Altered Gut Microbiota Composition and Immune Response in Experimental Steatohepatitis Mouse Models.

Background: Although several types of diet have been used in experimental steatohepatitis models, comparison of gut microbiota and immunological alterations in the gut among diets has not yet been performed.

Aim: We attempted to clarify the difference in the gut environment between mice administrated several experimental diets.

Methods: Male wild-type mice were fed a high-fat (HF) diet, a choline-deficient amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet, and a methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) diet for 8 weeks.

Formation of Guaiacol by Spoilage Bacteria from Vanillic Acid, a Product of Rice Koji Cultivation, in Japanese Sake Brewing.

The formation of guaiacol, a potent phenolic off-odor compound in the Japanese sake brewing process, was investigated. Eight rice koji samples were analyzed, and one contained guaiacol and 4-vinylguaiacol (4-VG) at extraordinarily high levels: 374 and 2433 μg/kg dry mass koji, respectively. All samples contained ferulic and vanillic acids at concentrations of mg/kg dry mass koji.

Nurmi-type Culture Prepared using Culture Media without l-Cysteine Enhances Exclusion in Hatched Layer Chicks.

To determine the influence of media composition on exclusion of Nurmi-type cultures, two and four types of cultures in the first and second trial, respectively, were prepared from the cecal contents of conventional laying hens, and exclusion was assessed in newly hatched chicks. In the first trial, modified Viande Levure (VL) broth or nutrient broth (NB) were used to prepare Nurmi-type cultures (N-VL and N-NB), which were administered to the newly hatched chicks. Twenty-four hours later, the chicks were challenged with Typhimurium EF85-9 (ST).

Complete Genome Sequence of the Unclassified Iron-Oxidizing, Chemolithoautotrophic Burkholderiales Bacterium GJ-E10, Isolated from an Acidic River.

Burkholderiales bacterium GJ-E10, isolated from the Tamagawa River in Akita Prefecture, Japan, is an unclassified, iron-oxidizing chemolithoautotrophic bacterium. Its single circular genome, consisting of 3,276,549 bp, was sequenced by using three types of next-generation sequencers and the sequences were then confirmed by PCR-based Sanger sequencing.

Seawater inundation from the 2011 Tohoku tsunami continues to strongly affect soil bacterial communities 1 year later.

The effects of inundation caused by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami on soil bacterial communities in agricultural fields were evaluated. Bacterial communities were compared across three different types of soil, unflooded field (UF) soil, soil flooded for 2 weeks (short term (ST)), and soil flooded for 2 months (long term (LT)), using polymerase chain reaction-pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes. Acidobacteria were dominant in UF, with a relative abundance of approximately 35 %, and Proteobacteria dominated flooded soils (30-67 %).

Enzymatic synthesis of novel branched sugar alcohols mediated by the transglycosylation reaction of pullulan-hydrolyzing amylase II (TVA II) cloned from Thermoactinomyces vulgaris R-47.

Transglycosylation reactions are useful for preserving a specific sugar structure during the synthesis of branched oligosaccharides. We have previously reported a panosyl unit transglycosylation reaction by pullulan-hydrolyzing amylase II (TVA II) cloned from Thermoactinomyces vulgaris R-47 (Tonozuka et al., Carbohydr.

Asymmetric synthesis and stereochemical structure-activity relationship of (R)- and (S)-8-[1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-2-imidazol-1-yl-ethoxy] octanoic acid heptyl ester, a potent inhibitor of allene oxide synthase.

The preparation of both enantiomers of 8-[1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-2-imidazol-1-yl-ethoxy] octanoic acid heptyl ester (JM-8686), a potent inhibitor of allene oxide synthase, has been achieved using 2,4-dichlorophenacyl bromide as a starting material. The key step was the asymmetric reduction of 1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-2-imidazol-1-yl-ethanone with chiral BINAL-H. The products were purified by chiral high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to afford pure (R)-JM-8686 and (S)-JM-8686.

Complex pattern of membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase shedding. Regulation by autocatalytic cells surface inactivation of active enzyme.

Membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) is a type I transmembrane MMP shown to play a critical role in normal development and in malignant processes. Emerging evidence indicates that MT1-MMP is regulated by a process of ectodomain shedding. Active MT1-MMP undergoes autocatalytic processing on the cell surface, leading to the formation of an inactive 44-kDa fragment and release of the entire catalytic domain.