Vasomotor effects of noradrenaline, 5-hydroxytryptamine, angiotensin II, bradykinin, histamine, and acetylcholine on the bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) basilar artery.

The responsiveness of the basilar artery to intrinsic vasoactive substances is species-specific and can be a unique characteristic. We investigated the responsiveness of the bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) basilar artery to noradrenaline (NA), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), angiotensin (Ang) II, bradykinin (BK), histamine (His), and acetylcholine (ACh). NA, 5-HT, Ang II, and BK induced contraction, whereas His and ACh induced relaxation, in a concentration-dependent manner.

Potentially harmful excipients in neonatal medications: a multicenter nationwide observational study in Japan.

Background: A multicenter investigation of neonate exposure to potentially harmful excipients (PHEs) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Japan has not been conducted.

Methods: A multicenter nationwide observational study was conducted. Neonate patient demographic data and information on all medicines prescribed and administered during hospitalization on 1 day between November 2019 and March 2021 were extracted from the medical records.

Numerous retinal pigment epithelial elevations and drusen associated with unusual dilated choroidal vessels seen at choriocapillaris level in macular area.

Purpose: To report the ocular findings in a patient with extensive diffuse elevations of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and drusen associated with dilated choroidal vessels.

Observations: The eye of a 72-year-old woman with numerous drusen and dilated choroidal vessels in the macular and surrounding areas of the right eye was studied. Her visual acuity was 20/16 in this eye and she was asymptomatic although the Amsler grid testing showed mild metamorphopsia.

Chorein, the protein responsible for chorea-acanthocytosis, interacts with β-adducin and β-actin.

Chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc) is an autosomal, recessive hereditary disease characterized by striatal neurodegeneration and acanthocytosis, and caused by loss of function mutations in the vacuolar protein sorting 13 homolog A (VPS13A) gene. VPS13A encodes chorein whose physiological function at the molecular level is poorly understood. In this study, we show that chorein interacts with β-adducin and β-actin.

Early structural changes during spontaneous closure of idiopathic full-thickness macular hole determined by optical coherence tomography: a case report.

Background: Spontaneous closure of an idiopathic full-thickness macular hole has been reported to occasionally occur. However, the cells involved in plugging the macular hole have not been determined conclusively. We aimed to report the early structural changes that occur during a spontaneous closure of an idiopathic full-thickness macular hole determined by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

Choroidal venous pulsations at an arterio-venous crossing in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

It has been reported that pulsations in abnormal vessels are observed on indocyanine green (ICG) angiography in half of patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), although the mechanism of the pulsation is unknown. In this study, we report a case of PCV showing venous pulsations at an arterio-venous (A-V) crossing, and discuss a possible mechanism of polypoidal vessel formation and pulsations in PCV. A 66-year-old female presented with a reddish-orange elevated lesion and serous retinal detachment in the macula of her left eye, and was diagnosed as PCV.

Hyperreflective dots surrounding the central retinal artery and vein in optic disc melanocytoma revealed by spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: To report findings of optic disc melanocytoma (ODM) obtained using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT), with special reference to the central retinal artery and vein surrounded by hyperreflective dots.

Methods: Retrospective review of five eyes of five patients with ODM. Demographic information, ophthalmic examination including best-corrected visual acuity, dilated funduscopic examination, and SD OCT images were evaluated.

Preventive effect of pine bark extract (flavangenol) on metabolic disease in Western diet-loaded tsumura suzuki obese diabetes mice.

It is known that the metabolic syndrome has a multi-factorial basis involving both genetic and environmental risk factors. In this study, Tsumura Suzuki Obese Diabetes (TSOD) mice, a mouse model of multi-factorial, hereditary, obese type II diabetes, were given a Western diet (WTD) as an environmental factor to prepare a disease model (TSOD-WTD) and to investigate the preventive effects of Pine bark extract (Flavangenol) against obesity and various features of metabolic disease appearing in this animal model. In contrast to control Tsumura Suzuki Non-obesity (TSNO) mice, TSOD mice were obese and suffered from other metabolic complications.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors modify physiological gastrointestinal motor activities via 5-HT2c receptor and acyl ghrelin.

Background: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are widely used to treat anxiety and depressive disorders. These agents may cause upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms that lead to their discontinuation. We examined whether SSRIs modify physiologic GI motor activities in freely moving rats.

Regulation of ammonia homeostasis by the ammonium transporter AmtA in Dictyostelium discoideum.

Ammonia has been shown to function as a morphogen at multiple steps during the development of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum; however, it is largely unknown how intracellular ammonia levels are controlled. In the Dictyostelium genome, there are five genes that encode putative ammonium transporters: amtA, amtB, amtC, rhgA, and rhgB. Here, we show that AmtA regulates ammonia homeostasis during growth and development.

Clinical features of early and late stage polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy characterized by lesion size and disease duration.

Background: The pathogenesis of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), and even its clinical features, are controversial. Previous histopathological studies have identified different features; either dilated choroidal vessels or intra-Bruch's neovascularization. These differences might be partly attributable to the influence of the disease stage.

Temperature effects on the development of Enteromyxum spp. (Myxozoa) in experimentally infected tiger puffer, Takifugu rubripes (Temminck & Schlegel).

