Puberty in mammals is timed by an increase in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
secretion. Previous studies have shown involvement of the two neuropeptides,
kisspeptin and neurokinin B (NKB), in controlling puberty onset. Little is known
about the role of the other key neuropeptide, dynorphin, in controlling puberty
onset, although these three neuropeptides colocalize in the arcuate kisspeptin
neurons. The arcuate kisspeptin neuron, which is also referred to as the KNDy neuron,
has recently been considered to play a role as an intrinsic source of the GnRH pulse
generator. The present study aimed to determine if attenuation of inhibitory
dynorphin-kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) signaling triggers the initiation of puberty in
normal developing female rats. The present study also determined if stimulatory
NKB-neurokinin 3 receptor (NK3R) signaling advances puberty onset. Female
Wistar-Imamichi rats were weaned and intraperitoneally implanted with osmotic
minipumps filled with nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI), a KOR antagonist, or senktide, a
NK3R agonist, at 20 days of age. Fourteen days of intraperitoneal infusion of nor-BNI
or senktide advanced puberty onset, manifested as vaginal opening and the first
vaginal estrus in female rats. Frequent blood sampling showed that nor-BNI
significantly increased luteinizing hormone (LH) pulse frequency at 29 days of age
compared with vehicle-treated controls. Senktide tended to increase this frequency,
but its effect was not statistically significant. The present results suggest that
the inhibitory input of dynorphin-KOR signaling plays a role in the prepubertal
restraint of GnRH/LH secretion in normal developing female rats and that attenuation
of dynorphin-KOR signaling and increase in NKB-NK3R signaling trigger the onset of
puberty in female rats. 相似文献
ChEC91, a novel cell death-inducing effector protein from the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum higginsianum, causal agent of crucifer anthracnose disease, is described. Both transient expression of ChEC91 and infiltration of purified recombinant protein induced necrotic lesions in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. The recombinant protein also induced electrolyte leakage and callose deposition in Arabidopsis thaliana leaf tissue and the expression of defence marker genes. Moreover, fungal mutants constitutively over-expressing ChEC91 in C. higginsianum were impaired in appressorial penetration on Brassica rapa cotyledons. These results suggest that inappropriate expression of ChEC91 might negatively affect the early stage of C. higginsianum infection by inducing plant defence responses. Protein domain deletion analysis showed that the C-terminal region of ChEC91 was necessary, but not sufficient, for activity in N. benthamiana. Homologous effector proteins cloned from C. gloeosporioides, Fusarium graminearum, and Pyricularia oryzae differed in their cell death-inducing activity, which appeared related to sequence variations in the C-terminal region of these proteins. Moreover, this region contained amino acid residues that were well conserved within Colletotrichum species. These results suggest that the amino acid residues in the C-terminal region may be important for inducing cell death in plants.
CD80, CD86, CD28 and Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) are well-known co-stimulatory molecules that form the major co-stimulatory pathway essential for full activation of T cells. To investigate their role in pathogenesis of immune-mediated diseases, 12 dogs were sensitized experimentally to Japanese cedar pollen antigen (CPAg) as models of allergic diseases in dogs. After sensitization, lymphocyte stimulation test (LST) was carried out to evaluate reactivity to CPAg, and semi-quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis of CPAg-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to evaluate the expression of co-stimulatory molecules. As a result, CPAg-specific enhancements of CD80 expression were detected in all sensitized dogs. Furthermore, two different kinetics of its enhancements according to the blastgenic responses to CPAg were also observed. Expression of CD28, CTLA-4 and CD86 were suppressed following CPAg-stimulation. The result of the present study indicated the potential role of the CD28-CD80 co-stimulation pathway in pathogenesis of allergic diseases in dogs. 相似文献
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dark adaptation time in canine
electroretinography (ERG) using a contact lens electrode with a built-in LED. Twelve eyes
of six normal laboratory beagle dogs were used and exposed to steady room light at 500 lux
for 30 min for light adaption. ERG was recorded at different time points during dark
adaptation in sedated and light-adapted beagles. The stimulus intensity was 0.0096
cd/m2/sec. The b-wave amplitude increased significantly until 25 min of dark
adaptation, whereas no significant changes in amplitudes were observed after 30 min. Dark
adaptation for more than 25 min would be necessary for accurate ERG in canine ERG using a
contact lens electrode with a built-in LED. 相似文献
The forkhead box a (Foxa) protein family has been found to play important roles in mammals. Recently, the expression of Foxa2 was reported in the mouse uterus, and it was reported to be involved in regulation of implantation. However, the regulation of Foxa2 expression in the uterus is still poorly understood. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the expressional profiles of Foxa2 in the rat uterus during the estrus cycle and pregnancy. Furthermore, the effect of steroid hormones and Hedgehog protein on the expression of Foxa2 was analyzed in vivo and in vitro. In this study, the level of expression of Foxa2 was low in the rat uterus during the different stages of the estrus cycle. However, the expression increased transiently during early pregnancy at 3.5 days post coitus (dpc) and decreased at 5.5 dpc. In ovariectomized rats, P4 treatment had no effect on the
