Autophagy Regulator Rufy 4 Promotes Osteoclastic Bone Resorption by Orchestrating Cytoskeletal Organization via Its RUN Domain.

Rufy4, a protein belonging to the RUN and FYVE domain-containing protein family, participates in various cellular processes such as autophagy and intracellular trafficking. However, its role in osteoclast-mediated bone resorption remains uncertain. In this study, we investigated the expression and role of the gene in osteoclasts using small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection and gene overexpression systems.

Comparison of the Molecular Motility of Tubulin Dimeric Isoforms: Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Diffracted X-ray Tracking Study.

Tubulin has been recently reported to form a large family consisting of various gene isoforms; however, the differences in the molecular features of tubulin dimers composed of a combination of these isoforms remain unknown. Therefore, we attempted to elucidate the physical differences in the molecular motility of these tubulin dimers using the method of measurable pico-meter-scale molecular motility, diffracted X-ray tracking (DXT) analysis, regarding characteristic tubulin dimers, including neuronal TUBB3 and ubiquitous TUBB5. We first conducted a DXT analysis of neuronal (TUBB3-TUBA1A) and ubiquitous (TUBB5-TUBA1B) tubulin dimers and found that the molecular motility around the vertical axis of the neuronal tubulin dimer was lower than that of the ubiquitous tubulin dimer.

Quantitative environmental DNA metabarcoding shows high potential as a novel approach to quantitatively assess fish community.

The simultaneous conservation of species richness and evenness is important to effectively reduce biodiversity loss and keep ecosystem health. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has been used as a powerful tool for identifying community composition, but it does not necessarily provide quantitative information due to several methodological limitations. Thus, the quantification of eDNA through metabarcoding is an important frontier of eDNA-based biomonitoring.

Translating and validating a Japanese version of the instrument for patient assessment of medical professionalism (J-IPAMP): a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Although there are many tools to assess medical professionalism, they rarely address patients' perspectives. The instrument for patient assessment of medical professionalism (IPAMP) comprises 11 items and has been established and validated as a valuable tool for assessing trainees' professionalism from the patient's perspective. However, there is no instrument to assess professionalism from the patient's perspective in Japan.

Phosphorylation of endogenous α-synuclein induced by extracellular seeds initiates at the pre-synaptic region and spreads to the cell body.

Accumulation of phosphorylated α-synuclein aggregates has been implicated in several diseases, such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and is thought to spread in a prion-like manner. Elucidating the mechanisms of prion-like transmission of α-synuclein is important for the development of therapies for these diseases, but little is known about the details. Here, we injected α-synuclein fibrils into the brains of wild-type mice and examined the early phase of the induction of phosphorylated α-synuclein accumulation.

Perinatal Exposure of Bisphenol A Differently Affects Dendritic Spines of Male and Female Grown-Up Adult Hippocampal Neurons.

Perinatal exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) at a very low dose may modulate the development of synapses of the hippocampus during growth to adulthood. Here, we demonstrate that perinatal exposure to 30 μg BPA/kg per mother's body weight/day significantly altered the dendritic spines of the grownup rat hippocampus. The density of the spine was analyzed by imaging of Lucifer Yellow-injected CA1 glutamatergic neurons in adult hippocampal slices.

Non-Equilibrium Entropy and Irreversibility in Generalized Stochastic Loewner Evolution from an Information-Theoretic Perspective.

In this study, we theoretically investigated a generalized stochastic Loewner evolution (SLE) driven by reversible Langevin dynamics in the context of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Using the ability of Loewner evolution, which enables encoding of non-equilibrium systems into equilibrium systems, we formulated the encoding mechanism of the SLE by Gibbs entropy-based information-theoretic approaches to discuss its advantages as a means to better describe non-equilibrium systems. After deriving entropy production and flux for the 2D trajectories of the generalized SLE curves, we reformulated the system's entropic properties in terms of the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence.

Quantifying scaling exponents for neurite morphology of in vitro-cultured human iPSC-derived neurons using discrete Loewner evolution: A statistical-physical approach to the neuropathology in Alzheimer's disease.

Defining the morphological disorders causing neurodegenerative diseases is an unresolved problem. In this study, we propose a statistical-physical approach to quantify neurite morphology and evaluate the pathological states induced by Alzheimer's disease (AD). We analyzed the two-dimensional morphologies of neurites of in vitro-cultured human induced-pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons, reprogrammed from both a healthy person and a patient with AD, using discrete chordal Loewner evolution.

Epicatechin increases the persistence of long-term memory formed by conditioned taste aversion in .

We examined the effects of epicatechin (Epi), a flavonoid abundant in green tea and cocoa, on long-term memory (LTM) formed following conditioned taste aversion (CTA) training in In CTA training, the snails learnt to avoid a food that initially they liked (i.e. sucrose).

Loewner driving force of the interface in the 2-dimensional Ising system as a chaotic dynamical system.

