{"title":"Fractalkine's dual role in inflammation and hard tissue formation in cultured human dental pulp cells.","authors":"Natsuko Gomyo-Furuya, Naoto Kamio, Takahiro Watanabe, Tomomi Hayama, Joji Fukai, Kosei Kuramochi, Kento Nakanishi, Arata Watanabe, Tatsu Okabe, Kiyoshi Matsushima","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.44.257","DOIUrl":"10.2220/biomedres.44.257","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aimed to explore the potential roles of fractalkine/CX3CR1, primarily expressed in vascular endothelial cells and has recently been identified in dental pulp cells at sites of pulp tissue inflammation, not only in inflammation but also in pulp hard tissue formation. To this end, cultured human dental pulp cells were grown in 10% FBS-supplemented α-MEM. Fractalkine was introduced to the culture, and COX-2 and dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) expression levels were evaluated via western blotting. Real-time PCR was used to examine BMP-2 and Osterix mRNA expression. Calcified nodule formation was evaluated with Alizarin red staining. Results revealed that fractalkine increased COX-2 protein expression, calcified nodule formation, and BMP-2 and Osterix mRNA expression in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. DSPP protein expression also increased upon fractalkine addition. This effect of fractalkine on expression of DSPP protein was inhibited in the presence of the CX3CR1 inhibiter ADZ8797. In conclusion, our findings suggest a dual role for fractalkine in promoting pulp inflammation via COX-2 production and contributing to pulp hard tissue formation by stimulating the expression of hard tissue formation markers.</p>","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138440247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Silibinin promotes melanogenesis through the PKA and p38 MAPK signaling pathways in melanoma cells.","authors":"T. Uto, Tomoe Ohta, Koki Katayama, Y. Shoyama","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.43.31","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.43.31","url":null,"abstract":"Silibinin is a flavonolignan isolated from milk thistle (Silybum marianum). Silibinin has been reported to possess multiple biological activities; however, its effect on melanogenesis remains unclear. This study investigated the effect of silibinin on melanogenesis in melanoma cells and the associated molecular mechanism. Our findings demonstrated that silibinin markedly increased melanin content in murine B16-F1 and human HMV-II melanoma cells. Silibinin activated intracellular tyrosinase activity and expression of tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein (TRP)-1, TRP-2, and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF). Furthermore, silibinin enhanced the phosphorylation of cyclic AMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB), protein kinase A (PKA), and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) but not of Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). The specific PKA (H-89) and p38 (SB203580) inhibitors significantly attenuated silibinin-mediated melanin synthesis. These results suggest that silibinin is an effective stimulator of melanogenesis through upregulation of the protein expression of melanogenic enzymes activated by the PKA and p38 pathways, leading to CREB phosphorylation and MITF expression. Therefore, silibinin may have potential for use in the treatment of hypopigmentation disorders.","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45388504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Doi, Tomoyuki Hioki, Junko Tachi, K. Ueda, R. Matsushima‐Nishiwaki, H. Iida, S. Ogura, O. Kozawa, H. Tokuda
{"title":"Oncostatin M reduces the synthesis of macrophage-colony stimulating factor stimulated by TGF-β via suppression of p44/p42 MAP kinase and JNK in osteoblasts.","authors":"T. Doi, Tomoyuki Hioki, Junko Tachi, K. Ueda, R. Matsushima‐Nishiwaki, H. Iida, S. Ogura, O. Kozawa, H. Tokuda","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.43.41","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.43.41","url":null,"abstract":"Bone fracture is an important trauma frequently encountered into emergency medicine as well as orthopedics reflecting an aging society. Oncostatin M, an inflammatory cytokine produced by osteal macrophages, has been considered to play a crucial role in fracture healing. Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) secreted from osteoblasts is essential in osteoclastgenesis, and the secretion is stimulated by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). The aim of this study is to elucidate the effects of oncostatin M on the TGF-β-induced M-CSF synthesis in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells and the underlying mechanisms. Oncostatin M attenuated the TGF-β-stimulated M-CSF release and the mRNA expressions. SMAD3 inhibitor SIS3, p38 MAP kinase inhibitor SB203580, MEK1/2 inhibitor PD98059, and SAPK/JNK inhibitor SP600125 significantly suppressed the M-CSF release. Oncostatin M suppressed the TGF-β-induced phosphorylation of p44/p42 MAP kinase and SAPK/JNK, but failed to affect the phosphorylation of SMAD3 and p38 MAP kinase. Oncostatin M attenuated the TGF-β-stimulated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) release and the TGF-β-induced mRNA expressions of VEGF. These results strongly suggest that oncostatin M downregulates TGF-β signaling upstream of p44/p42 MAP kinase and SAPK/JNK, but not SMAD 2/3 and p38 MAP kinase, in osteoblasts, leading to the attenuation of M-CSF synthesis. Our findings might provide a new therapeutic strategy for the acceleration of fracture healing process.","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46053933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yuuki Horii, Kanako Okadera, Shingo Miyawaki, T. Shiina, Y. Shimizu
