Suppression of cell cycle progression by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor PJ34 in neural stem/progenitor cells.

Neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) express higher levels of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) than mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). Inhibition of PARP induces the expression of several genes in the p53 signaling pathway, including p21, which is critical for cell cycle control at the G1/S phase, triggers apoptosis, and suppresses cell cycle progression in NSPCs. However, upon the up-regulation of p21, the cell cycle does not arrest at any specific phase.

Synthesis of the KLMN fragment of gymnocin-A using oxiranyl anion convergent methodology.

Synthesis of the KLMN fragment of gymnocin-A has been achieved by a [X + 2 + Y]-type convergent strategy involving the coupling of a K-ring triflate and an N-ring epoxy sulfone. Fusions of the L ring and the M ring were carried out by intramolecular SN2 substitution of a tertiary alcohol and reductive etherification to furnish the target molecule.

Alterations and diversity in the cytoplasmic tail of the fusion protein of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis virus strains isolated in Osaka, Japan.

We determined the nucleotide sequence of the fusion (F) gene of three strains (Osaka-1, -2, and -3) of nonproductive variants of measles virus (MV). These viral strains were isolated in Osaka, Japan, from brain tissues of patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). Phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relationship among the three strains of SSPE virus.

Comparison of the neuropathogenicity of two SSPE sibling viruses of the Osaka-2 strain isolated with Vero and B95a cells.

Two sibling viruses, Fr/V and Fr/B, of the subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) virus Osaka-2 strain were isolated from a small biopsy specimen of the brain of an SSPE patient by cocultivation with two different cell lines, Vero and B95a cells, respectively. These two sibling viruses differ from each other in their molecular mechanisms of defective M protein expression. In this study, we found that the Fr/B virus could scarcely form syncytium foci on Vero cells, although the Fr/V virus could do so on both Vero and B95a cells, showing a similar relation of cell tropism between recent field isolates and laboratory strains of the measles virus.