Dietary RNA from Torula Yeast Prevents Capillary Regression in Atrophied Skeletal Muscle in Rats.

Chronic neuromuscular inactivity induces capillary regression within skeletal muscle. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential effects of dietary nucleic acids in counteracting the capillary reduction linked to chronic neuromuscular inactivity in the soleus muscle. The study utilized four distinct groups of female Wistar rats: a control group (CON), a hindlimb-unloading group (HU), an HU group supplemented with DNA (HU + DNA), and an HU group supplemented with RNA (HU + RNA).

Trideoxycytidine Diphosphate Promotes Neural Stem Cell Proliferation and Neurogenesis in Mice.

Background: Food-derived nucleic acids exhibit various biological activities and may act as nutrients. Oral ingestion of the nucleic acid fraction (NAF) of salmon milt extract hydrolysates enhances cognitive function in mice, although their active ingredients have not yet been identified, and detailed mechanisms of action are unknown.

Objectives: To identify active ingredients enhancing cognitive function contained in the NAF and its possible underlying mechanism.

Suppression of Ehrlich ascites tumor cell proliferation via G1 arrest induced by dietary nucleic acid-derived nucleosides.

The nucleic acids found in food play a crucial role in maintaining various bodily functions. This study investigated the potential anticancer effects of dietary nucleic acids, an area that is still not fully understood. By utilizing an in vivo mouse model and an in vitro cell model, we discovered an anti-proliferative impact of RNA in both systems.

High concentration of extracellular nucleotides suppresses cell growth via delayed cell cycle progression in cancer and noncancer cell lines.

Tumor necrosis frequently occurs in malignant tumors, showing rapid growth and invasion. This phenomenon is generally regarded as simple ischemic necrosis due to insufficient tumor vessels and blood supply. However, the necrotic tissue contains high amount of nuclear substances, DNA, and nucleoproteins that may affect the surrounding tumor cells by promoting or suppressing the tumor cell growth .

Ovariectomy Causes Degeneration of Perivascular Adipose Tissue.

Women are more resistant than men to the development of vascular diseases. However, menopause is a factor leading to deterioration of female vascular integrity, and it is reported that the risk of vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and abdominal aortic aneurysm is increased in postmenopausal women. Although it is suggested that perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is deeply involved in the increased risk of vascular disease development, the effect of menopause on PVAT integrity is unknown.

An Apoplastic Defensin of Wheat Elicits the Production of Extracellular Polysaccharides in Snow Mold.

TAD1 ( defensin 1) is a plant defensin specifically induced by low temperature in winter wheat. In this study, we demonstrated that TAD1 accumulated in the apoplast during cold acclimation and displayed antifungal activity against the pink snow mold fungi . When was treated with TAD1, Congo red-stainable extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) were produced.

Anti-Obesity and Hypocholesterolemic Actions of Protamine-Derived Peptide RPR (Arg-Pro-Arg) and Protamine in High-Fat Diet-Induced C57BL/6J Mice.

Dietary protamine can ameliorate hyperlipidemia; however, the protamine-derived active peptide and its hypolipidemic mechanism of action are unclear. Here, we report the discovery of a novel anti-obesity and hypocholesterolemic peptide, RPR (Arg-Pro-Arg), derived from protamine in mice fed a high-fat diet for 50 days. Serum cholesterol levels were significantly lower in the protamine and RPR groups than in the control group.

Dietary DNA Attenuates the Degradation of Elastin Fibers in the Aortic Wall in Nicotine-Administrated Mice.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a vascular disease characterized by chronic inflammation in the infrarenal aorta. Epidemiologic data have clearly linked tobacco smoking to aneurysm formation and a faster rate of expansion. It suggested that nicotine, one of the main ingredients of tobacco, has been suggested to be associated with AAA development and rupture.

Protective Effects of Hydrolyzed Nucleoproteins from Salmon Milt against Ethanol-Induced Liver Injury in Rats.

Dietary nucleotides play a role in maintaining the immune responses of both animals and humans. Oral administration of nucleic acids from salmon milt have physiological functions in the cellular metabolism, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis of human small intestinal epithelial cells. In this study, we examined the effects of DNA-rich nucleic acids prepared from salmon milt (DNSM) on the development of liver fibrosis in an in vivo ethanol-carbon tetrachloride cirrhosis model.

Food-derived hydrophilic antioxidant ergothioneine is distributed to the brain and exerts antidepressant effect in mice.

Background: Clinically used antidepressants suffer from various side effects. Therefore, we searched for a safe antidepressant with minimal side effects among food ingredients that are distributed to the brain. Here, we focused on ERGO (ergothioneine), which is a hydrophilic antioxidant and contained at high levels in edible golden oyster mushrooms.

Localization of Xenobiotic Transporter OCTN1/SLC22A4 in Hepatic Stellate Cells and Its Protective Role in Liver Fibrosis.

Xenobiotic transporters play key roles in disposition of certain therapeutic agents, although limited information is available on their roles other than pharmacokinetic issues. Here, suppressive effect of multispecific organic cation transporter OCTN1/SLC22A4 on liver fibrosis was proposed in liver injury models. After injection of hepatotoxins such as dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) or concanavalin A, hepatic fibrosis, and oxidative stress, evaluated in terms of Sirius red and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal staining, respectively, were more severe in liver of octn1/slc22a4 gene knockout (octn1(-/-)) mice than that in wild-type mice.

