Differential impact of glomerular and tubule-interstitial histological changes on kidney outcome between non-proteinuric and proteinuric diabetic nephropathy.

Background: Studies on kidney function and histological findings in diabetic nephropathy (DN) with low urinary protein (UP) are few. We examined the differential impact of histological changes on kidney outcomes between non-proteinuric and proteinuric DN.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with DN by renal biopsy during 1981-2014 were divided into non-proteinuric (UP ≤ 0.

The association of 5-year therapeutic responsiveness with long-term renal outcome in IgA nephropathy.

Background: Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common type of primary glomerulonephritis. Since most patients have a relatively benign renal prognosis, long-term follow-up is required. During such a long course of disease, relapse of IgAN is occasionally observed after upper respiratory tract infection or without any trigger.

Association of initial prednisolone dose with remission, relapse, and infectious complications in adult-onset minimal change disease.

Background: A dose of 0.5-1 mg/kg/day of prednisolone (PSL) is administered for the initial treatment of minimal change disease (MCD). However, little is known about the optimal PSL dose for the initial treatment of MCD.

Microscopic hematuria is a risk factor for end-stage kidney disease in patients with biopsy-proven diabetic nephropathy.

Introduction: There are fewer reports about whether the presence of hematuria affects the progression of chronic kidney disease in patients with diabetic nephropathy. We analyzed whether microscopic hematuria in diabetic nephropathy is a risk factor for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).

Research Design And Methods: The present study was a retrospective cohort study of patients with biopsy-proven diabetic nephropathy.

Construction of T-Motif-Based DNA Nanostructures through Enzymatic Reactions.

The most common way to fabricate DNA nanostructures is to mix individually synthesized DNA oligomers in one pot. However, if DNA nanostructures could be produced through enzymatic reactions, they could be applied in various environments, including in vivo. Herein, an enzymatic method developed to construct a DNA nanostructure from a simple motif called a T-motif is reported.

Mycobacterium wolinskyi Peritonitis after Peritoneal Catheter Embedment Surgery.

Mycobacterium wolinskyi belongs to the Mycobacterium smegmatis group, which comprises rapidly growing non-tuberculous mycobacteria. The number of case reports on M. wolinskyi infections associated with postoperative wounds has increased in recent years.

Acute kidney injury in a postpartum woman with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria: A case report and literature review.

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria is a rare clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorder characterized by intravascular hemolysis, hemoglobinuria, and inflammatory thrombotic state. Intravascular hemolysis in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) can lead to acute and chronic renal injury through hemoglobin-mediated toxicity. A 32-year-old pregnant woman with myelodysplastic syndrome was admitted to our hospital with severe preeclampsia.

Prognostic Value of Predialysis Indices for Technique Failure and Mortality in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.

Technique failure remains a frequent cause of peritoneal dialysis (PD) withdrawal. Many post-commencement predictors of PD technique failure have been identified, while predialysis predictors have remained unclear. The aim of this study was to identify predialysis indices for technique failure in PD patients.

Maternal undernutrition induces the expression of hypoxia-related genes in the fetal brain.

Maternal undernutrition during pregnancy is a risk factor for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF1α) plays an essential role in cellular hypoxic responses, and its increased expression is associated with cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. However, it is not known whether maternal undernutrition influences HIF1α expression in the fetal brain.

Aberrant expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α in the fetal heart is associated with maternal undernutrition.

Maternal undernutrition during pregnancy is a risk factor that impairs fetal growth and causes cardiovascular diseases. However, the underlying mechanism is still unknown. In this study, we evaluated the effect of maternal undernutrition on the expression levels of transcription factors in the fetal heart.

Maternal undernutrition with vaginal inflammation impairs the neonatal oligodendrogenesis in mice.

Maternal undernutrition and infection during pregnancy may impair development of oligodendrocytes, thereby increasing risks of neuropsychiatric disorders of their children. We analyzed the effects of those risk factors on oligodendrogenesis in fetal and neonatal brains. Female mice were given low-protein or regular food for 2 weeks before their pregnancy.

Identification of an Htm1 (EDEM)-dependent, Mns1-independent Endoplasmic Reticulum-associated Degradation (ERAD) pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: application of a novel assay for glycoprotein ERAD.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation (ERAD) is a quality control system for newly synthesized proteins in the ER; nonfunctional proteins, which fail to form their correct folding state, are then degraded. The cytoplasmic peptide:N-glycanase is a deglycosylating enzyme that is involved in the ERAD and releases N-glycans from misfolded glycoproteins/glycopeptides. We have previously identified a mutant plant toxin protein, RTA (ricin A-chain nontoxic mutant), as the first in vivo Png1 (the cytoplasmic peptide:N-glycanase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae)-dependent ERAD substrate.

Identification and quantification of 1-nitropyrene metabolites in human urine as a proposed biomarker for exposure to diesel exhaust.

1-nitropyrene (1-NP) is one of the most abundant nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) in diesel exhaust particulate matter (DEP) and is a main contributor of direct-acting mutagenicity in DEP. Therefore, the metabolites of 1-NP are expected to be a biomarker for assessment of exposure to DEP. In this study, a highly specific and sensitive analytical method using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed to determine urinary 1-NP metabolites.

Dual enzymatic properties of the cytoplasmic peptide: N-glycanase in C. elegans.

The endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD) of misfolded (glyco)proteins ensures that only functional, correctly folded proteins exit from the ER and that misfolded ones are degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. During the degradation of misfolded glycoproteins, some of them are subjected to deglycosylation by the cytoplasmic peptide:N-glycanase (PNGase). The cytosolic PNGase is widely distributed throughout eukaryotes.

A cytoplasmic peptide: N-glycanase.

A cytoplasmic peptide:N-glycanase (PNGase) has been implicated in the proteasomal degradation of aberrant glycoproteins synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum. The reaction is believed to be important for subsequent proteolysis by the proteasome since bulky N-glycan chains on misfolded glycoproteins may impair their efficient entry into the interior of the cylinder-shaped 20S proteasome, where the active sites of the proteases reside. The deglycosylation reaction by PNGase brings about two major changes on substrate proteins; one is a removal of N-glycan chains, and the other is the introduction of negative charge(s) into the core peptide by converting glycosylated asparagine residue(s) into aspartic acid residue(s).

The Png1-Rad23 complex regulates glycoprotein turnover.

Misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are destroyed by a pathway termed ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD). Glycans are often removed from glycosylated ERAD substrates in the cytosol before substrate degradation, which maintains the efficiency of the proteasome. Png1, a deglycosylating enzyme, has long been suspected, but not proven, to be crucial in this process.

Truncated Sla1 induces haploid meiosis through the Pat1-Mei2 system in fission yeast.

We previously reported that expression of Sla1DeltaC, a truncated form of Sla1, induces ectopic meiosis in heterothallic fission yeast and this was possibly due to the inhibition of Pat1 kinase by Sla1DeltaC. Here we found mei2 mRNA and the Mei2 protein accumulated and stability of the Mei2 protein increased when Sla1DeltaC was expressed. The former two results are considered to be the consequence of de-repression of Ste11, which is the transcription factor of mei2 and negatively regulated by Pat1 kinase.

Sla1, a Schizosaccharomyces pombe homolog of the human La protein, induces ectopic meiosis when its C terminus is truncated.

Sla1 is a Schizosaccharomyces pombe homolog of the human La protein. La proteins are known to be RNA-binding proteins that bear conserved RNA recognition motifs (La and RRMs), but their biological functions still have not been fully resolved. In this study, we show that the S.