EDTA: a promoter of proliferation in human corneal endothelium.

Purpose: To determine whether it is possible to induce proliferation in the endothelium of older donor corneas by treatment of the intact monolayer with EDTA.

Methods: Corneas from donors 52 to 75 years of age were obtained from an eye bank and were usually cut in quarters to increase sample size. The effect of EDTA dose (0.

[Analysis of proteins during recovery from lens opacity--analysis of selenite cataract model using Sprague-Dawley and Wistar rat].

Background And Purpose: The cataract in Sprague-Dawley rats injected with selenite is a dense nuclear opacity that appears by 4 or 5 days after selenite injection and becomes irreversible by 7 days. Injection of Wistar rats with selenite resulted in a similar nuclear opacity by 4 or 5 days that began to recover transparency by 7 days. In this report, the cytoplasmic proteins were analyzed using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) in lenses from Sprague-Dawley and Wistar rats at 4 and 7 days after injection.

[Analysis of cytoskeletal proteins in rat selenium cataract using two-dimensional electrophoresis].

Background And Purpose: Previous studies used sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to characterize the modifications to lens proteins during opacification in the selenite model for cataract. To analyze the protein modifications in more detail, two dimensional electrophoresis (2 DE), which is more sensitive than 1 D electrophoresis, was used.

Results: The results of 2 DE demonstrated rapid changes in cytoskeletal proteins including spectrin and vimentin at the earliest stages of opacification.

[Histopathological features of the trabecular meshwork in a case of presumed bilateral Chandler syndrome].

Background: We describe a patient who had notable decrease in the number of corneal endothelial cells in both eyes and developed open angle glaucoma without evident iris atrophy and peripheral anterior synechia.

Case: A 74-year-old woman. The trabeculectomized angle tissue and iris tissue of her left eye were observed under light and transmission electron microscopy.

Changes in cytoskeletal proteins in childhood cataract lenses.

Purpose: Approximately 50% of congenital and childhood cataracts seen in the clinic is of undetermined origin. Biochemical analysis of the cataracts is rare. This study analyzes lens proteins to determine the mechanism of congenital and childhood cataracts.

[Changes in cytoskeletal proteins in childhood cataract lenses].

Purpose: Approximately 50% of congenital and childhood cataract seen in the clinic is of undetermined origin. Biochemical analysis of the cataracts is rare. This study analyzes lens proteins to determine the mechanism of congenital and childhood cataracts.

Maitotoxin-induced nerve growth factor production accompanied by the activation of a voltage-insensitive Ca2+ channel in C6-BU-1 glioma cells.

1. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of maitotoxin on nerve growth factor production and the Ca2+ influx in clonal rat glioma cells (C6-BU-1). 2.

Stimulation of neurotrophic factor secretion from 1321N1 human astrocytoma cells by novel diterpenoids, scabronines A and G.

Glial cells release neurotrophic factors that maintain neurons functionally. When rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC-12) were cultivated with the conditioned medium of human astrocytoma cells (1321N1) incubated with the new diterpenoids, scabronines A and G, isolated from Sarcodon scabrosus, they changed their morphology and there was neurite outgrowth. The scabronines increased the expression of mRNA for nerve growth factor (NGF), and the secretion of NGF from 1321N1 cells in a concentration-dependent manner.

Heat influences on plasma insulin and glucagon in response to secretogogues in non-lactating dairy cows.

Four non-lactating cows were offered a maintenance diet of hay wafer and a commercial concentrate. They were housed in a thermoneutral (TN; 20 degrees C) and then a hot (30 degrees C) environment in an artificial climate chamber. Glucose, arginine, butyrate, and insulin were administered through one jugular catheter, and from a catheter on the other side venous blood was collected.

Maternal Nanos regulates zygotic gene expression in germline progenitors of Drosophila melanogaster.

Maternal Nanos (Nos) protein is required for germline development in Drosophila embryos. Here we show that Nos regulates zygotic gene expression in the germline progenitors, or pole cells. In order to probe the gene expression in pole cells, we screened ten enhancer-trap lines which showed beta-gal expression in pole cells.

[Clinical results of three types of intraocular lenses for small incision surgery].

We implanted three types of intraocular lens (IOL) in 30 eyes each by small-incision surgery. They were: foldable acryl IOL, foldable silicone IOL and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) IOL. We evaluated the following items during three years after surgery: visual acuity, astigmatism, glare disability, contrast sensitivity, tilt and decentering of IOL, corneal endothelial population, aqueous flare and aftercataract.

A new factor derived from 1321N1 human astrocytoma cells causes differentiation of PC-12 cells mediated through mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade.

Glial cells play an important role in maintaining neural function. In the present study, we examined the effects of a factor derived from human astrocytoma cells (1321N1) on differentiation of rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC-12). The conditioned medium which had been used for culture of 1321N1 cells caused the differentiation of PC-12 cells, suggesting that 1321N1 cells release a neurotrophic factor.

Insulin and glucagon secretion in lactating cows during heat exposure.

Heat stress affects endocrine systems in cows. This study investigated changes in insulin and glucagon secretion between thermoneutral (TN; 18 degrees C, relative humidity [RH] 60%) and hot (28 degrees C, RH 60%) environments in lactating cows. Glucose, arginine, and butyrate were administered i.

[Relationship between vascular endothelial growth factors and advanced glycation end products in the human vitreous].

