Yoshinao Katsumata

Effects of peripheral cannabinoid receptor ligands on motility and polarization in neutrophil-like HL60 cells and human neutrophils

The possible role of the peripheral cannabinoid receptor (CB2) in neutrophil migration was investigated by using human promyelocytic HL60 cells differentiated into neutrophil-like cells and human neutrophils isolated from whole blood. Cell surface expression of CB2 on HL60 cells, on neutrophil-like HL60 cells, and on human neutrophils was confirmed by flow cytometry. Upon stimulation with either of the CB2 ligands JWH015 and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), neutrophil-like HL60 cells rapidly extended and retracted one or more pseudopods containing F-actin in different directions instead of developing front/rear polarity typically exhibited by migrating leukocytes. Activity of the Rho-GTPase RhoA decreased in response to CB2 stimulation, whereas Rac1, Rac2, and Cdc42 activity increased. Moreover, treatment of cells with RhoA-dependent protein kinase (p160-ROCK) inhibitor Y27632 yielded cytoskeletal organization similar to that of CB2-stimulated cells. In human neutrophils, neither JWH015 nor 2-AG induced motility or morphologic alterations. However, pretreatment of neutrophils with these ligands disrupted N-formyl-l-methionyl-l-leucyl-l-phenylalanine (fMLP)-induced front/rear polarization and migration and also substantially suppressed fMLP-induced RhoA activity. These results suggest that CB2 might play a role in regulating excessive inflammatory response by controlling RhoA activation, thereby suppressing neutrophil migration.

High incidence of sleep apnea syndrome in a male diabetic population

In order to study the possible relationship between sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) and diabetes mellitus, we first examined the prevalence of SAS among 12,787 general patients (6554 males and 6233 females) who visited Katsumata Hospital at Nagoya, Japan. Among them, thirty-five males and five females were diagnosed as having SAS. The male patients were statistically analysed by the corrected Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test taking the body type into account, and it was found that the prevalence of SAS was significantly high both in a diabetic population and in a hypertensive one. Among 40 SAS patients of both sexes, 34 were given a glucose tolerance test (GTT) with oral administration of 75 g glucose. Thirteen showed a diabetic pattern, 12 a borderline pattern and only 9 had a normal pattern. All 13 diabetic patients had non-insulin-dependent type diabetes (NIDDM). The present results showed that SAS has a close relationship not only to hypertension but also to NIDDM.

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of cephalosporin antibiotics using 0.3 mm I.D. columns

Four cephalosporins, cefazolin, ceftizoxime, cefaloridine and cefaclor, were determined using a novel microbore high-performance liquid chromatographic system designed to be entirely compatible with direct liquid interfacing (DLI) for mass spectrometric analysis. The chromatographic support was a 5-micron C18 column of 0.3 mm I.D., compared with the usual microbore column diameters of 1-2 mm. The mobile phase contained no buffers or salts which may have caused column blocking or mobile phase crystallization, and the use of a concentration column allowed the injection of large volumes of analyte (up to 500 microliters). The assay was reproducible, the relative standard deviations being less than 20% within-day and between-day for all the drugs. The detection limit for cefaloridine and cefazolin was 1 ng and for cefaclor and ceftizoxime 5 ng.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) typing of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQA1 from single hairs in Japanese

The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) typing of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQA1 from single hairs is described. HLA-DQA1 genotypes could be determined from single plucked hair roots. However, it was not easy to type HLA-DQA1 with hair shaft portions. Increase in the specimens of hair shaft portions (over 10 cm in length) to get sufficient DNA caused inhibition of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Synthetic melanin as well as the one extracted from hairs inhibited the PCR of the genomic DNA template when added to the PCR reaction at the concentrations over than 15 ng/100 microL. Therefore, typability of hair shaft portions seems to depend on the delicate balance of the concentrations of DNA and the contaminated melanin in the final DNA extracts.

Mutations in 14 Y-STR loci among Japanese father-son haplotypes.

In the present study 161 Japanese father/son haplotype transfers in 147 pedigrees were analyzed at 14 Y-STRs with two multiplex PCR-based typing systems. Five isolated single repeat mutations were identified at the DYS389I, DYS439, Y-GATA-H4, DYS389II and DYS391 loci, and a pedigree showing triple alleles at the DYS385 locus (a duplicate locus) without allelic discrepancy between the father and son was also observed. The overall mutation rate estimated across the 14 Y-STRs in the Japanese population was 0.22%/locus/meiosis (95% C.I. 0.09–0.51%). This rate was not significantly different (p>0.05) from those of autosomal STRs and Y-STRs in other populations, including German, Austrian, Polish and Norwegian populations. Furthermore, 138 haplotypes were identified in 147 pedigrees with a haplotype diversity value of 0.9983. Therefore, a combination of the two systems should permit effective analysis with sufficient discriminatory power.

Characterization of eight biogenic indoleamines as substrates for type A and type B monoamine oxidase.

