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Biomedical subjects

K Kanda

Publications and source records attributed to K Kanda.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Phosphorylation of high-Mr caldesmon by protein kinase C modulates the regulatory function of this protein on the interaction between actin and myosin.

High-Mr caldesmon, which is involved in smooth muscle contraction, was phosphorylated by protein kinase C. By chymotryptic digestion, actin- and calmodulin-binding assays and immunoprecipitation with the antibody to the C-terminal 35-kDa fragment, we have identified that all phosphate groups are incorporated exclusively into this fragment, which is the functional domain for binding actin and calmodulin. Phosphorylation of high-Mr caldesmon and its C-terminal 35-kDa fragment reduced their binding abilities to both F-actin and calmodulin. Further, their inhibitory effects on the actin-activated ATPase activity of gizzard myosin were also reversed in proportion to the degree of phosphorylation. These results suggest that phosphorylation of high-Mr caldesmon by protein kinase C, which is restricted within the C-terminal 35-kDa domain, results in the modulation of its activity in the smooth muscle actin--myosin interaction.

Actins↗
PubMed1990

Biomedical irradiation system for boron neutron capture therapy at the Kyoto University Reactor.

Physics studies related to radiation source, spectroscopy, beam quality, dosimetry, and biomedical applications using the Kyoto University Reactor Heavy Water Facility are described. Also, described are a Nickel Mirror Neutron Guide Tube and a Super Mirror Neutron Guide Tube that are used both for the measurement of boron concentration in phantom and living tissue and for precise measurements of neutron flux in phantom in the presence of both light and heavy water. Discussed are: (1) spectrum measurements using the time of flight technique, (2) the elimination of gamma rays and fast neutrons from a thermal neutron irradiation field, (3) neutron collimation without producing secondary gamma rays, (4) precise neutron flux measurements, dose estimation, and the measurement of boron concentration in tumor and its periphery using guide tubes, (5) the dose estimation of boron-10 for the first melanoma patient, and (6) special-purpose biological irradiation equipment. Other related subjects are also described.

Biophysical Phenomena↗
PubMed1990

Gel electrophoretic analysis of penicillin-binding proteins of coagulase negative staphylococci.

We analyzed gel electrophoretic banding patterns of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) of 16 type strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS). S. epidermidis, S. haemolyticus, S. saprophyticus, S. hominis, S. xylosus, S. simulans, S. warneri, S. capitis, S. saccharolyticus, S. auricularis, S. caseolyticus, S. gallinarum, S. hycus subsp. hycus, S. cohnii, S. caprae, and S. sciuri subsp. sciuri. The PBP profile of each CNS species was found to be unique and was clearly distinguishable from those of the rest of the species. Together with the previous work of other researchers, this study substantiates the applicability of the PBP profile analysis to the identification of clinical CNS strains.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1990

[A five-year follow-up study of recipient rates for welfare allowance for the disabled elderly in a metropolitan area].

Improvement of the domiciliary care system for the disabled elderly is one of the most urgent issues of welfare for the elderly. In order to understand more clearly the utilization of domiciliary care service in a metropolitan area, we studied recipient rates for welfare allowance for disabled elderly which was the most frequently used welfare service. Between October 1984 and March 1985 a baseline survey was performed on a random sample of elderly living at home, aged from 65 to 89, in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo. A follow-up survey of this sample of 873 persons was performed in November 1989 where survival and their recipience of welfare allowance were reviewed. The main results were as follows: 1. Recipient proportion of welfare allowance increased rapidly with disability of ADL. Of the severely disabled elderly at the baseline the recipient proportion was 46%. During the following five years 27% of the severely disabled were accepted as new recipients. 2. Recipient proportion of elderly who died at age 75 or greater for the following five years was more than 30%. 3. The recipient incidence rate of those who were non-recipient at baseline increased significantly with age after controlling for ADL. This indicates that the risk of ADL disability increases with age. 4. Mean recipient duration varied according to age. Mean durations for those aged over 80 and those under 80 were 2.1 years and 3.9 years respectively.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1990

[Risk factors relating to coronary artery disease in the elderly].

