Akira Terao

Tokai University · Department of Biology, School of Biological Sciences

Major psychiatric disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia are often accompanied by elevated impulsivity. However, anti-impulsive drug treatments are still limited. To explore a novel molecular target, we examined the role of dopamine D5 receptors in impulse control using mice that completely lack D5 receptors (D...

Key points: MCH neuron-ablated mice exhibit increased energy expenditure and reduced fat weight. Increased BAT activity and locomotor activity-independent energy expenditure contributed to body weight reduction in MCH neuron-ablated mice. MCH neurons send inhibitory input to the medullary raphe nucleus to modulate BAT activity. Abstract: Hypotha...

We had reported that orally administered ghrelin-containing salmon stomach extract prevents doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiotoxicity. In this study, we investigated the binding affinity of salmon ghrelin to rat ghrelin receptor and the cardioprotective effects of subcutaneous (sc) injected synthetic salmon ghrelin in rats with DOX-induced acute hea...

A brain pathway for active forgetting Sleep affects memories via several mechanisms. Izawa et al. identified a possible new pathway in the brain: REM sleep–active hypothalamic melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH)–producing neurons, which, among others, project to the hippocampus. Surprisingly, genetic ablation of MCH neurons increased memory perform...

Dietary supplementation with melinjo (Gnetum gnemon L.) seed extract (MSE) has been proposed as an anti-obesity strategy. However, it remains unclear how MSE modulates energy balance. We tested the hypothesis that dietary MSE reduces energy intake and/or increases physical activity and metabolic thermogenesis in brown and white adipose tissue (BAT...

Introduction: Identification of thermogenic food ingredients is potentially a useful strategy for the prevention of obesity and related metabolic disorders. It has been reported that royal jelly (RJ) supplementation improves insulin sensitivity; however, its impacts on energy expenditure and adiposity remain elusive. We investigated anti-obesity e...

It is well documented that estrogen is predominant inducer of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in a variety of cell types. However, the effect of progesterone (P) remains to be elusive. Thus, in the present study, we examined the effect of P and combined effect of P and 17β-estradiol (E2) on HGF expression and production in 3T3-L1 fibroblastic preadi...

It is well known that retinoic acid (RA) suppresses adipogenesis, although there are some contradicting reports. In this study, we examined the effect of extracellular glucose on RA-induced suppression of adipogenesis in 3T3L1 cell culture. When the cells were cultured in normal glucose medium (NG), the addition of RA suppressed lipid accumulation....

Introduction Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a neuropeptide produced in neurons sparsely distributed in the lateral hypothalamic area. Recent studies have reported that MCH neurons are active during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, but their physiological role in the regulation of sleep/wakefulness is not fully understood. To determine the ph...

Study objectives: Narcolepsy is caused by loss of the orexin (also known as hypocretin) neurons. In addition to the orexin peptides, these neurons release additional neurotransmitters, which may produce complex effects on sleep/wake behavior. Currently, it remains unknown whether the orexin neurons promote the initiation as well as the maintenance...

The effects of three stressors of different categories, namely cold exposure, immobilization, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment, on sympathetic nerve activity were examined by assessing its biochemical index norepinephrine (NE) turnover in peripheral organs of C57BL/6 mice. NE turnover was assessed by measuring the decrease in the organ NE con...

Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a neuropeptide produced in neurons sparsely distributed in the lateral hypothalamic area. Recent studies have reported that MCH neurons are active during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, but their physiological role in the regulation of sleep/wakefulness is not fully understood. To determine the physiological r...

Genetic variations in the wild-derived inbred mouse strains are more diverse than that of classical laboratory inbred mouse strains, including C57BL/6J (B6). The sleep/wake and monoamine properties of six wild-derived inbred mouse strains (PGN2, NJL, BLG2, KJR, MSM, HMI) were characterized and compared with those of B6 mice. All examined mice were...

Chronic adrenergic activation leads to the emergence of beige adipocytes in some depots of white adipose tissue in mice. Despite their morphological similarities to brown adipocytes and their expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), a thermogenic protein exclusively expressed in brown adipocytes, the beige adipocytes have a gene expression patter...

Orexins are hypothalamic neuropeptides, which play important roles in the regulation and maintenance of sleep/wakefulness states and energy homeostasis. To evaluate whether alterations in orexin system is associated with the sleep/wakefulness abnormalities observed in obesity, we examined the mRNA expression of prepro-orexin, orexin receptor type 1...

Proinsulin C-peptide shows beneficial effects on microvascular complications of Type 1 diabetes. However, the possible occurrence of membrane C-peptide receptor(s) has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize membrane proteins to which C-peptide binds. The enzyme α-enolase was co-immunoprecipitated with C-peptide...

The thermogenic function of brown adipose tissue (BAT) is increased by norepinephrine (NE) released from sympathetic nerve endings, but the roles of NPY released along with NE are poorly elucidated. Here, we examined effect of NPY on basal and NE-enhanced thermogenesis in isolated brown adipocytes that express Y1 and Y5 receptor mRNA. Treatment of...

