Pressure-induced structural change of intermediate-range order in poly(4-methyl-1-pentene) melt.

High-pressure in situ x-ray diffraction and specific-volume measurements on isotactic poly(4-methyl-1-pentene) melt have uncovered abrupt changes in the pressure dependence of microscopic structure as well as that of macroscopic density. The first sharp diffraction peak of the polymer melt, which is related to the intermediate-range order and is explained as resulting from the correlations between main chains, is suppressed at pressures less than 1 kbar. These changes in intermediate-range order show similarities to those seen in liquid-liquid or amorphous-amorphous transitions in simpler small molecule based systems, suggesting that this kind of phenomenon may occur in a wide range of materials.

The structure of liquid SnTe under pressure.

We investigated the structure of liquid SnTe at high pressures up to 8.2 GPa by energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction. On melting at low pressures, the crystalline B1 structure changed into not B1-like but distorted-B1-like local structure.

Pressure dependence of the structure of liquid copper halides.

X-ray diffraction of liquid CuI, CuBr and CuCl has been measured up to 19 GPa using synchrotron radiations. Static structure factor S(Q) and pair distribution function g(r) were obtained. For liquid CuI, CuBr and CuCl, S(Q) and g(r) change their shapes continuously with increasing pressure, indicating anisotropic compression of the local structures.

The camptothecin derivative CPT-11 inhibits angiogenesis in a dual-color imageable orthotopic metastatic nude mouse model of human colon cancer.

Recent studies have shown the expression of a stem cell marker protein, nestin, in nascent blood vessels in nestin-driven green fluorescent protein (ND-GFP) transgenic nude mice. In the present study, we visualized tumor angiogenesis and evaluated the antiangiogenic efficacy of CPT-11 in ND-GFP nude mice using dual-color fluorescence imaging. We orthotopically implanted ND-GFP nude mice with the human cancer cell line HCT-116 expressing red fluorescent protein (RFP).

In vivo color-coded imaging of the interaction of colon cancer cells and splenocytes in the formation of liver metastases.

The role of host cells in tumor progression and metastasis is critical. Intrasplenic injection of tumor cells has long been known as an effective method of developing liver metastases in nude mice, whereas portal vein (PV) injection of tumor cells can result in rapid death of the tumor cells. Host cells were thought to play a role in these phenomena.

Visualization of nascent tumor angiogenesis in lung and liver metastasis by differential dual-color fluorescence imaging in nestin-linked-GFP mice.

Nestin regulatory-element-driven green fluorescent protein (ND-GFP) transgenic mice highly express GFP in proliferating endothelial cells and nascent blood vessels. In the present study, we visualized angiogenesis in experimental lung and liver metastases by GFP imaging in the ND-GFP transgenic mice. The murine melanoma cell line, B16F10 expressing red fluorescent protein (RFP), was injected i.

Tumor cells genetically labeled with GFP in the nucleus and RFP in the cytoplasm for imaging cellular dynamics.

Dual-color fluorescent cells with one color fluorescent protein in the nucleus and another color fluorescent protein in the cytoplasm were genetically engineered. The dual-color cancer cells enable real-time nuclear-cytoplasmic dynamics to be visualized in living cells in vivo as well as in vitro. To obtain the dual-color cells, red fluorescent protein (RFP) was expressed in the cytoplasm of a series of human and rodent cancer cells, and green fluorescent protein (GFP) linked to histone H2B was expressed in the nucleus.

Common bile duct injection as a novel method for establishing red fluorescent protein (RFP)-expressing human pancreatic cancer in nude mice.

Context: In our previous pancreatic cancer mouse models, we have used surgical orthotopic implantation of human pancreatic tumors to establish clinically relevant fluorescent mouse models of pancreatic cancer.

Objective: Since exocrine pancreatic cancer is thought to arise from the cells lining the ducts of the pancreas, we hypothesized that direct injection of tumor cells into the common bile duct would also result in pancreatic tumor formation and metastasis.

Intervention: In this study we injected a suspension of the low passage human pancreatic cancer cell line xPA-1 transfected with red fluorescent protein into the common bile duct of nude mice.

Dual-color imaging of nascent blood vessels vascularizing pancreatic cancer in an orthotopic model demonstrates antiangiogenesis efficacy of gemcitabine.

Background: The stem cell marker nestin recently has been shown to be expressed in nascent blood vessels in nestin-driven green fluorescent protein (ND-GFP) transgenic nude mice.

Materials And Methods: In the present study, we visualized by dual-color fluorescence imaging tumor angiogenesis in the ND-GFP transgenic nude mice after orthotopic transplantation of the MIA PaCa-2 human pancreatic cancer line expressing red fluorescent protein. Mice were treated with gemcitabine at 150 mg/kg/dose on days 3, 6, 10, and 13 after tumor implantation.

Dual-color imaging of nuclear-cytoplasmic dynamics, viability, and proliferation of cancer cells in the portal vein area.

We used dual-color in vivo cellular imaging to visualize trafficking, nuclear-cytoplasmic dynamics, and the viability of cancer cells after their injection into the portal vein of mice. For these studies, we used dual-color fluorescent cancer cells that express green fluorescent protein (GFP) linked to histone H2B in the nucleus and retroviral red fluorescent protein (RFP) in the cytoplasm. Human HCT-116-GFP-RFP colon cancer and mouse mammary tumor (MMT) cells were HCT-116-GFP-RFP in the portal vein of nude mice.

Real-time in vivo dual-color imaging of intracapillary cancer cell and nucleus deformation and migration.

The mechanism of cancer cell deformation and migration in narrow vessels is incompletely understood. In order to visualize the cytoplasmic and nuclear dynamics of cells migrating in capillaries, red fluorescent protein was expressed in the cytoplasm, and green fluorescent protein, linked to histone H2B, was expressed in the nucleus of cancer cells. Immediately after the cells were injected in the heart of nude mice, a skin flap on the abdomen was made.

Living related liver transplantation for polycystic liver disease.

Polycystic liver disease (PCLD) is a rare inherited disorder, often associated with polycystic disease of the kidney. Although liver failure is unusual, some patients suffer from hepatic enlargement associated with severe complications such as abdominal distention, cachexia and dyspnea. Until recently, many surgical attempts had been made to reduce hepatic size, however, results have been unsatisfactory [3, 9, 10].

Pressure-induced structural change of liquid silicon.

High-pressure and high-temperature x-ray diffraction measurements indicate that liquid silicon contracts with increasing pressure without significant changes in the local structure up to 8 GPa and then transforms to a denser structure between 8 and 14 GPa. In spite of volume contraction, the nearest-neighbor interatomic distance expands by about 1.6% within this pressure interval, accompanied by an anomalous increase in the coordination number.

Kidney transplantation after liver transplantation from the same donor: four cases of successful steroid withdrawal.

Background: Administration of corticosteroids to kidney recipients has hampered the complete clinical success of kidney transplantation. Because most organ transplantation in Japan is living-related, we had the experience of performing kidney transplantation (KT) after liver transplantation (LT) from the same donor in four patients and successfully withdrew corticosteroid administration.

Methods: Three pediatric and one adult patient received kidney allografts from 3 to 10 months after LT from the same donor.