Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers
(65.390 recursos)
HUSCAP (Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers) contains peer-reviewed journal articles, proceedings, educational resources and any kind of scholarly works of Hokkaido University.
2.
Expression of Foreign Genes in Lamprey Embryos: An Approach to Study Evolutionary Changes in Gene Regulation - Kusakabe, Rie; Tochinai, Shin; Kuratani, Shigeru
Evolution in development can be viewed as a sequence of changes in gene regulation. To investigate the cross-species compatibility of 5’ upstream regulatory regions, we introduced exogenous gene constructs derived from a gnathostome genome into fertilized eggs of the Japanese lamprey, Lampetra japonica, a sister group of the gnathostomes. Eggs were injected with gene constructs in which a sequence encoding the green fluorescent protein (GFP) had been located downstream of either a virus promoter or 5’ regulatory regions of medaka actin genes. Reporter gene expression was recorded for more than a month starting two days after injection. Although the expression...
3.
Lamprey Contractile Protein Genes Mark Different Populations of Skeletal Muscles During Development - Kusakabe, Rie; Takechi, Masaki; Tochinai, Shin; Kuratani, Shigeru
Agnathan lampreys retain ancestral characteristics of vertebrates in the morphology of skeletal muscles derived from two mesodermal regions: trunk myotomes and unsegmented head mesoderm. During lamprey development, some populations of myoblasts migrate via pathways that differ from those of gnathostomes. To investigate the evolution of skeletal muscle differentiation in vertebrates, we characterize multiple contractile protein genes expressed in the muscle cells of the Japanese lamprey, Lethenteron japonicum. Lamprey actin gene LjMA2, and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) genes LjMyHC1 and LjMyHC2 are all expressed in the developing skeletal muscle cells of early embryos. However, LjMyHC1 and LjMyHC2 are expressed only in...
4.
Bipolar head regeneration induced by artificial amputation in Enchytraeus japonensis (Annelida, Oligochaeta) - Kawamoto, Shishin; Yoshida-Noro, Chikako; Tochinai, Shin
The Enchytraeida Oligochaeta Enchytraeus japonensis propagates asexually by spontaneous autotomy. Normally, each of the 5–10 fragments derived from a single worm regenerates a head anteriorly and a tail posteriorly. Occasionally, however, a head is formed posteriorly in addition to the normal anterior head, resulting in a bipolar worm. This phenomenon prompted us to conduct a series of experiments to clarify how the head and the tail are determined during regeneration in this species. The results showed that (1) bipolar head regeneration occurred only after artificial amputation, and not by spontaneous autotomy, (2) anesthesia before amputation raised the frequency of bipolar...
5.
Separation of isomeric 2-aminopyridine derivatized N-glycans and N-glycopeptides of human serum immunoglobulin G by using a zwitterionic type of hydrophilic-interaction chromatography - Takegawa, Yasuhiro; Deguchi, Kisaburo; Keira, Takuro; Ito, Hiroki; Nakagawa, Hiroaki; Nishimura, Shin-Ichiro
Isomeric oligosaccharides and isomeric glycopeptides are sometimes difficult to separate on normal-phase (NP) and reversed-phase (RP) columns. A zwitterionic type of hydrophilic-interaction chromatography column with sulfobetaine groups (called ZIC-HILIC column) was first applied to the separation of 2-aminopyridine derivatized (PA) N-glycans and tryptic peptides of human serum immunoglobulin G (IgG). It is shown that the ZIC-HILIC column has high capability for structural recognition of isomeric N-glycans as well as high selectivity for glycopeptides. The former feature (i.e., structural recognition) was proven by sufficient separation of neutral PA N-glycan isomers, which are usually difficult to separate on NP and RP columns....
6.