Leptin reduces body fat by decreasing food intake and increasing energy expenditure. Uncoupling protein (UCP) 1, a key molecule for brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis, was reported to contribute to the stimulatory effect of leptin on energy expenditure. To clarify whether UCP1 is also involved in the anorexigenic effect of leptin, in this stu...

Both retinoic acid (RA) and oxidative stress (H2O2) increased transcription and cleavage of membrane-bound sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1, leading to enhanced transcription of fatty acid synthase (FAS) in hepatoma cells. On the other hand, RA and H2O2 decreased and increased lipogenesis in adipocytes, respectively, although rol...

Retinol binding protein 4 in dairy cows: its presence in colostrum and alteration in plasma during fasting, inflammation, and the peripartum period. Abd Eldaim MA, Kamikawa A, Soliman MM, Ahmed MM, Okamatsu-Ogura Y, Terao A, Miyamoto T, Kimura K. Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine,...

Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) is a plasma protein involved in retinol transportation, and recent evidence in rodents suggests that RBP4 is also a metabolic regulator that modifies insulin sensitivity. To assess how RBP4 levels are regulated in ruminants, we determined the RBP4 concentrations in bovine plasma and milk using Western blot analysis....

Mammary glands develop postnatally in response to the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Obesity-induced changes in the local environment, however, retard mammary gland development during late pregnancy and lactation. To clarify the effects of obesity on fundamental duct development, we compared the mammary glands of nulliparous nonpregnant obese...

ABSTRACTC-reactive protein (CRP) was isolated from sera from healthy cats by calcium-dependent affinity chromatography on phosphorylcholine derivatives of bovine albumin-coupled Toyopearl, followed by an anion-exchange chromatography using DEAE cellulose. It was identified as CRP by its immunochemical cross reactivity with human CRP. The molecular...

Previous studies have supported the hypothesis that macromolecular synthesis occurs in the brain during sleep as a response to prior waking activities and that prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) is an endogenous sleep substance whose effects are dependent on adenosine A2a receptor-mediated signaling. We compared gene expression in the cerebral cortex, basal f...

Previously, we demonstrated that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) potently stimulates endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity and nitric oxide (NO) production through a calcium- and Akt-mediated phosphorylation at Ser-1179 (Ser-1177 human) in bovine aortic endothelial cells. The regulation of eNOS, however, also involves interaction with ch...

Hypocretin/orexin is produced exclusively in the dorsal and lateral hypothalamus but its projection is widespread within the brain and plays important roles. In this paper, we review the independent discoveries of the hypocretin/orexin peptides, the neuroanatomy of this system, and the link to the sleep disorder narcolepsy that has led to the idea...

Previous studies have demonstrated that macromolecular synthesis in the brain is modulated in association with the occurrence of sleep and wakefulness. Similarly, the spectral composition of electroencephalographic activity that occurs during sleep is dependent on the duration of prior wakefulness. Since this homeostatic relationship between wake a...

As the survivorship curve for humans in the developed world approaches the rectangular ideal, improving the quality of life in advanced years is an increasing concern. A major complaint of the elderly is poor sleep (Ballinger, 1976; Karacan et al., 1976; Bliwise et al., 1992). Despite the fact that the elderly tend to spend more hours in bed, they...

Several lines of evidence indicate that the histaminergic (HA) system is important for wakefulness and behavioral state regulation. We investigated the hypothesis that age-related changes in HA system occur which may be related to decreased alertness in aging. Although histidine decarboxylase mRNA levels did not change with age in C57BL/6 mice, sig...

Previous studies have documented changes in expression of the immediate early gene (IEG) c-fos and Fos protein in the brain between sleep and wakefulness. Such expression differences implicate changes in transcriptional regulation across behavioral states and suggest that other transcription factors may also be affected. In the current study, we ex...

Although sleep is thought to be restorative from prior wakeful activities, it is not clear what is being restored. To determine whether the synthesis of macromolecules is increased in the cerebral cortex during sleep, we subjected C57BL/6 mice to 6 hours of sleep deprivation and then screened the expression of 1176 genes of known function by using...

The cryptochrome 1 and 2 genes (cry1 and cry2) are necessary for the generation of circadian rhythms, as mice lacking both of these genes (cry1,2-/-) lack circadian rhythms. We studied sleep in cry1,2-/- mice under baseline conditions as well as under conditions of constant darkness and enforced wakefulness to determine whether cryptochromes influe...

Attenuation of fever occurs in pregnant animals. This study examined a hypothesis that brain production of PGE(2), the final mediator of fever, is suppressed in pregnant animals. Near-term pregnant rats and age-matched nonpregnant female rats were injected with lipopolysaccharide (100 microg/kg) intraperitoneally. Four hours later, colonic temperat...

Using GeneChips, basal and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced gene expression was examined in the hippocampus of 3-, 12-, 18- and 24-month-old male C57BL/6 mice to identify genes whose altered expression could influence hippocampal function in advanced age. Gene elements that changed with age were selected with a t-statistic and specific expression p...

