ALBERT

Description: The caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, play multiple roles in apoptosis, inflammation, and cellular differentiation. Caspase-8 (Casp8), which was first identified in humans, functions as an initiator caspase in the apoptotic signaling mediated by cell-surface death receptors. To understand the evolution of function in the Casp8 protein family, casp8 orthologs were identified from a comprehensive range of vertebrates and invertebrates, including sponges and cnidarians, and characterized at both the gene and protein levels. Some introns have been conserved from cnidarians to mammals, but both losses and gains have also occurred; a new intron arose during teleost evolution, whereas in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis , the casp8 gene is intronless and is organized in an operon with a neighboring gene. Casp8 activities are near ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom. Exogenous expression of a representative range of nonmammalian Casp8 proteins in cultured mammalian cells induced cell death, implying that these proteins possess proapoptotic activity. The cnidarian Casp8 proteins differ considerably from their bilaterian counterparts in terms of amino acid residues in the catalytic pocket, but display the same substrate specificity as human CASP8, highlighting the complexity of spatial structural interactions involved in enzymatic activity. Finally, it was confirmed that the interaction with an adaptor molecule, Fas-associated death domain protein, is also evolutionarily ancient. Thus, despite structural diversity and cooption to a variety of new functions, the ancient origins and near ubiquitous distribution of this activity across the animal kingdom emphasize the importance and utility of Casp8 as a central component of the metazoan molecular toolkit.

Description: Analyses of dense seismic records in Kanto, Japan, revealed distinct pulse broadening and peak delay of high-frequency S waves at central Chiba. These phenomena are observed at frequency range of 1–8 Hz and exist only for ray paths passing through the low-velocity (LV) zone at depth of 20–40 km beneath northwestern Chiba. To obtain a more detailed understanding of these phenomena, we conducted 2-D and 3-D finite difference method simulations of seismic wave propagation using a realistic heterogeneous structure model. Through numerous simulations we demonstrated that strong seismic scattering, due to localized strong small-scale heterogeneities in the LV zone and in the oceanic crust, is a major cause of strong pulse broadening and peak delay of high-frequency S waves. After comparing simulation results with observations, the most preferable small-scale velocity heterogeneity in the LV zone is characterized by a Gaussian power spectral density function (PSDF) with correlation distance a of 1–2 km and rms value  = 0.07–0.09, superposed on a background exponential PSDF ( a  = 3 km,  = 0.07). Assuming strong velocity heterogeneities, observed amplitude decay at Chiba is also well explained by strong scattering attenuation in the LV zone. Because the LV zone, which has been reported by seismic tomography studies, is interpreted as being constructed by the dehydration of the subducting oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea Plate, strong small-scale velocity heterogeneity in the LV zone may be related to the random distribution of fluid in this volume.