Sparid fishes consist of approximately 115 species in 33 genera that are broadly distributed in tropical and temperate coastal waters. Although several phylogenetic analyses were conducted based on specific molecular markers, their classification remains unresolved. Here, we present the most comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the family Sparidae to date, based on cytochrome b (cyt-b) genes. We determined 18 sequences of sparids and conducted phylogenetic analyses among 72 individuals representing 66 sparids with 23 outgroup species. Phylogenetic trees were constructed according to partitioned Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian methods. The phylogenetic analyses were conducted on two different data sets (including all positions; RY-coding). The phylogenetic trees showed monophyly of the family Sparidae with a different taxon, centracanthid Spicara. The subfamilies in the Sparidae in all trees are non-monophyletic and do not agree with current classification of the subfamilies. The genera Acanthopagrus, Cheimerius, Dentex, Diplodus, Pagellus, Pagrus, and Spicara are also non-monophyletic and their classifications should be revised based on the phylogenetic relationships and reinvestigation of morphological characters. The sparids are divided into three major clades, A, B and C, respectively in the ML tree based on all codon positions, whereas clade C was paraphyletic in the other trees. The species in clade C are known to be present in the eastern Pacific to western Atlantic, whereas those in clades A and B are distributed in various oceanic regions. Some sub-clades in clades A and B consist of species that are distributed in defined local regions. We further investigated evolutionary patterns of 87 morphological characters by ancestral character-state reconstruction according to the parsimony criteria. The results suggested high evolutionary plasticity of the characters in sparids, indicating that it causes species-diversity and taxonomic confusion at various taxonomic levels, and that such convergent evolution may occur more frequently also in other coastal fishes.

Osteopontin (OPN), a noncollagenous adhesive protein, may possibly be implicated in atherosclerosis, in which macrophages and activated T lymphocytes could have higher OPN levels within the atherosclerotic plaques. However, it is not known whether a higher OPN level is a cause or a result of atherosclerosis or whether it has a promoting or inhibitory effect on atherosclerosis. To clarify the role of OPN in atherosclerosis, we developed a transgenic mouse (OPN-TG) in which the exogenous OPN gene was designed to be expressed by hematopoietic cells, expressing OPN, which carried the immunoglobulin enhancer (Emu)/SV40 promoter. In OPN-TG, the expression of exogenously transfected OPN RNA was found in lymphoid organs, such as the thymus and spleen, and the kidney. In the present study, OPN-TG mice were assigned into two groups, an atherogenic diet group (15% fat, 1.25% cholesterol) for 3 months or a standard diet group (4% fat), and both groups were compared with wild-type C57BL/6 mice to investigate the relationship between osteopontin and the atherosclerotic lesion. In wild-type mice, OPN mRNA was detected in kidney, but not in lymphoid tissues. In both OPN-TG and wild-type mice fed with control diets, atherosclerotic lesions were not found in the aortic sinus or the thoracic and abdominal aorta. In both OPN-TG and wild-type mice fed with atherogenic diets, a high incidence of atherosclerotic lesions was noted in the aortic sinus. The atherosclerotic lesions were significantly larger in OPN-TG as compared with those in control littermate mice (size: 33.8% +/- 23.4% vs. 10.9% +/- 20.4%, respectively, P < 0.05). Activated foamy macrophages within atherosclerotic plaque in OPN-TG expressed a considerably larger amount of OPN compared with such macrophages in control mice. The OPN protein detected in the atherosclerotic lesions was not due to the deposition of serum OPN, but mainly due to in situ production by the infiltrating macrophages. Thus, these results suggest that OPN is atherogenic and that macrophages expressing OPN can be easily activated and thus promote atheromatous lesions if a high fat diet is consumed.

Therapy with valsartan may have adverse effects on survival rate concomitant with the progression of cardiac remodeling owing to impaired VEGF-mediated angiogenesis. Therapy with enalapril has a neutral effect on VEGF-mediated angiogenesis, leading to the suppression of cardiac remodeling and an increase in life expectancy.

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Alginate lyase (EC 4.2.2.3) is an enzyme that splits glycosyl linkages of alginate chain via -elimination producing unsaturated oligoalginates.This enzyme is widely distributed in herbivorous marine mollusks, brown algae, and marine and soil bacteria. In the present study, we determined the general properties and partial amino-acid sequences of alginate lyases from three Archeogastropoda, i.e., Haliotis discus hannai, H. iris, and Omphalius rusticus, and one Mesogastropoda, i.e., Littorina brevicula, in order to enrich the information about functional and structural diversity in gastropod alginate lyases.The alginate lyases were extracted from hepatopancreas of these animals and purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation followed by conventional column