β-catenin induces expression of prohibitin gene in acute leukemic cells.

Prohibitin (PHB) is a multifunctional protein conserved in eukaryotic systems and shows various expression levels in tumor cells. However, regulation of PHB is not clearly understood. Here, we focused on the regulation of PHB expression by Wnt signaling, one of dominant regulatory signals in various leukemic cells.

Single-cell optoporation and transfection using femtosecond laser and optical tweezers.

In this paper, we demonstrate a new single-cell optoporation and transfection technique using a femtosecond Gaussian laser beam and optical tweezers. Tightly focused near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond laser pulse was employed to transiently perforate the cellular membrane at a single point in MCF-7 cancer cells. A distinct technique was developed by trapping the microparticle using optical tweezers to focus the femtosecond laser precisely on the cell membrane to puncture it.

Retinoic acid inhibits adipogenesis via activation of Wnt signaling pathway in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes.

Although retinoic acid (RA) is well known to inhibit the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes both in vivo and in vitro, its molecular mechanism is not fully understood. In this report, we investigate the inhibitory mechanism of adipocyte differentiation by RA in 3T3-L1 cells. Because both RA and Wnt are known to inhibit adipogenesis at a common step involving the inhibition of PPAR-γ expression, we focused on the crosstalk between these two signaling pathways.

Azimuthal phase retardation microscope for visualizing actin filaments of biological cells.

We developed a new theory-based azimuthal phase retardation microscope to visualize distributions of actin filaments in biological cells without having them with exogenous dyes, fluorescence labels, or stains. The azimuthal phase retardation microscope visualizes distributions of actin filaments by measuring the intensity variations of each pixel of a charge coupled device camera while rotating a single linear polarizer. Azimuthal phase retardation δ between two fixed principal axes was obtained by calculating the rotation angles of the polarizer at the intensity minima from the acquired intensity data.

Dynamic characterization of human breast cancer cells using a piezoresistive microcantilever.

In this paper, frequency response (dynamic compression and recovery) is suggested as a new physical marker to differentiate between breast cancer cells (MCF7) and normal cells (MCF10A). A single cell is placed on the laminated piezoelectric actuator and a piezoresistive microcantilever is placed on the upper surface of the cell at a specified preload displacement (or an equivalent force). The piezoelectric actuator excites the single cell in a sinusoidal fashion and its dynamic deformation is then evaluated from the displacement converted by measuring the voltage output through a piezoresistor in the microcantilever.

New, simple theory-based, accurate polarization microscope for birefringence imaging of biological cells.

We propose a new, simple theory-based, accurate polarization microscope for birefringence imaging of cytoskeletal structures of biological cells. The new theory lets us calculate very easily the phase retardation and the orientation of the principal axis of a particular area of a biological living cell in media by simply measuring the intensity variation of a pixel of a CCD camera while rotating a single polarizer. Just from the measured intensity maxima and minima, the amount of phase retardation delta between the fast and the slow axis of the sample area is obtained with an accuracy of 5.

Infrared spectroscopy characterization of normal and lung cancer cells originated from epithelium.

The vibrational spectral differences of normal and lung cancer cells were studied for the development of effective cancer cell screening by means of attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy. The phosphate monoester symmetric stretching nu(s)(PO3(2-)) band intensity at ~970 cm(-1) and the phosphodiester symmetric stretching nu(s)(PO2(-)) band intensity at approximately 1,085 cm(-1) in nucleic acids and phospholipids appeared to be significantly strengthened in lung cancer cells with respect to the other vibrational bands compared to normal cells. This finding suggests that more extensive phosphorylation occur in cancer cells.