The hypocretin (Hcrt; also known as orexin) system has been implicated in arousal state regulation and energy metabolism. We hypothesize that age-related sleep problems can result from dysfunction of this system and thus measured messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of preprohcrt in the hypothalamus, and hcrt receptor 1 (hcrtr1) and hcrt receptor 2 (hcrtr2)...

Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is a membrane-bound enzyme that inactivates a family of fatty acid amide molecules which are implicated in physiological processes such as pain and sleep. We cloned a 1.9 kb fragment of the 5'-untranslated region of the mouse FAAH gene into the pGL3 basic luciferase reporter vector and showed that this sequence has...

Hypocretins 1 and 2 (also called orexins A and B, respectively) are hypothalamic neuropeptides that have recently been shown to be involved in the sleep disorder narcolepsy and possibly in the normal regulation of sleep and wake functions. These two peptides are derived from a single precursor molecule called prepro-hypocretin, also known as prepro...

The vagal afferents are proposed to transmit abdominal immune signals to the brain. In this immune-brain communication, prostaglandins might play a mediator role. In fact, prostaglandin receptors are abundant in the vagal afferents. We examined here the presence of cyclooxygenase, an enzyme necessary for prostaglandin biosynthesis, in the vagal aff...

A long history of research dating back to the 1960s [1] has documented roles for the monoaminergic, cholinergic, and GABAergic systems in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness. More recently, convincing evidence has also been advanced for sleep-related roles for neuromodulators such as adenosine [2-7], cytokines such as interleukin-1 and tumor ne...

The hypocretin/orexin ligand-receptor system has recently been implicated in the sleep disorder narcolepsy. During the dark (active) period, null mutants of the prepro-orexin (prepro-hypocretin) gene have cataplectic attacks and increased levels of both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep. Intracerebroventricular injection of one of t...

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) was infused into the subarachnoid space of the rat rostral basal forebrain, which was previously defined as a prostaglandin (PG) D2-sensitive, sleep-promoting zone. TNFalpha increased the amount of slow-wave sleep (SWS), decreased that of paradoxical sleep (PS), and caused fever and anorexia. The TNFalpha-indu...

TUMOR necrosis factor-α(TNFα) was infused into the subarachnoid space of the rat rostral basal forebrain, which was previously defined as a prostaglandin (PG) D2-sensitive, sleep-promoting zone. TNFα increased the amount of slow-wave sleep (SWS), decreased that of paradoxical sleep (PS), and caused fever and anorexia. The TNFα-induced SWS enhanceme...

To determine the site of action of the sleep-promoting effect of interleukin-1 (IL-1), we continuously infused (between 11 P.M. and 5 A.M.) murine recombinant IL-1beta into seven different locations in the ventricular and subarachnoid systems of the brain in freely moving rats. When IL-1 was infused at 10 ng/6 hr into the subarachnoid space underly...

Centrally given interleukin (IL)-1 is known to induce a rapid rises in blood IL-6. To extend this and to examine the mechanism by which this occurs, the effects of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of human recombinant IL-1 beta on mRNA expression of IL-6 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in the spleen and liver were examined in rats. I.c.v...

The concentration of PGD2, PGE2, and of PGF2 alpha was measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected from the cisterna magna of conscious rats (n = 29), which, chronically implanted with a catheter for the CSF sampling, underwent deprivation of daytime sleep. Significant elevation of the CSF level of PGD2 was observed following 2.5-h sleep de...

Possible roles of prostaglandins (PGs) in interleukin-1 (IL-1)-induced activation of noradrenergic neurons were examined by assessing norepinephrine (NE) turnover in the brain and peripheral organs of rats. An intraperitoneal injection of human recombinant IL-1 beta accelerated NE turnover in the hypothalamus, spleen, lung, diaphragm, and pancreas....

To examine effects of brain cytokines on hepatic acute phase protein synthesis, the plasma level of haptoglobin (Hp) was measured after intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of human recombinant interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in rats. Icv injection of IL-1 or TNF (100 ng/rat, 3 times at every 3 h) produced a sign...

To examine the effects of brain cytokines on the sympathetic nervous system, norepinephrine (NE) turnover in peripheral organs (spleen, lung, diaphragm, pancreas, heart, liver, kidney, and interscapular brown adipose tissue) was assessed after intraperitoneal or intracerbroventricular administrations of human recombinant interleukin (IL)-1 beta and...

Changes in norepinephrine (NE) turnover in restricted brain regions were examined in rats after administration of the major mediators of the acute phase response, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF). An increase in NE turnover was observed after intraperitoneal injection of IL-1 (1 microgram/rat) i...

To examine the possible role of brain IL-6 in the acute phase response, plasma iron and corticosterone levels were measured after intraperitoneal and intracerebroventricular injections of interleukin-1β (IL-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in rats. An intraperitoneal injection of IL-1 and IL-6 increased plasma corticosterone level and decreased iron lev...