Seasonal and vertical changes in abundances of bacteria and heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF), and HNF grazing on bacteria were investigated in a small eutrophic inlet of Uranouchi-Wan throughout the years. Bacterial densities in the surface water ranged from 1.2 to 11 (average 4.3) × 106 cells ml–1 with a couple of maxima following the algal blooming. Densities of HNF ranged from 0.54 to 73 ...

often involved in tumorigenesis. Recent exhaustive cDNA microarray analyses in human neoplasms expanded knowledge of such molecules. Hepatocyte nuclear factor-1ß (HNF-1ß) is a homeobox transcription factor that functions as a homodimer or heterodimer with HNF-1α. In contrast to HNF-1α, HNF-1ß is very weakly expressed in the liver and is commonly expressed in the kidneys. During human embryonic ...

Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (HNF-4) is a key member of the transcription factor network regulating hepatocyte differentiation and function. Activation of the HNF-4 gene involves physical interaction between a distant enhancer and the proximal promoter region, bound by distinct sets of transcription factors. Here we report that, upon mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activation, HNF-4 expre...

Recent studies reported comparatively lower heterotrophic bacteria (HB) abundances in tropical regions, indicating that factors involved in bacterial losses could be more relevant in the tropics. Heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF) are considered the main predators of HB in aquatic ecosystems, and one should expect higher abundances in the tropics because of differences in the food web configur...

Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) is involved in the transfer of triglycerides, cholesterol esters, and phospholipids to newly synthesized apolipoprotein (apo) B. It is therefore essential for lipoprotein synthesis and secretion in the liver and the small intestine. Although several recent experiments have revealed the transcriptional regulation of the MTP gene, little has been rev...

OBJECTIVE — Mutations in the highly homologous transcription factors hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1 and -1 cause maturity-onset diabetes of the young types 3 and 5, respectively. Diabetes due to HNF-1 mutations is well characterized. However, physiological assessment of the HNF-1 phenotype is limited. We aimed to test the hypothesis that the diabetes phenotype due to HNF-1 mutations is simil...

Maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY) 3 is a monogenic form of diabetes caused by mutations in the transcription factor hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1 alpha. We investigated the involvement of apoptotic events in INS-1 insulinoma cells overexpressing wild-type HNF-1 alpha (WT-HNF-1 alpha) or a dominant-negative mutant (DN-HNF-1 alpha) under control of a doxycycline-dependent transcript...

The transcription factors that act in hepatocyte-specific gene expression include proteins that are present mainly in liver cells (HNF-1/LFB1, C/EBP, HNF-3, HNF-4) (HNF, hepatocyte nuclear factor; C/EBP, rat enhancer binding protein) and proteins that are widely distributed (AP-1, NF-1, NF-Y/ACF). We show here that the genes encoding each of these liver-enriched factors exhibit different patter...

Heterozygous mutations in the transcription factors hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1 and -1 result in MODY (maturity-onset diabetes of the young). Despite structural similarity between HNF-1 and -1 , HNF-1 mutation carriers have hyperinsulinemia, whereas HNF-1 mutation carriers have normal or reduced insulin concentrations. We examined whether HNF-1 mutation carriers are insulin resistant. The...