A total of 224 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and 167 healthy control beings (C) were evaluated for coronary risk factors. Analysis of low age subset (age less than 55) disclosed hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were more common findings in CAD compared with C. Significantly elevated plasma triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and reduced high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations were found in CAD, accompanied by significant increase of atherogenic index (AI). In CAD, a decreased number of males and smokers was noted in high age subset (age over 65). Significantly reduced plasma TG and elevated HDL-C were observed in the elderly compared with the young. AI was also significantly higher in this group. Therefore, in CAD, the level of coronary risk factors seemed to be attenuated in the hig age subset compared with the low age group, which was different from the findings in C in whom significantly increased AI was noted in the elderly. In 61 CAD cases, lipid profiles were monitored for 5 years in average. Significant changes recognized during this period were the reduction of TG, LDL-C and AI along with the elevation of HDL-C, suggesting their risk to be improved. To examine the metabolic effects of diuretics, 52 patients with essential hypertension on trichlormethiazide for long periods were subjected to the substitution of this drug by the inhibitor of angiotensin converting enzyme, enalapril, for more than 3 months. At the end of each treatment, measurements of blood sugar (BS) and insulin (IRI) were made together with lipid analysis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗
PubMed1990

[A case of bone and lung metastasis of breast cancer successfully treated with radiotherapy, chemotherapy and endocrine therapy].

A 34-year-old female patient with breast cancer metastasizing to bone had a remission after a course of treatment with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) 1,200 mg/day, but again had a metastasis to the lungs. The patient was then instituted on a combination therapy with UFT 400 mg/day, and MPA 1,200 mg/day. As a result, the pulmonary metastasis disappeared, along with the consolidation of the bone involved.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1989

Nerve stimulation does not necessarily enhance retrograde HRP labeling of rat motoneuron.

The retrograde horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labeling of medial gastrocnemius (MG) motoneurons was not enhanced by electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve after HRP injection into the MG muscle of the rat. When pulse trains with short intermissions were applied immediately after the HRP injection, the number of labeled MG motoneurons on the stimulated side was even smaller than that on the control side.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Kinetic approach with ab initio MO method on ionic selectivity and size in sodium channel.

Three kinds of models for ionic selectivity and size of the filter in sodium channel have been treated by using ab initio molecular orbital (MO) calculations with MINI-3 and MIDI-3* basis sets. A three-components system, HCO2M-H2O (M = Li+, Na+ or K+), is acceptable for describing experimental facts well. Thermochemical parameters obtained from harmonic vibrational analysis with MINI-3 basis sets, for the translocation of the permeant metal cations in the HCO2M-H2O system, are that the activation enthalpies for Li+, Na+ and K+ are 7.0, 6.4 and 23.4 kJ/mol, and also the free energies of activation are 10.6, 1.5 and 19.0 kJ/mol, respectively. These results are qualitatively in good correspondence with experimental facts of the ion selectivity of the channel. One of water molecule was found to have a key role in the translocation of the permeant cations.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Primary structure and functional expression of h-caldesmon complementary DNA.

Recently, the two Mr forms of caldesmon (Mr's in the range of 120-150kDa and 70-80kDa as judged by SDS-PAGE) have been identified. h-Caldesman (high Mr 120-150kDa caldesmon) is predominantly expressed in smooth muscles, and l-caldesmon (low Mr 70-80kDa caldesmon) in non-muscle cells. In this paper, we report the nucleotide sequence of chick embryo gizzard h-caldesmon cDNA and its translation into amino acid sequence. This sequence predicts a protein of 771 amino acids with a Mr of 88,743. The central portion of this sequence is composed of a 10-fold repeat of conserved amino acid sequence containing 13-15 amino acids. Further, a recombinant protein produced in Escherichia coli containing the full-length h-caldesmon cDNA has been characterized. Although the Mr of h-caldesmon predicted from amino acid sequence is 88,743, native and recombinant proteins show the same mol. wt. with 150kDa as measured by SDS-PAGE. This discrepancy may be due to the acidic amino acid-rich sequences at the N-terminal and central portions. A recombinant protein produced in E. coli possesses calmodulin-, F-actin- and tropomyosin-binding abilities in common with the native h-caldesmon.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

35 kDa fragment of h-caldesmon conserves two consensus sequences of the tropomyosin-binding domain in troponin T.

