Laboratory Animal Center for Biomedical Research

  1. Replication of enterotropic and polytropic murine coronaviruses in cultured cell lines of mouse origin. Exp. Animals, 49(4):251-257, 2000

  2. Herpesvirus papio 2: An alternative antigen for use in monkey B virus diagnosis assays. Lab. Anim. Sci. 49(6):605-616, 1999

  3. Immunological localization and ontogenetic development of inhibin alpha subunit in rat brain. J Neuroendocrinol, 11(3):157-63, 1999
    4. Fujimura H, Ohsawa K, Funaba M, Murata T, Murata E, Takahashi M, Abe M, Torii K
    Abstract: This study examined the immunolocalization and ontogeny of the inhibin-specific alpha subunit in the brain of male rats. Immunohistochemistry using antiserum directed against the mature region of porcine inhibin alpha (1-19, Tyr20) revealed positive reactions in process-bearing cells resembling astroglia in several regions, especially in the dorsal region of the third ventricle, medial and ventral arcuate nucleus, hippocampal dentate gyrus, and layers 1-3 of the cerebral cortex. Generally, inhibin alpha-positive cells in the limbic cortex had larger cell bodies and longer processes than those in the hypothalamus. These inhibin alpha-positive cells were verified to be positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a differentiated astroglial marker, by double immunolabelling. The expression of inhibin alpha mRNA was higher in the brains of neonatal rats than in those of adult rats, as revealed by reverse transcription-competitive polymerase chain reaction, although the similar changes of immunoreactive inhibin alpha subunit in the brain was not observed. Orchiectomy did not affect expression of inhibin alpha mRNA in the hypothalamic area. This study suggests that inhibin-related peptide is produced by differentiated astrocytes, especially in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, the hippocampal dentate gyrus, and the cerebral cortex, and that the expression of inhibin alpha is regulated during brain development

  4. Allogeneic immune responses augment rat cytomegalovirus replication in rats. Transplant Proc; 31(1-2), 1376-7, 1999.
    5. Tamura K, Ohsawa K, Koji T, Watanabe Y, Katamine S, Sato H, Ayabe H

  5. Prevalence of herpes B virus antibody among nonhuman primates reared in the national university of Japan. Exp. Animals, 47(3), 199-202, 1998.
    6. Hiroshi SATO, Jiro ARIKAWA, Masato FURUYA, Junzoh KITOH, Kazuaki MANNEN, Yoshitake NISHIMUNE, Kazutaka OHSAWA, Tadao SERIKAWA, Toshiyuki SHIBAHARA, Yoji WATANABE, Ken-ichi YAGAMI, Hiroshi YAMAMOTO, and Yasuhiro YOSHIKAWA
    Abstract: A serological investigation by means of an enzyme immuno assay test for herpes B virus (cercopithecine herpesvirus 1) was performed on 961sera of healthy nonhuman primates reared in laboratory animal facilities which belong to the Association of Laboratory Animal Facilities of theNational University of Japan. An antibody prevalence of 40% (384/ 961) was demonstrated. The antibody titer was shown to be higher among macaques (60% of cynomolgus monkeys, 53% of rhesus monkeys, and 34% of Japanese monkeys) than among non-macaque species (21%). These data indicate that nonhuman primates reared in animal facilities may present an occupational health problem and a potential zoonotic biohazard as demonstrated in limited cases in the United States.

  6. Genetic characterization of parainfluenza virus 3 derived from guinea pigs. J. Vet. Med. Sci., 60(8), 919-922, 1998.
    7. Ohsawa K, Yamada A, Takeuchi K, Watanabe Y, Miyata H, Sato H

    Abstract: To understand the relationship between novel parainfluenza virus 3 (PIV-3), which has recently been isolated from the lungs of guinea pigs, and other PIV-3 strains, we determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the novel PIV-3 (GPv) genome. A comparison of the nucleotide sequence among PIV-3s, including bovine PIV-3, revealed that GPv is closely related to human PIV-3. The results of the phylogenetic analysis clearly showed that GPv is a lineage of human PIV-3, suggesting that GPv has probably been introduced into guinea pig colonies via infected humans.

  7. Epidemiological characterization of newly recognized rat parvovirus, "rat orphan parvovirus".J. Vet. Med. Sci., 59(4), 265-269, 1997.

  8. Replication of rat coronaviruses in intestinal cell line, RCN-9, derived from F344 rats.
    9. Kazutaka OHSAWA, Yoji WATANABE, Akira TAKAKURA*, Toshio ITOH*, and Hiroshi SATO
    Abstract: To examine the susceptibility of the epithelial cell line to rat coronavirus (RCV), we inoculated sialodacryoadenitis virus and Parker's RCV into five cell lines; JTC-19, rat L2, LLC, RCN-9 and LBC cells originating in the lungs, intestines and mammary tumors of rodents. Both RCVs were replicated in LBC and RCN-9 cells, but not in the others. The infectivity titers of both RCVs grown in RCN-9 cells were significantly higher than those in LBC cells in every passage (2.5-3.9 log rate). Both RCVs replicated in LBC cells showed higher tropism to RCN-9 cells than to LBC cells, suggesting that RCN-9 cells are more suitable for the replication of RCVs than LBC cells. The RCN-9 cell line would be useful for the investigation of RCV infection in rodents. - Exp. Animals, 45(4), 389-393, 1996.

  9. New isolates of pneumonia virus of mice(PVM) from Japanese rat and colonies and their characterization. Exp. Animals, 44(2), 95-105, 1995.

  10. Hantaan virus persistently infects marmoset B-lymphoblastoid cell line.

    11. Kazutaka OHSAWA, Yoji WATANABE, and Hiroshi SATO
    Abstract: To investigate lymphoid cell Hantavirus(HV) infection, we examined the replication of the HV strains, Hantaan 76-118(HTN), SR-11, and B-1 with the B95a, LYM-1, CGM1, JM, Jurkat, MOLT-4, AT(L)5KY, BW5147, L1210, and Vero/E6 cells. HV-growth was determined by immunofluorescence and focus-forming assay. LYM-1 and Vero/E6 supported the growth of all HV strains, and B95a only HTN, while remaining cells did not sustain tese strains. This is the first report to indicate the HV-replication in lymphoid cell lines. B95a and LYM-1 cells may be useful for revealing the mechanism of HV-infection in animals.-     J. Vet. Med. Sci., 57(5), 931-934, 1995.

  11. Accumulation of proteinase K-resistant prion protein(PrP) is restricted by the expression level of normal PrP in mice inoculated with a mouse-adapted strain of the Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease agent. J. Virol., 69(12), 7586-7592, 1995.