Hydroxylation of menthols and cineoles withm-chloroperbenzoic acid

Summary Reaction of menthols and cineoles withm-chloroperbenzoic acid afforded tertiary, secondary, and primary alcohols, some of which were natural products having potent plant growth regulatory activity or were mammlianm metabolies.We thank Nippon Terpene Co. Ltd for their generous gift of the compounds used in this work and Drs M. Kido and Y. Fukuyama, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, for measurement of high resolution mass spectra. The present work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.     

Spatio-temporal images of growth-factor-induced activation of Ras and Rap1.

G proteins of the Ras family function as molecular switches in many signalling cascades; however, little is known about where they become activated in living cells. Here we use FRET (fluorescent resonance energy transfer)-based sensors to report on the spatio-temporal images of growth-factor-induced activation of Ras and Rap1. Epidermal growth factor activated Ras at the peripheral plasma membrane and Rap1 at the intracellular perinuclear region of COS-1 cells. In PC12 cells, nerve growth factor-induced activation of Ras was initiated at the plasma membrane and transmitted to the whole cell body. After three hours, high Ras activity was observed at the extending neurites. By using the FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching) technique, we found that Ras at the neurites turned over rapidly; therefore, the sustained Ras activity at neurites was due to high GTP/GDP exchange rate and/or low GTPase activity, but not to the retention of the active Ras. These observations may resolve long-standing questions as to how Ras and Rap1 induce different cellular responses and how the signals for differentiation and survival are distinguished by neuronal cells.     

高层建筑悬挂式电缆桥架模拟地震振动台试验

电缆桥架是高层建筑中的一类典型的非结构构件。为研究其抗震性能,采用足尺模型进行了2组模拟地震振动台试验。第1组试验针对配置了3种不同类型抗震支架的电缆桥架;第2组试验针对一个带有水平弯通与竖向弯通的L形立体电缆桥架。输入了多组地震动,对悬挂在钢结构平台上的电缆桥架进行了试验,分析了电缆桥架的损伤与破坏情况、动力特性、位移反应和加速度反应。试验结果表明,悬挂式电缆桥架的地震损伤主要集中在电缆托盘主次梁连接节点上,该节点失效导致次梁掉落。安装不同类型抗震支架的电缆桥架位移响应和损伤情况差异较为明显,而加速度响应差异较小。拉杆式抗震支架的抗震性能优于型钢式抗震支架,抗震强化式支架的抗震性能最强。相比于直线段桥架,弯通段桥架的地震损伤较小。增加抗震支架横向刚度和提高抗震支架附近桥架主次梁节点的强度有助于改善桥架的抗震性能。     

Alymphoplasia is caused by a point mutation in the mouse gene encoding Nf-kappa b-inducing kinase.

The alymphoplasia (aly) mutation of mouse is autosomal recessive and characterized by the systemic absence of lymph nodes (LN) and Peyer's patches (PP) and disorganized splenic and thymic structures with immunodeficiency. Although recent reports have shown that the interaction between lymphotoxin (LT) and the LT beta-receptor (Ltbeta r, encoded by Ltbr) provides a critical signal for LN genesis in mice, the aly locus on chromosome 11 is distinct from those for LT and its receptor. We found that the aly allele carries a point mutation causing an amino acid substitution in the carboxy-terminal interaction domain of Nf-kappa b-inducing kinase (Nik, encoded by the gene Nik). Transgenic complementation with wild-type Nik restored the normal structures of LN, PP, spleen and thymus, and the normal immune response in aly/aly mice. In addition, the aly mutation in a kinase domain-truncated Nik abolished its dominant-negative effect on Nf-kappa b activation induced by an excess of Ltbeta r. Our observations agree with previous reports that Ltbeta r-deficient mice showed defects in LN genesis and that Nik is a common mediator of Nf-kappa b activation by the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) receptor family. Nik is able to interact with members of the TRAF family (Traf1, 2, 3, 5 and 6), suggesting it acts downstream of TRAF-associating receptor signalling pathways, including Tnfr, Cd40, Cd30 and Ltbeta r. The phenotypes of aly/aly mice are more severe than those of Ltbr-/- mice, however, indicating involvement of Nik in signal transduction mediated by other receptors.     

Asymmetric Synthesis Using Enzymes in Supercritical CO2

Great efforts have been extended to catalysis in supercritical CO2（scCO2） since the early 1990＇s due to the environmental friendliness, high diffusivity, high solubilizing power, easiness of the product separation, etc.. A combined process of scCO2 and enzymatic catalyst system would be a promising synthetic tool to produce optically active compounds because the enzyme has advantages of being natural and having high enantioselectivity in nature. Here we report asymmetric synthesis using lipase and alcohol dehydrogenase in scCO2.     

Clonal nature of mast-cell clusters formed in W/Wv mice after bone marrow transplantation.

