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Biomedical subjects

K Tano

Publications and source records attributed to K Tano.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

In vitro inhibition of S. pneumoniae, nontypable H. influenzae and M. catharralis by alpha-hemolytic streptococci from healthy children.

The present study aimed to investigate the inhibitory activity of the normal epipharyngeal flora against the three most common acute otitis media (AOM) pathogens in healthy children, and to study if the inhibitory activity differs between alpha-hemolytic streptococci (AHS) sampled from the tubal orifice and from those sampled from the adenoid. A total number of ten isolates of AHS were collected from the tubal orifice and the adenoid, respectively, in ten children undergoing adenoidectomy or tonsillectomy. None of the children had a history of otitis media, neither secretory otitis media (SOM) nor AOM. The method used to test the bacterial interference in vitro was a modified agar overlay method. The results showed that the AHS from nasopharynx were able to inhibit the majority of the S. pneumoniae, nontypable Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catharralis isolates tested. The AHS isolates from the tubal orifice inhibited growth of 93% of S. pneumoniae, 79% of H. influenzae and 84% of M. catharralis isolates. The corresponding figures among isolates from the adenoid were 76, 48 and 62%. This difference in the inhibitory capacity between the AHS isolates collected from the adenoid, compared with the AHS collected from the tubal orifice, is statistically significant (P<0.01) and implies that it is important to know the exact sampling locality before conclusions are made concerning the significance of bacterial interference in the upper airways.

Adenoids

Activation of human O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase gene by glucocorticoid hormone.

O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a ubiquitous DNA repair protein, removes the mutagenic DNA adduct O6-alkylguanine, which is synthesized both endogenously and after exposure to alkylnitrosamines and alkylating antitumor drugs such as 2-chloroethyl-N-nitrosourea (CNU). The MGMT gene is highly regulated in mammalian cells and its overexpression, observed in many types of tumor cells, is often associated with cellular resistance to CNU. Dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid hormone, was found to increase MGMT expression in HeLa S3 cells, concomitant with their increased resistance to CNU. Two putative glucocorticoid responsive elements (GREs) were identified in the human MGMT (hMGMT) promoter. Transient expression of the luciferase reporter gene driven by an hMGMT promoter fragment containing these GREs was activated by dexamethasone. DNase I footprinting assays demonstrated the binding of glucocorticoid receptor to these sequences. In vitro transcription experiment showed that these DNA sequences are functional in glucocorticoid receptor signal-mediated activation of transcription. These results suggest glucocorticoid-mediated induction of the MGMT gene contributes to high level expression of MGMT.

DNA Footprinting

Specificity of mutations induced by riboflavin mediated photosensitization in the supF gene of Escherichia coli.

Riboflavin-mediated photosensitization has been shown to produce 8-hydroxyguanine (oh8Gua) in DNA. We investigated the specificity of mutation of photosensitized supF gene induced in Escherichia coli. The oh8Gua repair deficient E. coli mutant mutM and mutY were transformed with plasmid pUB3 carrying the supF gene irradiated with white light in the presence of riboflavin. Under these conditions, riboflavin photosensitization increased the amounts of oh8Gua in pUB3 DNA. Three types of a single base substitution occurring at G:C pairs were detected in both wild-type and mutM mutant strains. Almost all base substitutions were transversions to T:A or C:G pairs occurring at a similar extent in both wild-type and mutM strains. Mutations derived from mutY strain transformed with photosensitized DNA were only G:C to T:A transversions. These G:C to T:A transversions observed in the mutY strain were suggested to be the result of mispairing of oh8Gua with adenine. Riboflavin-mediated photosensitization may also produce lesions on DNA causing G:C to C:G changes by unknown mechanisms.

Base Sequence

Formation of 8-hydroxyguanine and 2,6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine in DNA by riboflavin mediated photosensitization.

Calf thymus DNA was photoirradiated in the presence of riboflavin. Altered bases were detected and quantified by the GC/MS-SIM method after hydrolysis and derivatization of DNA. Seven types of modified purine bases were detected in control DNA. Among them, the yields of 8-OH-Gua and FapyGua increased significantly in DNA photo-irradiated with riboflavin, whereas the yields of xanthine, 8-OH-Ade, 2-OH-Ade, FapyAde and hypoxanthine were not affected. A dose dependent increase in the formation of 8-OH-Gua was observed with increasing riboflavin concentration for 30 min irradiation. On the other hand, FapyGua reached plateau at 10 micrograms/ml of riboflavin for 30 min irradiation. Our results indicate that guanine moiety in DNA is the most susceptible to riboflavin mediated photosensitization.

Animals

Changes in plasma free and sulfoconjugated catecholamines during the perioperative period of cardiac surgery: effect of continuous infusion of dopamine.

