Characteristics of failure of passive transfer at the herd level using the serum immunoglobulin G concentration as an indicator on dairy farms in eastern Hokkaido, Japan.

The objectives of this study were to conduct a survey of failure-of-passive-transfer (FPT) in eastern Hokkaido Japan, to evaluate the association between herd-level FPT and death and culling or treatment, and to test the effectiveness of monitoring using herd-level FPT. A total of 4,411 Holstein and Holstein-Wagyu crossbreds calves born from Holstein dams during the year beginning April 2, 2019 on 39 dairy farms were included in the study to investigate death-and-culling and the treatment rate during the first month of life, as well as rearing management up to 3 weeks of age. A subset of Holsteins (n=381) was included in the study for passive transfer and farms were diagnosed as having FPT if more than 20% of newborn calves had serum IgG levels below 10 g/L at the herd level. The prevalence of FPT (

Effects of starch content of calf starter on rumen properties and blood concentrations of metabolites and hormones in dairy calves under a high plane of milk feeding.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of calf starters with different starch content on rumen and blood properties in calves fed under a high plane of nutrition program. Twenty-seven Holstein calves (14 female, 13 male) were assigned to one of three starter treatment groups in a randomized block design: high-starch (41.8%) (n = 9), H; medium-starch (31.9%) (n = 9), M; low-starch (22.0%) (n = 9), L. Milk replacer on powder basis was fed up to 1.2 kg/day as fed, gradually reduced from 6 weeks of age; calves were weaned at 8 weeks of age. Each starter (up to 3.5 kg/day as fed) and chopped hay were provided ad libitum from 5 days of age. Blood was collected from 4 to 13 weeks of age. Rumen fluid was collected at 6, 8, 10, and 13 weeks of age. Serum urea nitrogen concentration after weaning was the lowest in H. Plasma IGF-1 concentrations were higher in H than in L. Ruminal pH was not different, but the molar proportion of ruminal propionate was higher in H than in L throughout the study period. In summary, a high-starch starter may increase propionate production and microbial protein synthesis in the rumen, inducing higher plasma IGF-1 concentrations.

Effects of starch content of calf starter on feed intake, growth performance, and fecal properties in dairy calves under a high plane of milk replacer feeding.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different starch contents in calf starter on the growth, feed intake, and fecal characteristics in dairy calves fed under a high plane of nutrition. Twenty-seven Holstein calves were assigned equally to one of three calf starter treatment groups in a randomized block design: high (H) starch (41.8%); medium (M) starch (31.9%); and low (L) starch (22.0%). Milk replacer was fed up to 1.2 kg/day as fed, gradually reduced from 6 weeks of age; calves were weaned at 8 weeks of age. Each starter (up to 3.5 kg/day as fed) and chopped hay were provided ad libitum from 5 days of age. Fecal samples, along with body measurements, were collected from 4 to 13 weeks of age. The average daily gain after weaning was greater in the H group than in the L group. The average starter intake for 3 days before weaning was not different among treatments but was greater after weaning in the H group than in the L group. Starter starch content did not affect the number of days with diarrhea or fecal starch concentration. The high-starch starter had no adverse effects during the weaning transition.

Enhanced internalization of ErbB2 in SK-BR-3 cells with multivalent forms of an artificial ligand.

Targeting and down-regulation of ErbB2, a member of EGF receptor family, is regarded as one of the key aspect for cancer treatment because it is often overexpressed in breast and ovarian cancer cells. Although natural ligands for ErbB2 have not been found, unlike other ErbB receptors, EC-1, a 20-amino acid circular peptide, has been shown to bind to ErbB2 as an artificial ligand. Previously we showed EC-1 peptide did not induce the internalization of ErbB2 in SK-BR-3 cells. In this report, we designed divalent and multivalent forms of EC-1 peptide with the Fc portion of the human IgG and bionanocapsule modified with ZZ-tag on its surface to improve the interaction with ErbB2. These forms showed higher affinity to ErbB2 than that of EC-1 monomer. Furthermore, prominent endosomal accumulation of ErbB2 occurred in SK-BR-3 cells when stimulated with EC-Fc ligand multivalently displayed on the surface of the bionanocapsule, whereas SK-BR-3 cells as themselves displayed stringent mechanism against ErbB2 internalization without stimulation. The multivalent form of EC-1 peptide appeared to internalize ErbB2 more efficiently than divalent form did. This internalization was unaffected by the inhibition of clathrin association, but inhibited when the cholesterol was depleted which explained either caveolar or GPI-AP-early endocytic compartment (GEEC) pathway. Because of the lack of caveolin-1 expression, caveolar machinery may be lost in SK-BR-3 cell line. Therefore, it is suggested that the multivalent form of EC-1 induces the internalization of ErbB2 through the GEEC pathway.

Spherical self-organizing map as a helpful tool to identify category-specific cell surface markers.

We analyzed gene expression profiles of five tumor cell lines (NB2a, NB41A3, C1300N18, BC3H1, and Neuro2a) derived from a category of nervous system using our originally developed cell surface marker DNA microarray in order to search for tumor-specific cell surface markers common to these cells. To visualize the expression patterns and to extract candidate genes of interest based on the expression profiles of several cell lines, we employed the clustering procedure of spherical self-organizing-map. As the result, three candidates of tumor-specific cell surface markers were picked up when the expression profiles were compared with that from normal brain tissue. RT-qPCR showed the expression of these genes was higher in tumor cells than in normal brain. Here we demonstrated the spherical self-organizing-map analysis should be useful to identify the candidates of cell surface markers common and specific to the group of cells or tissues of interest.