Comparison of the NSP4 amino acid sequences from 31 strains of mammalian rotaviruses revealed the presence of four distinct NSP4 alleles; i.e., the Wa, KUN, AU-1, and EW alleles. The EW allele consists only of NSP4s from murine rotavirus strains and is divergent from other NSP4 alleles from the evolutionary perspective. There have been conflicting reports regarding the enterotoxigenic activity of NSP4 in the mouse model system; heterologous simian and porcine rotavirus NSP4s function as an enterotoxin in mice, while a homologous EC NSP4 does not play a dominant role as an enterotoxin in the cystic fibrosis conductance regulator knockout mice. To further examine the enterotoxigenic activity of NSP4, we expressed in Escherichia coli a recombinant protein consisting of glutathione S-transferase and amino acid residues 86-175 of the EW NSP4. We found that this fusion protein caused diarrhea in the majority (8/14) of 5- to 6-day-old CD1 mice. This study confirmed and extended that group A rotavirus NSP4s were able to induce diarrhea in neonatal mice and had an enterotoxigenic activity.

These findings suggest that of five anatomical subregions in the STG, the lateral STG is one of the most meaningful regions for brain pathophysiology in schizophrenia.

Cross neutralization tests with a panel of rotavirus strains representing previously described nine VP7 (G) serotypes revealed that bovine rotavirus strain KK-3, a prototype Japanese bovine serotype 2, belonged to a new serotype (G10), confirming and extending the recent report of Snodgrass et al. [J. Clin. Microbiol. 28: 504-507 (1990)] which showed that hyperimmune serum to the KK-3 strain neutralized the B223 strain, a proposed type strain of G10. Further antigenic characteristics of the KK-3 strain, as well as the 0510 strain (a G6 strain isolated in Japan), were examined in terms of their VP4 (P) specificity. For the characterization of P types, we employed genetic reassortants that possess VP4 gene for UK and VP7 gene for D (G1), VP4 gene for NCDV and VP7 gene for SA11 (G3), or VP4 gene for SA11 and VP7 gene for NCDV (G6) in the plaque reduction neutralization assay with hyperimmune sera against these two Japanese strains and the prototype bovine rotavirus NCDV strain. While the 0510 strain had UK-like P and NCDV-like G types, the KK-3 strain had a distinct set of P and G types. Thus, at least three P types (NCDV-, UK-, and KK-3-like) and two G types (G6 and G10) are present among bovine rotavirus strains.

No abstract

The cerebral cortex of the human brain has a complex morphological structure consisting of folded or smooth cortical surfaces. These morphological features are referred to as cortical gyrification and are characterized by the gyrification index (GI). A number of cortical gyrification studies have been published using the manual tracing GI, automated GI, and local GI in patients with schizophrenia. In this review, we highlighted abnormal cortical gyrification in patients with schizophrenia, first-episode schizophrenia, siblings of patients, and high-risk and at-risk individuals. Previous researches also indicated that abnormalities in cortical gyrification may underlie the severity of clinical symptoms, neurological soft signs, and executive functions. A substantial body of research has been conducted; however, some researches showed an increased GI, which is called as “hypergyria,” and others showed a decreased GI, which is called as “hypogyria.” We discussed that different GI methods and a wide variety of characteristics, such as age, sex, stage, and severity of illness, might be important reasons for the conflicting findings. These issues still need to be considered, and future studies should address them.