7341 research outputs found
Sort by
Degradative Effect of Nattokinase on Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2
Get PDFThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged as a pandemic and has inflicted enormous damage on the lives of the people and economy of many countries worldwide. However, therapeutic agents against SARS-CoV-2 remain unclear. SARS-CoV-2 has a spike protein (S protein), and cleavage of the S protein is essential for viral entry. Nattokinase is produced by Bacillus subtilis var. natto and is beneficial to human health. In this study, we examined the effect of nattokinase on the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. When cell lysates transfected with S protein were incubated with nattokinase, the S protein was degraded in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that S protein on the cell surface was degraded when nattokinase was added to the culture medium. Thus, our findings suggest that nattokinase exhibits potential for the inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 infection via S protein degradation.p.7 Article Number: 5405 Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
COVID-19 pandemic vaccination strategies of early 2021 based on behavioral differences between residents of Tokyo and Osaka, Japan
Get PDFBackground: During the fourth COVID-19 wave in Japan, marked differences became apparent in the scale of the epidemic between metropolitan Tokyo in eastern Japan and Osaka prefecture in western Japan. Methods: Public epidemic data were analyzed, with performance of mathematical simulations using simplified SEIR models. Results: The increase in the number of infected persons per 100,000 population during the fourth wave of expansion was greater in Osaka than in Tokyo. The basic reproduction number in Osaka was greater than in Tokyo. Particularly, the number of infected people in their 20 s increased during the fourth wave: The generation-specific reproduction number for people in their 20 s was higher than for people of other generations. Both Tokyo and Osaka were found to have strong correlation between the increase in the number of infected people and the average number of people using the main downtown stations at night. Simulations showed vaccination of people in their 60 s and older reduced the number of infected people among the high-risk elderly population in the fourth wave. However, agespecific vaccination of people in their 20 s reduced the number of infected people more than vaccination of people in their 60 s and older. Conclusions: Differences in the epidemic between Tokyo and Osaka are explainable by different behaviors of the most socially active generation. When vaccine supplies are adequate, priority should be assigned to high-risk older adults, but if vaccine supplies are scarce, simulation results suggest consideration of vaccinating specific groups among whom the epidemic is spreading rapidly.06 September 2022 A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-022-00961-9
p.12 Article number: 180 (2022) Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ licen ses/ by/4. 0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ publi cdoma in/ zero/1. 0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data
Report on the results of the teacher questionnaire for online classes– Survey at the end of the 2020 academic year –
Get PDF2020 年度は新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大に伴い，前期授業は5 月11 日まで開始が延期され，最終的にはオンライン授業として実施された。前期の授業がほぼ終了した時点で，オンライン授業に対する各科目での取り組みや今後の課題等を把握するために教員を対象にアンケートを実施した。今後のための記録を兼ねて，アンケート集計結果の概要を報告する。報告 / Report
Effects of Dietary Palmitoleic Acid on Vascular Function in Aorta of Diabetic Mice
Get PDFBackground: Chronic hyperglycemia in diabetes causes atherosclerosis and progresses to diabetic macroangiopathy, and can lead to coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular disease. Palmitoleic acid (POA) is a product of endogenous lipogenesis and is present in fish and vegetable oil. In human and animal studies, POA is reported as a beneficial fatty acid related to insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. However, few studies have reported its effects on aortic function in diabetes. Here, we investigated the effects of POA administration on vascular function in KKAy mice, a model of type 2 diabetes.Methods: Male C57BL/6 J (control) and KKAy (experimental) mice at the age of 14 weeks were used in the present study. For each mouse strain, one group was fed with reference diet and a second group was fed POA-containing diet for 2 weeks. The vascular reactivities of prepared aortic rings were then measured in an organ bath to determine if POA administration changed