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Biomedical subjects

K Kurihara

Publications and source records attributed to K Kurihara.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Electrically evoked direct and consensual reflexes of the pupil.

In 10 men with their ages ranging from 18 to 31 years, one eye was stimulated with alternating current using a contact lens electrode. Pupil constrictions elicited in both eyes were recorded by binocular infrared videopupillography. The pupil reflex evoked was named the electrically evoked pupillary reflex (EEPR). The time courses of the direct and consensual EEPR were similar; no significant differences were found between both reflexes in the amplitude of pupil constriction, the latency time, constriction or redilatation times. The time courses of the electrically evoked reflexes closely resembled those of the pupillary light reflexes, confirming the existence of common neural pathways.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Selective enhancement and suppression of frog gustatory responses to amino acids.

Properties of the receptor sites for L-amino acids in taste cells of the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) were examined by measuring the neural activities of the glossopharyngeal nerve under various conditions. (a) The frogs responded to 12 amino acids, but the responses to the amino acids varied with individual frogs under natural conditions. The frog tongues, however, exhibited similar responses after an alkaline treatment that removes Ca2+ from the tissue. The variation in the responses under natural conditions was apparently due to the variation in the amount of Ca2+ bound to the receptor membrane. (b) The responses to hydrophilic L-amino acids (glycine, L-alanine, L-serine, L-threonine, L-cysteine, and L-proline) were of a tonic type, but those to hydrophobic L-amino acids (L-valine, L-leucine, L-isoleucine, L-methionine, L-phenylalanine, and L-tyrptophan) were usually composed of both phasic and tonic components. (c) The properties of the tonic component were quite different from those of the phasic component: the tonic component was largely enhanced by the alkaline treatment and suppressed by the acidic treatment that increases binding of Ca2+ to the tissue. Also, the tonic component was suppressed by the presence of low concentrations of salts, or the action of pronase E, whereas the phasic component was unchanged under these conditions. These properties of the phasic component were quite similar to those of the response to hydrophobic substances such as quinine. These results suggest that the hydrophilic L-amino acids stimulate receptor protein(s) and that the hydrophobic L-amino acids stimulate both the receptor protein and a receptor site similar to that for quinine. (d) On the basis of the suppression of the responses to amino acids by salts, the mechanism of generation of the receptor potential is discussed.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1981

Taste transduction mechanism: similar effects of various modifications of gustatory receptors on neural responses to chemical and electrical stimulation in the frog.

Responses in the frog glossopharyngeal nerve induced by electrical stimulation of the tongue were compared with those induced by chemical stimuli under various conditions. (a) Anodal stimulation induced much larger responses than cathodal stimulation, and anodal stimulation of the tongue adapted to 5 mM MgCl2 produced much larger responses than stimulation with the tongue adapted to 10 mM NaCl at equal current intensities, as chemical stimulation with MgCl2 produced much larger responses than stimulation with NaCl at equal concentration. (b) The enhansive and suppressive effects of 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate, NiCl2, and uranyl acetate on the responses to anodal current were similar to those on the responses to chemical stimulation. (c) Anodal stimulation of the tongue adapted to 50 mM CaCl2 resulted in a large response, whereas application of 1 M CaCl2 to the tongue adapted to 50 mM CaCl2 produced only a small response. This, together with theoretical considerations, suggested that the accumulation of salts on the tongue surface is not the cause of the generation of the response to anodal current. (d) Cathodal current suppressed the responses induced by 1 mM CaCl2, 0.3 M ethanol, and distilled water. (e) The addition of EGTA or Ca-channel blockers (CdCl2 and verapamil) to the perfusing solution of the lingual artery reversibly suppressed both the responses to chemical stimulus (NaCl) and to anodal current with 10 mM NaCl. (f) We assume from the results obtained that electrical current from the microvillus membrane of a taste cell to the synaptic area supplied by anodal stimulation or induced by chemical stimulation activates the voltage-dependent Ca channel at the synaptic area.

Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates↗
PubMed1980

Conversion of positive to negative chemotaxis by Ca2+ ionophore treatment in plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum.

The plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum was treated with Ca2+ ionophores A23187 or X-537A, and the effects on the chemotactic and contractile activities were studied by applying a double-chamber method and an optical method. (1) At low Ca2+ concentration, attractants (glucose, L-alanine) KH2PO4) remained as attractants and induced a relaxation in the plasmodial strand. Increase in the external Ca2+ level caused a contraction of plasmodium with the same stimuli, and hence converted the attractants to repellents. (2) This phenomenon was specific to Ca2+; Mg2+, Sr2+ or Ba2+ showed no appreciable effects. (3) Repellents (sucrose, KCl, Quinine) induced a contraction, which was not altered by the Ca2+ ionophore treatment. (4) Efflux of Ca2+, which was measured by chemiluminescence of aequorin, increased on glucose reception in the presence of ionophore.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1980

Changes in membrane potential and membrane fluidity in Tetrahymena pyriformis in association with chemoreception of hydrophobic stimuli: fluorescence studies.