{"title":"Suncus murinus as a novel model animal that is suitable for elucidating the mechanism of daily torpor.","authors":"Yuuki Horii, Kanako Okadera, Shingo Miyawaki, T. Shiina, Y. Shimizu","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.43.53","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.43.53","url":null,"abstract":"Torpor, a state of lowered body temperature due to active reduction of the metabolic rate, has potential medical benefits. The aim of this study was to establish a novel laboratory animal that enter torpor without imposing complex conditions. When house musk shrews (Suncus murinus) were kept at an ambient temperature of 24°C, most of the animals did not enter daily torpor. However, when the ambient temperature was lowered to below 20°C, all of the shrews showed torpor in the absence of fasting and short-day photoperiod. The shrews that were exposed to a stepwise decrease in ambient temperature from 24°C to 8°C entered torpor even after returning them to a room kept at 24°C. In conclusion, this study indicates that Suncus murinus may be a suitable model animal for elucidating the mechanism of daily torpor. Elucidation of the mechanisms of torpor by using this model may be useful for inducing a state of artificial hibernation in various species including humans.","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48454338","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Consensus molecular subtyping improves the clinical usefulness of canonical tumor markers for colorectal cancer.","authors":"Hiroyasu Kagawa, Keiichi Hatakeyama, Akio Shiomi, Hitoshi Hino, Shoichi Manabe, Yusuke Yamaoka, Takeshi Nagashima, Keiichi Ohshima, Kenichi Urakami, Ken Yamaguchi","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.43.201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.43.201","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Transcriptome-based classification, such as consensus molecular subtyping, is expected to be applied to colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the relationship between molecular profiles and classical tumor markers, which are already used in clinical practice, has not been analyzed in a large cohort and remains unclear. We classified more than 1,500 Japanese patients with CRC based on consensus molecular subtyping and investigated the clinically available blood carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) concentrations of each subgroup. To precisely distinguish CRCs, we allocated them to five subgroups, including tumors that were difficult to classify using the consensus molecular subtypes (CMSs), and extracted a heterogeneous population with somatic mutations and expression profiles that differed from those of the CMSs 1-4. For patients allocated to the CMS4 subgroup of stage III CRCs, elevated blood CEA concentrations may identify a subgroup with highly aggressive disease and contribute to improving therapeutic decisions. Furthermore, gene expression and pathway analyses of tumor and non-tumor tissues revealed that tumor immunity was \"cold\" in this subgroup with high CEA concentrations. The combination of emerging molecular profiling and classical tumor markers may have greater clinical utility than either used alone.</p>","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9591832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neonatal isoflurane exposure disturbs granule cell migration in the rat dentate gyrus.","authors":"Yosuke Uchida, Toshikazu Hashimoto, Hitoshi Saito, Koichi Takita, Yuji Morimoto","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.43.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.43.1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>It has been reported that neonatal isoflurane exposure causes behavioral abnormalities following neurodegeneration in animals and gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA<sub>A</sub>) receptor activation during the synaptogenesis is considered to be one possible trigger. Additionally, the inhibitory effect of excitatory GABA<sub>A</sub> receptor signaling on the granule cell (GC) migration in the neonatal rat dentate gyrus (DG) was reported in a febrile seizure model. Then, we hypothesized that neonatal isoflurane exposure, which activates GABA<sub>A</sub> receptor, causes GC migration disturbances in the neonatal rat. Rat pups were injected with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) and divided into five treatment groups, and double immunofluorescent staining targeting BrdU and homeobox prospero-like protein 1 (Prox1) was performed to examine the localization of BrdU/Prox1 colabeled cells, and then the GC migration was assessed. As a result, we found that the ectopic migration of GC after 2% isoflurane exposure on postnatal day 7 significantly increased after P21. The number of hilar ectopic GCs was influenced by the concentration of isoflurane and the exposure day but not by carbon dioxide exposure. Our main finding is that neonatal isoflurane anesthesia disturbs the migration of GCs in the rat DG, which may be one possible mechanism underlying the neurotoxicity following neonatal isoflurane anesthesia.</p>","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39930230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Anatomical background of the sensory function in the urethra: involvement of endocrine paraneurons and afferent nerves in divergent urogenital functions. A review.","authors":"Toshihiko Iwanaga, Hiromi Takahashi-Iwanaga","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.43.187","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.43.187","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The urethra is ontogenetically derived from the cloaca together with distal parts of the large intestine, and serotonin cells are predominant among dispersed endocrine/paracrine cells in the epithelia of both tissues. Analysis of urethral endocrine cells thus helps us to understand the functions of gut endocrine cells and their communication with the nervous system, due to the fact that the urethra is a simple tubular organ, where only urine without microflora rapidly passes through. A certain number of urethral endocrine cells display unique, complicated shapes with dendritic processes, reminiscent of neurons. Characteristically, urethral endocrine cells-often called paraneurons-have direct contact with sensory nerves within the epithelium, unlike gut endocrine cells lacking in direct contact with nerves. These traits encourage us to focus on the urethral paraneurons as ideal endocrine/paracrine cells. A topographical complex of urethral paraneurons and afferent nerve fibers is sensitive to the passage of urine or the distention of the urethral lumen. The urethra-bladder excitatory reflex facilitates micturition via the release of serotonin from the paraneurons, ultimately ensuring complete voiding of the bladder. This reflex may also influence sexual behaviors such as ejaculation or the female orgasm. Urethral brush cells as well as paraneurons are responsible for continuous monitoring of the mucosal surface, especially for pathogens entering via the external urethral orifice.