Soymorphin-5 (YPFVV) derived from soybean β-conglycinin β-subunit is a μ-opioid agonist peptide having anxiolytic-like activity. Here, we show that soymorphin-5 improves glucose and lipid metabolism after long-term oral administration to KKAy mice, a type 2 diabetes model animal. Soymorphin-5 inhibited hyperglycemia without an increase in plasma insulin levels in KKAy mice. Soymorphin-5 also decreased plasma and liver triglyceride (TG) levels and liver weight, suggesting that soymorphin-5 improved lipid metabolism. Soymorphin-5 increased plasma adiponectin concentration and liver mRNA expression of AdipoR2, a subtype of adiponectin receptor that is involved in stimulating the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)α pathway and fatty acid β-oxidation. The expressions of the mRNA of PPARα and its target genes acyl-CoA oxidase, carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 A, and uncoupling protein-2, in the liver were also increased after oral administration of soymorphin-5. Furthermore, des-Tyr-soymorphin-5 (PFVV) without μ-opioid and anxiolytic-like activities did not decrease blood glucose levels in KKAy mice. These results suggest that μ-opioid peptide soymorphin-5 improves glucose and lipid metabolism via activation of the adiponectin and PPARα system and subsequent increases of β-oxidation and energy expenditure in KKAy mice.

To improve the mechanical and the thermal performance of poly(lactic acid) materials, this work focuses on the formation of stereo-complex crystals by blending poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) with poly(d-lactic acid) (PDLA). The resulting structure was analyzed using time-resolved in situ X-ray scattering, optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and viscoelastic measurements. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of shear flow imposed prior to crystallization on higher-order structure formation and acceleration of stereo-complex crystal growth of PLLA and PDLA blends using a wide spatial scale analysis and viscoelastic measurements. Density fluctuations of 100 nm scale were observed prior to nucleation by in situ simultaneous wideand small-angle X-ray scattering measurements. These density fluctuations grew with time and the intensity increased with increasing shear rate. Furthermore, the results revealed that the PLLA and PDLA chains were only partially interpenetrated; consequently, stereo-complex crystals could grow only in the mixed PLLA/PDLA phase. The correlation length of density fluctuation prior to nucleation was strongly dependent on the mixed phases.research papers

Ultrathin polymer films bearing tris(2,2‘-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) (Ru) moieties were fabricated by the layer-by-layer deposition technique. The triplet energy migration among the Ru moieties was investigated by emission spectroscopy for quenching of the phosphorescence of the Ru moiety by a ferrocene moiety in heterostructured layer-by-layer films. The absorbance of the Ru moiety in the films increased linearly as the number of bilayers increased, showing a linear growth of the thickness in a scale of nanometers. The quenching efficiency increased as the concentration of the Ru moiety increased. This increase in the efficiency showed that the triplet excitation energy migrates in the Ru layers. The diffusion of the excitation energy was analyzed quantitatively on the basis of one-dimensional diffusion in a finite thickness. A diffusion coefficient of 2 × 10-5 cm2 s-1 was observed in the layer-by-layer films made of a polycation with 18 mol % of Ru moiety. The root mean square of the migration distance was calculated to be 36 nm, which is much longer than a Perrin radius of 1.5 nm for the direct quenching of the Ru moiety by the ferrocene moiety and comparable to that in singlet energy migration. This efficient triplet energy migration shows that the layer-by-layer films serve as a light-harvesting system.

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J. Neurochem. (2012) 122, 356–362. Abstract We found that tryptic digest of ovalbumin after oral (p.o.) and intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration exhibited anxiolytic‐like activity in mice, and then searched for orally active low‐molecular‐weight peptides with anxiolytic‐like activity in the tryptic digest. Val‐Tyr‐Leu‐Pro‐Arg, named ovolin, corresponding to ovalbumin (280‐284), mimicked the anxiolytic‐like activity after p.o. and i.p. administration. The anxiolytic‐like activity of ovolin was inhibited by indomethacin, a cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor, or BWA868C, an antagonist of the DP1 receptor for prostaglandin (PG) D2. Ovolin‐induced anxiolytic‐like activity was also blocked by SCH58261 or bicuculline, antagonists of the adenosine A2A and GABAA receptors, respectively. Ovolin has no affinity for the DP1, A2A and GABAA receptors. Taken together, ovolin may exhibit anxiolytic‐like activity in a manner dependent on the PGD2‐DP1 system coupled to the A2A and GABAA receptors.