Using a tropomyosin-coupled affinity column, we have demonstrated a direct association between the chymotryptic 35 kDa fragment of h-caldesmon, which is located at the C-terminal of the parent molecule, and gizzard tropomyosin. We have subsequently determined the nucleotide sequence of cDNA clones encoding the 35 kDa fragment from the cDNA library prepared from chick embryo gizzards, and have deduced the amino acid sequence. Calculating from the predicted sequence, the 35 kDa fragment is composed of 306 amino acid residues. In agreement with the tropomyosin-binding ability, the 35 kDa fragment conserves two consensus sequences of the tropomyosin-binding domain in troponin T. These results suggest that the 35 kDa fragment of h-caldesmon, at least in part, has a common property to the striated muscle troponin T.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

The effects of blocking nerve conduction on retrograde HRP labeling of rat motoneuron.

The effect of blocking nerve conduction on retrograde horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labeling was investigated for rat hindlimb motoneurons. Conduction of the sciatic nerve in the left leg was blocked with tetrodotoxin, and HRP solution was injected into the medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles of both sides. The total number of labeled MG motoneurons and the labeling intensities of individual cell somas were measured. There were no differences in these two parameters between the blocked and the intact sides. The results suggest that motoneurons are sufficiently well labeled with HRP, even if they are electrically silent.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Whether Zn2+ for the polymerase system was selected inevitably or by historical accident.

Zinc ion was found in various kinds of polymerases and involved in the activation of the 3'-hydroxyl group of primer chain's growing end. In order to investigate whether zinc ion was selected for nucleotide synthesizing system inevitably or by historical accident, ab initio molecular orbital calculations were carried out and the results suggest that zinc ion may have been selected inevitably.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMed1989

Zonal organization of climbing fiber projections to the uvula in the cat.

Climbing fiber projections from the inferior olive to the uvula of the cerebellum were studied in the cat by using retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase. Following large and small injections into various parts of the uvula, the distribution of labeled cells in the inferior olive was investigated. The findings indicate six longitudinal zones extending throughout the dorsal and ventral uvula: the caudal part of the nucleus beta projects to a most medially located zone (caudal beta zone) with a width of about 0.4 mm; the rostral part of the nucleus beta projects to a zone located at about 0.6 mm from the midline (rostral beta zone); the caudal part of the medial accessory olive (MAO) projects to a zone (caudal MAO zone) located lateral to the rostral beta zone; the dorsomedial cell column projects to a zone (dorsomedial cell column zone) located in the intermediate part of the uvula at about 1.2 mm from the lateral edge of the uvula; the ventral lamella of the principal olive (PO) projects to a zone (ventral lamella of PO zone) about 0.7 mm from the lateral edge of the uvula; finally, the rostral part of the MAO projects to the most lateral zone (rostral MAO zone). These conclusions are in general agreement with those of earlier studies and also provide a more detailed zonal configuration of climbing fiber projections to the uvula.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Differential mossy fiber projections to the dorsal and ventral uvula in the cat.

