Screening of novel Midkine binding protein by BioID2-based proximity labeling.

Midkine (MK), a heparin-binding growth factor, is associated with the poor prognosis of the pediatric tumor, neuroblastoma. MK would be a druggable target as many studies showed inhibition of its function in various cancers suppressed tumor developments. To establish the therapy targeting MK, identification of its binding partners, and elucidation of its intracellular signaling are needed.

PCA-based unsupervised feature extraction for gene expression analysis of COVID-19 patients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is raging worldwide. This potentially fatal infectious disease is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, the complete mechanism of COVID-19 is not well understood.

Extra-virgin olive oil and the gut-brain axis: influence on gut microbiota, mucosal immunity, and cardiometabolic and cognitive health.

Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), a popular functional food and major source of fat in the Mediterranean diet, possesses a variety of healthful components, including monounsaturated fatty acids and bioactive phenolic compounds that, individually and collectively, exert beneficial effects on cardiometabolic markers of health and act as neuroprotective agents through their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. The gut microbiota and health of the intestinal environment are now considered important factors in the development of obesity, metabolic disease, and even certain neurodegenerative conditions via the gut-brain axis. Recently, data are emerging which demonstrate that the health-promoting benefits of EVOO may also extend to the gut microbiota.

Gut microbial composition of elderly women born in the Japanese longevity village Ogimi.

Ogimi is one of Japan's longevity villages and is located in Okinawa Prefecture. In this study, we focused on the elderly women living in the village, classified them into two groups based on whether or not they lived in Ogimi during the first 3 years of their lives, and compared the gut microbiota between the two groups. There were no differences in alpha and beta diversity; however, we found that the elderly women who lived in Ogimi during the first 3 years of their lives had a higher rate of colonization in their guts.

Potent and broad anticancer activities of leaf extracts from L. of the subtropical Okinawa islands.

Plant extracts have been traditionally used for various therapeutic applications. By conducting an initial screening of several subtropical plants, in this study, we evaluated the anticancer activities of . The extract from .

Metabolically and immunologically beneficial impact of extra virgin olive and flaxseed oils on composition of gut microbiota in mice.

Purpose: Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and flaxseed oil (FO) contain a variety of constituents beneficial for chronic inflammation and cardio-metabolic derangement. However, little is known about the impact of EVOO and FO on dysbiosis of gut microbiota, intestinal immunity, and barrier. We, therefore, aimed to assess the impact of EVOO and FO on gut microbiota, mucosal immunity, barrier integrity, and metabolic health in mice.

Two-dimensional NMR data of a water-soluble β-(1→3, 1→6)-glucan from and schizophyllan from .

This article contains two-dimensional (2D) NMR experimental data, obtained by the Bruker BioSpin 500 MHz NMR spectrometer (Germany) which can used for the determination of primary structures of schizophyllan from (SPG) and a water-soluble β-(1→3, 1→6)-glucan from . Data include analyzed the 2D NMR spectra of these β-glucans, which are related to the subject of an article in , entitled "NMR spectroscopic structural characterization of a water-soluble β-(1→3, 1→6)-glucan from " (Kono et al., 2017) [1].

NMR spectroscopic structural characterization of a water-soluble β-(1→3, 1→6)-glucan from Aureobasidium pullulans.

An unambiguous structural characterization of the water-soluble Aureobasidium pullulans β-(1→3, 1→6)-glucan is yet to be achieved, although this β-(1→3, 1→6)-glucan is expected to exhibit excellent biofunctional properties. Thus, we herein report the elucidation of the primary structure of the A. pullulans β-(1→3, 1→6)-glucan using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, followed by comparison of the obtained structure with that of schizophyllan (SPG).

Genome Sequence of Lactobacillus paracasei Strain LC-Ikematsu, Isolated from a Pineapple in Okinawa, Japan.

The draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus paracasei strain LC-Ikematsu, isolated from a pineapple in Okinawa, was determined. The total length of the 87 contigs was 3.08 Mb with a G+C content of 46.

Efficacy of urinary midkine as a biomarker in patients with acute kidney injury.

Background: The mortality and morbidity associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) remains high, despite advances in interventions. A multifunctional heparin-binding growth factor, midkine (MK), is involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic kidney injury. However, the clinical relevance of MK has not yet been elucidated.

The CCR4-NOT deadenylase activity contributes to generation of induced pluripotent stem cells.

Somatic cells can be reprogrammed as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by introduction of the transcription factors, OCT3/4, KLF4, SOX2, and c-MYC. The CCR4-NOT complex is the major deadenylase in eukaryotes. Its subunits Cnot1, Cnot2, and Cnot3 maintain pluripotency and self-renewal of mouse and human embryonic stem (ES) cells and contribute to the transition from partial to full iPSCs.

Expression of midkine in normal human skin, dermatitis and neoplasms: association with differentiation of keratinocytes.

Midkine is a 13-kDa heparin-binding growth factor. It promotes growth, survival, migration and gene expression of various target cells and play roles in many diseases. In normal adult tissues, midkine expression is highly restricted; however, midkine expression levels are high in various malignant tumors.