expression of Foxa2 compared with the expression in control animals. Moreover, the expression of Foxa2 in cultured epithelial cells was not increased by P4 treatment in vitro. However, Foxa2 expression was significantly decreased in the rat uterus after 24 h of E2 treatment. Treatment of cells with a recombinant Hedgehog protein significantly increased the expression of Foxa2. These results suggest that the expression of Foxa2 may transiently increase just before the implantation and it may be regulated by E2 and Hedgehog protein. 相似文献
We investigated the influence of paternal effects on progeny survival of the fugu Takifugu rubripes when multiple families were reared in communal tanks. Four males were crossed with four females in a factorial cross to give 16 families, and the half-siblings sharing the same mother were reared together. Male parentage was determined using microsatellite markers at 35 days. Although the maternal and tank effects were large, it was possible to detect paternal effects in relative survival rate and standard length (standardized in each tank), which were found to be significantly correlated. Paternal effects on growth rate suggest the existence of family-based differences in competition for food. Furthermore, genetic differences affecting larval growth appeared to be partly responsible for the disparity in survival rate observed among families. 相似文献
Cancer immunotherapy is a novel cancer treatment for canine tumors. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) is overexpressed in some human tumors and inhibits antitumor immunity. In this study, we comprehensively evaluated expression pattern of IDO1 and the nature of IDO1-expressing cells in canine normal and tumor tissues. In normal tissue samples, IDO1 expression was detected only in the lymph nodes, spleen, tonsil tissues, and colon tissues. In contrast, IDO1-positive tumor cells were observed in several tumor tissue types. This is the first study to evaluate IDO1 expression in canine normal and tumor tissues, and the results suggest that IDO1 is a promising target for novel cancer immunotherapy in dogs with tumors. 相似文献
ABSTRACTPhosphorus (P) is a major nutrient supporting rice productivity. Improving low-P tolerance of rice is expected to reduce dependence on P fertilizer, thereby reducing rice production costs and environmental impacts. This report describes the mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with P deficiency tolerance in japonica rice. An F5 population derived from a cross of the low-P tolerant cultivar Akamai (Yamagata) and the sensitive cultivar Koshihikari was evaluated for shoot growth under low-P conditions. Then single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiles of the low-P tolerant and sensitive bulks were compared on a genome-wide scale by QTL-Seq, a rapid QTL mapping method using next-generation sequencing technology. Results show a major QTL associated with low-P tolerance located on the long arm of chromosome 12. It has been named QTL for low-P tolerance 1 or qLPT1. SNPs were detected in 45 genes of qLPT1 region and the 5 genes were harboring synonymous SNPs, although none of them had been reported as involved in low-P tolerance. This result implies that the novel gene responsible for low-P tolerance exists in qLPT1. This study will contribute to the elucidation of mechanisms underlying low-P tolerance of Akamai and will facilitate the breeding of rice with low-P tolerance. 相似文献
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas that contributes to the destruction of stratospheric ozone, and agricultural soil is an important source of N2O. Aerobic soils are sinks for atmospheric methane (CH4), a greenhouse gas. Ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) can oxidize CH4, but CH4 is mostly oxidized by methane monooxygenase (MMO), and CH4 oxidation by AMO is generally negligible in the soil. We monitored the N2O and CH4 fluxes after urea application in fields containing different soils using an automated sampling system to determine the effects of environmental and microbial factors on the N2O and CH4 fluxes. The soil types were Low-humic Andosol (Gleyic Haplic Andosol), yellow soil (Gleyic Haplic Alisol) and gray lowland soil (Entric Fluvisol). Cumulative N2O emissions from the yellow soil were higher than those from other soil types, although the difference was not significant. The CH4 uptake level by Andosol was one order of magnitude higher than that by other soils. There were significant relationships between the ammonia oxidation potential, AOB and AOA amoA copy numbers, and the CH4 uptake. In contrast, the gene copy numbers of methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) pmoA were below the detection limit. Our results suggested that the AMOs of AOB and AOA may have more important roles than those previously considered during CH4 oxidation in agricultural soils treated with N fertilizers. 相似文献
The locations of the pole and rotation axis of asteroid 25143 Itokawa were derived from Asteroid Multiband Imaging Camera data on the Hayabusa spacecraft. The retrograde pole orientation had a right ascension of 90.53 degrees and a declination of -66.30 degrees (52000 equinox) or equivalently 128.5 degrees and -89.66 degrees in ecliptic coordinates with a 3.9 degrees margin of error. The surface area is 0.393 square kilometers, the volume is 0.018378 cubic kilometers with a 5% margin of error, and the three axis lengths are 535 meters by 294 meters by 209 meters. The global Itokawa revealed a boomerang-shaped appearance composed of two distinct parts with partly faceted regions and a constricted ring structure. 相似文献