Mismatch of minor histocompatibility antigen contributes to a graft-versus-leukemia effect rather than to acute GVHD, resulting in long-term survival after HLA-identical stem cell transplantation in Japan.

We determined the alleles of five polymorphic molecules including HA-1 and four adhesion molecules for 106 patients transplanted with HLA-identical stem cell grafts and investigated the association of mismatches as correlates of relapse and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). All 106 recipients underwent stem cell transplantation (SCT) after myeloablative conditioning between 1985 and 2002. Risk status of disease at SCT was standard (n=63) and high (n=42).

The production of recombinant APRP, an alkaline protease derived from Bacillus pumilus TYO-67, by in vitro refolding of pro-enzyme fixed on a solid surface.

Bacillus pumilus TYO-67 has been isolated from tofuyo, a traditional fermented food made from soybean milk in Okinawa, Japan. This bacterium secretes a soybean-milk-coagulating enzyme (SMCE), which can be applied for the production of processed foods from soybean milk. Thus, an easy method of producing the recombinant enzyme was developed in this study.

Involvement of a quinoprotein (PQQ-containing) alcohol dehydrogenase in the degradation of polypropylene glycols by the bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

Previous work has shown that when the bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is grown on polypropylene glycol, different dye-linked polypropylene glycol dehydrogenase (PPG-DH) activities are induced during growth. Here the purification and characterization of the dehydrogenase activity induced in the stationary phase, and present in the periplasmic space, is described. The homogeneous enzyme preparation obtained consists of a homodimeric protein with a molecular mass of about 123 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.

Retinal damage in hatched chicks induced by formoguanamine. Decrease in ornithine aminotransferase activity and vitamin B6 content.

Subcutaneous injection of formoguanamine (2,4-diamino-s-triazine) induced sightlessness in newly hatched chicks within 28-32 hr. The specific activity of retinal ornithine aminotransferase, localized exclusively in the mitochondria of retinal pigment epithelium, and the retinal vitamin B6 content decreased rapidly after formoguanamine administration. An absorption spectrum of retinal extract showed reduced absorbance at 400 nm in the formoguanamine-treated chicks, but delta 1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase, an enzyme in the retinal cytosol, did not change significantly.