Direct observation shows superposition and large scale flexibility within cytoplasmic dynein motors moving along microtubules.

Cytoplasmic dynein is a dimeric AAA(+) motor protein that performs critical roles in eukaryotic cells by moving along microtubules using ATP. Here using cryo-electron microscopy we directly observe the structure of Dictyostelium discoideum dynein dimers on microtubules at near-physiological ATP concentrations. They display remarkable flexibility at a hinge close to the microtubule binding domain (the stalkhead) producing a wide range of head positions.

Direct observation of DNA overwinding by reverse gyrase.

Reverse gyrase, found in hyperthermophiles, is the only enzyme known to overwind (introduce positive supercoils into) DNA. The ATP-dependent activity, detected at >70 °C, has so far been studied solely by gel electrophoresis; thus, the reaction dynamics remain obscure. Here, we image the overwinding reaction at 71 °C under a microscope, using DNA containing consecutive 30 mismatched base pairs that serve as a well-defined substrate site.

A flipped ion pair at the dynein-microtubule interface is critical for dynein motility and ATPase activation.

Dynein is a motor protein that moves on microtubules (MTs) using the energy of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis. To understand its motility mechanism, it is crucial to know how the signal of MT binding is transmitted to the ATPase domain to enhance ATP hydrolysis. However, the molecular basis of signal transmission at the dynein-MT interface remains unclear.

An N-terminal region of a Myb-like protein is involved in its intracellular localization and activation of a gibberellin-inducible proteinase gene in germinated rice seeds.

The expression of the gene for a proteinase (Rep1) is upregulated by gibberellins. The CAACTC regulatory element (CARE) of the Rep1 promoter is involved in the gibberellin response. We isolated a cDNA for a CARE-binding protein containing a Myb domain in its carboxyl-terminal region and designated the gene Carboxyl-terminal Myb1 (CTMyb1).

None of the rotor residues of F1-ATPase are essential for torque generation.

F1-ATPase is a powerful rotary molecular motor that can rotate an object several hundred times as large as the motor itself against the viscous friction of water. Forced reverse rotation has been shown to lead to ATP synthesis, implying that the mechanical work against the motor's high torque can be converted into the chemical energy of ATP. The minimal composition of the motor protein is α3β3γ subunits, where the central rotor subunit γ turns inside a stator cylinder made of alternately arranged α3β3 subunits using the energy derived from ATP hydrolysis.

Functions and mechanics of dynein motor proteins.

Fuelled by ATP hydrolysis, dyneins generate force and movement on microtubules in a wealth of biological processes, including ciliary beating, cell division and intracellular transport. The large mass and complexity of dynein motors have made elucidating their mechanisms a sizable task. Yet, through a combination of approaches, including X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, single-molecule assays and biochemical experiments, important progress has been made towards understanding how these giant motor proteins work.

Epigenetic memory of DNAi associated with cytosine methylation and histone modification in fern.

Gene silencing technology, such as RNA interference (RNAi), is commonly used to reduce gene expression in plant cells, and exogenous double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) can induce gene silencing in higher plants. Previously, we showed that the delivery of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) fragments, such as PCR products of an endogenous gene sequence, into fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris) gametophytic cells induces a sequence-specific gene silencing that we termed DNAi. In this study, we used a neochrome 1 gene (NEO1) that mediates both red light-induced chloroplast movement and phototropism as a model of DNAi and confirmed that the NEO1 function was suppressed by the repression of the NEO1 gene.

ATP-driven remodeling of the linker domain in the dynein motor.

Dynein ATPases are the largest known cytoskeletal motors and perform critical functions in cells: carrying cargo along microtubules in the cytoplasm and powering flagellar beating. Dyneins are members of the AAA+ superfamily of ring-shaped enzymes, but how they harness this architecture to produce movement is poorly understood. Here, we have used cryo-EM to determine 3D maps of native flagellar dynein-c and a cytoplasmic dynein motor domain in different nucleotide states.

Reconsideration of the Iwasaki-Waggener iterative perturbation method for reconstructing high-energy X-ray spectra.

We have reviewed applicable ranges for attenuating media and off-axis distances regarding the high-energy X-ray spectra reconstructed via the Iwasaki-Waggener iterative perturbation method for 4-20 MV X-ray beams. Sets of in-air relative transmission data used for reconstruction of spectra were calculated for low- and high-Z attenuators (acrylic and lead, respectively) by use of a functional spectral formula. More accurate sets of spectra could be reconstructed by dividing the off-axis distances of R = 0-20 cm into two series of R = 0-10 cm and R = 10-20 cm, and by taking into account the radiation attenuation and scatter in the buildup cap of the dosimeter.

The 2.8 Å crystal structure of the dynein motor domain.

Dyneins are microtubule-based AAA(+) motor complexes that power ciliary beating, cell division, cell migration and intracellular transport. Here we report the most complete structure obtained so far, to our knowledge, of the 380-kDa motor domain of Dictyostelium discoideum cytoplasmic dynein at 2.8 Å resolution; the data are reliable enough to discuss the structure and mechanism at the level of individual amino acid residues.