The removal of intervening sequences from transcripts is catalyzed by the spliceosome, a multicomponent complex that assembles on the newly synthesized pre-mRNA. Pre-mRNA translation in the cytoplasm leads to the generation of aberrant proteins that are potentially harmful. Therefore, tight control to prevent undesired pre-mRNA export from the nucleus and its subsequent translation is an essential requirement for reliable gene expression. Here, we show that the natural product FR901464 (1) and its methylated derivative, spliceostatin A (2), inhibit in vitro splicing and promote pre-mRNA accumulation by binding to SF3b, a subcomplex of the U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein in the spliceosome. Importantly, treatment of cells with these compounds resulted in leakage of pre-mRNA to the cytoplasm, where it was translated. Knockdown of SF3b by small interfering RNA induced phenotypes similar to those seen with spliceostatin A treatment. Thus, the inhibition of pre-mRNA splicing during early steps involving SF3b allows unspliced mRNA leakage and translation.

Electrocorticography (ECoG) has drawn attention as an effective recording approach for brain-machine interfaces (BMI). Previous studies have succeeded in classifying movement intention and predicting hand trajectories from ECoG. Despite such successes, however, there still remains considerable work for the realization of ECoG-based BMIs as neuroprosthetics. We developed a method to predict multiple muscle activities from ECoG measurements. We also verified that ECoG signals are effective for predicting muscle activities in time varying series when performing sequential movements. ECoG signals were band-pass filtered into separate sensorimotor rhythm bands, z-score normalized, and smoothed with a Gaussian filter. We used sparse linear regression to find the best fit between frequency bands of ECoG and electromyographic activity. The best average correlation coefficient and the normalized root-mean-square error were 0.92±0.06 and 0.06±0.10, respectively, in the flexor digitorum profundus finger muscle. The δ (1.5∼4Hz) and γ2 (50∼90Hz) bands contributed significantly more strongly than other frequency bands (P<0.001). These results demonstrate the feasibility of predicting muscle activity from ECoG signals in an online fashion.

Enrofloxacin has been increasingly used in veterinary medicine to treat microbial infections. A simple and reliable analytical method for this drug is required. The current determination by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is sensitive but labor-intensive. This paper reports an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a monoclonal antibody (MAb) and the development of a rapid test kit based on immunochromatography. The detection limits using the ELISA were 10 ppb for chicken liver and muscle, and 1 ppb for cattle milk, respectively. The mean recovery values were 77.3-96.0% for chicken liver, 72.4-92.0% for chicken muscle and 84.0-99.0% for cattle milk. The detection limits using the kit were ca. 100 ppb for chicken muscle and ca. 10 ppb for cattle milk, respectively. All ELISA results for assay of chicken liver, chicken muscle and cattle milk were confirmed using HPLC which is used as the routine assay. The HPLC (x) and ELISA (y) results showed close correlation for chicken liver (y = 8.7 + 0.85x, r2 = 0.99, n = 25), chicken muscle (y = -3.9 + 0.94x, r2 = 0.98, n = 25) and cattle milk (y = 18.4 + 0.92x, r2 = 0.99, n = 25).

Summary:Purpose: To evaluate antibody-mediated and cytotoxic T cell-mediated pathogenicity that has been implicated as the autoimmune pathophysiological mechanism in Rasmussen's encephalitis.Methods: We examined autoantibodies against the N-methyl-