Suvorexant-Induced Dream Enactment Behavior in Parkinson Disease: A Case Report.

Suvorexant is a new insomnia drug, and it is generally safe and well tolerated. Here, we report a rare but potentially important adverse effect of suvorexant in a patient with Parkinson disease.

[Effect of Reconstruction Strategies for the Quantification and Diagnostic Accuracy of (123)I-FP-CIT SPECT].

Purpose: This study evaluates the effect of reconstruction strategies for the quantification and diagnostic accuracy of (123)I-FP-CIT SPECT.

Methods: We evaluated the quantification of (123)I-FP-CIT SPECT obtained by several combinations of reconstruction using the striatal phantom. The phantom images were reconstructed using FBP and OSEM with/without attenuation correction (AC) and scatter correction (SC).

Optimization of iterative reconstruction parameters with 3-dimensional resolution recovery, scatter and attenuation correction in ¹²³I-FP-CIT SPECT.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the optimal reconstruction parameters on ordered-subset expectation maximization iterative reconstruction with resolution recovery, scatter and attenuation correction (OSEM(RRSCAC)) on (123)I-FP-CIT SPECT in terms of the image quality, quantification and diagnostic ability.

Methods: We evaluated the quality and quantification in (123)I-FP-CIT SPECT images obtained by different reconstruction parameters using the anthropomorphic striatal phantom. The phantom images were acquired using a SPECT/CT system equipped with a low- and medium-energy general-purpose collimator and then were reconstructed using OSEM(RRSCAC) with various update numbers and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the Gaussian filter.

Multiple regulation of Rad51-mediated homologous recombination by fission yeast Fbh1.

Fbh1, an F-box helicase related to bacterial UvrD, has been proposed to modulate homologous recombination in fission yeast. We provide several lines of evidence for such modulation. Fbh1, but not the related helicases Srs2 and Rqh1, suppressed the formation of crossover recombinants from single HO-induced DNA double-strand breaks.

RNA interference regulates the cell cycle checkpoint through the RNA export factor, Ptr1, in fission yeast.

Ago1, an effector protein of RNA interference (RNAi), regulates heterochromatin silencing and cell cycle arrest in fission yeast. However, the mechanism by which Ago1 controls cell cycle checkpoint following hydroxyurea (HU) treatment has not been elucidated. In this study, we show that Ago1 and other RNAi factors control cell cycle checkpoint following HU treatment via a mechanism independent of silencing.

The CCR4-NOT complex is implicated in the viability of aneuploid yeasts.

To identify the genes required to sustain aneuploid viability, we screened a deletion library of non-essential genes in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, in which most types of aneuploidy are eventually lethal to the cell. Aneuploids remain viable for a period of time and can form colonies by reducing the extent of the aneuploidy. We hypothesized that a reduction in colony formation efficiency could be used to screen for gene deletions that compromise aneuploid viability.

High-yield expression in Escherichia coli and purification of mouse ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1.

Research in the ubiquitin field requires large amounts of ubiquitin-activating enzyme (E1) for in vitro ubiquitination assays. Typically, the mammalian enzyme is either isolated from natural sources or produced recombinantly using baculovirus/insect cell protein expression systems. Escherichia coli is seldom used to produce mammalian E1 probably due to the instability and insolubility of this high-molecular mass protein.

A DNA polymerase alpha accessory protein, Mcl1, is required for propagation of centromere structures in fission yeast.

Specialized chromatin exists at centromeres and must be precisely transmitted during DNA replication. The mechanisms involved in the propagation of these structures remain elusive. Fission yeast centromeres are composed of two chromatin domains: the central CENP-A(Cnp1) kinetochore domain and flanking heterochromatin domains.

Fission yeast Swi5/Sfr1 and Rhp55/Rhp57 differentially regulate Rhp51-dependent recombination outcomes.

Several accessory proteins referred to as mediators are required for the full activity of the Rad51 (Rhp51 in fission yeast) recombinase. In this study, we analyzed in vivo functions of the recently discovered Swi5/Sfr1 complex from fission yeast. In normally growing cells, the Swi5-GFP protein localizes to the nucleus, where it forms a diffuse nuclear staining pattern with a few distinct foci.

Antibacterial properties of some cyclic organobismuth(III) compounds.

Bismuth compounds are known for their low levels of toxicity in mammals, and various types of bismuth salts have been used to treat medical disorders. As part of our program to probe this aspect of bismuth chemistry, cyclic organobismuth compounds 1 to 8 bearing a nitrogen or sulfur atom as an additional ring member have been synthesized, and their antimicrobial activities against five standard strains of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria were assessed. The eight-membered-ring compounds, compounds 1 to 3, exhibited MICs of less than 0.

