The “densities” of mast cells (MCs) in six kinds of vascular proliferation, pyogenic granuloma, portwine stain, cavernous hemangioma, cherry angioma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and malignant ...hemangioendothelioma (MHE), measured per mm2 were studied using respective specimens prepared with tryptase stain and a personal computer. The average densities of MCs in pyogenic granuloma and MHE were 103.5 ± 25.2/mm2 (n=10) and 106.3 ± 40.2/mm2 (n=10) mean ± standard deviation (SD); that in normal skin was 6.85 ± 4.9/mm2 (n=20) (mean ± SD). is a significant difference t‐test (p<0.0001) and Wilcoxon‐test (p<0.01). The results in portwine stain (n=4), cavernous hemangioma (n=9), cherry angioma (n=4), and Kaposi's sarcoma (n=4) were 68.6 ± 28.9/mm2, 105.7 ± 56.9/mm2, 85.3 ± 45.6/mm2, 82.2 ± 28.4/mm2 (mean ± SD), respectively, all of which were greater than that in normal skin by a simple comparison. The results of immunofluorescence microscopy were positive with basic fibroblast growth factor staining in the tissues of pyogenic granuloma, Kaposi's sarcoma and MHE. These facts may morphologically indicate a role of MCs in the angiogenesis of these vascular tumors.
We have analyzed adsorbed proteins on the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) to clarify the relationship between nonthrombogenic materials and adsorbed proteins. Heparin was immobilized in situ ...onto the blood contacting surfaces of the blood pump made by polyurethane. Heparinized pumps were evaluated using a sheep chronic LVAD model. After the retrieval, the blood contacting surfaces were analyzed by SEM. The adsorbed protein layer on the diaphragm was thicker than the other sites in all pumps. The thickness of the adsorbed proteins on the diaphragm was measured by TEM and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). The thickness of the adsorbed protein on the heparinized pump was thinner than that of the control. Anti factor Xa activity on the diaphragm of the heparinized pump almost disappeared after 3days implantation. SDS-PAGE of extract of adsorbed proteins on the diaphragm showed the band of 110kd only in the control. Immunoblot showed the degradation of fibronectin and vitronectin in both surfaces, however the heparinized surface showed much less protein degradation compared with the control. Fibrinogen adsorption on the heparinized pump was also much less than that of the control. These results suggest that the heparin moiety itself has an ability to control adsorbed proteins, thereby inhibits thrombus formation even after the heparin bioactivity was completely lost in in vlvo long term implantation.
An overexpression of plasma membrane glycoprotein with a relative molecular mass (Mr) of 170,000-180,000 is consistently found in different multidrug-resistant human and animal cell lines, although ...the functional role of the protein in multidrug resistance is not fully understood. It has been reported previously that the Mr 170,000-180,000 glycoprotein is involved, directly or indirectly, in the drug transport mechanism and the proliferation of multidrug-resistant tumor cells. In an attempt to clarify further the function of the Mr 170,000-180,000 glycoprotein, we have studied the phosphorylation state of the protein in intact K562/ADM cells and found that: the protein is phosphorylated in the basal state; verapamil and trifluoperazine, which inhibit the active drug efflux and restore drug sensitivity in resistant cells, caused an increase in the phosphorylation of the Mr 170,000-180,000 glycoprotein; 4 beta-phorbol 12 beta-myristate 13 alpha-acetate and 1-oleoyl 2-acetylglycerol enhanced phosphorylation of the protein; the protein was phosphorylated at serine residues; tryptic phosphopeptide mapping of the Mr 170,000-180,000 glycoprotein showed that 4 beta-phorbol 12 beta-myristate 13 alpha-acetate treatment induced an increase in phosphorylation at different sites of the protein from those induced by verapamil or trifluoperazine treatment, suggesting that the protein is phosphorylated by an array of complex regulation mechanisms. Phosphorylation of the Mr 170,000-180,000 glycoprotein might play a role in the regulation of processes affecting cellular function in multidrug resistance.
X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is a humoral immunodeficiency caused by disruption of the Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) gene. Typical XLA patients suffer recurrent and severe bacterial infections ...in childhood.
Flow cytometric analysis of the peripheral monocytes using the anti-BTK antibody was used to characterize a 27 year old male patient with mild hypogammaglobulinemia (IgG, 635 mg/dl; IgM, 11 mg/dl; IgA, <5 mg/dl). He had suffered from frequent pneumonia since age 25 but had no history of frequent infections in his childhood or in adolescence. Sequencing of the BTK cDNA obtained from an Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell line derived from the bone marrow of the patient was performed to confirm a genetic defect.
