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Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), caused by a toxin‐producing Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain, has become a serious threat to shrimp aquaculture. The need to regulate antibiotic use prompted the development of alternative ways to treat infections in aquaculture including the use of chicken egg yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) for passive immunization. This study evaluated the protective effect of IgY against AHPND infection in Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone). IgY was isolated from eggs laid by hens immunized with recombinant PirA‐like (rPirA) and PirB‐like (rPirB) toxins. Whole‐egg powders having IgY specific to rPirA (anti‐PirA‐IgY) and rPirB (anti‐PirB‐IgY) and IgY from non‐immunized hen (control‐IgY) were mixed with basal diets at 20% concentrations and used to prefeed shrimp 3 days before the bacterial challenge test. Survival rates of the challenged shrimp fed the anti‐PirA‐IgY, anti‐PirB‐IgY and control‐IgY diets were 86%, 14% and 0%, respectively. Only the feed containing anti‐PirA‐IgY protected shrimp against AHPND. Increasing the concentration of rPirA antigen to immunize hens and lowering the amount of egg powder in feeds to 10% consistently showed higher survival rates in shrimp fed with anti‐PirA‐IgY (87%) compared with the control (12%). These results confirm that addition of anti‐PirA‐IgY in feeds could be an effective prophylactic method against AHPND infection in shrimp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To compare semen parameters between patients with testicular cancer and other malignancies using various cut‐off values, and to evaluate the correlation between semen parameters and intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively investigated semen parameters before cancer treatment in 117 patients with malignancies who cryopreserved sperm at Hirosaki University Hospital between November 1999 and May 2016. We compared semen parameters between patients with testicular cancer and other malignancies (non‐testicular cancer), seminoma and non‐seminoma, and stage I testicular cancer and stage II/III testicular cancer. The assessment of cut‐off values recommended by the World Health Organization and the total motile sperm count was carried out between the testicular cancer and non‐testicular cancer groups. The intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes in those using preserved sperm were assessed. Results: Of the 111 patients enrolled, 29 (26%) had testicular cancer and 82 (74%) had non‐testicular cancer. Patients with testicular cancer showed significantly lower total sperm concentration than non‐testicular cancer patients. The cut‐off value of total sperm concentration distinguished the patient proportions exceeding the cut‐off between patients with testicular cancer (41%) and non‐testicular cancer (66%). The comparison between patients with seminoma versus non‐seminoma and stage I versus stage II/III testicular cancer presented no significant differences in semen parameters. No correlation between pretreatment semen parameters and intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes was observed. Conclusions: Although testicular cancer patients show lower total sperm concentration, intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes are acceptable. Further studies on the fertility potential of testicular cancer patients are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem To investigate the role of natural cytotoxicity receptor, NKp46 expression in cytokine-producing NK cells. Method of Study CD56+/ NKp46+ NK cells from the peripheral blood and the uterine endometrium were magnetically separated. IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-4, IL-10, and TGF-β1 expressions on NK cells were investigated using multicolor flow cytometry. Results Peripheral blood and uterine endometrial NK cells were grouped into 4 subpopulations based upon the degree of CD56 and NKp46 expressions. NKp46 expression was associated with higher frequency of cytokine-producing NK cells, including CD56dim NK cells. The percentage of TNF-α+ and IL-10+ NK cells per total CD56+/ NKp46+ NK cells in the uterine endometrium showed a significant correlation with those of the peripheral blood in all subpopulations, but that of IFN-γ+, IL-4+, and TGF-β1+ NK cells showed partial correlation. Conclusion Expression of NKp46 is involved in cytokine production of CD56+ NK cells in the peripheral blood and the uterine endometrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: OHK cells, a human lymphoma cell line, are known to produce large amounts of hyaluronan. We investigated the effect of 4-methylumbelliferone, an inhibitor of hyaluronan synthesis, on the activity of matrix metalloproteinases in OHK cells. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 was detected on gelatin zymography as the main metalloproteinase excreted into the medium of cultured OHK cells, and 4-methylumbelliferone added to the medium decreased the activity of the enzyme in a dose-dependent manner. Addition of Streptomyces hyaluronidase to the medium during cultivation did not decrease the enzyme activity. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction revealed that 4-methylumbelliferone markedly decreased the level of mRNA for matrix metalloproteinase-9 in cultured OHK cells. A similar decrease of the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-9 by 4-methylumbelliferone was also observed in cultured human breast and colon carcinoma cells. These results suggest that 4-methylumbelliferone suppresses the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in cultured cancer cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The superoxide-generating NADPH oxidase, dormant in resting phagocytes, is activated during phagocytosis following assembly of the membrane-integrated protein cytochrome b558 and cytosolic factors. Among the latter are the three proteins containing Src homology 3 (SH3) domains, p67phox, p47phox and p40 phox. While the first two factors are indispensable for the activity, p40 phox is tightly associated with p67phox in resting cells and is suggested to have some modulatory role. Here we describe a systematic analysis of the interaction between p40 phox and p67phox using the yeast two-hybrid system and in vitro binding assays with recombinant proteins. Both methods unequivocally showed that the minimum requirements for stable interaction are the C-terminal region of p40 phox and the region between the two SH3 domains of p67phox. This interaction is maintained even in the presence of anionic amphiphiles used for the activation of the NADPH oxidase, raising a possibility that it mediates constitutive association of the two factors in both resting and activated cells. The C-terminal region of p40 phox responsible for the interaction contains a characteristic stretch of amino acids designated as the PC motif, that also exists in other signal-transducing proteins from yeast to human. Intensive site-directed mutagenesis to the motif in p40 phox revealed that it plays a critical role in the binding to p67 phox. Thus the PC motif appears to represent a novel module for protein-protein interaction used in a variety of signaling pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]