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The rare decay K_{L}→π^{0}νν[over ¯] was studied with the dataset taken at the J-PARC KOTO experiment in 2016, 2017, and 2018. With a single event sensitivity of (7.20±0.05_{stat}±0.66_{syst})×10^{-10}, three candidate events were observed in the signal region. After unveiling them, contaminations from K^{±} and scattered K_{L} decays were studied, and the total number of background events was estimated to be 1.22±0.26. We conclude that the number of observed events is statistically consistent with the background expectation. For this dataset, we set an upper limit of 4.9×10^{-9} on the branching fraction of K_{L}→π^{0}νν[over ¯] at the 90% confidence level.

For in vivo two-photon fluorescence microscopy (2PM) imaging, the development of techniques that can improve the observable depth and temporal resolution is an important challenge to address biological and biomedical concerns such as vascular dynamics in the deep brain (typically the hippocampal region) of living animals. Improvements have been achieved through two approaches: an optical approach using a highly tissue-penetrating excitation laser oscillating in the second near-infrared wavelength region (NIR-II, 1100-1350 nm) and a chemical approach employing fluorescent probes with high two-photon brightness (characterized by the product of the two-photon absorption cross section, σ 2 , and the fluorescence quantum yield, Φ). To integrate these two approaches, we developed a fluorescent dye exhibiting a sufficiently high σ 2 Φ value of 68 Goeppert-Mayer units at 1100 nm. When a nanoemulsion encapsulating >1000 dye molecules per particle and a 1100 nm laser were employed for 2PM imaging, capillary blood vessels in almost the entire hippocampal CA1 region of the mouse brain (approximately 1.1-1.5 mm below the surface) were clearly visualized at a frame rate of 30 frames s -1 (averaged over eight frames, practically 3.75 frames s -1 ). This observable depth and frame rate are much higher than those in previous reports on 2PM imaging. Furthermore, this nanoemulsion allowed for the visualization of blood vessels at a depth of 1.8 mm, corresponding to the hippocampal dentate gyrus. These results highlight the advantage of combining bright probes with NIR-II lasers. Our probe is a promising tool for studying the vascular dynamics of living animals and related diseases.

In the modern protocols of chemical protein syntheses, peptide-α-thioesters have been used as key components for the assembly of full-length polypeptides through chemoselective peptide coupling reactions. A variety of thioester precursors have been developed for the synthesis of the peptide-α-thioesters by Fmoc solid phase peptide synthesis (Fmoc-SPPS). Recently our group found a peptidyl-N-acetylguanidine as a new peptide-α-thioester precursor. This peptide derivative can be converted into a corresponding peptide-α-thioester only by treatment with an excess amount of a thiol in aqueous buffers at around neutral pH. This unique property allowed us to envision the practical use of the peptidyl-N-acetylguanidines for the chemical syntheses of proteins; however, an efficient synthetic method has been lacking. Herein, we report an efficient solid-phase synthesis of peptidyl-N-acetylguanidines. This new synthetic method employing selective activation and cleavage of a peptide bond successfully provided peptidyl-N-acetylguanidines from the on-resin protected peptides prepared by standard Fmoc-SPPS. We also evaluated the reactivity of a peptidyl-N-acetylguanidine in native chemical ligation through the synthesis of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide analogue. Copyright © 2016 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., (Copyright © 2016 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

The usefulness of Ampullaria beta-glucuronidase as a reagent for the hydrolysis of steroid glucuronides was examined. The purified enzyme showed an optimum pH of 4, and was stable between pH 4.5 and 7.5. The enzyme from Ampullaria and Helix pomatia hydrolyzed various artificial substrates and conjugated steroids. Affinity of the Ampullaria enzyme for 17-hydroxycorticosteroid glucuronide was 7-fold the affinity of the Helix pomatia enzyme. Hydrolysis of urinary steroid conjugates was completed by an incubation with 320 Fishman units of Ampullaria beta-glucuronidase at 60 degrees C for 1 h. A close correlation was obtained between the values of steroid conjugates hydrolyzed by the Ampullaria enzyme and those by the bovine liver enzyme used conventionally. Ampullaria beta-glucuronidase is suitable for hydrolysis of urinary steroid conjugates because of its higher affinity for steroid substrate and the thermal stability.