Intragenomic diversity of the V1 regions of 16S rRNA genes in high-alkaline protease-producing Bacillus clausii spp.

Alkaliphilic Bacillus sp. strain KSM-K16, which produces high-alkaline M-protease, was characterized phenotypically, biochemically and genetically. This strain was identified as Bacillus clausii based on the results of taxonomic studies, including sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and DNA-DNA hybridization.

Interaction of the selectin ligand PSGL-1 with chemokines CCL21 and CCL19 facilitates efficient homing of T cells to secondary lymphoid organs.

P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 (PSGL-1) is central to the trafficking of immune effector cells to areas of inflammation through direct interactions with P-selectin, E-selectin and L-selectin. Here we show that PSGL-1 was also required for efficient homing of resting T cells to secondary lymphoid organs but functioned independently of selectin binding. PSGL-1 mediated an enhanced chemotactic T cell response to the secondary lymphoid organ chemokines CCL21 and CCL19 but not to CXCL12 or to inflammatory chemokines.

[Current epidemiological situation of tuberculosis in the workplace: considering the risk of tuberculosis among nurses].

Objective: To observe the trends and methods of tuberculosis (TB) detection in different occupations; to estimate the incidence of TB among nurses, and calculate the relative risk by comparing with the aged-matched general population; and to estimate the incidence of TB and relative risk also for teachers and doctors.

Materials And Methods: The background of TB patients was analyzed using the annual reports of TB registry for the period between 1987 and 2004. The population obtained from the national census, which was conducted every five years, was used for the calculation of TB incidence by specific occupation.

[Evaluation of quality or qualitative evaluation of health care?].

The paper presents a theoretical exercise regarding health care evaluation in an effort to define several concepts. The multi-dimensional aspects of quality in health are emphasized in addition to the differences between quality evaluation and qualitative evaluation. The implications of not distinguishing between these two concepts are also discussed.

Brain keratan sulfate and glial scar formation.

In response to injury to the central nervous system (CNS), reactive astrocytes appear and accumulate in the wounded area, leading to glial scar formation. Glial scar is the physical barrier to axonal regeneration of injured neurons. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans are inhibitory to axon outgrowth and are upregulated in reactive astrocytes upon CNS injury.

Measuring the activities of the Sulfs: two novel heparin/heparan sulfate endosulfatases.

Sulfatases hydrolyze sulfate esters on a variety of molecules including glycosaminoglycans, sulfoglycolipids, and cytosolic steroids. These enzymes are found in a wide range of organisms with their basic enzymatic mechanisms broadly conserved. In mammals, many of the sulfatases localize in the lysosome and exhibit enzymatic activity on a small aryl substrate such as 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate (4-MUS).

Determination of substrate specificity of sulfotransferases and glycosyltransferases (proteoglycans).

Proteoglycans have sulfated linear polysaccharide chains, that is, heparan sulfate, heparin, chondroitin sulfates, dermatan sulfate, and keratan sulfate. Many glycosyltransferases and sulfotransferases are involved in biosynthesis of the polysaccharides. Specificities of these enzymes have been mainly determined by evaluating their activities to various acceptor carbohydrates and by analyzing the structure of the products.

Sulfated L-selectin ligands as a therapeutic target in chronic inflammation.

The homing of lymphocytes to peripheral lymph nodes is initiated by an adhesive interaction between L-selectin on lymphocytes and peripheral node addressin (PNAd), a set of sialomucins displayed on high endothelial venules (HEVs) of lymph nodes. The monoclonal antibody MECA-79 reacts with the PNAd sialomucins by recognizing an N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc)-6-sulfated oligosaccharide, which overlaps with sialyl 6-sulfo Lewis X, the L-selectin recognition determinant. Two HEV-expressed sulfotransferases, GlcNAc6ST-1 and GlcNAc6ST-2, are essential for the expression of the MECA-79 epitope and L-selectin ligand activity on lymph-node HEVs.

[Twice-weekly intermittent chemotherapy during the maintenance phase of the short-course treatment for new patients with pulmonary tuberculosis].

