Background data on NOD/Shi-scid IL-2Rγ mice (NOG mice).

To obtain background data of NOD/Shi-scid IL-2Rγ (NOG) mice, severely immunedeficient mice, a total of 120 animals were examined at 7, 26 and 52 weeks-old (20 mice/sex/group). The survival rate at 52 weeks-old was 95% (19/20) in both sexes. Clinically, circling behavior in one direction along the cage wall was observed in males after 8 weeks and females after 47 weeks-old, and hunchback position was found in males after 32 weeks-old.

Evaluation of a single-dose PIGRET assay for cisplatin in rats compared with the RBC Pig-a assay.

As a part of a collaborative study of the Pig-a assay by the Mammalian Mutagenicity Study Group of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society, a genotoxicity study on cisplatin was performed using red blood cell (RBC) Pig-a and PIGRET assays. The dose levels were set at 0 (vehicle, physiological saline), 0.5, 1, and 2 mg/kg, and cisplatin was administered intravenously once to male F344 rats.

The PIGRET assay, a method for measuring Pig-a gene mutation in reticulocytes, is reliable as a short-term in vivo genotoxicity test: Summary of the MMS/JEMS-collaborative study across 16 laboratories using 24 chemicals.

The in vivo mutation assay using the X-linked phosphatidylinositol glycan class A gene (Pig-a in rodents, PIG-A in humans) is a promising tool for evaluating the mutagenicity of chemicals. Approaches for measuring Pig-a mutant cells have focused on peripheral red blood cells (RBCs) and reticulocytes (RETs) from rodents. The recently developed PIGRET assay is capable of screening >1×10 RETs for Pig-a mutants by concentrating RETs in whole blood prior to flow cytometric analysis.

Evaluation of a single-dose PIGRET assay for acetaminophen in rats compared with the RBC Pig-a assay.

As a part of a collaborative study of the Pig-a assay by the Mammalian Mutagenicity Study Group of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society, a genotoxicity study on acetaminophen (APAP) was performed using the red blood cell (RBC) Pig-a and PIGRET assays. The dose levels were set at 0 (vehicle, 0.5% methylcellulose solution), 500, 1000, and 2000mg/kg, and APAP was administered once by oral gavage to male Sprague Dawley rats.

Heterochronic spontaneous rupture of bilateral renal cell carcinomas in a hemodialysis patient.

A 64-year-old man undergoing chronic hemodialysis was admitted under a shock state with macrohematuria and fatigue lasting for two hours. A blood analysis revealed severe anemia. Computed tomography disclosed a large right-sided perirenal hematoma.

Reversible aberration of neurogenesis affecting late-stage differentiation in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of rat offspring after maternal exposure to manganese chloride.

To examine the effects of developmental manganese (Mn)-exposure on hippocampal neurogenesis, pregnant rats were treated with MnCl(2)·4H(2)O in the diet at 32, 160 or 800 ppm from gestation day 10 to day 21 after delivery. Serum concentrations of thyroid-related hormones were examined in offspring exposed to MnCl(2)·4H(2)O at 800 or 1600 ppm. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed increased doublecortin-positive cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus on postnatal day (PND) 21 following exposure to MnCl(2)·4H(2)O at 800 ppm, indicating an increase of type-3 progenitor or immature granule cells.

Serum alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes in SD rats detected by polyacrylamide-gel disk electrophoresis.

Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity is frequently measured in toxicity studies. In the present study, we assessed the usefulness of a commercially available polyacrylamide-gel disk electrophoresis kit used in humans (AlkPhor System, Jokoh Co. Ltd.

Serum alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes in laboratory beagle dogs detected by polyacrylamide-gel disk electrophoresis.

Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity is frequently measured in toxicity studies. Itoh et al. (2002) reported that a commercially available polyacrylamide-gel (PAG) disk electrophoresis kit used in humans (AlkPhor System, Jokoh Co.

Alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes in mouse plasma detected by polyacrylamide-gel disk electrophoresis.

