Precise Fractionation of CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dot-Organic-Dye Conjugates Using a Gel Filtration Column.

Conjugates of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and organic dyes have been receiving attention as fluorescence biological sensing materials. In designing such sensors, a most important parameter is the number of organic-dye molecules that conjugate to a QD. If a precise separation method was developed, it might be possible to control conjugation without knowing the exact number of conjugated dye molecules per QD.

CdSe/ZnS quantum dots conjugated with a fluorescein derivative: a FRET-based pH sensor for physiological alkaline conditions.

Dual pH-dependent fluorescence peaks from a semiconductor quantum dot (QD) and a pH-dependent fluorescent dye can be measured by irradiating with a single wavelength light, and the pH can be estimated from the ratio of the fluorescent intensity of the two peaks. In this work, ratiometric pH sensing was achieved in an aqueous environment by a fluorescent CdSe/ZnS QD appended with a pH-sensitive organic dye, based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). By functionalizing the CdSe/ZnS QD with 5-(and 6)-carboxynaphthofluorescein succinimidyl ester as a pH-dependent fluorescent dye, we succeeded in fabricating sensitive nanocomplexes with a linear response to a broad range of physiological pH levels (7.

Preparation of organic light-emitting diode using coal tar pitch, a low-cost material, for printable devices.

We have identified coal tar pitch, a very cheap organic material made from coal during the iron-making process, as a source from which could be obtained emissive molecules for organic light-emitting diodes. Coal tar pitch was separated by simple dissolution in organic solvent, and subsequent separation by preparative thin-layer chromatography was used to obtain emissive organic molecules. The retardation factor of preparative thin-layer chromatography played a major role in deciding the emission characteristics of the solution as photoluminescence spectra and emission-excitation matrix spectra could be controlled by modifying the solution preparation method.

Etiology and clinical study of community-acquired pneumonia in 157 hospitalized children.

We tried to verify whether the currently employed diagnosis and treatment of community-acquired pneumonia in children were appropriate. For this purpose, we created tentative criteria for the classification of pediatric community-acquired pneumonia. We classified the community-acquired pneumonia into ten categories: (1) bacterial, (2) concomitant viral-bacterial, (3) viral, (4) mycoplasmal, (5) concomitant mycoplasmal-bacterial, (6) concomitant mycoplasmal-viral, (7) chlamydial, (8) concomitant chlamydial-bacterial, (9) concomitant chlamydial-viral, and (10) unknown.

Primary pancreatic plasmacytoma.

We report an extremely rare case of primary pancreatic plasmacytoma. A 56-year-old man had a 4-cm mass in the pancreatic tail and received distal pancreatectomy. This mass mainly consisted of plasma cells, but we failed to demonstrate their monoclonality in spite of the immunohistological staining.

Combination of alpha-fetoprotein mRNA-based detection of hematogenously disseminating hepatocellular carcinoma cells and analysis of cancer cell membrane fluidity is more accurate in screening patients at risk of postoperative recurrence.

We developed an mRNA-based, highly specific and sensitive method to detect hepatocellular carcinoma cells present in blood. However, the reason for some patients being positive for blood analysis and negative for recurrence has yet to be found. We recently established a method to measure membrane fluidity of hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and used it to analyze the actual membrane fluidity of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

[Simultaneous determination of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables by GC/MS (SCAN mode) and HPLC].

A method was developed for simultaneous determination of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables. Residues were extracted from samples with acetonitrile, followed by a salting-out step and a partitioning step with n-hexane at the same time. Co-extractives were removed with ENVI-Carb/LC-NH2 mini-column cleanup.

Efficacy of Stronger Neo-Minophagen C compared between two doses administered three times a week on patients with chronic viral hepatitis.

Background: A daily injection of glycyrrhizin (Stronger Neo-Minophagen C (SNMC) containing 40 mg glycyrrhizin in a 20 mL ampoule) lowers alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in patients with chronic viral hepatitis.

Methods: The therapeutic effects of intermittent administration of SNMC three times a week for 12 weeks were evaluated and compared between two doses (40 and 100 mL) in a randomized clinical trial.