Background And Objective: Various types of intermittent chemotherapy regimens have been applied for the treatment of tuberculosis worldwide, but, in Japan, any type of intermittent treatment has not been adopted currently as the standard regimens for the treatment of tuberculosis. Intermittent regimens have a great advantage to facilitate directly observed therapy (DOT). To introduce DOT more extensively in Japan, we conducted the present clinical trial to assess the effectiveness and safety of intermittent chemotherapy.

Salt-activated endoglucanase of a strain of alkaliphilic Bacillus agaradhaerens.

An endoglucanase was purified to homogeneity from an alkaline culture broth of a strain isolated from seawater and identified here as Bacillus agaradhaerens JAM-KU023. The molecular mass was around 38-kDa and the N-terminal 19 amino acids of the purified enzyme exhibited 100% sequence identity to Cel5A of B. agaradhaerens DSM8721(T).

N-Acetylglucosamine 6-O-sulfotransferase-1 is required for brain keratan sulfate biosynthesis and glial scar formation after brain injury.

Keratan sulfate (KS) is a glycosaminoglycan composed of repeating disaccharide units with sulfate residues at the C6 positions of galactose and N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). The N-acetylglucosamine 6-O-sulfotransferase(s) (GlcNAc6ST) involved in the synthesis of KS in the central nervous system (CNS) has long been unidentified. Here, we report that a deficiency of GlcNAc6ST-1 leads to loss of 5D4-reactive brain KS and reduction of glial scar formation after cortical stab injury in mice.

HSulf-2, an extracellular endoglucosamine-6-sulfatase, selectively mobilizes heparin-bound growth factors and chemokines: effects on VEGF, FGF-1, and SDF-1.

Background: Heparin/heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans are found in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and on the cell surface. A considerable body of evidence has established that heparin and heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) interact with numerous protein ligands including fibroblast growth factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), cytokines, and chemokines. These interactions are highly dependent upon the pattern of sulfation modifications within the glycosaminoglycan chains.

Sulf-2, a proangiogenic heparan sulfate endosulfatase, is upregulated in breast cancer.

Sulf-2 is an endosulfatase with activity against glucosamine-6-sulfate modifications within subregions of intact heparin. The enzyme has the potential to modify the sulfation status of extracellular heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) glycosaminoglycan chains and thereby to regulate interactions with HSPG-binding proteins. In the present investigation, data mining from published studies was employed to establish Sulf-2 mRNA upregulation in human breast cancer.

Intramural duodenal hematoma after endoscopic therapy for a bleeding duodenal ulcer in a patient with liver cirrhosis.

We report a case of intestinal obstruction due to intramural hematoma of the duodenum following therapeutic endoscopy for a bleeding duodenal ulcer in a patient with liver cirrhosis. A 44-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with severe epigastralgia, nausea and tarry stool. Two years previously he had undergone endoscopic sclerotherapy for esophageal varices caused by alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

Excitatory neural control of posterograde heartbeat by the frontal ganglion in the last instar larva of a lepidopteran, Bombyx mori.

The frontal ganglion of the silkworm (Bombyx mori) gives rise to a visceral nerve, branches of which include a pair of anterior cardiac nerves and a pair of the posterior cardiac nerves. Forward-fill of the visceral nerve with dextran labeled with tetramethyl rhodamine shows the anterior cardiac nerves innervate the anterior region of the dorsal vessel. Back-fill of the anterior cardiac nerves with Co(2+) and Ni(2+) ions and the fluorescent dye reveals that the cell bodies of two motor neurons are located in the frontal ganglion.

A major class of L-selectin ligands is eliminated in mice deficient in two sulfotransferases expressed in high endothelial venules.

The interaction of L-selectin on lymphocytes with sulfated ligands on high endothelial venules leads to rolling and is critical for recruitment of lymphocytes into peripheral lymph nodes. Peripheral node addressin represents a class of L-selectin ligands recognized by the function-blocking monoclonal antibody MECA-79. Its epitope overlaps with sialyl 6-sulfo Lewis X, an L-selectin recognition determinant.

N-acetylglucosamine-6-O-sulfotransferases 1 and 2 cooperatively control lymphocyte homing through L-selectin ligand biosynthesis in high endothelial venules.