The interfaces in the 2-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetic Ising system below and at the critical temperature T were numerically analyzed in the framework of discrete Loewner evolution. We numerically calculated Loewner driving forces corresponding to the interfaces in the 2D Ising system and analyzed them using nonlinear time series analyses. We found that the dynamics of the Loewner driving forces showed chaotic properties wherein their intermittency, sensitivity to initial condition, and autocorrelation change depending on the temperature T of the system.

A simple method for environmental cell depressurization for use with an electron microscope.

With the aid of the environmental cell (EC) in electron microscopy, hydrated specimens have been observed at high resolutions that optical microscopy cannot attain. Due to the ultra-high vacuum conditions of the inner column of the electron microscope, the EC requires sealing films that are sufficiently thin to allow electron transmission and that are sufficiently tough to withstand the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the EC. However, most hydrated specimens can be observed at low vacuum because the saturated vapor pressure of water is known to be 0.

Clinical Search for Undiagnosed Mesenteric Phlebosclerosis at Outpatient Departments Specializing in Herbal (Kampo) Medicine.

Objective: Mesenteric phlebosclerosis (MP) is a disease characterized by calcification of the mesenteric vein, which causes chronic mesenteric ischemia. Recently, the long-term intake of gardenia fruit ('Sanshishi' in Japanese) has been attracting attention as a possible cause. Usually, only advanced, severe MP cases get reported.

[A Case of Wernicke's Encephalopathy Presenting with Acute Deterioration of Consciousness Caused by Peripheral Parenteral Nutrition].

We report the case of a 67-year-old woman with Wernicke's encephalopathy(WE), who had been suffering from repeated vomiting and poor oral intake due to both reflux esophagitis and atrophic gastritis. She presented with altered of consciousness, horizontal nystagmus, and gait disturbance, and acute deterioration of consciousness was observed after starting peripheral parenteral nutrition (PPN). Brain MRI showed bilateral high intensity lesions in the medial thalamus and the dorsal midbrain on FLAIR and T2-weighted images.

Nitric Oxide-Mediated Modulation of Central Network Dynamics during Olfactory Perception.

Nitric oxide (NO) modulates the dynamics of central olfactory networks and has been implicated in olfactory processing including learning. Land mollusks have a specialized olfactory lobe in the brain called the procerebral (PC) lobe. The PC lobe produces ongoing local field potential (LFP) oscillation, which is modulated by olfactory stimulation.

Corticosterone induces rapid spinogenesis via synaptic glucocorticoid receptors and kinase networks in hippocampus.

Background: Modulation of dendritic spines under acute stress is attracting much attention. Exposure to acute stress induces corticosterone (CORT) secretion from the adrenal cortex, resulting in rapid increase of CORT levels in plasma and the hippocampus.

Methodology/principal Findings: Here we demonstrated the mechanisms of rapid effect (∼1 h) of CORT on the density and morphology of spines by imaging neurons in adult male rat hippocampal slices.

Nanomolar concentrations of zinc pyrithione increase cell susceptibility to oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide in rat thymocytes.

Zinc pyrithione is used as an antifouling agent. However, the environmental impacts of zinc pyrithione have recently been of concern. Zinc induces diverse actions during oxidative stress; therefore, we examined the effect of zinc pyrithione on rat thymocytes suffering from oxidative stress using appropriate fluorescent probes.

Binding properties of thyroxine to nuclear extract from sea urchin larvae.

We previously reported that thyroid hormones are involved in the formation of the adult rudiment and adult-type skeleton in sea urchin larvae, as well as in the resorption of larval tissues. In the present study, to search for the presence of thyroid hormone receptor in sea urchin larvae, we performed a ligand-binding assay between radiolabeled thyroid hormones and nuclear extracts from the larvae of the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus. The presence of binding sites with a high affinity to thyroxine (T4) was detected in the nuclear extract, but not in the cytoplasmic fraction.

Triclosan, an antibacterial agent, increases intracellular Zn(2+) concentration in rat thymocytes: its relation to oxidative stress.

Triclosan is used as an antibacterial agent in household items and personal care products. Since this compound is found in maternal milk of humans and bodies of wild animals, there is growing concern among some consumer groups and scientific community that triclosan is adverse for humans and wild animals. In order to estimate adverse actions of triclosan, the effects of triclosan on intracellular Zn(2+) concentration and cellular thiol content were studied in rat thymocytes by the use of flow cytometer with appropriate fluorescent probes.

Contribution of the trifluoroacetyl group in the thermodynamics of antigen-antibody binding.

We analyzed the binding of the 7C8 antibody to the chloramphenicol phosphonate antigens-one containing a trifluoroacetyl group (CP-F) and the other containing an acetyl group (CP-H)-by using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The thermodynamic difference due to the substitution of F by H was evaluated using free energy calculations based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We have previously shown that another antibody, namely, 6D9, binds more weakly to CP-H than to CP-F, mainly due to the different hydration free energies of the dissociated state and not due to the unfavorable hydrophobic interactions with the antibody in the bound state.