Suppressive effects of low-power laser irradiation on bradykinin evoked action potentials in cultured murine dorsal root ganglion cells.

The effects of Ga-Al-As diode laser (830 nm, 16.2 mW) irradiation on the distal portion of the processes of cultured murine dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons associated with C-fibers were studied by patch-clamp whole-cell recording of membrane potentials at the cell body. The chemical as well as laser light stimulations were limited to the processes of the neuron isolated from the cell body with a separator.

Improved translational efficiency of subtilisin YaB gene with different initiation codons in Bacillus subtilis and alkalophilic Bacillus YaB.

The ale gene specifying the subtilisin YaB produced by alkalophilic Bacillus YaB, has an unusual start codon UUG. Changing this codon to AUG and GUG increased expression of the ale gene in B. subtilis DB104 and in an ale deficient mutant strain YaB-DEC4.

Novel membrane protein complexes for protein glycosylation in the yeast Golgi apparatus.

Three type II membrane proteins Anp1, Van1 and Mnn9 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae share significant sequence homology. Their precise biochemical activity has long been unknown though the mutant phenotype indicates their participation in protein glycosylation in the Golgi apparatus. To shed light on their molecular characteristics, interactions of these proteins were studied by immunoprecipitation after solubilizing the membrane by nonionic detergent.

Dose optimization of proton and heavy ion therapy using generalized sampled pattern matching.

We have proposed a new dose optimization method for proton and heavy ion therapy using generalized sampled pattern matching, where an optimal beam weight distribution for scanning is obtained as a solution. Using water phantom models, one-dimensional lateral and depth dose distributions were separately optimized, each resulting in a uniform dose distribution within a target region and minimum dose fall-off to minimize undesired irradiation onto neighbouring tissues. Subsequently, we have applied the technique to broad beam three-dimensional proton therapy, leading to a homogeneous dose distribution inside a target and minimized distal and lateral dose fall-off for most convex tumour shapes.

Imaging of Lactobacillus brevis single cells and microcolonies without a microscope by an ultrasensitive chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay with a photon-counting television camera.

An ultrasensitive chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) was developed for the rapid detection and quantification of Lactobacillus brevis contaminants in beer and pitching yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae slurry collected for reinoculation). L. brevis cells trapped on a 47-mm nucleopore membrane (0.

Isolation and characterization of nickel-accumulating yeasts.

We selected three yeast strains that efficiently remove heavy metal ions from aqueous solution. We first screened yeasts that grew in the presence of 2 mM NiCl2 among our stock of wild yeasts, and then selected those that removed Ni most efficiently from aqueous solution. These strains also removed Cu and Zn from aqueous solution and were identified as Candida species.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae VIG9 encodes GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase, which is essential for protein glycosylation.

A genomic DNA fragment that complements a newly identified protein glycosylation-defective mutation, vig9, of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was cloned. Chromosomal integration of this fragment by homologous recombination indicated that it contains the wild type VIG9 gene. The nucleotide sequence was determined.

Purification and partial characterization of an antigen specific to Lactobacillus brevis strains with beer spoilage activity.

Certain Lactobacillus brevis strains are resistant to hop-derived compounds such as isohumulone and are able to grow in beer. In this study, we raised an antiserum against our beer spoilage laboratory strain L. brevis 578 which reacted with 23 of 24 beer spoilers and two of 13 non-spoilers in precipitation reactions using 0.

A glutamine synthetase mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae shows defect in cell wall.

To study the organization and biosynthesis of the yeast cell wall, hypo-osmolarity-sensitive mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were analyzed. Cells of JS4 were irregular in shape and fragile. Calcofluor staining and quantitative analysis indicated that the chitin content was reduced.

[The effect of low-dose prostaglandin E1 on serum and urinary fluoride concentrations in patients anesthetized with sevoflurane].

We investigated the effects of low-dose prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) on serum and urinary concentrations of inorganic fluoride in 39 adult patients undergoing upper abdominal surgery. Anesthesia was maintained with a combination of N2O-O2-sevoflurane and thoracic epidural anesthesia. Twenty-two patients received infusion of PGE1 at a rate of 0.

Excitatory effects of algesic compounds on neuronal processes in murine dorsal root ganglion cell culture.

The effects of algesic compounds on the distal portion of the processes of cultured dorsal root ganglion cells (C-fiber) of mouse were studied by patch-clamp whole-cell recording at the cell soma (cell body). The processes of the cell were isolated from the cell body with a separator. Bradykinin (BK, 10 microM), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2, 20 microM), and capsaicin (CAP, 2 microM) were applied to the processes of a cell on the third day after seeding, each of which evoked action potentials in the cell body.

Centromere protein B of African green monkey cells: gene structure, cellular expression, and centromeric localization.

Centromere protein B (CENP-B) is a centromeric DNA-binding protein which recognizes a 17-bp sequence (CENP-B box) in human and mouse centromeric satellite DNA. The African green monkey (AGM) is phylogenetically closer to humans than mice and is known to contain large amounts of alpha-satellite DNA, but there has been no report of CENP-B boxes or CENP-B in the centromere domains of its chromosomes. To elucidate the AGM CENP-B-CENP-B box interaction, we have analyzed the gene structure, expression, biochemical properties, and centromeric localization of its CENP-B.

