abstract: Some cyanobacteria, referred to as boring or euendolithic, are capable of excavating tunnels into calcareous substrates, both mineral and biogenic. The erosive activity of these cyanobacteria results in the destruction of coastal limestones and dead corals, the reworking of carbonate sands, and the cementation of microbialites. They thus link the biological and mineral parts of the global carbon cycle directly. They are also relevant for marine aquaculture as pests of mollusk populations. In spite of their importance, the mechanism by which these cyanobacteria bore remains unknown. In fact, boring by phototrophs is geochemically paradoxical, in that they should promote precipitation of carbonates, not dissolution. To approach this paradox experimentally, I developed an empirical model based on a newly isolated euendolith, which I characterized physiologically, ultrastructurally and phylogenetically (Mastigocoleus testarum BC008); it bores on pure calcite in the laboratory under controlled conditions. Mechanistic hypotheses suggesting the aid of accompanying heterotrophic bacteria, or the spatial/temporal separation of photosynthesis and boring could be readily rejected. Real-time Ca2+ mapping by laser scanning confocal microscopy of boring BC008 cells showed that boring resulted in undersaturation at the boring front and supersaturation in and around boreholes. This is consistent with a process of uptake of Ca2+ from the boring front, trans-cellular mobilization, and extrusion at the distal end of the filaments (borehole entrance). Ca2+ disequilibrium could be inhibited by ceasing illumination, preventing ATP generation, and, more specifically, by blocking P-type Ca2+ ATPase transporters. This demonstrates that BC008 bores by promoting calcite dissolution locally at the boring front through Ca2+ uptake, an unprecedented capacity among living organisms. Parallel studies using mixed microbial assemblages of euendoliths boring into Caribbean, Mediterranean, North and South Pacific marine carbonates, demonstrate that the mechanism operating in BC008 is widespread, but perhaps not universal. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Microbiology 2010

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第14654号 / 工博第3122号 / 新制||工||1465(附属図書館) / 27006 / UT51-2009-D366 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科合成・生物化学専攻 / (主査)教授 森 泰生, 教授 青山 安宏, 教授 濵地 格 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第15408号 / 工博第3287号 / 新制||工||1495(附属図書館) / 27886 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科合成・生物化学専攻 / (主査)教授 森 泰生, 教授 濵地 格, 教授 跡見 晴幸 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

The kisspeptin receptor (KISS1R), functioning as a metastasis suppressor and gatekeeper of GnRH neurons, is a potent activator of intracellular Ca2+. The surge in cytoplasmic Ca2+ mediates the exocytosis of GnRH from GnRH neurons. However, the regulatory processes which enable KISS1R to sense increasing intracellular Ca2+ and avoid Ca2+ excitotoxicity via a signalling off-switch mechanism remain unclear. This thesis provides evidence for the interaction between KISS1R and the Ca2+ regulated proteins of calmodulin (CaM), and αCa2+/CaM-dependent-protein kinase II (α-CaMKII). Binding of CaM to KISS1R was shown with three independent approaches. Firstly, cell-free spectrofluorimeter assays showed that CaM selectively binds to intracellular loop (IL) 2 and IL3 of the KISS1R. Secondly, KISS1R co-immunoprecipitation experiments identified ligand/Ca2+-dependent binding of KISS1R to HEK-293 endogenous CaM. Thirdly, confocal experiments showed CFPCaM co-localises with YFP-KISS1R. The functional relevance of CaM binding was examined with alanine substitution of critical residues of the CaM binding motifs in IL2 and IL3 of KISS1R. This approach revealed that the receptor activity (relative maximum responsiveness) was increased in the mutated residues of the juxtamembrane regions of IL3 and the N-terminus of IL2 relative to wild-type KISS1R. The Ca2+/CaM regulated αCaMKII was also found to interact with KISS1R by selectively phosphorylating T77 of IL1. Phosphomimetic mutations of T77 into E or D created a receptor that was unable to elicit inositol phosphate production upon ligand stimulation. Finally, in vivo studies using ovariectomised rats that were intracerebroventricularly administered with a cell-permeable αCaMKII inhibitor augmented the effects of kisspeptin ligand stimulation of plasma luteinizing hormone levels. Taken together, this thesis demonstrates that the KISS1R-G protein coupling is regulated by Ca2+-dependent CaM binding and αCaMKII-mediated KISS1R phosphorylation.