The effects of water temperature on the development of the enteric myxosporeans, Enteromyxum fugu and Enteromyxum leei, were investigated in experimentally infected tiger puffer, Takifugu rubripes. After naïve tiger puffer were fed gut tissue infected with both E. fugu and E.

Change in the actin cytoskeleton during seismonastic movement of Mimosa pudica.

The seismonastic movement of Mimosa pudica is triggered by a sudden loss of turgor pressure. In the present study, we compared the cell cytoskeleton by immunofluorescence analysis before and after movement, and the effects of actin- and microtubule-targeted drugs were examined by injecting them into the cut pulvinus. We found that fragmentation of actin filaments and microtubules occurs during bending, although the actin cytoskeleton, but not the microtubules, was involved in regulation of the movement.

Regulation of levels of actin threonine phosphorylation during life cycle of Physarum polycephalum.

Under various environmental stresses, the true slime mold Physarum polycephalum converts into dormant forms, such as microcysts, sclerotia, and spores, which can survive in adverse environments for a considerable period of time. In drought-induced sclerotia, actin is threonine phosphorylated, which blocks its ability to polymerize into filaments. It is known that fragmin and actin-fragmin kinase (AFK) mediate this phosphorylation event.

Safe specimen preparation for electron microscopy of pathogenic fungi by freeze-substitution after glutaraldehyde fixation.

A safe method is described for observing ultrastructure of highly infectious fungi by ultrathin sectioning electron microscopy. The fungal cells were first chemically fixed by glutaraldehyde to kill them. They were then rapidly frozen by propane slush in liquid nitrogen and freeze-substituted in acetone containing 2% osmium tetroxide.

Pulsatile blood flow in the polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Objective: To describe patients with pulsatile polypoidal vessels in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Design: Retrospective, observational case series.

Participants: Eighty-four eyes of 74 patients with PCV.

Reduced N-acetylaspartate levels in mice lacking aralar, a brain- and muscle-type mitochondrial aspartate-glutamate carrier.

Aralar is a mitochondrial calcium-regulated aspartate-glutamate carrier mainly distributed in brain and skeletal muscle, involved in the transport of aspartate from mitochondria to cytosol, and in the transfer of cytosolic reducing equivalents into mitochondria as a member of the malate-aspartate NADH shuttle. In the present study, we describe the characteristics of aralar-deficient (Aralar-/-) mice, generated by a gene-trap method, showing no aralar mRNA and protein, and no detectable malate-aspartate shuttle activity in skeletal muscle and brain mitochondria. Aralar-/- mice were growth-retarded, exhibited generalized tremoring, and had pronounced motor coordination defects along with an impaired myelination in the central nervous system.

Cell shape regulation and co-translocation of actin and adenosyl homocysteinase in response to intermediate hypertonicity.

Hypertonic stimulation induced association of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) with the F-actin-rich cell cortex in Dictyostelium. At intermediate, but not higher, levels of hypertonicity, SAHH further translocated from the cortex to the cytosol in company with a fraction of actin and cofilin. At the same time the cells rounded up.

Plasticity of polypoidal lesions in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the clinical course in a patient with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Methods: A 68-year-old man with PCV in the left eye was followed up by means of routine examinations including fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography for over 60 months.

Results: Throughout the follow-up period, the patient experienced repeated lesions in the macula, such as serosanguineous detachment of the retinal pigment epithelium and neurosensory retina, but retained good visual acuity.

The MADS-box transcription factor SrfA is required for actin cytoskeleton organization and spore coat stability during Dictyostelium sporulation.

The MADS-box transcription factor SrfA is involved in spore differentiation in Dictyostelium [Development 125 (1998) 3801]. Mutant spores show an altered morphology and loss of viability. A detailed structural analysis of mutant spores has been performed to gain insight into the specific aspects of spore differentiation in which SrfA is involved.

Hypertonic signal promotes stability of Dictyostelium spores via a PKA-independent pathway.

Differentiation of Dictyostelium spores initiates with rapid encapsulation of prespore cells under the control of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), followed by further maturation processes involving cytoskeletal reorganization. Constitutive activation of PKA induces precocious formation of viable spores in development and confers the ability to encapsulate under specific submerged conditions. In this study, we show that the stability of these spores depends upon conditions of high osmotic strength during spore differentiation, indicating that a hypertonic signal is required in addition to PKA to induce maturation to stable spores.

Visualization of the reconstituted FRGY2-mRNA complexes by electron microscopy.

Xenopus oocytes store large quantities of translationally dormant mRNA in the cytoplasm as storage messenger ribonucleoprotein particles (mRNPs). The Y-box proteins, mRNP3 and FRGY2/mRNP4, are major RNA binding components of maternal storage mRNPs in oocytes. In this study, we show that the FRGY2 proteins form complexes with mRNA, which leads to mRNA stabilization and translational repression.

Electron microscopy of actin rods and bundles in Dictyostelium discoideum by high-pressure freezing.

A new type of actin rods comprising actin tubules appears in dormant spores of Dictyostelium discoideum. Occasionally, the rods in the nucleus were observed in an amorphous state using a combination of high-pressure freezing and freeze-substitutions. Also in the case of actin bundles formed in the nudeus of vegetative cells exposed to dimethyl sulphoxide, actin filaments seemed to be embedded in matrices.