Kinetic analysis of superoxide anion radical-scavenging and hydroxyl radical-scavenging activities of platinum nanoparticles.

There are few reports on the physiological effects of metal nanoparticles (nps), especially with respect to their functions as scavengers for superoxide anion radical (O2(.-)) and hydroxyl radical (.OH).

Visualizing neurons one-by-one in vivo: optical dissection and reconstruction of neural networks with reversible fluorescent proteins.

A great many axons and dendrites intermingle to fasciculate, creating synapses as well as glomeruli. During live imaging in particular, it is often impossible to distinguish between individual neurons when they are contiguous spatially and labeled in the same fluorescent color. In an attempt to solve this problem, we have taken advantage of Dronpa, a green fluorescent protein whose fluorescence can be erased with strong blue light, and reversibly highlighted with violet or ultraviolet light.

E-cadherin is required for gastrulation cell movements in zebrafish.

E-cadherin is a member of the classical cadherin family and is known to be involved in cell-cell adhesion and the adhesion-dependent morphogenesis of various tissues. We isolated a zebrafish mutant (cdh1(rk3)) that has a mutation in the e-cadherin/cdh1 gene. The mutation rk3 is a hypomorphic allele, and the homozygous mutant embryos displayed variable phenotypes in gastrulation and tissue morphogenesis.