Plasma alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity is frequently measured in toxicity studies. In the present study, we assessed the usefulness of a commercially available polyacrylamide-gel (PAG) disk electrophoresis kit used in humans (AlkPhor System, Jokoh Co., Ltd.

Circadian clocks and antiaging: do non-aging microalgae like Euglena reveal anything?

Microalgae that divide symmetrically in all aspects do not age. While the evolutionary reason for this is obvious, little attention has been paid to the mechanistic explanations. A great deal of study involving many research fields would be needed to explain the mechanisms if we suppose that the immortality results from a lifelong sufficiency of defense from stress or from an essential part of counteracting age-accompanied damage accumulation.

Blood coagulation-related parameter changes in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats treated with phenobarbital (PB) and PB plus vitamin K.

Effects of dose and duration of phenobarbital (PB) administration and those of co-administration of PB and vitamin K on blood coagulation-related parameters were examined in specific pathogen-free (SPF) rats of Sprague-Dawley strain kept on an ordinary diet. In Experiment 1, oral administration of PB (0, 25, 50, 100 or 150 mg/kg/day) for 2 weeks induced increases in hepatic cytochrome P450 content and CYP2B expression, prolongation of coagulation time (activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and Thrombotest (TBT)) and an increase in anti-thrombin III (AT III) concentration in a dose-dependent manner. In Experiment 2, PB administration (100 mg/kg/day) for up to 14 days produced time-dependent increases in hepatic cytochrome P450 content and CYP2B (CYP2B1 and CYP2B2) expression.

Validation of Partin tables and development of a preoperative nomogram for Japanese patients with clinically localized prostate cancer using 2005 International Society of Urological Pathology consensus on Gleason grading: data from the Clinicopathological Research Group for Localized Prostate Cancer.

Purpose: We validated the 2001 Partin tables and developed an original nomogram for Japanese patients using the 2005 International Society of Urological Pathology consensus on Gleason grading.

Materials And Methods: Prostatectomy specimens from 1,188 Japanese men who underwent radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer (cT1-2) between 1997 and 2005 were analyzed. Polychotomous logistic regression analysis was used to construct a nomogram to predict final pathological stage (organ confined disease, extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion and lymph node involvement) from 3 variables, including serum prostate specific antigen, clinical stage and biopsy Gleason score.

Dietary isoflavones may protect against prostate cancer in Japanese men.

We examined associations between nutritional and other lifestyle factors and the prevalence of prostate cancer in a case-control study of Japanese men. Two hundred patients and 200 age-matched controls (+/-5 y) were selected from 3 geographic areas of Japan. BMI, physical activity, occupation, family history of prostate cancer, and medical history were not associated with prostate cancer risk.

High irradiance responses involving photoreversible multiple photoreceptors as related to photoperiodic induction of cell division in Euglena.

Little is known about the photoreceptors involved in the photoperiodism of unicellular organisms, which we elucidated by deriving their action spectra. The flagellated alga Euglena gracilis exhibits photoperiodism, with a long-day response in cell reproduction. The underlying clock is a circadian rhythm with photoinductive capability, peaking at subjective dusk and occurring at the 26th hour in continuous darkness (DD) when transferred from continuous light (LL); it regulates photoinduction, a high-irradiance response (HIR), of a dark-capability of progressing through cell division.

Phytochrome-like responses in Euglena: A low fluence response that reorganizes the spectral dependence of the high irradiance response in long-day photoperiodic induction of cell division.

Irradiance spectra change spatiotemporally, and angiosperms adapt accordingly, mainly through phytochromes. This study challenges the long-held belief that the flagellated alga Euglena gracilis lacks phytochromes and is therefore unaffected by spectral changes. We photoautotrophically cultured the alga under continuous light (LL), then transferred it to darkness.

Circadian rhythms of the L-ascorbic acid level in Euglena and spinach.

Plant defenses against photo-oxidative stress have been studied almost exclusively with respect to stress responses, and little is known about how non-enzymic antioxidants change under constant conditions without a time cue or an environmental stress. Here, we show that, in both the flagellated alga Euglena gracilis Z and the angiosperm Spinacia oleracea L., the potent antioxidant L-ascorbic acid (Asc) displays a circadian rhythm with a maximum at subjective midday, a physiological state reflecting that attained at noon under daily light/dark cycles.