The fluorescence intensity of rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) and 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) in the presence of Tetrahymena pyriformis was measured to monitor changes in the membrane potential and in the gross structure of the surface membrane in response to chemical stimuli. So-called "odorants" for higher vertebrates, which are usually uncharged and hydrophobic compounds, were chosen as chemical stimuli for a model study of the olfactory response. The fluorescence intensity of Rh6G started to increase at the chemotactic thresholds of the stimuli, indicating that negative chemotaxis of T. pyriformis to the hydrophobic stimuli is induced by depolarization of the cell. The fluorescence intensity of DPH increased in close association with chemoreception of the hydrophobic stimuli. The increase in the fluorescence intensity was ascribed mainly to uptake of DPH, suggesting that gross structural changes of the surface membrane occur with the reception of hydrophobic stimuli. The membrane fluidity determined by fluorescence polarization of DPH increased in close association with the chemoreception of the hydrophobic stimuli. Inorganic salts such as NcCl, KCl, and CaCl2 did not change the DPH fluorescence intensity or the fluorescence polarization, although these stimuli induced depolarization and negative chemotaxis in T. pyriformis.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Regression of granular pericytes in cerebral fine vessels of rats after administration of vitamin E deficient diet.

Prolonged administration of a vitamin E deficient diet to Wistar rats resulted in regressive changes in granular pericytes distributed around fine vessels of the cerebral cortex. The regressive signs included expansion of endoplasmic reticula, sweling of mitochondria and increase of vesicular structures. Rupture of the limiting membranes of the intracellular granules often accompanied these changes. The finding seems important for an understanding of the physiology and nutriology of granular pericytes in the brain.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Uptake of exogenous substances and marked infoldings of the fluorescent granular pericyte in cerebral fine vessels.

Exogenous substances such as trypan blue and horseradish peroxidase administered intraventricularly are taken up by granular pericytes in cerebral fine vessels. These cells are provided with elongated and complicated infoldings. Pinocytotic vesicles occur often along the infoldings, and ends of infoldings are swollen and assume vesicular shapes. The specific morphology of the granular perithelial cells is considered to favor a removal of metabolic wates in cerebral tissue.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Interpretation by theoretical model of dynamic and steady components in frog gustatory response.

The behavior of dynamic component (slow component) and steady component of the frog glossopharyngeal nerve response to CaCl2, measured in number of impulses firing per second, was examined under various conditions. 1) The magnitude of the dynamic component increased with the flow rate below about 0.3 ml/s, whereas that of the steady component was independent of the flow rate. 2) The magnitude of the dynamic component increased with a rise of temperature between 2.5 and 20 degrees C, whereas that of the steady component was practically independent of temperature. Removal of Ca2+ from the receptor membrane yielded a large dynamic component even at 2.5 degrees C. 3) The treatment of the tongue with procaine led to a large reduction in the magnitude of the dynamic component, whereas the effect of procaine on the steady component was not pronounced. 4) The magnitude of the dynamic component varied with the pH of the stimulating solution, whereas that of steady component was practically independent of a pH between 4.5 and 7.5. The above results were well interpreted by the following reaction scheme: S (stimulus + A (receptor domain) in equilibrium (SA)active in equilibrium (SA) inactive where (SA) active and (SA) inactive are active and inactive complexes.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1980

Selective suppression of positive chemotaxis in Physarum polycephalum by treatment with rotenone or under anaerobic condition.

The chemotactic motive force of plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum was measured by the double-chamber method. The treatment of plasmodia with 0.1 mM rotenone did not affect the motility of the palsmodia but led to suppression of the chemotaxis toward all the attractants examined (glucose, galactose, c-AMP, KH2PO4). Rotenone treatment did not affect the chemotaxis against repellents (fructose, NaCl). Similar results were obtained when the chemotactic motive force was measured under an anaerobic condition (95% N2-5% CO2).

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1979

Selective modification of positive chemotaxis in the true slime mold Physarum polycephalum by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid treatment.

The plasmodium of the true slime mold Physarum polycephalum was treated with EDTA or EGTA and the effect of the treatment on the chemotactic response was examined by measuring the chemotactic motive force with the double-chamber method. The results obtained were as follows: (1) The treatment of the plasmodium with 5 mM EDTA (pH 7.0, 20 min) did not give any significant effect on the protoplasmic streaming or motility. (2) The plasmodium treated with EDTA exhibited no chemotactic response to non-electrolyte attractants (D-glucose, D-galactose, D-mannose, and maltose) and negative chemotaxis to electrolyte attractants (cyclic AMP and NaH2PO4). (3) The EDTA treatment gave no effect on the chemotactic response to repellents (D-fructose, NaCl, CaCl2, MgCl2). (4) The EDTA-treated plasmodium exhibited changes in the membrane potential in response to both attractants and repellents as similar to the untreated plasmodium. (5) The treatment of the plasmodium with 5 mM EGTA (pH 7.0, 20 min) gave results similar to those obtained with the EDTA treatment. The results obtained suggested that EDTA (or EGTA) treatment did not affect the receptor sites but modified the transduction mechanism from reception into tactic movement.

Chemotaxis↗
PubMed1979

Photoinduced charge separation in liposomes containing chlorophyll a. I. Photoreduction of copper(II) by potassium ascorbate through liposome bilayer containing purified chlorophyll a.

Photosensitivity of dispersion of phosphatidylcholine bilayer liposomes containing purified chlorophyll alpha was examined. The reduction of Cu(II) in the solution outside liposomes was observed upon illumination with visible light under anaerobic condition by means of ESR. The rate of photoreduction was significantly increased by a reductant, potassium ascorbate, localized in the solution of the opposite side of the membrane. The aciton spectrum of the reduction agreed with the absorption spectrum of chlorphyll a in the dispersion. The amount of bleach chlorophyll a was negligible compared with that of reduced (Cu(II). These facts lead to the conclusion that the potoinduced redox reactions at both the membrane-solution interfaces are coupled with each other through the bilayer of each liposome. Kinetic analysis of the reactions based on a possible reaction scheme was carried out and some of the kinetic parameters were determined.

Anaerobiosis↗