Results: Overall, the therapeutic response was better in the 53 patients allocated 100 mL than the 59 who were allocated to have 40 mL SNMC (P = 0.

Successive cultures of mature hepatocytes for hepatocyte autotransplantation to assist liver function after liver resection for cancer.

We developed a method for the rapid successive cultures of adult rat mature hepatocytes on plastic dishes while avoiding viral transformation or co-culture with other cell lines. This method also allows for culturing adult human mature hepatocytes up to the secondary culture. These can be expected to provide a good source for hepatocyte autotransplantation, and, combined with the previously reported methods for the transplantation of hepatocytes into the spleen, a promising option for the support of liver function after liver resection for cancer without the need for immunosuppressive agents.

E-cadherin, alpha-catenin and beta-catenin in biliary atresia: correlation with apoptosis and cell cycle.

Biliary atresia (BA) is the most common cause of obstructive jaundice in infancy. Although the etiology of BA remains unknown, the ductal plate malformation has been considered to play an important role in the development of BA. Cell-cell adhesion has long been recognized as one of the most important processes in organogenesis.

Cytokeratin subtypes in biliary atresia: immunohistochemical study.

The etiology of biliary atresia (BA) remains unknown, but ductal-plate malformation and insufficient ductal-plate remodeling have been suggested to play important roles, so it is beneficial to examine the maturation and differentiation of bile ducts in BA. Different epithelial types are characterized by the expression of specific cytokeratin (CK) subtypes. CK can therefore serve as a 'lineage marker' of epithelial cells.

Membrane fluidity correlates with liver cancer cell proliferation and infiltration potential.

We developed a method to measure membrane fluidity of living cancer cells in two- and three-dimensional cultures, and found that there was a close relationship between the membrane fluidity of cancer cells and their proliferative and infiltrative ability. Membrane fluidity is thus a promising indicator of the probability of cancer recurrence.

CD8+ T cells infiltrating into bile ducts in biliary atresia do not appear to function as cytotoxic T cells: a clinicopathological analysis.

It is speculated that immune mechanisms are involved in bile duct damage in biliary atresia (BA), as in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). In BA, however, no reports have described the in situ distribution of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) using specific markers, nor has the clinical association been clarified. The present study describes the immunohistochemical distribution of CD8+ T cells and the relevant markers [perforin, granzyme B, FasL (CD95L)] in 47 cases of BA operated upon at days 12-79.

Intrahepatic mast cell population correlates with clinical outcome in biliary atresia.

Purpose: To determine if mast cells influence the clinical outcome in biliary atresia (BA), the authors examined the intrahepatic mast cell population in BA.

Methods: Mast cells were identified histochemically using Toludin Blue and immunohistochemically using antimast cell tryptase antibody in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections from 21 cases of BA. Patients were divided into 3 groups; group I (n = 8) with good liver function, group II (n = 8) with moderate liver dysfunction, and group III (n = 5) with severe liver dysfunction.

In situ expression of fibrogenic growth factors and their receptors in biliary atresia: comparison between early and late stages.

Progressive fibrosis, despite successful surgical treatment, is one of the serious complications of biliary atresia. To understand the mechanism of this fibrosis, the in situ expression of fibrogenic growth factors (TGF-beta and PDGF) and their corresponding receptors was studied by immunohistochemistry using frozen sections. The results were compared between the early (n=12) and late (n=6) stages.

Immunohistochemistry of DNA fragmentation factor in human stomach and colon: its correlation to apoptosis.

DNA fragmentation factor (DFF) is an important factor in the pathway leading to apoptosis, which is activated by caspase-3 and is involved in the formation of nuclear DNA fragments. DFF is a heterodimic protein of 40kDa and 45kDa that becomes activated when DFF is cleaved by caspase-3. Of the two enzymatically cleaved fragments of DFF, it is the 40kDa fragment (DFF40) that is the active component of DFF and is responsible for triggering chromatin condensation when incubated with nuclei.