Lymphocyte homing is mediated by specific interactions between L-selectin on lymphocytes and sulfated carbohydrates restricted to high endothelial venules in lymph nodes. Here we generated mice deficient in both N-acetylglucosamine-6-O-sulfotransferase 1 (GlcNAc6ST-1) and GlcNAc6ST-2 and found that mutant mice had approximately 75% less homing of lymphocytes to the peripheral lymph nodes than did wild-type mice. Consequently, these mice had lower contact hypersensitivity responses than those of wild-type mice.

Trends of delays in tuberculosis case finding in Japan and associated factors.

Setting: Nationwide tuberculosis (TB) registry in Japan, 1987-2002.

Objective: To clarify the trends of patient's delay (PD), doctor's delay (DD) and total delay (TD), their relation and factors associated with the delays.

Design: Longitudinal study on trends in delays.

[Influences of the adoption of new tuberculosis mass-examination system for school children on tuberculosis in school age].

TB mass screening for elementary and junior-high school pupils was revised in 2003 in Japan. Interview sheet with questionaires about past history of TB and BCG has been applied for all pupils to choose high risk groups for TB infection or TB diseases since 2003 April replacing previous mass-screening method with tuberculin test for first-grade pupils. We compare results of case-finding of school-children in 2001, 2002 and 2003 by the data of national TB surveillance system.

Development of structural analysis of sulfated N-glycans by multidimensional high performance liquid chromatography mapping methods.

Although the biological importance of sulfated oligosaccharides has been widely recognized, there are only a few reports that describe detailed structures of sulfated N-glycans. This is largely due to the lack of a convenient method to identify structures of sulfated glycans found in low incidence. Here we develop multidimensional high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) mapping methods for rapid and convenient identification of sulfated N-glycans.

Compositional profiling of heparin/heparan sulfate using mass spectrometry: assay for specificity of a novel extracellular human endosulfatase.

An important class of carbohydrates studied within the field of glycobiology, heparin and heparan sulfate (HS) have been implicated in a diverse array of biological functions. Changes in their sulfation pattern and domain organization have been associated with different pathological situations such as viral infectivity, tumor growth, and metastasis. To obtain structural information about these biomolecules, and the modifications they may undergo during different stages of cell growth and development, a mass spectrometry-based method was developed and used to obtain unambiguous structural information on the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) that comprise heparin/HS.

[Estimation of the number of necessary beds for tuberculosis patients, in Japan].

Objective: To estimate the number of necessary beds for tuberculosis patients in Japan from the view point of isolation of the source of infection.

Methods: We calculated the number of necessary beds for tuberculosis cases separately for the initial phase and for the chronic excreters. For the initial phase we calculated by multiplying the number of detected tuberculosis cases and the duration of hospitalization.

Purification and characterization of glutamine synthetase of Pseudomonas taetrolens Y-30: an enzyme usable for production of theanine by coupling with the alcoholic fermentation system of baker's yeast.

Concentrated cell-extract of Pseudomonas taetrolens Y-30, isolated as a methylamine-assimilating organism, formed gamma-glutamylethylamide (theanine) from glutamic acid and ethylamine in a mixture containing the alcoholic fermentation system of baker's yeast for ATP-regeneration. Glutamine synthetase (GS), probably responsible for theanine formation, was isolated from the extract of the organism grown on a medium containing 1% methylamine, 1% glycerol, 0.5% yeast extract, and 0.

Hyper-production of an isomalto-dextranase of an Arthrobacter sp. by a proteases-deficient Bacillus subtilis: sequencing, properties, and crystallization of the recombinant enzyme.

Arthrobacter globiformis T6 is unique in that it produces an enzyme yielding only isomaltose from dextran. In the present study, the organism was re-identified and its classification as a new species of the genus Arthrobacter, A. dextranlyticum, was proposed.

N-acetylglucosamine 6-O-sulfotransferase-1 regulates expression of L-selectin ligands and lymphocyte homing.

Lymphocyte homing is initiated by the binding of L-selectin on lymphocytes to its ligands on high endothelial venules (HEV). Sialyl 6-sulfo Lewis X is a major capping group of L-selectin ligands. N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) 6-sulfation is essential for the ligand activity, and is catalyzed by GlcNAc 6-O-sulfotransferases (GlcNAc6STs) of which GlcNAc6ST-1 and GlcNAc6ST-2 are expressed in HEV.