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Biomedical subjects

Yuzuru Ito

Publications and source records attributed to Yuzuru Ito.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Xapelin and Xmsr are required for cardiovascular development in Xenopus laevis.

The cardiovascular development is the elaborate process, and despite the extensive studies, the mechanisms underlying endothelial, hematopoietic, and cardiac developments, as well as the interrelation between these processes, are not fully understood. In this study, we demonstrated that Xenopus apelin and Xmsr play pivotal roles in cardiovascular development. Apelin is a recently identified ligand for an orphan G-protein-coupled receptor APJ and is involved in fluid homeostasis in mammals. Xenopus preproapelin (Xpreproapelin) was isolated and its mRNA localized to the region around the presumptive blood vessels, which are overlapping or adjacent to those expressing Xmsr, the Xenopus homologue of APJ. Overexpression of Xpreproapelin disorganized the expression of the endothelial precursor cell marker XlFli and the hematopoietic precursor cell marker SCL at the neurula, whereas embryos injected with morpholino antisense oligonucleotides for Xapelin and Xmsr displayed attenuated expression of Tie2, alpha-globin, XPOX2, and cTnI, markers of endothelium, erythrocytes, myeloid cells, and cardiomyocytes, respectively. XlFli morpholino had similar effects to Xapelin and Xmsr morpholinos on cardiac differentiation, suggesting an unexpected potential relationship between the endothelium and cardiac differentiation. Forced expression of constitutive active G alpha i rescued the phenotypes of Xmsr morpholino-injected embryos, indicating that the i/o type of G protein alpha subunit acts downstream of Xmsr.

Animals↗

CyNodal, the Japanese newt nodal-related gene, is expressed in the left side of the lateral plate mesoderm and diencephalon.

The nodal and nodal-related genes play fundamental roles during deuterostome left-right axis formation. Several of these genes show left-sided expression in the lateral plate mesoderm and brain region. We have isolated the nodal-related gene, CyNodal, from Cynops pyrrhogaster. CyNodal mRNA is detected at the marginal zone and left side of several tissues. The left-sideness of CyNodal mRNA expression is highly conserved throughout vertebrate evolution. However, CyNodal mRNA expression shows little variation from the Xenopus nodal-related gene 1, in that CyNodal gene expression in the left lateral plate mesoderm shifts from posterior to anterior at least twice.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Insulin-induced cell cycle progression is impaired in chinese hamster ovary cells overexpressing insulin receptor substrate-3.

To analyze the roles of insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins in insulin-stimulated cell cycle progression, we examined the functions of rat IRS-1 and IRS-3 in Chinese hamster ovary cells overexpressing the human insulin receptor. In this type of cell overexpressing IRS-1 or IRS-3, we showed that: 1) overexpression of IRS-3, but not IRS-1, suppressed the G1/S transition induced by insulin; 2) IRS-3 was more preferentially localized to the nucleus than IRS-1; 3) phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase 3 and MAPK/ERK was unaffected by IRS-3 overexpression, whereas that of protein kinase B was enhanced by either IRS; 4) overexpressed IRS-3 suppressed cyclin D1 expression in response to insulin; 5) among the signaling molecules regulating cyclin D1 expression, activation of the small G protein Ral was unchanged, whereas insulin-induced gene expression of c-myc, a critical component for growth control and cell cycle progression, was suppressed by overexpressed IRS-3; and 6) insulin-induced expression of p21, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, was decreased by overexpressed IRS-3. These findings imply that: 1) IRS-3 may play a unique role in mitogenesis by inhibiting insulin-stimulated cell cycle progression via a decrease in cyclin D1 and p21 expressions as well as suppression of c-myc mRNA induction in a manner independent of the activation of MAPK, protein kinase B, glycogen synthase kinase 3 and Ral; and 2) the interaction of IRS-3 with nuclear proteins may be involved in this process.

Animals↗

Dehydroepiandrosterone decreases elevated hepatic glucose production in C57BL/KsJ-db/db mice.

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is known to improve hyperglycemia in diabetic db/db mice that are obese and insulin resistant. In a previous study, we reported that DHEA suppresses the elevated hepatic gluconeogenic glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) activity and gene expression in C57BL/KsJ-db/db mice. In the present study, we evaluated the total amount of gluconeogenesis using NaH[(14)C]CO(3) and hepatic glucose production using fructose as a substrate in primary cultured hepatocytes. Despite hyperinsulinemia, the glucose production of db/db mice in the total body and hepatocytes was elevated as compared to their heterozygote littermate C57BL/KsJ-db/+m mice. Administration of DHEA significantly decreased the blood glucose level and increased the plasma insulin level in db/db mice. Administration of DHEA decreased the elevated total body and hepatic glucose production in db/db mice. In addition, the glucose production in the primary cultured hepatocytes of db/db mice was decreased significantly by the direct addition of DHEA or DHEA-S to the medium. These results suggest that administration of DHEA suppresses the elevated total body and hepatic glucose production in db/db mice, and this effect on the liver is considered to result from increased plasma insulin and DHEA or DHEA-S itself.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗

Discovery of novel transcription control relationships with gene regulatory networks generated from multiple-disruption full genome expression libraries.

Gene regulatory networks elucidated from strategic, genome-wide experimental data can aid in the discovery of novel gene function information and expression regulation events from observation of transcriptional regulation among genes of known and unknown biological function. To create a reliable and comprehensive data set for the elucidation of transcription regulation networks, we conducted systematic genome-wide disruption expression experiments of yeast on 118 genes with known involvement in transcription regulation. We report several novel regulatory relationships between known transcription factors and other genes with previously unknown biological function discovered with this expression library. Here we report the downstream regulatory subnetworks for UME6 and MET28. The elucidated network topology among these genes demonstrates MET28's role as a nodal point between genes involved in cell division and those involved in DNA repair mechanisms.

Algorithms↗

Protection of insulin receptor substrate-3 from staurosporine-induced apoptosis.

In primary adipocytes, insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 and -3 are expressed in a comparable amount and play distinct roles in insulin signaling. To examine the roles of these IRS in apoptosis inhibition, we evaluated staurosporine-induced apoptosis in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells overexpressing human insulin receptor and IRS-1 or IRS-3. Overexpression of both IRS protected CHO cells from staurosporine-induced apoptosis. Overexpressed IRS-3 as well as IRS-1 enhanced phosphoinositide (PI) 3-kinase activity in response to insulin and increased phosphorylation of protein kinase B (PKB) at S473 and phosphorylation of one of the members of the forkhead transcription factor FKHRL1 on T32 in both insulin-untreated and -treated states. Treatment of these cells with a PI 3-kinase inhibitor LY294002 suppressed apoptosis-inhibitory effects of IRS-1 and IRS-3 as well as the phosphorylation of PKB and FKHRL1. These results indicate that both IRS-1 and IRS-3 take part in apoptosis inhibition through the PI 3-kinase/PKB/forkhead cascade.

Animals↗

[MODY genes].

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Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcriptio↗