The growth factor midkine regulates the renin-angiotensin system in mice.

The renin-angiotensin system plays a pivotal role in regulating blood pressure and is involved in the pathogenesis of kidney disorders and other diseases. Here, we report that the growth factor midkine is what we believe to be a novel regulator of the renin-angiotensin system. The hypertension induced in mice by 5/6 nephrectomy was accompanied by renal damage and elevated plasma angiotensin II levels and was ameliorated by an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and an angiotensin receptor blocker.

Plasma midkine level is a prognostic factor for human neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma is the third-most-common solid tumor of childhood. To date, no reliable blood marker for neuroblastoma has been established. The growth factor midkine is highly expressed in human carcinomas and its knockdown leads to tumor growth suppression in animal models.

Midkine and its clinical significance in endometrial carcinoma.

Midkine (MK) is a secreted heparin-binding growth factor. Several types of human cancer have increased MK expression with elevated serum levels. The purpose of this study was to determine whether MK was expressed in endometrial carcinoma and to evaluate the clinicopathological significance of serum MK in patients with endometrial carcinoma.

Expression of the heparin-binding growth factor midkine in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with neurological disorders.

Objective: This study was to clarify the roles of midkine (MK) in the brain.

Methods: We determined cerebrospinal fluid MK levels in patients with neurological disorders by enzyme-linked immunoassay and immunostained autopsied brain samples in patients with meningitis.

Results: MK levels were 0.

Midkine and LDL-receptor-related protein 1 contribute to the anchorage-independent cell growth of cancer cells.

The growth factor midkine (MK) is highly associated with cancer progression. Knockdown of MK expression strikingly suppresses tumor growth in nude mice. Thus, MK is a candidate target for cancer treatment.

Midkine as a novel target for antibody therapy in osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma is a malignant tumor with poor prognosis, and lack of accurate prognostic factors is one of the reasons that make this tumor difficult to cure. The heparin-binding growth factor, midkine is involved in generation and progression of many types of tumors. However, the relationship between midkine and osteosarcoma has been unclear.

Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type Z is inactivated by ligand-induced oligomerization.

Receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) are considered to transduce extracellular signals across the membrane through changes in their PTP activity, however, our understanding of the regulatory mechanism is still limited. Here, we show that pleiotrophin (PTN), a natural ligand for protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type Z (Ptprz) (also called PTPzeta/RPTPbeta), inactivates Ptprz through oligomerization and increases the tyrosine phosphorylation of substrates for Ptprz, G protein-coupled receptor kinase-interactor 1 (Git1) and membrane associated guanylate kinase, WW and PDZ domain containing 1 (Magi1). Oligomerization of Ptprz by an artificial dimerizer or polyclonal antibodies against its extracellular region also leads to inactivation, indicating that Ptprz is active in the monomeric form and inactivated by ligand-induced oligomerization.

Doxorubicin-conjugated anti-midkine monoclonal antibody as a potential anti-tumor drug.

Background: Midkine is a heparin-binding growth factor preferentially expressed in tumor cells. The present study was performed to utilize anti-midkine antibody for tumor therapy.

Methods: A monoclonal antibody to midkine was raised by immunizing mice deficient in the midkine gene.

Midkine protects hepatocellular carcinoma cells against TRAIL-mediated apoptosis through down-regulation of caspase-3 activity.

Background: It is believed that midkine (MK), a heparin-binding growth factor, plays an important role in carcinogenesis. However, the biologic mechanism of MK in hepatocellular carcinoma has not been clarified to date. The objective of the current study was to investigate the antiapoptotic role of MK in a human hepatoma cell line.

Preoperative serum midkine concentration is a prognostic marker for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

High preoperative serum midkine concentration is associated with poor survival in patients with esophageal cancer, even after radical surgery, and thus may have prognostic value. Midkine (MK), a heparin-binding growth factor, is expressed in numerous cancer tissues, and serum MK (S-MK) concentrations are increased in patients with various neoplasms. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical significance of S-MK in patients with esophageal squamous cell cancer (SCC).

High levels of urinary midkine in various cancer patients.

Midkine (MK) is a heparin-binding growth factor, which promotes growth, migration, and survival of various cells, and MK expression is increased in many human carcinomas. We determined the urinary MK level by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Taking 311pg/mg creatinine as a cut-off level, 70% of patients with various carcinomas (n=142) gave positive values, while only 5.

Glycosaminoglycan structures required for strong binding to midkine, a heparin-binding growth factor.

Midkine (MK), a heparin-binding growth factor, binds strongly to oversulfated structures in chondroitin sulfates (CSs) and heparan sulfate. To elucidate the carbohydrate structure actually involved in the strong binding, dissected brains from 13-day mouse embryos were incubated with [14C]-glucosamine. The labeled glycosaminoglycans were fractionated by MK-agarose affinity chromatography to a weakly binding fraction, which was eluted by 0.