Annealing effects on electrical properties of pure and tin-doped indium oxide thin films.

The annealing effects on the properties of ITO and pure In2O3 thin films have been investigated. The thin films were deposited with various O2 flow ratios to total gas flow by pulsed dc magnetron sputtering. The post-deposition annealing of the thin films was carried out for 30 minutes at various temperatures ranging up to 500 degrees C in air.

Embryonic stem cell differentiation system for evaluating gene functions involved in physiological megakaryocytic differentiation.

Megakaryocytic differentiation is accompanied by marked morphological changes induced by endomitosis and proplatelet formation. Molecular mechanisms underlying this unique cell differentiation process have been investigated by gain/loss-of-function studies using leukemic cell lines. However, these cell lines cannot completely mimic physiological megakaryocytic differentiation, including the morphological changes, and sometimes lead to contradictory results between cell lines.

Multiple ETS family proteins regulate PF4 gene expression by binding to the same ETS binding site.

In previous studies on the mechanism underlying megakaryocyte-specific gene expression, several ETS motifs were found in each megakaryocyte-specific gene promoter. Although these studies suggested that several ETS family proteins regulate megakaryocyte-specific gene expression, only a few ETS family proteins have been identified. Platelet factor 4 (PF4) is a megakaryocyte-specific gene and its promoter includes multiple ETS motifs.

New protein purification system using gold-magnetic beads and a novel peptide tag, "the methionine tag".

Gold magnetic particles (GMP) are magnetic iron oxide particles modified with gold nanoparticles. The gold particles of GMP specifically bind to cysteine and methionine through Au-S binding. The aim of the present study was to establish a quick and easy protein purification system using novel peptide tags and GMP.