guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-locked Rab32/38 as bait and found that VPS9-ankyrin-repeat protein (Varp)/Ankrd27, characterized previously as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Rab21, functions as a specific Rab32/38-binding protein in mouse melanocyte cell line melan-a. Deletion analysis showed that the first ankyrin-repeat (ANKR1) domain functions as a GTP-dependent Rab32/38-binding domain, but that the N-terminal VPS9 domain (i.