In heart, Ca2+ plays an important role in maintenance of normal cardiac functions. Regulation of Ca2+ is mainly through L-type Ca2+ channel (LTCC), Ryanodine receptor (RyR) and sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase pump (SERCA) on sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), Na+-Ca2+ exchanger (NCX), plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase (PMCA). It has been well-accepted that PMCA plays a minor contribution to elevation of Ca2+ compared to SERCA and NCX and in regulation of cytosolic Ca2+ homeostasis. There are four isoforms of PMCA, PMCA1-4, and PMCA1 is a house-keeping gene, and abundantly distributed in heart. However, the role of PMCA1 in the murine heart has not been fully explored. With a cardiac specific knockout mouse model, the electrophysiological characteristics of PMCA1 in murine hearts, particularly in atria under normal physiological and stress conditions ([Ca2+]o overload and pacing conditions) are investigated. Firstly the complete deletion of PMCA1 in the atria in PMCA1cko mice was confirmed by Western blotting and immunostaining, also the membrane localisation of PMCA1 in the atria in PMCA1loxP/loxP mice was demonstrated. Then the phenotypes of ex vivo whole hearts between PMCA1loxP/loxP and PMCA1cko mice under physiological conditions and [Ca2+]o overload condition and with different frequencies by programmed electrical stimulation (PES) were explored. Further more, the Ca2+ handling process in single atrial myocytes between the PMCA1 deletion mice and control mice under normal physiological conditions and [Ca2+]o overload condition and stimulation with different frequencies was investigated. Finally the Ca2+ handling process in single ventricular myocytes between the PMCA1 deletion mice and control mice under normal physiological condition was investigated. At the whole heart level, the PMCA1cko hearts became more susceptible to arrhythmias with PES under physiological conditions compared with the PMCA1loxP/loxP hearts, and such arrhythmic events occurred more often and had longer pacing durations under Ca2+ overload conditions and higher frequency of pacing. At the single cellular level, the NCX current decay was significantly prolonged in PMCA1cko atrial myocytes under physiological conditions. This was further increased under Ca2+ overload conditions. With frequency-dependent stimulation, the PMCA1cko atrial myocytes showed few EAD- or DAD-type APs under physiological conditions in contrast to PMCA1loxP/loxP atrial myocytes that showed no arrhythmic events. The occurrence increased significantly under Ca2+ overload condition and/or at higher frequency of stimulation. Similar findings were observed in isolated ventricular myocytes. To conclude, the role of PMCA1 in maintaining Ca2+ homeostasis and electrical function in atrial myocytes under physiological conditions is minor. ii) PMCA1 has a critical role in maintaining Ca2+ homeostasis and electrical function in the atrium under stress conditions. This is particularly important during fast efflux of Ca2+ which is required under stress conditions.

No description available.