vascular function in these mice.Results: KKAy mice treated with POA exhibited decreased plasma glucose levels compared with mice treated with reference diet. However, endothelium-dependent vasorelaxant responses to acetylcholine and protease-activated receptor 2 activating protein, which are attenuated in the aorta of KKAy mice compared to C57BL/6 J mice under a reference diet, were not affected by a 2-week POA treatment. In addition, assessment of vasoconstriction revealed that the phenylephrine-induced vasoconstrictive response was enhanced in KKAy mice compared to C57BL/6 J mice under a reference diet, but no effect was observed in KKAy mice fed a POA-containing diet. In contrast, there was an increase in vasoconstriction in C57BL/6 J mice fed the POA-containing diet compared to mice fed a reference diet. Furthermore, the vasoconstriction in aorta in both C57BL/6 J and KKAy mice fed a POA-containing diet were further enhanced under hyperglycemic conditions compared to normal glucose conditions in vitro. In the hyperinsulinemic, and hyperinsulinemic combined with hyperglycemic conditions, vasoconstriction was increased in KKAy mice fed with POA.Conclusion: These results suggest that POA intake enhances vasoconstriction under hyperglycemic and hyperinsulinemic conditions, which are characteristics of type 2 diabetes, and may contribute to increased vascular complications in diabetes.Article number: 103 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made
Challenges Facing Kyoto City From International Tourism and COVID-19 : A Case Study
Get PDF本研究は外国人旅行者と新型コロナウィルスによる京都市への影響と今後の観光の在り方について考察する。歴史的に日本は外国人旅行者にとっては然程人気のある観光地ではなく、本格的に外国人へ向けて大々的に宣伝をし始めたのはバブル経済が崩壊した1990 年代初頭の頃であった。その効果で2012 年から2019 年に渡って外国人旅行者数が年々指数関数的に増加し、2019 年に全国3,000 万人（京都は500 万人）を超えた。ホスピタリティ業界、また外国人専用ツアーガイドとして働いたカナダ出身コッチ・グレッグ氏とのインタビューを通じて、外国人旅行者数の急増後、京都市、また市民への影響、そして新型コロナウィルスによる影響を解説する。市民、企業、自治体を含む全ての利害関係者が協力してコロナ後、観光業の将来の方向性と在り方を定量化し、より持続可能な長期的解決策を図る必要性について考察すべきであると提案する。論文 / Article
ジョウサイ ダイガク ケイエイ キヨウ ダイ18ゴウ ヒョウシ モクジ ヒョウダイシ 2021 ネン ケイエイガクブ キョウイン ギョウセキ リスト トウコウキテイ シッピツシャ ショウカイ ヘンシュウ コウキ ヘンシュウ イイン オクヅケ Contents
Get PDF
Protective effects of supplemental oral glutathione on the progress and recovery process of disuse muscle atrophy
Get PDF組織中のグルタチオン(GSH)の欠乏は、酸化ストレスの増加と加齢に関係している。GSHの補給は、健康の維持と加齢関連疾患に必要とされる。廃用性筋萎縮は、活性酸素(ROS)介在酸化ストレス経路が主要な原因である。そこで、後肢固定ラットを使用して、GSHの経口投与および／またはリハビリテーション治療による廃用性筋萎縮の予防をROS産生の抑制の観点より検討した。特に、廃用性筋萎縮時に、リハビリテーション治療に加えてGSHを経口投与すると、筋中のROSを減弱し、筋組織の回復の可能性が示唆された。Glutathione (GSH) deficiency in tissues is associated with increased oxidative stress and aging. The supplementation of GSH is required maintaining health and age-related biological insults. The disuse muscle atrophy is due in large part to Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)-mediated oxidative stress pathway. Therefore, I demonstrated protection against disuse muscle atrophy by minimizing ROS induction in the muscle through supplemental oral administration of GSH and/or rehabilitation therapy in lower limb restriction rat. In particular, oral GSH administration in addition to the rehabilitation therapy during the disuse muscle atrophy suggested muscular tissue recovery potential by diminishing ROS.科学研究費助成事業研究成果報告書 研究種目：基盤研究(C)（一般）, 研究期間：2019～2021, 課題番号：19K09560 研究分野：予防医学, 研究者番号：20245195. 5p
Elucidating of the effect of mitochondrial respiratory supercomplex-regulated metabolism and reactive oxygen species on disease/lifespan.
Get PDFミトコンドリア呼吸鎖超複合体形成促進因子COX7RPの遺伝子改変マウスにおいて、一部の炎症関連マーカーの変動が認められた。また、生活習慣病と関連の深く、ミトコンドリアの形態や機能異常が認められる非アルコール性脂肪肝炎(NASH)のラットモデルにおいて、食餌性亜硝酸塩は活性酸素種(ROS)産生シグナルを抑制し、病態を改善した。さらに、食餌に由来するエイコサペンタエン酸(EPA)は、ROS産生を亢進させ、前立腺がん細胞の生存率を低下させることを示した。以上より、生活習慣病、老化などにおけるミトコンドリア代謝、ROS制御と食餌性因子の密接な関連が示され、新しい予防法・治療法への応用が期待された。In the genetically modified mice with alteration of mitochondrial respiratory supercomplex-promoting factor, COX7RP, several inflammation-related markers were affected. In a rat model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) which is closely related to lifestyle-related diseases and exhibits morphological and functional alteration of mitochondria, nitrite administration improved the pathological phenotypes through suppression of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generating signals. In addition, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) enhanced ROS production and reduced the viability in prostate cancer cells. These results implicate a close relationship between mitochondrial metabolism, ROS generation, and dietary factors in lifestyle-related diseases and aging, which may be useful for new preventive and therapeutic medicine.科学研究費助成事業研究成果報告書 研究種目：基盤研究(C)（一般）, 研究期間：2019～2021, 課題番号：19K07404 研究分野：分子生物学, 研究者番号：70633824. 7p