Complete Genome Sequence of a Chemolithoautotrophic Iron-Oxidizing Bacterium, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans Strain NFP31, Isolated from Volcanic Ash Deposits on Miyake-Jima, Japan.

The genome sequence of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain NFP31, which is a chemolithoautotrophic iron-oxidizing bacterium that inhabits acidified volcanic deposits on Mount Oyama, Miyake Island (Miyake-jima), Japan, was determined to identify the genetic characteristics associated with pioneer microbes in newly placed pyroclastic deposits.

Methylomarinum vadi gen. nov., sp. nov., a methanotroph isolated from two distinct marine environments.

Two aerobic methane-oxidizing bacterial strains were isolated from distinct marine environments in Japan. Strains IT-4(T) and T2-1 were Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile, plump short rods or oval-shaped bacteria with a single polar flagellum and type I intracytoplasmic membranes. They were obligate methanotrophs that grew only on methane or methanol.

Isolation of two novel marine ethylene-assimilating bacteria, Haliea species ETY-M and ETY-NAG, containing particulate methane monooxygenase-like genes.

Two novel ethylene-assimilating bacteria, strains ETY-M and ETY-NAG, were isolated from seawater around Japan. The characteristics of both strains were investigated, and phylogenetic analyses of their 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that they belonged to the genus Haliea. In C1-4 gaseous hydrocarbons, both strains grew only on ethylene, but degraded ethane, propylene, and propane in addition to ethylene.

Soluble and particulate methane monooxygenase gene clusters in the marine methanotroph Methylomicrobium sp. strain NI.

Soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) and particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) gene clusters in the marine methanotroph Methylomicrobium sp. strain NI were completely sequenced and analysed. Degenerated primers were newly designed and used to amplify the gene fragments containing intergenic mmoX-Y and mmoD-C regions and a partial pmoC region.

Altered expression of CDX-2, PDX-1 and mucin core proteins in "Ulcer-associated cell lineage (UACL)" in Crohn's disease.

The ulcer-associated cell lineage (UACL) induced at the site of ileac chronic ulceration in Crohn's disease has been reported to show histological differentiation resembling gastric pyloric mucosa. To clarify the significance of homeobox gene-encoded transcription factors in the formation of the UACL in Crohn's disease, we investigated the immunohistochemical expression of gastrointestinal mucins (MUC5AC for gastric surface mucous cells; MUC6 for gastric gland mucous cells, and MUC2 for intestinal goblet cells) and homeobox gene-encoded transcription factors (CDX-2 for intestinal mucosa and PDX-1 for pyloric mucosa) in the UACL. The analysis was undertaken on ileal mucosa obtained from ileal resections performed in 19 patients with active Crohn's disease of the small bowel.

Hyperplastic polyps and sessile serrated 'adenomas' of the colon and rectum display gastric pyloric differentiation.

The serrated polyp-neoplasia pathway is a novel concept that has been demonstrated to differ from the conventional adenoma-carcinoma pathway. To characterize the phenotypic patterns of differentiation in colorectal serrated polyps, we examined the immunohistochemical expression profile of gastric (MUC5AC, TFF1, MUC6, GlcNAcalpha1 --> 4Gal --> R, and PDX1) and intestinal (MUC2, TFF3, and CDX2) epithelial markers in 15 hyperplastic polyps (HPs), 29 sessile serrated adenomas (SSAs),12 traditional serrated adenomas (TSAs), and 16 conventional adenomas (CAs). MUC5AC and TFF1 were upregulated in the HPs, SSAs, and TSAs.

Novel and diverse integron integrase genes and integron-like gene cassettes are prevalent in deep-sea hydrothermal vents.

The lack of information about mobile DNA in deep-sea hydrothermal vents limits our understanding of the phylogenetic diversity of the mobile genome of bacteria in these environments. We used culture-independent techniques to explore the diversity of the integron/mobile gene cassette system in a variety of hydrothermal vent communities. Three samples, which included two different hydrothermal vent fluids and a mussel species that contained essentially monophyletic sulfur-oxidizing bacterial endosymbionts, were collected from Suiyo Seamount, Izu-Bonin, Japan, and Pika site, Mariana arc.

Regulation of the ASC expression in response to LPS stimulation is related to IL-8 secretion in the human intestinal mucosa.

Expression of the caspase-activating adaptor ASC was reported to be associated with the production of IL-8, a primary mediator of mucosal inflammation, in vitro. However, the significance of the ASC-mediated IL-8 production in primary tissues has remained poorly understood. Primary intestinal mucosa isolated from surgically resected ileum or colon was incubated with several concentrations of LPS or left untreated.

A nonconserved carboxy-terminal segment of GroEL contributes to reaction temperature.

The role of the C-terminal segment of the GroEL equatorial domain was analyzed. To understand the molecular basis for the different active temperatures of GroEL from three bacteria, we constructed a series of chimeric GroELs combining the C-terminal segment of the equatorial domain from one species with the remainder of GroEL from another. In each case, the foreign C-terminal segment substantially altered the active temperature range of the chimera.

Fractalkine expression and the recruitment of CX3CR1+ cells in the prolonged mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis.

Background: We established the reversible and the prolonged models of mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (GN) with anti-Thy 1 antibody 1-22-3. However, the essential factors leading to the prolonged glomerular alterations have not been identified.

Methods: The expressions of several chemokines and cytokines were compared in the reversible and the prolonged models.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase genotype, vitamin B12, and folate influence plasma homocysteine in hemodialysis patients.

Hyperhomocysteinemia, a well-recognized cardiovascular risk factor, is frequent in hemodialysis (HD) patients. A common polymorphism in the 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, C-->T substitution at nucleotide 677, is associated with homocysteine (Hcy) level elevation. We examined whether three factors involved in the methionine cycle could influence plasma Hcy concentrations in HD patients: MTHFR polymorphism; vitamin B12, an essential cofactor; and folate, the substrate.