We have recently found that the number of mast cells in the skin of adult W/Wv mice is less than 1% of that observed in congeneic +/+ mice, and that no mast cells are detected in other tissues of W/Wv mice. After the transplantation of bone marrow cells from congeneic +/+ mice, the number of mast cells in the skin, stomach, caecum and mesentery of the W/Wv mice increased to levels similar to those of the +/+ mice. Study of the mast-cell number in the W/Wv mice at various times after transplantation suggested to use that mast cells might develop in groups, particularly in the skin and mesentery. In this report, we have attempted to elucidate the possible clonal origin of such mast-cell clusters from a single precursor cell, using giant granules of beige (C57BL/6-bgJ/bgJ, Chediak-Higashi syndrome) mice as a marker to identify the origin of the mast cells (Fig. 1). We found that when WB-W/+xC57BL/6-Wv (WBB6F1)-W/Wv mice were injected with a mixture of bone marrow cells from beige C57BL/6 mice and normal C57BL/6 mice, more than 95% of mast-cell clusters consisted of either beige-type cells alone or normal-type cells alone. We conclude, therefore, that the cluster of mast cells originated from a single precursor cell.     

Possible regulation of membrane-associated cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase in rat cerebral cortex by lipids

Summary Cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) in membrane fraction from rat cerebral cortex was activated by Triton X-100, and treatment at alkaline pH and with phospholipase C. These results suggest that membrane PDE exists in a latent form and is influenced by microenvironmental changes within the membrane. Furthermore, the PDE, unlike soluble enzyme, is not influenced by a protein activator and Ca⁺⁺.     

Spleen colony-forming cell as common precursor for tissue mast cells and granulocytes

The haematopoietic stem cells which produce colonies in the spleen of irradiated mice (CFU-S) can differentiate into erythrocytes, granulocytes, megakaryocytes and B lymphocytes. Although mast cell precursors are known to be present in the bone marrow, spleen, fetal liver and peripheral blood of mice, the relationship between the mast cell precursor and CFU-S has remained unclear. We have now made use of mice of two mutant genotypes to determine whether or not the tissue mast cell is a progeny of CFU-S. Giant granules of beige (C57BL/6-bg/bg, Chediak-Higashi syndrome) mice can be used for identification of the origin of both tissue mast cells and granulocytes, and WBB6F1-W/Wv mice are useful recipients because they lack tissue mast cells owing to a defect in mast cell precursors. We injected the cells from a single spleen colony into each WBB6F1-W/Wv mouse and demonstrated directly that the tissue mast cell is a progeny of CFU-S.     

DMY is a Y-specific DM-domain gene required for male development in the medaka fish

Although the sex-determining gene Sry has been identified in mammals, no comparable genes have been found in non-mammalian vertebrates. Here, we used recombinant breakpoint analysis to restrict the sex-determining region in medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) to a 530-kilobase (kb) stretch of the Y chromosome. Deletion analysis of the Y chromosome of a congenic XY female further shortened the region to 250 kb. Shotgun sequencing of this region predicted 27 genes. Three of these genes were expressed during sexual differentiation. However, only the DM-related PG17 was Y specific; we thus named it DMY. Two naturally occurring mutations establish DMY's critical role in male development. The first heritable mutant--a single insertion in exon 3 and the subsequent truncation of DMY--resulted in all XY female offspring. Similarly, the second XY mutant female showed reduced DMY expression with a high proportion of XY female offspring. During normal development, DMY is expressed only in somatic cells of XY gonads. These findings strongly suggest that the sex-specific DMY is required for testicular development and is a prime candidate for the medaka sex-determining gene.     

A meta-analysis of responses of wheat yield formation to elevated ozone concentration

The meta-analysis method was applied to quantitatively investigate effects of the elevated ozone concentration ([O₃]) on chlorophyll concentration, gas exchange and yield components of wheat. There were 39 effective references through Web of Science (ISI, USA) and Chinese journal full-text database (CNKI, China). The results of meta-analysis indicated that elevated [O₃] decreased grain yield, grain weight, grain number per ear, ear number per plant and harvest index by 26%, 18%, 11%, 5% and 11%, respectively, relative to ambient air. The decrease in leaf physiological characters was much greater than that in yield when wheat was expose to elevated [O₃], while light-saturated photosynthetic rate (Asat), stomatal conductance (Gs) and chlorophyll content (Chl) decreased by 40%, 31%, and 46%, respectively. The responses to elevated [O₃] between spring wheat and winter wheat were similar. Most of the variables showed a linear decrease trend with an increase of [O₃]. The most significant decrease for Asat, Gs and Chl was found in grain filling stage. Elevated [CO₂] could significantly ameliorated or offset the detrimental effects caused by elevated [O₃]. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30670387), Eco-Frontier Fellowship of the Ministry of Environment, Japan (Grant No. 07-C062-03) and Ministry of Science and Technology of People’s Republic China with 973 Project (Grant No. 2002CB410803)