Single-chain tissue-type plasminogen activator is a substrate of mouse glandular kallikrein 24 - Matsui, Hitoshi; Takano, Naoharu; Moriyama, Akihiko; Takahashi, Takayuki
Leydig cells of the adult mouse testis express at a detectable level three distinct glandular (tissue) kallikrein genes: mKlk21, mKlk24, and mKlk27. Recently, the proteins encoded by these genes were characterized using active recombinant proteases, but their roles in the mouse testis remained to be determined. The present study showed that among the proteases, mK24 markedly enhanced the activity of human recombinant single-chain tissue-type plasminogen activator when the two were incubated together. This activation was found to be due to proteolytic conversion of the single-chain enzyme to a two-chain form. The expression of tissue-type plasminogen activator in interstitial Leydig cells...
7.
Enterotoxin/guanylin receptor type guanylyl cyclases in non-mammalian vertebrates - Nakauchi, Mina; Suzuki, Norio
Cyclic GMP is a ubiquitous intracellular second messenger produced by guanylyl cyclases (GCs). The enterotoxin/guanylin receptor type membrane GC (designated as GC-C in mammals) is activated by exogenous ligands such as heat-stable enterotoxins (STa), small peptides secreted by some pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli which cause severe secretory diarrhea and also activated by endogenous ligands such as guanylin and uroguanylin. The STa/guanylin receptor type membrane GC, as well as other type membrane GCs, is composed of an extracellular domain, a single transmembrane domain, and an intracellular region comprising a kinase-like domain and a catalytic domain. The STa/guanylin receptor type membrane...
8.
Structural components of the synaptonemal complex, SYCP1 and SYCP3, in the medaka fish Oryzias latipes - Iwai, Toshiharu; Yoshii, Atsushi; Yokota, Takehiro; Sakai, Chiharu; Hori, Hiroshi; Kanamori, Akira; Yamashita, Masakane
The synaptonemal complex (SC) is a meiosis-specific structure essential for synapsis of homologous chromosomes. For the first time in any non-mammalian vertebrates, we have isolated cDNA clones encoding two structural components of the SC, SYCP1 and SYCP3, in the medaka, and investigated their protein expression during gametogenesis. As in the case of mammals, medaka SYCP1 and SYCP3 are expressed solely in meiotically dividing cells. In the diplotene stage, SYCP1 is diminished at desynaptic regions of chromosomes and completely lost on the chromosomes at later stages. SYCP3 is localized along the arm and centromeric regions of chromosomes at metaphase I, and...
9.
Crystal structure of an RtcB homolog protein (PH1602-extein protein) fromPyrococcus horikoshii reveals a novel fold - Okada, Chiaki; Maegawa, Yuki; Yao, Min; Tanaka, Isao
The hypothetical extein, PH1602-extein (53.5 kDa, 481 residues) from the hyperthermophilic archaebacterium, Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3, shows sequence similarity to Escherichia coli RtcB (33% identity). RtcB homologs are conserved in all archaebacteria, in most eukaryotes, including metazoa, and in a wide variety of eubacteria.
In E. coli, the rtcB gene, together with rtcA and rtcR, comprise the 54-dependent operon termed the RNA 3-terminal phosphate cyclase operon. The functions of the gene products RtcA and RtcR have been characterized previously as RNA 3-terminal phosphate cyclase and 54-specific regulator, respectively. On the other hand, although RtcB is highly conserved among many organisms, there have...
10.
Expression of guanylyl cyclase genes in medaka hybrids (Oryzias curvinotus x Oryzias latipes). - Shiga, T.; Suzuki, N.
The Hong Kong-originated medaka fish Oryzias curvinotus expresses nine genes (OcGC1～OcGC8 and OcGC-R2) for membrane guanylyl cyclases (membrane GCs) and three genes (OcGCS-α1, OcGCS-α2, and OcGCS-β1) for soluble GC subunits. The deduced amino acid sequences of membrane GCs expressed in O. curvinotus were quite similar to those expressed in the Japanese medaka Oryzias latipes, including a novel membrane GC gene, OlGC8, first isolated and characterized in O. latipes. O. curvinotus was able to produce hybrids with O. latipes, irrespective of the direction of crossing, and the resulting hybrids expressed both maternal and paternal soluble GC subunit genes, suggesting the possibility...