Tryptamine, N-methyltryptamine, N,N-dimethyltryptamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), 5-hydroxy-N-methyltryptamine, bufotenine, 5-methoxytryptamine, and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine were characterized as substrates for type A and type B monoamine oxidase (MAO) in rat liver mitochondria. Experiments on sensitivity to clorgyline and to deprenyl, using two substrate concentrations, showed that tryptamine and its N-methylated and N,N-dimethylated derivatives were common substrates for both types of MAO at a substrate concentration of 20.0 μM; at 1000 μM, tryptamine and N-methyltryptamine were common, but N,N-dimethyltryptamine became specific for type B MAO. All the 5-hydroxy- or 5-methoxy-indole derivatives were almost completely specific for type A MAO at a substrate concentration of 20.0 μM; when the concentration was 1000 μM, some of the MAO activity was due to type B MAO for 5-HT, bufotenine and 5-methoxytryptamine. The rat liver mitochondrial enzyme was pretreated with 10−7M clorgyline and 10−7M deprenyl to obtain, respectively, the type B-rich and the type A-rich enzyme. These enzyme preparations were subjected to kinetic analyses for the eight amines. From the kinetic analyses, together with data on inhibitor sensitivity, the following phenomena can be described. N-Methylation of tryptamine or of 5-HT did not cause appreciable changes in the specificity of the substrates toward each type of MAO, but it elevated the Kmvalue of type B MAO when the values for tryptamine and N-methyltryptamine were compared. N,N-Dimethylation of tryptamine and 5-HT tended to increase the specificity for type B MAO. All the dimethylated compounds had very low activities with either type A or type B MAO. Either the 5-hydroxy- or the 5-methoxy-group contributed to the specificity of the substrates for type A MAO.

Frequency of HLA-DQA1 alleles in the Japanese population

One of the HLA class II genes, HLA-DQA1, was typed from 290 unrelated healthy Japanese using the oligonucleotide typing method. The HLA-DQA1 gene was enzymatically amplified and typed by dot-blot hybridizations with 10 sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes labeled nonradioactively. Using this method, the HLA-DQA1 genotype was theoretically classified into 36 genotypes: 8 homozygous and 28 heterozygous ones. Actually, 26 genotypes were observed in the present study, and the gene frequency of each allele was calculated. The observed numbers were in accordance with the numbers expected under the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The HLA-DQA1 genotype was also determined in aged bloodstains. Since the genotype is polymorphic in the Japanese population and a very small amount of blood is required for determination, this typing is particularly useful for forensic analysis.

ALLELE DISTRIBUTION AT NINE STR LOCI-D3S1358, VWA, FGA, TH01, TPOX, CSF1PO, D5S818, D13S317 AND D7S820-IN THE JAPANESE POPULATION BY MULTIPLEX PCR AND CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS

Nine tetranucleotide short tandem repeat (STR) loci, D3S1358, vWA, FGA TH01, TPOX, CSF1PO, D5S818, D13S317 and D7S820, were analyzed in the Japanese population with a newly released kit for personal identification using multiplex PCR with fluorescent-labeled primers following capillary electrophoresis. The observed heterozygosities were 0.67, 0.77, 0.82, 0.61, 0.62, 0.73, 0.78, 0.81 and 0.74, respectively, and the combined discrimination power of the nineplex was 0.9999999991. None of the nine loci deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium expectations using the chi-square test, homozygosity test, likelihood ratio test and exact test after the grouping of the alleles. The nine STR loci allele frequencies were significantly different from those of other ethnic populations.

Oxidation of phenylethanolamine and octopamine by type A and type B monoamine oxidase effect of substrate concentration

Abstract Phenylethanolamine (PEOA) and octopamine (OA) were characterized as substrates for type A and type B monoamine oxidase (MAO) at various substrate concentrations, using rat brain mitochondria. The experiments on sensitivity to clorgyline and deprenyl showed that the inhibition patterns with PEOA as substrate differed markedly at different substrate concentrations: at 12.5 μM, PEOA acted as a specific substrate for type B MAO, but at 125 and 1250 μM it became a common substrate for both types of MAO. However, when OA was used as substrate, there were only slight or no differences in the inhibition patterns among the various concentrations tested; OA was found to be a common substrate for both types of MAO. Benzylamine was also examined for comparison and confirmed to be highly specific for type B MAO over a wide concentration range of the substrate. Kinetic analyses were carried out for PEOA and OA. High and low affinities for MAO were identified for PEOA: K m values were 22.7 and 465 μM, and V max values were 6.90 and 19.2 nmoles/mg of protein/30 min respectively. Pretreatment of the enzyme with 10 −6 M clorgyline resulted in the disappearance of the low affinity component, and pretreatment with 10 −6 M deprenyl resulted in the disappearance of the high affinity component. Therefore, the high affinity corresponded to that for type B MAO and the low one to that for type A MAO. For OA, however, the double reciprocal plots were linear with a single affinity component showing K m and V max values of 455 μM and 90.9 nmoles/mg of protein/ 30 min respectively. From the present study, it can be concluded that, when sensitivity of MAO to clorgyline or deprenyl is studied, it is necessary to check the effect of substrate concentration for each substrate and enzyme preparation, suspecting the different affinities of the substrate for type A and type B MAO.

Role of electric surface charge of cell membrane in phagocytosis

An attempt to clarify the role of surface charge on cell membrane was performed on two cell types, phagocytic (rat peritoneal macrophage) and non‐phagocytic cells (Ehrlich ascites tumor cell). The electrophore‐tic mobility of both cells was remarkably reduced by the treatment with protamine sulfate, and diminished considerably by the increase of ionic strength in electrophoretic medium. Both cells were aggregated into small clumps in varying size by the treatment with protamine sulfate. Such a decrease of negative electric charge density on the cell surface resulted in active phagocytosis. Even in non‐phagocytic cells phagocytosis occurred after the treatment with protamine sulfate. In contrast, no significant difference in phagocytic activity was observed between chondroitin sulfate‐treated and untreated cells. Under the electron microscope the cells of both types incubated in the medium with the addition of protamine sulfate showed numerous bizarre and irregular cytoplasmic projections, while no particular feature was observed after treatment with chondroitin sulfate. In protamine sulfate‐treated cells, many particulate substances were usually found attaching to the cell membrane. In the medium without ionic substance, particle attachment on the cell surface was hardly observed in the cells of both types. Therefore it was strongly suggested that the electric charge density on the cell surface was at least one of the factors responsible for the attachment of the particle to the cell.