Rainbow scattering of CO and N2 from LiF(001).

The angular intensity distributions of CO and N(2) molecules scattered from a LiF(001) surface have been measured as functions of surface temperature, incident translational energy, and incident azimuthal direction affecting surface corrugation at a high resolution. Although both molecules have the same molecular mass and linear structure, only the CO molecule shows a rainbow feature in its scattering pattern, while the N(2) molecule shows a single peak distribution. From the comparisons of the obtained results with the calculated predictions based on the newly developed classical theory of the ellipsoid-washboard model, the differences in scattering distribution are attributed to the effects of molecular anisotropy and center-of-mass position.

Environmental factor dependent maximum likelihood method for association study targeted to personalized medicine.

The most challenging strategy for analyzing genome-wide polymorphisms and/or expression profiles is to solve multi-factor causal-relationship simultaneously. As the first step, we propose a framework of association study using maximum likelihood method that simultaneously handles genetic polymorphisms and epi-genetic information, e.g.

Molecular cloning and expression of mouse ceramide glucosyltransferase.

Ceramide glucosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha increases tyrosine phosphorylation of a 23-kDa nuclear protein in U937 cells through ceramide signaling pathway.

In many tumor cell lines, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) causes profound alterations in nucleus including chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation. However the mechanism is largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that TNF alpha treatment of U937 cells increased tyrosine phosphorylation of a 23-kDa nuclear protein (P23) maximally by 13-fold, which occurred after 2.

Inhibition of tumor necrosis factor alpha- and ceramide-induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation by herbimycin A in U937 cells.

In many tumor cell lines, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) causes apoptosis with characteristic internucleosomal DNA fragmentation. However, the mechanism is largely unknown. Here we examined the involvement of protein tyrosine kinases by using their inhibitors.

Induction of apoptotic DNA fragmentation and cell death by natural ceramide.

We have found that a solvent mixture of ethanol and dodecane was able to disperse natural ceramide (Cer) into aqueous solution. In U937 cells, addition of natural Cer to medium caused a characteristic pattern of DNA fragmentation, which is indistinguishable from that caused by TNF alpha. The effective concentration of Cer is as low as 25 nM.

A mouse B16 melanoma mutant deficient in glycolipids.

Mouse B16 melanoma cell line, GM-95 (formerly designated as MEC-4), deficient in sialyllactosylceramide was examined for its primary defect. Glycolipids from the mutant cells were analyzed by high-performance TLC. No glycolipid was detected in GM-95 cells, even when total lipid from 10(7) cells was analyzed.

Light-induced binding of proteins to rhabdomeric membranes in the retina of crayfish (Procambarus clarkii).

Light-induced protein interaction as part of the process of visual transduction in arthropods with rhabdomeric photoreceptors was investigated biochemically by using crayfish retina. Two kinds of retinal buffer soluble proteins (one of 40 kDa and the other of 46 kDa) were found to bind to the irradiated rhabdomeric membranes both in vitro and in vivo. The proteins bound to the membranes in the presence of metarhodopsin.