11.
Plasma and urine levels of electrolytes, urea and steroid hormones involved in osmoregulation of cetaceans - Birukawa, Naoko; Ando, Hironori; Goto, Mutsuo; Kanda, Naohisa; Pastene, Luis A.; Nakatsuji, Hiroki; Hata, Hiroshi; Urano, Akihisa
Cetaceans are well adapted to their hyperosmotic environment by properly developed osmoregulatory ability. A question here is how they regulate water and mineral balances in marine habitats. In the present study, we determined blood and urine levels of various chemicals involved in osmoregulation, compared them with those in artiodactyls, and characterized the values in the whales. Blood and urine samples obtained from baleen whales of common minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), sei (B. borealis), and Bryde's whales (B. brydei), and toothed whales of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) were analyzed for osmolality, major electrolytes, urea, steroid hormones and glucose. The urine osmolality and...
12.
A novel membrane guanylyl cyclase expressed in medaka (Oryzias latipes) intestine. - Iio, Kaori; Nakauchi, Mina; Yamagami, Sayaka; Tsutsumi, Makiko; Hori, Hiroshi; Naruse, Kiyoshi; Mitani, Hiroshi; Shima, Akihiro; Suzuki, Norio
A novel membrane guanylyl cyclase (GC), OlGC9, was identified in the intestine of the medaka fish Oryzias latipes by the isolation of a full-length cDNA clone (3783 bp). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that OlGC9 belongs in the enterotoxin/guanylin receptor membrane GC subfamily. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of OlGC9 were highly homologous to those of OlGC6, another enterotoxin/guanylin receptor membrane GC in medaka fish. Linkage analysis of the medaka fish chromosome demonstrated that the OlGC9 gene was mapped to LG8, which distinguishes it from the OlGC6 gene. Determination of the cGMP concentrations in COS-7 cells expressed with OlGC9 indicated...
13.
Molecular regulation of gonadotropin secretion by gonadotropin-releasing hormone in salmonid fishes - Ando, Hironori; Urano, Akihisa
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) plays a central role in the control of reproductive function in vertebrates. In salmonids, salmon GnRH (sGnRH) secreted by preoptic GnRH neurons regulates gonadal maturation through stimulation of synthesis and release of pituitary gonadotropins (GTHs). In addition, several lines of our evidence indicate that sGnRH is involved in spawning behavior, and serves to integrate the gonadal maturation with the reproductive behavior. A growing number of studies show that the effects of GnRH are mediated by multiple subtypes of GnRH receptors, successive multiple signaling pathways, and finally multiple transcription factors which act cooperatively to stimulate transcription of GTH...
14.
Diverse forms of guanylyl cyclases in medaka fish -- their genomic structure and phylogenetic relationships to those in vertebrates and invertebrates. - Yamagami, Sayaka; Suzuki, Norio
Fish species such as medaka fish, fugu, and zebrafish contain more guanylyl cyclases (GCs) than do mammals. These GCs can be divided into two types: soluble GCs and membrane GCs. The latter are further divided into four subfamilies: (i) natriuretic peptide receptors, (ii) STa/guanylin receptors, (iii) sensory-organ-specific membrane GCs, and (iv) orphan receptors. Phylogenetic analyses of medaka fish GCs, along with those of fugu and zebrafish, suggest that medaka fish is a much closer relative to fugu than to zebrafish. Analyses of nucleotide data available on a web site (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) of GCs from a range of organisms from bacteria to...
15.
Amphipathic alpha-helix mediates the heterodimerization of soluble guanylyl cyclase. - Shiga, Takumi; Suzuki, Norio
Soluble guanylyl cyclase (soluble GC) is an enzyme consisting of α and β subunits and catalyzes the conversion of GTP to cGMP. The formation of the heterodimer is essential for the activity of soluble GC. Each subunit of soluble GC has been shown to comprize three functionally different parts: a C-terminal catalytic domain, a central dimerization domain, and an N-terminal regulatory domain. The central dimerization domain of the β1 subunit, which contains an N-terminal binding site (NBS) and a C-terminal binding site (CBS), has been postulated to be responsible for the formation of α/ β heterodimer. In this study, we...
