Development of a novel transgenic rice with hypocholesterolemic activity via high-level accumulation of the α' subunit of soybean ß-conglycinin.

Soybean 7S globulin, known as ß-conglycinin, has been shown to regulate human plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Furthermore, the α' subunit of ß-conglycinin has specifically been shown to possess low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol-lowering activity. Therefore, accumulation of the α' subunit of ß-conglycinin in rice seeds could lead to the production of new functional rice that could promote human health. Herein, we used the low-glutelin rice mutant 'Koshihikari' (var. a123) and suppressed its glutelins and prolamins, the major seed storage proteins of rice, by RNA interference. The accumulation levels of the α' subunit in the lines with suppressed glutelin and prolamin levels were >20 mg in 1 g of rice seeds, which is considerably higher than those in previous studies. Oral administration of the transgenic rice containing the α' subunit exhibited a hypocholesterolemic activity in rats; the serum total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels were significantly reduced when compared to those of the control rice (var. a123). The cholesterol-lowering action by transgenic rice accumulating the α' subunit induces a significant increase in fecal bile acid excretion and a tendency to increase in fecal cholesterol excretion. This is the first report that transgenic rice exhibits a hypocholesterolemic activity in rats in vivo by using the ß-conglycinin α' subunit.

Consecutive ruptures on a complex conjugate fault system during the 2018 Gulf of Alaska earthquake.

We developed a flexible finite-fault inversion method for teleseismic P waveforms to obtain a detailed rupture process of a complex multiple-fault earthquake. We estimate the distribution of potency-rate density tensors on an assumed model plane to clarify rupture evolution processes, including variations of fault geometry. We applied our method to the 23 January 2018 Gulf of Alaska earthquake by representing slip on a projected horizontal model plane at a depth of 33.6 km to fit the distribution of aftershocks occurring within one week of the mainshock. The obtained source model, which successfully explained the complex teleseismic P waveforms, shows that the 2018 earthquake ruptured a conjugate system of N-S and E-W faults. The spatiotemporal rupture evolution indicates irregular rupture behavior involving a multiple-shock sequence, which is likely associated with discontinuities in the fault geometry that originated from E-W sea-floor fracture zones and N-S plate-bending faults.

Dynamic viscoelastic properties of collagen gels with high mechanical strength.

We developed a new method for the preparation of mechanically strong collagen gels by combining successively basic gel formation, followed by 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) cross-linking and lyophilization. Gels cross-linked three times with this method showed stronger mechanical properties (G': 3730±2060 Pa, G″: 288±35 Pa) than a conventional gel that was sequentially cross-linked with EDC once (G': 226±70 Pa, G″: 21±4.4 Pa), but not as strong as the same gel with heating for 30 min at 80°C (G': 7010±830 Pa, G″: 288±35 Pa) reported in our previous paper. The conventional collagen gel was cross-linked with EDC once, heated once, and then subjected twice to a lyophilization-gel formation-cross-linking cycle to give three-cycled gel 2. This gel had the strongest mechanical properties (G': 40,200±18,000 Pa, G″: 3090±1400 Pa, Young's modulus: 0.197±0.069 MPa) of the gels tested. These promising results suggest possible applications of the gels as scaffolds in tissue engineering research.

Dynamic viscoelastic properties of collagen gels in the presence and absence of collagen fibrils.

We measured the dynamic viscoelasticities of collagen gels prepared and modified by four different methods: i) collagen gels cross-linked by 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) after their preparation, ii) collagen gels cross-linked simultaneously with their preparation, iii) collagen gels irradiated with gamma rays after their preparation, and iv) collagen gels directly formed from an acidic collagen solution by gamma-cross-linking. Dynamic viscoelasticities of all samples were measured using a rheometer before and after heating for 30min at 80°C. The collagen gels sequentially cross-linked by 125mM EDC after preparation and then heated exhibited mechanically strong properties (storage modulus G', 7010Pa; loss modulus G″, 288Pa; Young's modulus E, 0.012 in the rapidly-increasing phase and 0.095 in the moderately-increasing phase; tensile strain, 5.29; tensile stress σ, 0.053). We generally conclude that the G' value decreases when gels without fibrils are heated. On the other hand, well cross-linked collagen gels with thick fibrils, such as gels sequentially cross-linked with 125mM EDC after preparation or gamma-cross-linked conventional gels irradiated at 40kGy, exhibit a distinct increase in G' value after heating. Those gels also have thick, twisted, or fused fibrils of collagen.