分子生物学: オープンアクセス

It is a general belief that low-density lipoprotein (LDL) enters from the lumen into the vessel wall and oxidized (oxLDL) and acts as an important pro-atherogenic role in atherosclerosis and the anti-atherogenic substances such as high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and its component apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), also enters from the lumen. However, definite in vivo clinical evidence is lacking. We have demonstrated immunohistochemically that native oxLDL, HDL and ApoA1 co-saved in adipocytes in the majority of human pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) samples, and obtained marks that they are conveyed by either CD68(+) macrophages or vasa vasorum to the adjacent coronary. These results recommended the existence of before unrecognized storing and supply site of these proteins and that therapies directing the PCAT could be active in stopping human coronary atherosclerosis.

Fungal cells are endowed with a cell wall that plays a crucial role in the fungal life, by providing mechanical strength and protecting fungal cells from their environment. Chemically, this fungal cell wall consists of different polysaccharides, contributing to 80-95% of the cell wall dry mass. The core cell wall structure is made up of β-(1,6)-branched β-(1,3)- glucan linked to chitin, and is common to all fungal species. Branching leads to β-(1,3)-glucan ramificating, facilitating its cross-linking with chitin as well as other cell wall components resulting in the construction of a functional fungal cell wall. Recently, using Saccharomyces cerevsiae as the model, we showed that the dual activity associated with CAZy family GH72 transglycosidases (http://www.cazy.org/) belonging to the GAS-family, are capable of elongating as well as branching β-(1,3)-glucan, an essential phenomenon during cell wall biogenesis and remodeling. Not only GAS-proteins, but also GEL-family protein from Aspergillus fumigatus (a pathogenic fungus) showed β-(1,3)- glucan elongating-branching activity. Interestingly, this dual activity was shown by only those GH72 family members containing a Carbohydrate Binding Motif-43 (CBM), suggesting that branching activity is universal in the fungal kingdom. Disruption of β-(1,3)-glucan branching resulted either in a sick-phenotype or led to inviability, suggesting that β-(1,3)-glucan branching is an essential phenomenon during fungal cell wall biogenesis. In this commentary, future perspectives on our findings are presented.

Despite major advancement in drug development heart disease and stroke remain major public concern due to primary cause of death. In developing nations, more than 20-25 million peoples are projected to die due to cardiovascular disease by 2020. The burden of cardiovascular disease clearly remains both a major public health concern and growing global challenge.

The number of cardiovascular drugs in the research pipeline has declined across all phases of development in the last 20 years even as cardiovascular disease has become the No. 1 cause of death worldwide. The reason for this trend is multifactorial but primary reason is cost of conducting cardiovascular outcome trials in the current regulatory environment that demands a direct assessment of risks and benefits. It is difficult to prove treatment benefits in cardiovascular space compared with other therapeutic areas like Neuroscience and oncology. The Global challenges to bring new cardiovascular drugs in to the market go beyond scientific breakthroughs and innovation. The key challenges are:

• Rising cost

• Regulatory uncertainty

• Decline in new drug targets

• Late-stage failures

• Complexity in clinical trial design

End point studies having surrogate markers are the pivotal for the cardiovascular drug development. Innovative technology, web based conduct and global participation is needed to overcome global challenges.

The synapsins are a family of neuronal phosphoproteins that have been previously shown to play an important regulatory role in the release of neurotransmitter from the presynaptic terminal and in the process of synaptogenesis. The mechanisms that regulate the formation of synaptic terminals are a central process in determining the specificity of synaptogenesis and the development of the nervous system. Proteins involved in neurotransmitter release and the control of this release process (specifically synaptic vesicle proteins) have been implicated as being important for synaptogenesis. To determine whether synapsin is expressed at times during mouse development when synaptogenic activity is high, we examined the time course of synapsin I and II mRNA and protein expression in embryonic and postnatal mice using Northern blot and Western blot analyses. Quantification of these blot analyses demonstrated that synapsin RNA and protein can be detected as early as 13.5 days of mouse embryogenesis and that expression of five of the six isoforms of synapsin increase throughout embryonic and postnatal development reaching characteristic high levels by adulthood. This early expression pattern suggests an important role for the synapsins in the development of the mammalian nervous system.

Mushooms have recently attracted attention and are exploited for food and medicinal purposes. Accurate identification of mushrooms is key in utilizing them for the benefit of humans. However, morphological identification of mushrooms is time consuming, tedious and may be prone to error. DNA markers are quick and reliable tools that are useful in mushroom taxonomy. Thus this study confirmed the identity of six Ghanaian mushrooms using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. The ribosomal DNA-ITS fragments of genomic DNA of six wild mushrooms were amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. The amplicons were sequenced and data assembled and analyzed using Bio Edit. Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) search was carried out using the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. The data obtained from the sequence alignment were used to plot a phylogenetic tree using the Neighbor-Joining method in Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA). The nucleotide sequences of the six mushrooms blasted against sequences from GenBank data base revealed that Volvariella volvacea, Trametes elegans, Trametes gibbosa, Ganoderma lucidum, Pleurotus ostreatus and Schizophyllum commune matched 100, 97, 99, 98, 98 and 100% Volvariella volvacea strain OE-55, Trametes elegans isolate BCC23750, Trametes gibbosa strain 391, Ganoderma lucidum strain IMSNU32114, Pleurotus ostreatus strain H-8 and Schizophyllum commune strain SCSIO, with accession numbers KC142119, FJ372691.1, KC525203.1, AF214467.1, JQ837478.1 and KX258807.1, respectively.

Phylogenetic tree showed close relationship between T. elegans and T. gibbosa, V. volvacea and P. ostreatus. Molecular identification of all six mushrooms corresponded to morphological identification up to species level. This is the first report on identification of these Ghanaian mushrooms using the ITS sequences.

Barley is one of the most highly cultivated crops in Ethiopia. The assessment of genetic diversity using quantitative traits is of prime importance in many contexts, particularly in differentiating well defined populations. The aim of this study was to select superior malt barley genotypes that meet the yield and quality standards for malting purposes. Forty nine malt barley genotypes including two checks were tested at koga of west Gojjam in Ethiopia under irrigation in a 7 × 7 simple lattice designs with two replications during off season of 2013. Using estimated D² values 49 genotypes were grouped into nine clusters with maximum genotypes (20) in cluster I and (14) in cluster II. Principal component analysis for malt barley genotypes revealed that the first four principal components accounted for more than 68.3% of the variation explained by explanatory variables. Agronomic characters having relatively higher value in the first four principal components had more contribution to the total diversity and they were responsible for the differentiation of the nine clusters. Nonetheless, considering the tremendous variability observed among the genotypes, further testing of these genotypes in different localities is suggested.