16.
Involvement of general transcriptional coactivator PC4 in the transcription of medaka fish intestine-specific membrane guanylyl cyclase gene (OlGC6). - Nakauchi, Mina; Yoshino, Ken-ichi; Yonezawa, Kazuyoshi; Suzuki, Norio
A recent study showed that the AGACCTTTGC nucleotides sequence (between –90
and –81) contained in the cis-regulatory element in an intestine-specific membrane
guanylyl cyclase gene, OlGC6, of the medaka fish, Oryzias latipes, are important for
the transcription of the gene in mammalian cultured cell line and in medaka fish.
Using sequence-specific DNA affinity chromatography, we purified a cis-regulatory
element–binding protein from a medaka fish intestinal nuclear extract and used mass
spectrometry to identify it as a medaka fish homologue of general transcriptional
coactivator PC4, which we designated as OlPC4. The expression of the OlPC4 gene
was detected in embryos, as well as in a large variety of tissues...
17.
Phylogeny and Evolution of Butterflies of the Genus Parnassius : Inferences from Mitochondrial 16S and ND1 Sequences - Katoh, Toru; Chichvarkhin, Anton; Yagi, Takashi; Omoto, Keiichi
Phylogenetic relationships among species of the genus Parnassius and its related taxa were analyzed by comparing nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA (504 sites) and NADH-dehydrogenase subunit 1 (469 sites). In the phylogenetic trees, Parnassius was found to be most closely related to Hypermnestra helios, whereas Archon apollinus, which has been classified in the tribe Parnassiini together with Parnassius and Hypermnestra, was more closely related to members of the tribe Zerynthiini. Within the Parnassius clade, six major clades corresponding to species groups were well supported, although the phylogenetic relationships among them were not clear. Although the results of the...
19.
High Throughput Quantitative Glycomics and Glycoform-focused Proteomics of Murine Dermis and Epidermis - Uematsu, Rie; Furukawa, Jun-ichi; Nakagawa, Hiroaki; Shinohara, Yasuro; Deguchi, Kisaburo; Monde, Kenji; Nishimura, Shin-Ichiro
Despite recent advances in our understanding of the significance of the protein glycosylation, the throughput of protein glycosylation analysis is still too low to be applied to the exhaustive glycoproteomic analysis. Aiming to elucidate the N-glycosylation of murine epidermis and dermis glycoproteins, here we used a novel approach for focused proteomics. A gross N-glycan profiling (glycomics) of epidermis and dermis was first elucidated both qualitatively and quantitatively upon N-glycan derivatization with novel, stable isotope-coded derivatization reagents followed by MALDI-TOF(/TOF) analysis. This analysis revealed distinct features of the N-glycosylation profile of epidermis and dermis for the first time. A high abundance...
20.
Biochemical characterization of human kallikrein 8 and its possible involvement in the degradation of extracellular matrix proteins - Rajapakse, Sanath; Ogiwara, Katsueki; Takano, Naoharu; Moriyama, Akihiko; Takahashi, Takayuki
Human kallikrein 8 (KLK8) is a member of the human kallikrein gene family of serine proteases, and its protein, hK8, has recently been suggested to serve as a new ovarian cancer marker. To gain insights into the physiological role of hK8, the active recombinant enzyme was obtained in a pure state for biochemical and enzymatic characterizations. hK8 had trypsin-like activity with a strong preference for Arg over Lys in the P1 position, and its activity was inhibited by typical serine protease inhibitors. The protease degraded casein, fibronectin, gelatin, collagen type IV, fibrinogen, and high-molecular-weight kininogen. hK8 also converted human single-chain...
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