The relation between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and advanced glycation end product (AGE) is considered a primary factor in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Regarding the relation between VEGF in the vitreous body and pentosidine, an AGE, we compared a diabetic (DM) group (7 eyes) with a nondiabetic (nonDM) group (7 eyes), and investigated the correlation between VEGF and pentosidine by calculating the correlation coefficient. Levels of both VEGF and pentosidine were significantly higher in the DM group (p < 0.

Insulin-independent glucose uptake in growth hormone treated dairy cows.

Our aim was to determine the effect of growth hormone on non-insulin-mediated glucose disposal in lactating dairy cows. Following 5 d of subcutaneous injections of either saline or growth hormone, insulin, somatostatin or insulin plus somatostatin were infused for 2 h each, in a series of experiments. Coincident with this, unlabelled glucose was infused at a variable rate to maintain a constant plasma glucose concentration.

Effects of heat exposure on plasma insulin, glucagon and metabolites in response to nutrient injection in heifers.

Effects of heat exposure on plasma insulin, glucagon, and metabolite responses following injection of various nutrients were investigated in heifers. Four heifers, fed hay wafer and a commercial concentrate, were exposed to thermoneutral (20 degrees C) and hot (30 degrees C) environments. Glucose, arginine and butyrate (each injection at 0.

[A case of the double mitral valve orifices].

In 1996 student course of gross anatomy dissection at Iwate Medical University School of Medicine, a case of the double mitral valve orifices was found in a heart of a 73-year-old male cadaver who died of acute pneumonia. No other congenital anomalies were detected in this heart. There was no prior history of heart disease.

Pentosidine and autofluorescence in lenses of diabetic patients.

Pentosidine, an advanced glycation endproduct, may cause the increased fluorescence found in the lenses of diabetic patients. We measured the autofluorescence in human lenses, in vitro, and quantified the pentosidine to examine its relationship to the autofluorescence. Lens autofluorescence was higher in diabetic than non-diabetic subjects; pentosidine quantities were significantly higher in the diabetic than the non-diabetic group indicating that pentosidine was involved in the greater intensity of autofluorescence in the lenses of patients with diabetes mellitus.

Non-insulin- and insulin-mediated glucose uptake in dairy cows.

Four mid-lactation Holstein dairy cows (mean milk yield on day of experiments 26.1 kg/d) were used in a series of experiments to establish the contribution of non-insulin-mediated glucose uptake to total glucose uptake at basal insulin concentrations. A secondary objective was to determine whether somatostatin affects the action of infused insulin.

Growth hormone does not affect non-insulin-mediated glucose uptake in sheep.

Four adult Merino sheep were used in the experiment, which was divided into four parts. For the 5 days before parts 1 and 3 saline was injected and for the 5 days before parts 2 and 4 growth hormone (GH; 4 mg day-1 subcutaneously) was injected. In parts 1 and 2 a primed continuous infusion of [6,6-2H2]glucose and either saline or GH, respectively, were infused for 5 h.

Distribution of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 genomes in human spinal ganglia studied by PCR and in situ hybridization.

Clinical data indicate that the recurring herpes simplex virus (HSV) from oro-labial lesions is HSV subtype 1 and that the virus from genital lesions is HSV-2. This suggests that HSV-1 and HSV-2 reside in latent forms in the trigeminal ganglia and sacral ganglia, respectively. However, the distribution of latent HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections in human spinal ganglia has not been fully examined.

Intraocular lens durability after a mean of 10.9 years' implantation in humans.

Aims/background: To clarify whether intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in the human eye affects the durability of polymethylmethacrylate over an average period of 10.9 years.

Methods: Shearing stress and extent of damage following neodymium (Nd):YAG laser application to 18 study and 12 control optics were examined.

A Turner syndrome woman with a ring X chromosome [45,X/46,X,r(X)(p22.3q27)] whose child also had a ring X chromosome.

Objective: To describe a woman with Turner syndrome with ring X chromosome mosaicism who had a child who possessed the same ring X chromosome.

Design: Polymorphisms of genes located on the X chromosome from genomic DNA of the mother, father, and the child were evaluated.

Patient(s): The mother's karyotype was 45,X [48]/46,X,r(X)(p22.

Acute myelogenous leukaemia with t(8;21) translocation of normal cell origin in mosaic Down's syndrome with isochromosome 21q.

We report a 13-year-old girl with Down's syndrome (DS) having a mosaic karyotype of 46,XX/46,XX, -21,+i(21q), who developed acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) (FAB M1). The t(8;21) translocation generating a AML1/MTG8 chimaeric gene of her blasts was demonstrated by cytogenetic analysis and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Interestingly, the leukaemic clone with t(8;21) did not have isochromosome 21q, indicating that the blasts were of normal cell origin.

Delayed response of QM- and DA/DAPI-fluorescence in C-heterochromatin of the small Japanese field mouse, Apodemus argenteus.

The small Japanese field mouse Apodemus argenteus has the diploid chromosome number of 46, carrying rather large centromeric C-heterochromatin in most of the 44 autosomes and a large amount of C-heterochromatin in the sex chromosomes: the largest subtelocentric X was heterochromatic in almost two-fifth (whole short arm and proximal part of the long arm) of its entire length and the medium-sized acrocentric Y was totally heterochromatic. The C-heterochromatin (C-positive) areas, other than those of the Y and smallest three pairs, had a unique property of "delayed QM-fluorescence", which has not been reported to-date, showing dull QM-fluorescence immediately after exposure to blue light (BL), but gradually turning to bright fluorescence in a few minutes. The fluorescence intensity gradually decreased after attaining its peak, and finally became extinct.