</p>","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10360797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"RIPK1 is a key factor in black carbon-induced cell death.","authors":"Xianyan Xu, Zhaojun Xu, Shiyong Zeng, Yuhui Ouyang","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.43.23","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.43.23","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Air pollution is associated with increased morbidity and mortality and with cell death at a cellular level. However, the exact mechanism of particulate matter-induced cell death remains to be elucidated. The aim of the present in vitro study using human alveolar epithelial cells (A549) was to determine the cell death pathway(s) induced by black carbon (BC) and ozone oxidized-black carbon (O-BC). BC and O-BC induced A549 cell death and the cytotoxic effect was dose-dependent. Cell death was significantly abrogated by inhibitor of receptor protein interacting kinase 1 (RIPK1) but only mildly inhibited by apoptosis inhibitor and RIPK3. BC- and O-BC-treated cells showed RIPK1 and RIPK3 protein overexpression and high phosphorylated levels of these proteins, as well as detectable levels of caspase-8 active form. BC- and O-BC-triggered cell death was also fully rescued in A549 cells that under-expressed RIPK1 with RIPK1 siRNA. Our results indicated that BC and O-BC could induce cell death through a multitude of pathways including apoptotic and necroptotic pathways and that RIPK1 is the upstream signal protein of these cell death pathways, with an important role in the regulation of BC-induced cell death.</p>","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39626539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jing Qin, Wu-Shuang Huang, Hao-Ran DU, Chun-Qing Zhang, Peng Xie, Han Qin
{"title":"Ca<sup>2+</sup>-based neural activity recording for rapidly screening behavioral correlates of the claustrum in freely behaving mice.","authors":"Jing Qin, Wu-Shuang Huang, Hao-Ran DU, Chun-Qing Zhang, Peng Xie, Han Qin","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.43.81","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.43.81","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The claustrum has been hypothesized to participate in high-order brain functions, but experimental studies to demonstrate these functions are currently lacking. Neural activity recording of the claustrum in freely-behaving animals allows for correlating claustral activities with specific behaviors. However, previously utilized methods for studying the claustrum make it difficult to monitor neural activity patterns of freely-behaving animals in real time. Here we applied fiber photometry to monitor Ca<sup>2+</sup> activity in the claustrum of freely-behaving mice. Using this method, we were able to achieve Ca<sup>2+</sup> activity recording in both anesthetized and freely-behaving mice. We found that the dynamics of Ca<sup>2+</sup> activity depended on anesthesia levels. As compared to the use of genetically encoded Ca<sup>2+</sup> indicators that requires a few weeks of virus-dependent expression, we used a synthetic fluorescent Ca<sup>2+</sup>-sensitive dye, Oregon green 488 BAPTA-1, that allows for rapidly screening neural activity of interest within a few hours that relates to certain behaviors. In this way, we found the correlation between Ca<sup>2+</sup> activity and specific behaviors, such as approaching an object. Our work offers an effective method for recording neural activity in the claustrum and thus for rapidly screening any behavioral relevance of the claustrum in freely-behaving mice.</p>","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39998564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Development of two 410-cancer-gene panel tests for solid tumors and liquid biopsy based on genome data of 5,143 Japanese cancer patients.","authors":"Yuji Shimoda, Takeshi Nagashima, Kenichi Urakami, Fukumi Kamada, Sou Nakatani, Maki Mizuguchi, Masakuni Serizawa, Keiichi Hatakeyama, Keiichi Ohshima, Tohru Mochizuki, Sumiko Ohnami, Shumpei Ohnami, Takeshi Kawakami, Kentaro Yamazaki, Haruyasu Murakami, Hirotsugu Kenmotsu, Akio Shiomi, Yasuto Akiyama, Ken Yamaguchi","doi":"10.2220/biomedres.43.115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.43.115","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is an integral part of precision medicine, and its power for detecting comprehensive genetic alterations may contribute to treatment decisions for patients with advanced, recurrent, or metastatic cancer. An NGS oncology panel developed in the U.S. and Europe, which targets cancer-related genes, has been approved in Japan, and testing is becoming more widespread in clinical oncology practice. However, these panels are based on cancer-related genes selected from cancer databases of Westerners. We aimed to develop an onco-panel for Japanese. We designed two High-tech Omics-based Patient Evaluation (HOPE) onco-panels: HOPE onco-panel Solid for solid tumors and HOPE onco-panel Liquid for liquid biopsy. These were based on genomic information of 5,143 cancer cases in the Japanese Cancer Genome Atlas (JCGA), a database of Japanese cancer cases. Their performance was confirmed using clinical data.</p>","PeriodicalId":9138,"journal":{"name":"Biomedical Research-tokyo","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40429935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}