The skeletal muscle is a dynamic tissue that has the ability to change and modify itself to fit the level of required activity; a phenomenon called muscle plasticity. Most studies of muscle plasticity are carried out in situ, a condition for which it is difficult to study and discern between the intrinsic properties of skeletal muscle, the myokines released by muscle fibers and the neurotrophic factors released by neurons innervating skeletal muscles that play various roles in the mechanisms of muscle plasticity. Another approach is to study the morphological and contractile properties of single adult muscle fibers under culture conditions for which one can fully control the level of activity and exogenous factors affecting muscle plasticity. However, the survival of single muscle fiber in culture is very low as most fibers degenerated or supercontracted within 5-7 days. The first objective of this study was to optimize fiber survival in culture. The application of chronic stimulation and beta-adrenergic agonists are two major factors that prevent muscle atrophy and loss of force in denervated muscles in situ. So, objective two was to determine if chronically stimulated single fibers in culture also improve fiber survival and contractile characteristic under culture conditions. The third objective was the same for salbutamol, a beta 2-adrenergic agonist. In regard to the optimization of fiber survival, the Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) was a better medium than Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM), changing 50% of the culture medium every two days also improved fiber survival compared to changing the medium every day. Interestingly, inhibiting the proliferation of satellite cells with AraC largely improved fiber survival when fibers were kept under resting conditions, but not when they were chronically stimulated. Finally, under conditions in which proliferation of satellite cells was inhibited, the use of a collagen/laminin mixture as adhering substrate to improve fiber adhesion to glass coverslip gave rise to a better fiber survival than Matrigel that contains not only collagen and laminin but several growth factors. The results suggest i) that when satellite cells (or fibroblasts) are allowed to proliferate they appear to contribute to the degeneration of fibers under resting conditions and ii) that the release of myokines by skeletal muscle fibers (or cytokines by other cells) likely play a role in fiber survival. Contrary to the situation in situ, neither the chronic stimulation nor salbutamol improved fiber survival and contractile characteristics of muscle fibers in culture suggesting that some important factors in culture are missing to allow chronic stimulation and salbutamol to reduce muscle atrophy and loss of force.

Hypertension, a major risk factor in the cardiovascular system, is characterized by an increase in the arterial blood pressure. High dietary sodium is linked to multiple cardiovascular disorders including hypertension. Salt sensitivity, a measure of how the blood pressure responds to salt intake is observed in more than 50% of the hypertension cases. Nitric Oxide (NO), as an endogenous vasodilator serves many important biological roles in the cardiovascular physiology including blood pressure regulation. The physiological concentrations for NO bioactivity are reported to be in 0-500 nM range. Notably, the vascular response to NO is highly regulated within a small concentration spectrum. Hence, much uncertainty surrounds how NO modulates diverse signaling mechanisms to initiate vascular relaxation and alleviate hypertension. Regulating the availability of NO in the vasculature has demonstrated vasoprotective effects. In addition, modulating the NO release by different means has proved to restore endothelial function. In this study we addressed parameters that regulated NO release in the vasculature, in physiology and pathophysiology such as salt sensitive hypertension. We showed that, in the rat mesenteric arterioles, Ca2+ induced rapid relaxation (time constants 20.8 ± 2.2 sec) followed with a much slower constriction after subsequent removal of the stimulus (time constants 104.8 ± 10.0 sec). An interesting observation was that a fourfold increase in the Ca2+ frequency improved the efficacy of arteriolar relaxation by 61.1%. Our results suggested that, Ca2+ frequency-dependent transient release of NO from the endothelium carried encoded information; which could be translated into different steady state vascular tone. Further, Agmatine, a metabolite of L-arginine, as a ligand, was observed to relax the mesenteric arterioles. These relaxations were NO-dependent and occurred via α-2 receptor activity. The observed potency of agmatine (EC50, 138.7 ± 12.1 µM; n=22), was 40 fold higher than L-arginine itself (EC50, 18.3 ± 1.3 mM; n = 5). This suggested us to propose alternative parallel mechanism for L-arginine mediated vascular relaxation via arginine decarboxylase activity. In addition, the biomechanics of rat mesentery is important in regulation of vascular tone. We developed 2D finite element models that described the vascular mechanics of rat mesentery. With an inverse estimation approach, we identified the elasticity parameters characterizing alterations in normotensive and hypertensive Dahl rats. Our efforts were towards guiding current studies that optimized cardiovascular intervention and assisted in the development of new therapeutic strategies. These observations may have significant implications towards alternatives to present methods for NO delivery as a therapeutic target. Our work shall prove to be beneficial in assisting the delivery of NO in the vasculature thus minimizing the cardiovascular risk in handling abnormalities, such as hypertension.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(薬科学) / 甲第21047号 / 薬科博第90号 / 新制||薬科||10(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院薬学研究科薬科学専攻 / (主査)教授 竹島 浩, 教授 中山 和久, 教授 金子 周司 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences / Kyoto University / DFAM

No description available.