The brainstem afferents to the uvula were studied by using retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase in the cat. Findings indicate differential afferent projections to the ventral and dorsal uvula. Major sources projecting to the ventral uvula include the caudal parts of the medial and inferior vestibular nuclei, the x- and f-groups of the vestibular nuclei, the dorsal and central parts of the superior vestibular nucleus, the rostral dorsomedial part of the paramedian nucleus of the pontine nuclei, the caudal part of the prepositus hypoglossal nucleus, and the infratrigeminal nucleus. Labeled cells in the vestibular nuclei were 74.7% of the total number of labeled cells in cat 40. On the other hand, the major sources projecting to the dorsal uvula are the peduncular, paramedian, and lateral nuclei of the pontine nuclei at the rostral and intermediate levels. Labeled cells in the pontine nuclei comprised 82.1% of the total number of labeled cells in cat 1. Findings also indicate that the lateral part of the ventral uvula receives input mainly from the pontine nuclei, whereas the medial part of the ventral uvula receives input mainly from the vestibular nuclei. Mediolateral differences were not found for the dorsal uvula. These mossy fiber zones are mediolaterally wide, with a dorsoventral partition in the uvula, in contrast to the climbing fiber zones, which are narrow (about 0.4 mm) and extend longitudinally throughout the uvula. There are quantitative differences in afferent sources to the ventral uvula and flocculus, both of which belong to the vestibulocerebellum. The largest afferent sources for the ventral uvula are the vestibular nerve and nuclei, whereas the largest sources for the flocculus are the reticular formation and raphe nuclei. These quantitative differences may have an important role for differential functions between the ventral uvula and flocculus. It has been suggested that the ventral uvula controls the velocity storage integrator of the vestibuloocular and optokinetic reflexes, whereas the flocculus is responsible for rapid changes of eye velocity in these reflexes.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Ultrastructural and immunocytochemical studies on the cytoskeleton in the anterior pituitary of rats, with special regard to the relationship between actin filaments and secretory granules.

As previously reported, in anterior pituitary cells of the rat, secretory granules are linked with adjacent granules, cytoorganelles, microtubules, and plasma membrane by thin filaments, 4-10 nm in diameter. The quick-freeze, deep-etching method revealed that some of the filaments linking adjacent secretory granules show 5 nm-spaced striations on their surface which are known to be characteristic of actin. Immunocytochemistry showed that actin is localized in the cytoplasm beneath the plasma membrane, and around or between secretory granules. The heavy meromyosin decoration method demonstrated that actin filaments are mainly located in the cytoplasm beneath the plasma membrane, while some actin filaments are connected with the limiting membrane of the secretory granules. The actin filaments associated with the secretory granules are considered to be involved in the intracellular transport of the granules, while those localized in the peripheral cytoplasmic matrix might control the approach of the secretory granules to the plasma membrane and their release.

Actins↗
PubMed1989

Comparison of the regional distribution of calspectin (nonerythroid spectrin or fodrin), alpha-actinin, vinculin nonerythroid protein 4.1, and calpactin in normal and avian sarcoma virus- or Rous sarcoma virus-induced transformed cells.

With fluorescence and interference reflection microscopy (IRM), we compared the regional distribution of calspectin, its interacting proteins (nonerythroid protein 4.1 and calpactin), alpha-actinin, and vinculin in NRK cells and their avian sarcoma virus (ASV)- or temperature-sensitive (ts) Rous sarcoma virus (RSV)-transformed cells. The localization of these cytoskeletal proteins was determined with the specific antibodies. In NRK cells, alpha-actinin and vinculin were concentrated at adhesion plaques. By contrast, calspectin was distributed throughout the cytoplasm, but not concentrated at adhesion plaques. In ASV- and ts RSV-transformed cells, all three cytoskeletal proteins were concentrated at dot structures representing cellular feet. Nonerythroid protein 4.1 and calpactin were diffusely distributed throughout the cytoplasm of NRK cells and their transformed counterparts. In the case of calpactin, a part of this protein was excluded near regions of the terminal ends of stress fibers. These two proteins did not show the restricted location at the dot structures of transformed cells. From these findings, it is apparent that the accumulation of calspectin into dot structures is a specific event for cell transformation induced by the src protein.

Actinin↗