Publications by authors named "T Maruoka"

Volicitin [N-(17-hydroxylinolenoyl)-L-glutamine] and N-linolenoyl-L-glutamine were originally identified in the regurgitant of Spodoptera exigua larvae. These fatty acid amino acid conjugates (FACs) are known to be elicitors that induce plants to release volatile compounds which in turn attract natural enemies of the larvae such as parasitic wasps. FAC concentrations are regulated by enzymatic biosynthesis and hydrolysis in the intestine of Lepidoptera larvae.

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Purpose: The development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrasting agents (CAs) that are safer and have a higher relaxivity than Gd(III)-based agents is a significant research topic. Herein, we propose the use of a Mn-based metal organic framework (MOF), Mn-MOF-74, characterized by a safe paramagnetic center, a coordinatively unsaturated site (CUS) for aquation, and a long rotational correlation time, endowing high relaxivity. Furthermore, biocompatibility and delivery to the tumor are generally expected for MOFs that are obtainable in the nanometer size range.

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Vernalization is the promotion of flowering after prolonged exposure to cold. In , vernalization induces epigenetic silencing of the floral repressor gene (). Among the repressive epigenetic marks, the trimethylation of lysine 27 on histone H3 proteins (H3K27me3) is a critical contributor to the epigenetic silencing of .

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Leptospirosis, caused by pathogenic Leptospira, is one of the most common zoonotic diseases in the world. It is transmitted to humans through the skin and mucous membranes by contact with water or soil contaminated with urine excreted from infected animals. In human infections, gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea have been frequently observed, but there have been no reports analyzing gastrointestinal lesions in leptospirosis, and the pathological mechanism of gastrointestinal symptoms in leptospirosis remains unclear.

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Background: Leptospirosis has been described as a biphasic disease consisting of hematogenous dissemination to major organs in the acute phase and asymptomatic renal colonization in the chronic phase. Several observational studies have suggested an association between leptospirosis and chronic kidney disease (CKD). We investigated the dynamics of leptospires and histopathological changes in the kidney to understand the relationship between them, and also investigated the extent of renal dysfunction in the acute and chronic phases of leptospirosis using a hamster model.

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