Anti-A and anti-B titers, age, gender, biochemical parameters, and body mass index in Japanese blood donors.

It has been reported that anti-A and anti-B (ABO antibody) titers decrease with age, but little is known about the association between ABO antibody titers and physiologic/biochemical parameters such as body mass index (BMI), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and total cholesterol (T-Cho). We investigated the present situation of ABO antibody titers among healthy blood donors in Japan and the physiologic/biochemical factors that may be associated with changes in ABO antibody titers. Plasma from 7450 Japanese blood donors was tested for ABO antibody titers using ABO reverse typing reagents by an automated microplate system; donor samples were classified into low, middle, and high titers according to the agglutination results obtained with diluted plasma samples.

Decreased rate of blood donors with high ABO antibody titers in Japan and the underlying factors: Comparisons between 2010 and 2021.

Background And Objectives: Previously (2007), it was reported that ABO antibody titers in Japanese blood donors had decreased significantly compared to 20 years before. Here we evaluated whether further decrease of antibody titers had occurred in recent years, and the potential factors associated with changes in antibody titers.

Materials And Methods: Serum/plasma from random blood donors in 2010 and 2021 (2010: 3369, 2021: 5796 donors) was classified into low, middle, and high ABO antibody titers according to the reactivity of diluted serum/plasma (2.

Serum protein kinase Cα as a diagnostic biomarker of cancers.

Background: Several serum biomarkers such as antigens, soluble proteins, metabolites, and genes have been identified for the diagnosis of cancers and for monitoring the recurrence after cancer treatment.

Methods: In the present study, a protein kinase C (PKC) α-specific peptide substrate was phosphorylated with serum samples collected from cancer-bearing mice (U87, A431, HepG2, and A549) and the phosphorylation ratio was detected by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS).

Results: The phosphorylation ratio for peptide substrates significantly increased in the serum of cancer-bearing mice compared with the ratio found in control mice.

Kinase activity of protein kinase cα in serum as a diagnostic biomarker of human lung cancer.

Background: Recently, we reported on the existence of activated protein kinase Cα (PKCα) in blood and the possibility for its use in cancer diagnosis.

Materials And Methods: In the present study, serum samples collected from patients with different lung cancer types (small-cell cancer, adenocarcinoma, and anaplastic cancer) were phosphorylated with a PKCα-specific peptide substrate and the phosphorylation ratio was detected by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Results: When 13 patient serum samples were phosphorylated with peptide substrates, phosphorylated peaks were obtained in eight samples.

A colorimetric assay of protein kinase activity based on peptide-induced coagulation of gold nanorods.

We succeeded in applying gold nanorods (NRs) for the detection of protein kinase (PK) activity based on a substrate-induced coagulation mechanism. Because NRs have cationic surface charges due to surface-adsorbed cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, phosphorylated substrate peptides, which gain augmented anionic charges by phosphorylation, induce coagulation of the NRs, resulting in a red-to-blue color change of the corresponding NR dispersion. A large absorption coefficient of the NRs at the near-IR region enabled clear-cut detection of the peptide-induced coagulation.

A simple set-and-mix assay for screening of protein kinase inhibitors in cell lysates.

Here we developed a simple set-and-mix assay to perform high-throughput screening of protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitors from the LOPAC 1280 compound library. This assay is based on the color change of gold nanoparticles on aggregation induced by a cationic substrate peptide as coagulant. In spite of the simplicity of this assay system, this assay can be applied to drug screening based on cellular kinases.

Gold nanoparticle-based colorimetric assay for cancer diagnosis.

A novel gold nanoparticle (GNP)-based colorimetric assay was developed for cancer diagnosis. This system is based on the noncrosslinking aggregation mechanism with a cationic protein kinase C (PKC) alpha-specific peptide substrate, which is used as a coagulant of citrate-coated GNP with anionic surface charges. The phosphorylation of peptide substrates by PKCalpha suppressed GNP aggregation, resulting in a red color, but in the case of non-phosphorylation, the color of the GNP solution changed from red to blue, indicating particle aggregation.

Plasma protein kinase C (PKC)alpha as a biomarker for the diagnosis of cancers.

Protein kinase C (PKC)alpha plays a key role in the differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis of cancer cells, and its activity is higher in cancer cells than in normal cells. In the present study, we investigated the existence of activated PKCalpha in plasma and its possibility for cancer diagnosis. Plasma samples were prepared from xenograft mouse models of cancer and from normal mice.

Effect of amount of grinding on flexural strength of dental ceramics.

The aim of this study was to determine a suitable amount of grinding of a flexural test specimen for clinical evaluation of dental ceramics. Three dental ceramics (Crys-Cera, OCC and IPS Empress Cosmo) were selected. Five types of bar-shaped patterns were prepared for a three-point bending test, and four types of disk-shaped patterns for a biaxial flexural test.

[Investigation of metal allergy to constituent elements of intraoral restoration materials].

Allergies caused by metals have been increasing. The number of patients visiting dentists with the chief complaint of metal allergy has also been increasing. From March 1994 to February 1997, 263 patients who complained of various symptoms visited our allergy clinic.

[Statistical survey of prosthetic restorations--fixed and removable prosthesis].

This is a continued report on the statistical classification of the prosthetic restorations placed in the outpatients in the Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital. The data were collected from the laboratory records during the period of January to June of 1986. The results are summarized as follows: 1.

[Statistical survey of prosthetic restorations--outline and single crowns, cast cores and inlays].

This is a report on the statistical classification of the prosthetic restorations placed in out-patients of the Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital. The data were collected from the laboratory records during the period of January to June of 1986. The results are summarized as follows: 1.