Perioperative quantitative analysis of cytokeratin 20 mRNA in peripheral venous blood of patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Hematogenous dissemination is a significant short-coming of colorectal carcinoma treatment. To screen patients with high risk for such blood-borne metastasis, we previously developed a highly sensitive system for the detection of cytokeratin 20 (CK-20) mRNA in blood. For a more practical application, we improved this system by making it quantitative and capable of analyzing peripheral venous blood for the detection of perioperative changes in CK-20 mRNA.

Apoptosis and cell proliferation in biliary atresia.

Biliary atresia (BA), which is thought to result from progressive destruction of the bile ducts by a necroinflammatory process, is the most common cause of obstructive jaundice in infancy. Abnormalities in the cell turnover of remodelling ductal plates are considered one of the important aetiological factors in this disorder, but little work has been done on this topic. Programmed cell death or apoptosis was therefore examined by TdT-mediated dUTP biotin nick end labelling (TUNEL) and cell proliferation by Ki67 immunostaining in 34 cases of BA.

Quantitative analysis of alpha-fetoprotein mRNA in circulating peripheral blood of patients with hepatocellular and alpha-fetoprotein-producing gastric carcinomas.

In conjunction with strategies introduced in recent years to identify cancer micrometastasis through amplification of cancer-associated mRNA, we developed a highly sensitive system to detect alpha-fetoprotein mRNA in circulating peripheral blood of hepatocellular carcinoma patients. The aim of the present study was to make our original system quantitative. Peripheral venous blood from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and alpha-fetoprotein-producing gastric carcinoma was subjected to reverse transcription followed by our original three-step polymerase chain reaction co-amplifying both the original sequence and our synthetic competitor.

Cytokeratin 20 mRNA in peripheral venous blood of colorectal carcinoma patients.

A highly sensitive system was previously developed by us to detect the presence of colorectal carcinoma cells in blood in the form of cytokeratin 20 (CK20) mRNA. In the present study, we used an improved version of this system to analyse the peripheral blood of 28 patients with colorectal carcinoma, five patients with non-cancerous intestinal diseases and six normal controls for the presence or absence of CK20 mRNA and to investigate the relationship between the mRNA results and prognosis. All eight patients with recurrence were positive for CK20 mRNA, as were four patients in the Dukes' C stage with either distant metastasis or dissemination.

Quantitative analysis of carcinoembryonic antigen messenger RNA in peripheral venous blood and portal blood of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

One major therapeutic failure of pancreatic adenocarcinoma treatment is metastasis to the liver. To screen patients with high risk for such hematogenous dissemination, we previously developed a very sensitive system to detect carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in blood. For a more practical application, we improved this system by making it quantitative and capable of analyzing both preoperative peripheral blood and intraoperative portal blood for the presence of CEA mRNA.

Continuous hepatocyte growth factor supply prevents lipopolysaccharide-induced liver injury in rats.

We present a rat model in which continuous supply of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) prevents liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and E. coli 011:B4 lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Rat fibroblasts genetically modified to secrete rat HGF were implanted in syngenic rat spleen 7 days before administration of the hepatotoxins.

Hematogenous spreading of hepatocellular carcinoma cells: possible participation in recurrence in the liver.

To detect hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells in the circulating peripheral blood, we previously designed a highly sensitive reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method targeting alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) messenger RNA (mRNA). Using this method, we analyzed peripheral blood of in- and out-patients bearing HCC for 2 months consecutively and examined the outcome thereafter. All 11 patients with recurrence either in the liver alone or in both the liver and the lung were positive for AFP mRNA.

Detection of colorectal carcinoma cells in circulating peripheral blood by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction targeting cytokeratin-20 mRNA.

For the detection of circulating colorectal carcinoma cells, we investigated the presence of cytokeratin 20 (CK 20) mRNA in the peripheral blood of colorectal carcinoma patients. Application of our published technique resulted in analysis by reverse transcription followed by three-step nested polymerase chain reaction. This analysis could detect a single Colo 205 colon cancer cell mixed with 1 ml of blood.