Proximal prostatic stem cells are programmed to regenerate a proximal-distal ductal axis.

Prostate carcinoma and benign prostatic hypertrophy may both originate in stem cells, highlighting the importance of the characterization of these cells. The prostate gland contains a network of ducts each of which consists of a proximal (adjacent to the urethra), an intermediate, and a distal region. Here, we report that two populations of cells capable of regenerating prostatic tissue in an in vivo prostate reconstitution assay are present in different regions of prostatic ducts.

Circadian rhythms of resistance to UV-C and UV-B radiation in Euglena as related to "escape from light" and "resistance to light".

Radiation-induced stress, either from visible or UV light, is strongest at midday. We found that, in the absence of stress or time cues, Euglena gracilis Z was the most resistant to UV-C and UV-B at subjective midday, whether judged from immediate or reproductive survival. The circadian UV-resistance rhythms were free-running in stationary cultures under 1-h light/1-h dark cycles or continuous darkness, indicating that cell-cycle dependent DNA susceptibility to UV was not involved.

TGF-{beta} maintains dormancy of prostatic stem cells in the proximal region of ducts.

We have previously shown that prostatic stem cells are located in the proximal region of mouse prostatic ducts. Here, we show that this region responds differently to transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta than the distal ductal region and that under physiological conditions androgens and TGF-beta are crucial overall regulators of prostatic tissue homeostasis. This conclusion is supported by the observations showing that high levels of TGF-beta signaling are present in the quiescent proximal region of ducts in an androgen-replete animal and that cells in this region overexpress Bcl-2, which protects them from apoptosis.

Sca-1 expression identifies stem cells in the proximal region of prostatic ducts with high capacity to reconstitute prostatic tissue.

We previously showed that prostatic stem cells are concentrated in the proximal regions of prostatic ducts. We now report that these stem cells can be purified from isolated proximal duct regions by virtue of their high expression of the cell surface protein stem cell antigen 1 (Sca-1). In an in vivo prostate reconstitution assay, the purified Sca-1-expressing cell population isolated from the proximal region of ducts was more effective in generating prostatic tissue than a comparable population of Sca-1-depleted cells (203.

Circadian G2 arrest as related to circadian gating of cell population growth in Euglena.

Cell population growth is gated to occur in particular circadian phases, which has been known for over four decades in various organisms including cyanobacteria and human. However, little is known as to which cell cycle phases from G1 to M are primarily regulated by the circadian rhythm or when in a circadian cycle this primary regulation takes place. We report here that in the flagellate alga Euglena gracilis grown photoautotrophically, the circadian rhythm primarily prevented developmentally matured G2 cells from progressing to mitosis, such that cell population growth occurred only during subjective night.

A case-control study of diet and prostate cancer in Japan: possible protective effect of traditional Japanese diet.

The age-adjusted incidence of prostate cancer is low in Japan, and it has been suggested that the traditional Japanese diet, which includes many soy products, plays a preventive role against prostate cancer. We performed a case-control study on dietary factors and prostate cancer in order to assess the hypothesis that the traditional Japanese diet reduces the risk of prostate cancer. Four geographical areas (Ibaraki, Fukuoka, Nara, and Hokkaido) of Japan were selected for the survey.

Circadian gating of photoinduction of commitment to cell-cycle transitions in relation to photoperiodic control of cell reproduction in Euglena.

A novel type of circadian and photoperiodic control of the cell division cycle was found in photoautotrophic Euglena gracilis. When algae entrained to 24 h light-dark (LD) cycles (14 h L) were transferred to continuous darkness (DD) at the eighth hour of the final LD photoperiod, cell-cycle transition was arrested in phase G1, S or G2. The subsequent exposure of these dark-arrested cells to a 6 h light-break allowed the dark-arrested cells to undergo cell-cycle progression in DD, in a manner dependent on the circadian phase; maximum photoinduction occurred around dusk.