Alteration of cell cycle-dependent histone phosphorylations by okadaic acid. Induction of mitosis-specific H3 phosphorylation and chromatin condensation in mammalian interphase cells.

Effects of okadaic acid (OA), a protein phosphatase inhibitor, on chromatin structure and phosphorylation of histones were examined using HeLa and N18 cells. The chromatin condensation in HeLa cells was mild and resemble prometaphase nuclei, while the condensation in N18 cells was extensive and chromatin became a compact body. H2A in HeLa cells was extensively and consistently phosphorylated at the same site throughout the cell cycle, and H3 was demonstrated to be phosphorylated at the mitosis-specific site Ser10.

Uso1 protein is a dimer with two globular heads and a long coiled-coil tail.

USO1 is one of the essential genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae whose gene products participate in protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus. This product was purified to homogeneity. Electron microscopic study revealed that it has a single or double globular domain with a long tail and that the molecule is a dimer.

Calcium and SLY genes suppress the temperature-sensitive secretion defect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae uso1 mutant.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae uso1-1 mutant stops the transport of secretory proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi apparatus at 37 degrees C. We found that this temperature-sensitive defect was suppressed either by increasing the concentration of calcium ion in the medium or by introducing in the cell the SLY genes which suppress the defect of Ypt1 protein, a small GTP-binding protein. The common phenotype and suppression of the mutants suggest that Uso1 and Ypt1 proteins function in the same process of protein transport, i.

Secretion of active subtilisin YaB by a simultaneous expression of separate pre-pro and pre-mature polypeptides in Bacillus subtilis.

Alkaline elastase YaB, produced by alkalophilic Bacillus YaB, is an extracellular serine protease having 55% homology to subtilisin BPN' and thus could be called subtilisin YaB. It is synthesized as a 378-amino acid preproenzyme and secreted into the culture medium as a 265-amino acid mature protease. To examine if the pro-peptide of subtilisin YaB functions in trans to guide the folding of secreted subtilisin YaB in vivo, we made genes encoding the pre-pro, pro and pre-mature portions and placed them under the control of the spac-1 promoter on a multi-copy plasmid.

Analysis of S-layer proteins of Lactobacillus brevis.

The presence of S-layer proteins in Lactobacillus brevis was examined by SDS-PAGE analysis. Thirty six out of a total of 41 L. brevis strains possessed S-layer proteins of molecular masses ranging from 38 to 55 kDa.

Acylated cyanidin glycosides in the violet-blue flowers of Ipomoea purpurea.

Six acylated cyanidin glycosides were isolated from violet-blue flowers of Ipomoea purpurea. These anthocyanins were all based on cyanidin 3-sophoroside-5-glucoside, acylated with caffeic acid and/or p-coumaric acid. Three anthocyanin structures were elucidated to be cyanidin 3-O(-)[2-O-(6-O-(trans-3-O-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)caffeyl)-beta -D-glucopyranosyl)-6-O-(trans-4-O-(6-O-(trans-caffeyl)-beta-D-glucopyran osyl) caffeyl)-beta-D-glucopyranoside]-5-O(-)[beta-D-glucopyranoside], cyanidin 3-O(-)[2-O-(trans-3-O-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)caffeyl)-beta-D-glucopyrano syl)- 6-O-(trans-caffeyl)-beta-D-glucopyranoside]-5-O(-)[beta-D-glucopyranosid e d and cyanidin 3-O(-)[2-O-(6-O-(trans-caffeyl)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-6-O- (trans-caffeyl)-beta-D-glucopyranoside]-5-O(-)[beta-D-glucopyranoside].

Physiological and biochemical analysis of the effects of alkaline phosphatase overproduction in Escherichia coli.

Overexpression of the Escherichia coli phoA gene, coding for alkaline phosphatase (PhoA), on multicopy plasmids caused a severe defect in the precursor processing (secretion) of PhoA, beta-lactamase, and the outer membrane protein OmpA. This secretion defect continued even after the repression of phoA expression, indicating that protein secretion was irreversibly impaired in cells. Among the secretory proteins, only OmpA gradually secreted posttranslationally.

[Management of epidural anesthesia in a patient with aortitis syndrome].

We report an anesthetic management of a patient with severe vascular occlusion case caused by Aortitis syndrome. The patient, 61 yr-old woman, was scheduled for sigmoidectomy. Her bilateral common carotid arteries and left main coronary artery were totally occluded, but she had been asymptomatic for over thirty years.

bfr1+, a novel gene of Schizosaccharomyces pombe which confers brefeldin A resistance, is structurally related to the ATP-binding cassette superfamily.

We have isolated a Schizosaccharomyces pombe gene, bfr1+, which on a multicopy plasmid vector, pDB248', confers resistance to brefeldin A (BFA), an inhibitor of intracellular protein transport. This gene encodes a novel protein of 1,531 amino acids with an intramolecular duplicated structure, each half containing a single ATP-binding consensus sequence and a set of six transmembrane sequences. This structural characteristic of bfr1+ protein resembles that of mammalian P-glycoprotein, which, by exporting a variety of anticancer drugs, has been shown to be responsible for multidrug resistance in tumor cells.