ORCID Profile
0000-0002-7194-8099
Current Organisation
Yokohama National University
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.JBIOSC.2021.12.003
Abstract: Hair follicle dermal papilla cells (DPCs) are specialized mesenchymal cells that play pivotal roles in hair formation, growth, and cycles, and they are considered as a cell source in hair regenerative medicine. Rodent dermal papilla cells have been shown to induce de novo hair follicle generation in the skin of recipients following transplantation, suggesting that dermal papilla cells can reprogram epidermal microenvironments. However, human DPCs (hDPCs) lose their ability to generate de novo hair follicles under conventional culture methods. We investigated the effects of electrical stimulation (ES) on hDPCs to restore the depressed trichogenic activity. We demonstrated that ES with a polypyrrole (PPy)-modified electrode upregulated trichogenic gene expression in hDPCs in vitro, and the activated cells when transplanted into mice generated double the number of hairs compared to that without the ES. Using specific inhibitors, we revealed that the mechanisms behind the electrical activation are associated with voltage-gated ion channels. Further, ES can be adapted for hDPCs from a patient with androgenic alopecia. Thus, this approach is potentially beneficial in preparing hDPCs for hair regenerative medicine.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-04-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-020-63534-2
Abstract: This study reveals that the abundance of the filament Kouleothrix (Eikelboom type 1851) correlated positively with poor settleability of activated sludge biomass in a Japanese full-scale nutrient removal wastewater treatment plant s led over a one-year period. 16S rRNA licon sequence data confirmed that Kouleothrix was the dominant filament in the plant, with a relative abundance of 3.06% positively correlated with sludge volume index (SVI) ( R = 0.691). Moreover, Kouleothrix (type 1851) appeared to form interfloc bridges, typical of bulking sludge, regardless of season. Together with earlier studies that indicated the responsibility of Kouleothrix (type 1851) on bulking events, these data suggest that their high relative abundances alone may be responsible for sludge bulking. 16S rRNA qPCR data for this filament showed changes in its relative abundance correlated with changes in several operational parameters, including mixed liquor temperature, sludge retention time, and suspended solids concentration, and it may be that manipulating these may help control Kouleothrix bulking.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.JBIOSC.2018.07.006
Abstract: Perfusable vasculatures are essential for engineering three-dimensional thick tissues and organs in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Here, we describe an approach for the fabrication of double-layered vascular-like structures (DVSs) composed of a monolayer of human vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) covered with a dense human smooth muscle cell (SMC) layer. HUVECs were attached to a gold needle via the oligopeptide self-assembled monolayer and grown to form a HUVEC monolayer that was subsequently embedded in a photo-crosslinkable gelatin hydrogel containing SMC spheroids in a culture chamber. During four days of culture, the hydrogel significantly contracted and formed a dense SMC layer around the needle. The binding between the HUVEC layer and the gold needle was cleaved by applying a negative potential to desorb the oligopeptide and the needle was extracted from the chamber, resulting in a perfusable DVS composed of HUVEC and SMC layers. The DVS was cultured under perfusion, and the cells in the DVS showed greater expressions of SMC-specific genes compared to those of spheroids. The DVS possessed a dynamic contraction ability in response to acetylcholine as observed in the in vivo SMC layer. This study proposes a promising approach for the fabrication of perfusable vasculatures for the engineering of fully vascularized tissues and organs.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-12-2015
Abstract: Members of the family Competibacteraceae are common in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) designed for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) and are putatively deleterious to the process of P removal. Their ability to accumulate large amounts of polyhydroxyalkanoates is also suggested to be of potential commercial interest for bioplastic production. In this study we have updated the 16S rRNA-based phylogeny of the Competibacter and the Plasticicumulans lineages. The former is delineated by 13 clades including two described genera 'Ca. Competibacter' and 'Ca. Contendobacter'. The oligonucleotide probes used for detection of the family by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were re-evaluated and designed for coverage of these clades. Surveys of full-scale WWTPs based on 16S rRNA gene licon sequencing and FISH analysis indicate that a number of member clades always coexist, with their relative abundances varying substantially between and temporally within plants. The hypothesis that these differences are based on niche partitioning is supported by marked phenotypic differences between clades. An in-depth understanding of the ecology of the family requires further studies of the metabolism of in idual clades in situ. The proposed phylogeny and FISH probes will provide the foundation for such studies.
No related grants have been discovered for Junji Fukuda.