Genetic and physical interactions between Schizosaccharomyces pombe Mcl1 and Rad2, Dna2 and DNA polymerase alpha: evidence for a multifunctional role of Mcl1 in DNA replication and repair.

Schizosaccharomyces pombe rad2 is involved in Okazaki fragments processing during lagging-strand DNA replication. Previous studies identified several slr mutants that are co-lethal with rad2Delta and sensitive to methyl methanesulfonate as single mutants. One of these mutants, slr3-1, is characterized here.

Two ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes, UbcP1/Ubc4 and UbcP4/Ubc11, have distinct functions for ubiquitination of mitotic cyclin.

Cell cycle events are regulated by sequential activation and inactivation of Cdk kinases. Mitotic exit is accomplished by the inactivation of mitotic Cdk kinase, which is mainly achieved by degradation of cyclins. The ubiquitin-proteasome system is involved in this process, requiring APC/C (anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome) as a ubiquitin ligase.

Expression of Golgi membrane protein p138 is cell cycle-independent and dissociated from centrosome duplication.

In order to elucidate the mechanism controlling the biogenesis of the Golgi complex, we have studied whether the expression of a resident membrane protein p138 of the Golgi complex is dependent upon the cell cycle. The protein level of p138 in human KB cells was increased during thymidine block to synchronize the cells in the early-S phase, but changed little from S to G2 after release from the block. On the other hand, the mRNA level of the p138 gene was constant during the block.

Two WD repeat-containing TATA-binding protein-associated factors in fission yeast that suppress defects in the anaphase-promoting complex.

The general transcription factor IID consists of the TATA-binding protein (TBP) and multiple TBP-associated factors (TAFs). Here we report the isolation of two related TAF genes from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe as multicopy suppressors of a temperature-sensitive mutation in the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme gene ubcP4(+). The ubcP4(ts) mutation causes cell cycle arrest in mitosis, probably due to defects in ubiquitination mediated by the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome.

Ubiquitin system: selectivity and timing of protein destruction.

A growing number of cellular functions have been shown to be regulated through protein degradation. The selective degradation of many short-lived proteins in eukaryotic cells is mediated by the ubiquitin system, by which proteins covalently ligated to ubiquitin are targeted for degradation. The selectivity of the destruction is ensured by the substrate specificity in the ubiquitination steps composed of a series of enzymatic reactions.

Inhibition of nuclear envelope reconstitution in Xenopus interphase egg extract by hemin.

Addition of hemin to the nuclear reconstitution system of Xenopus interphase egg extract using sperm head chromatin resulted in abnormal pseudonuclei exhibiting flattened membrane patches randomly distributed both on the surface and inside the nuclei. The structures that resembled nuclear pores were observed on these flattened membrane patch structures. Although the nucleosome structure was formed as revealed by the micrococcal nuclease digestion, the B-type lamin uptake into the nuclei was inhibited by hemin.

An essential function of Grr1 for the degradation of Cln2 is to act as a binding core that links Cln2 to Skp1.

In budding yeast, SCF complexes, composed of Skp1, Cdc53 and one of the F-box proteins, have been implicated in Cdc34-dependent ubiquitination. Grr1, which is required for degradation of G1 cyclins Cln1 and Cln2 as well as for regulation of glucose repression, is an F-box protein and interacts with Skp1 through the F-box motif. Grr1 also interacts in vitro with phosphorylated Cln1 and Cln2.

Aphidicolin induces alterations in Golgi complex and disorganization of microtubules of HeLa cells upon long-term administration.

Treatment of HeLa cells with aphidicolin at 5 or 0.5 microg/ml induced cell cycle arrest at G1/S or G2/M phase, respectively, and was accompanied by unbalanced cell growth. Long-term administration of aphidicolin (more than 48 h) resulted in noticeable loss of reproductive capacity though cells were viable at the time of treatment.

Grr1 functions in the ubiquitin pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae through association with Skp1.

Cdc34, a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is required for cell cycle progression. sic1, an S-phase cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor, is a critical target of Cdc34-mediated ubiquitination. Other essential target protein(s) could be defined since cdc34 sic1 double mutants still arrest in G2 phase.

Induction of ubiquitin conjugating enzyme activity for degradation of topoisomerase II alpha during adenovirus E1A-induced apoptosis.

Topoisomerase (topo) II alpha is degraded via polyubiquitination during adenovirus E1A-induced apoptosis in MA1 cells, a derivative of the human epidermoid carcinoma cell line KB. Topo II alpha ubiquitination activity in MA1 cells increased nearly 10-fold after induction of E1A in response to dexamethasone. To identify a topo II alpha ubiquitination factor(s), the S100 fractions prepared from apoptosis-induced (42 h) and uninduced (0 h) MA1 cells were first fractionated by ubiquitin-Sepharose columns.