Project description:Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita Thumb.) is a highly nutritional perennial herbaceous rhizome. N-glycoforms from Chinese yam glycoprotein were analyzed, and the major glycoprotein in yam be identificated.
Project description:The 987 probes (Japanese flounder conserved miRNAs and candidates, fish conserved miRNAs, and contro) were hybridized with two stages during Japanese flounder metamorphosis by miRNA microarray. We validated 92 miRNAs using miRNA microarray in the 17 dph and 29 dph of Japanese flounder development, and obtained 66 differertially expressed miRNAs by comparison miRNA expression patterns of the two stages. These results indicate that miRNAs might play key roles in regulating gene expression during Japanese flounder metamorphosis.
Project description:Background Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) has greatly improved the prognosis of advanced melanoma. Whereas the efficacy in Japanese patients has been found to be lower than Caucasian, the genomic and transcriptomic features associated with response to ICI of Japanese melanomas remain to be elucidated. Patients and methods Total 129 tumour samples from 78 melanoma patients, who received therapeutic regimens with or without ICI treatment, were collected at 13 institutions in Japan. We performed exome and RNA sequencing and investigated the association of genomic and transcriptomic factors with clinical efficacy of ICI therapy. Time-course data were also analysed. This is the first and largest genomic cohort study for Japanese melanoma, in which tumour samples were prospectively analysed. Results Number of somatic SNVs of Japanese melanomas is lower than that of TCGA Caucasian data due to the biased distribution of WHO subtypes. Driver subtypes of BRAF, NRAS and NF1 was less prevalent but Triple Wildtype predominantly existed in the Japanese cohort. Whereas exome-wide survey revealed no significant association of mutated genes with ICI response, by transcriptomic analysis we identified inflammation-associated genes including several chemokines and cytokines were highly expressed in responders. Follicular helper T cells estimated by immune-cell composition analysis were found significantly enriched in responders (p = 0.0422). Through time-course transcriptome analysis, in addition to several cytotoxic T-cell genes as previously reported, MARCO on tumour-associated macrophages was found induced by ICI treatment in responders (p = 0.0040). The protein expression of these genes was confirmed by immunohistochemical and multiplex immunofluorescent analyses. Some of these genes can be useful biomarkers for prediction of ICI response in the treatment of Japanese melanoma. Conclusions Through prospective genomic and transcriptomic analyses of Japanese melanoma samples, candidate biomarkers for ICI treatment were identified.
Project description:Yamoa™ is marketed and sold as a dietary supplement with anecdotal positive effects in asthma and hay fever. We determined that Yamoa™ (ground bark of Funtumia elastica tree) stimulated innate immunity in part by affecting gamma delta T cells. Yamoa™ had distinct priming effects, very similar to, but more robust than, that of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), on bovine, mouse and human gamma delta T cells. However, the optimal effect was dependent on the presence of accessory cells. Gene expression patterns in bovine gamma delta T cells and monocytes induced by Yamoa™ were very similar to those induced by ultrapure LPS, but the agonists in Yamoa™ did not signal entirely through TLR4. Yamoa™ stimulated human cells to produce cytokines involved innate protection. The bioactive component of Yamoa™ was delineated to a complex polysaccharide fraction (Yam-I). Intraperitoneal injection of Yamoa™ and very low doses of Yam-I in mice induced rapid increases peritoneal neutrophils directed by changes chemokine expression. Yamoa™ and Yam-I were effective as therapeutic treatments in mice with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium (ST) induced enterocolitis that resulted in decreased bacterial counts in feces. This initial characterization of the immune stimulatory properties of polysaccharides derived from Yamoa™ suggests potential mechanisms for positive effects in asthma and that they have potential for application in infectious disease settings. . Keywords: comparison of 3 treatment types, LPS, Yamoa, innate, adjuvant
Project description:Newcastle disease (ND) affects a few hundred avian species including chicken, and the clinical outcome of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection ranges from mild to severe fatal disease depending on the NDV pathotype and the host species involved. Japanese quails serve as natural reservoirs of NDV and play important role in NDV epidemiology. While infection of chicken with velogenic NDV results in severe often fatal illness, the same infection in Japanese quails is results in in apparent infection. The molecular basis of this contrasting clinical outcomes of NDV infection is not yet known. We compared global gene expression in spleens of chicken and Japanese quails infected with a lentogenic or velogenic NDVs. We found contrasting regulation of key genes associated with NF-κB pathway and T-cell activation between chicken and Japanese quails. Our data suggests association of NDV resistance in Japanese quails to activation of NF-κB pathway and T cell proliferation.