Flow cytometric analysis of cytoplasmic BTK protein in peripheral monocytes indicated that the patient presents a rare case of adult-onset XLA and that his mother is an XLA carrier. Sequencing of the BTK gene revealed a deletion of AG in the codon for Glu605 (AGT), resulting in an aberrant stop codon that truncates the BTK protein in its kinase domain.
This case suggests that some XLA cases may remain undiagnosed because they only show mild hypogammaglobulinemia and they lack repeated infections in childhood. Flow cytometric analysis is a powerful method to screen these patients.
A frequency-domain (FD) uniform asymptotic solution (FD-UAS) is briefly proposed for a scattered electric field by a two-dimensional (2-D) coated conducting cylinder. We assume that the thickness of ...a coating medium is thin as compared with the wavelength of a cylindrical wave radiated from an electric line source. The FD-UAS is valid for a source point and/or an observation point located either near a coating surface or in a far-zone. The validity of the FD-UAS is confirmed by comparing with the exact solution and the conventional uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) solution.
The authors have evaluated blood compatibility of in situ heparin immobilized and sulfonated polyurethane (PU) using our epifluorescent video microscopy (EVM) combined with parallel plate flow ...chamber. EVM system measured the amount of adhered platelet on the surface under the flow of human whole blood containing mepacrine labelled platelets perfused at a wall shear rate of 100/sec every one minute intervals for 20min. Platelet activation (β-TG) and complement activation (C3a) were also measured. Both heparin immobilized and sulfonatedPUs showed significantly lower levels of platelet adhesion than the control PU.The β-TG levels of these modified PUs also correspond to the results of the platelet adhesion. As for the complement activation, while sulfonated PU and the control PIP showed a higher levels of complement activation. In situ surface modification techniques, which utilize either ozone oxidation or photo reaction are useful in a variety of medical devices even of a complex design, such as a membrane oxygenator or artificial heart.
The linear proportional solenoid (LPS) is an actuator for a proportional control valve used in hydraulic pressure-control devices. The LPS must have a constant thrust over a designated displacement ...range, and the thrust must also increase in proportion to the exciting current. This paper deals with the effect of using dither to remove hysteresis phenomena, and describes numerical solutions for the thrust F and displacement x, which are characteristics of the LPS. Dither is a useful small-amplitude oscillation which is introduced to overcome the effect of hysteresis. When dither is applied, the maximum hysteresis of the thrust is decreased from 6% to 3%. The LPS consists of four different magnetic materials, and its F-x characteristic was calculated by the finite element method (FEM). The calculated F-x characteristics approximated the measured results to within an error of 2%. A newly proposed LPS, which maintains constant thrust over a broader range, is also described.
The tumor suppressor protein p53 contributes to the control of cell cycle checkpoints and stress-induced apoptosis and is frequently mutated in many different types of human cancers. The COOH ...terminus of p53 modulates the transcriptional and apoptotic activities of the protein. Although COOH-terminal mutants of p53 are uncommon, we proposed that these p53 mutants nevertheless contributed to the selective clonal expansion of the cancer cells. Therefore, we analyzed the tumor-derived p53 COOH-terminal domain (CTD) mutants (352D/H, 356G/W, 342-stop, 360-del, and 387-del) functionally. The results have revealed that all mutants have impaired apoptotic activity when compared with wild-type p53. However, some of these mutants still transcriptionally transactivate p21Waf/Cip1 and inhibit cell growth. Interestingly, of the tumor-derived CTD mutants, oligomerization-defective mutant 342-stop was the only one that did not exhibit sequence-specific DNA binding or failed to transactivate p21Waf1/Cip1, Bax, and IGF-BP3 transcriptionally. The failure to inhibit cell growth by this tumor-derived CTD mutant supports the hypothesis that p53 sequence-specific transcriptional transactivity to p21Waf1/Cip1 is correlated with induction of cell cycle arrest and that the p53 transcriptional transactivity requires oligomerization of the p53 protein. These and other data indicate that the CTD of p53 is an important component of p53-mediated apoptosis and cell growth arrest and that inactivation of the apoptotic function, but not the inhibition of growth, is an important step during human tumorigenesis.
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