In order to elucidate the pharmacological properties of the formation of sulfoconjugated catecholamines (CAs) in human plasma, we investigated the changes in the plasma levels of free and sulfoconjugated CA during the continuous infusion of dopamine (DA; 4-6 microg/kg/min for 24 h, followed by 3-4 microg/kg/min for 48 h) in patients who had undergone cardiac surgery. The plasma level of free DA increased immediately after the start of the infusion and reached a plateau within 1 h at a level of about 2000 times the basal value. In the control patients who had received non-cardiac surgery without DA infusion, plasma-free DA increased only 5-fold after their operation. The plasma level of DA sulfate increased linearly for 24 h, to 48-fold of the basal value by DA infusion, whereas it showed only a 2-fold increase in the control patients. After 24 h, due to reduction of the infused DA dose, the level of free DA gradually decreased, whereas the level of DA sulfate remained elevated. The plasma levels of free adrenaline (Ad) and noradrenaline (NA) also increased during the DA infusion, but their levels reached a plateau within 1-2 h. Sulfoconjugated Ad and NA increased progressively until the tapering off of DA infusion. In the control patients, both free and conjugated Ad and NA showed transient increases over 12 h after surgery. These results suggest that sulfoconjugation plays a role in regulating the plasma levels of excess free CA, thereby modifying the cardiovascular effects of circulating CA. Measurement of the increase in plasma conjugated CA may be useful as an index of the increase in free CA in plasma due to the administration of an exogenous form or release of endogenous CA from the tissues.

Adult

Establishment and characterization of a hypocatalasemic mouse cell strain.

Contact-inhibited catalase-deficient fibroblast cell strain has been established from the homozygous hypocatalasemic C3H/Csb mutant mouse. This cell strain has low level of catalase enzyme activity and has normal level of enzyme activities of both glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase. Catalase-deficient C3H/Csb mutant cell strain is markedly more sensitive to the toxicity of hydrogen peroxide compared to wild-type C3H/Csa cell strain. In addition, mutant cell strain is sensitive to X-rays and near-UV compared to wild-type cell strain, but shows the same sensitivities to topoisomerase II inhibitors, adriamycin and 4'-(9-acridinylamino) methanesulfon-m-anisidide (m-AMSA), and the DNA cross-linking agents, cisdiamminedichloroplatinum (II) (cis-Pt) and trans-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (trans-Pt). These cell strains will be of use in the study of the roles which catalase plays in the intracellular prevention of DNA damage induced by oxidative stress.

Acatalasia

Amplification of the DNA repair gene O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase associated with resistance to alkylating drugs in a mammalian cell line.

The cytotoxic action of such alkylating chemotherapeutic drugs as 2-chloroethyl-N-nitrosourea (CNU) derivatives is countered by the repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), which removes O6-alkylguanine induced in the DNA by these agents. Resistance to these drugs is often correlated with the MGMT levels in normal and tumor cells of human and rodent origin. Exposure of mouse 3T3 cells to increasing concentrations of CNU, and subsequent selection of resistant cells, led to the isolation of clones with 5-10 times higher levels of MGMT activity than in the control. The increased MGMT expression at both mRNA and protein levels resulted from 5- to 10-fold amplification of the Mgmt gene. Amplification of this gene was not associated with concomitant amplification of another alkylation damage repair gene, N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase. No amplification of at least three other genes on chromosome 7 (which contains the Mgmt gene) was observed in the drug-resistant cells. Furthermore, the amplified Mgmt sequence was not associated with a homogeneously staining region, or double minute chromosomes, nor present as episomal DNA. In situ hybridization of metaphase chromosomes of the drug-resistant cells indicated both translocation and localized amplification of the Mgmt gene.

3T3 Cells

Effect of docarpamine, a novel orally active dopamine prodrug, on the formation of free and sulfoconjugated dopamine in patients who underwent cardiac surgery.

To evaluate the clinical efficacy of orally active dopamine prodrug, docarpamine [N-(N-acetyl-L-methionyl)-O,O-bis (ethoxycarbonyl) dopamine], we examined its effect on the formation of free and sulfoconjugated dopamine in patients who underwent cardiac surgery. The preoperative values of free and sulfoconjugated dopamine in patients were 216 +/- 52 pg/ml and 4,930 +/- 820 pg/ml, respectively. The plasma level of free dopamine increased to 95.3 +/- 28.3 ng/ml by dopamine infusion after the operation and was sustained at a high level (87.7 +/- 26.5 ng/ml) by concomitant administration of docarpamine in spite of tapering of dopamine infusion. After stopping dopamine infusion, plasma level of free dopamine was 24.5 +/- 17.6 ng/ml maintained by oral administration of docarpamine alone. From these results, docarpamine may be a useful alternative to intravenous dopamine after cardiac surgery. Sulfoconjugated dopamine in plasma increased to 267 +/- 120 ng/ml after the start of dopamine infusion and increased further after oral docarpamine administration to 2,060 +/- 610 ng/ml. Since sulfoconjugated dopamine is thought to be a possible precursor of active free dopamine in plasma, orally administered docarpamine might be stored as a reserve pool for free dopamine in patients who undergo cardiac surgery.

Administration, Oral

Molecular cloning and characterization of the promoter of the human N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase (MPG) gene.

The promoter region of the human N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase (MPG) gene was cloned and characterized. The cloned segment contains two first exons that were earlier identified and named exons 1a and 1b. These were found to be separated by approximately 800 bp. The minimal promoter region was identified upstream to the distal exon 1a, by transient transfection, and no promoter activity was found in the region in between exons 1a and 1b, suggesting that transcription starts at a single site which is then processed to generate mRNAs of the isoforms. The promoter sequence is G and C rich and contains neither TATA box, nor apparent CAAT sequences, although a partially matched CAAT sequence was identified just downstream to the minimal promoter.

Base Sequence

Mutational specificity of the ferrous ion in a supF gene of endonuclease III/VIII deficient Escherichia coli.

When 125 microM Fe2+/EDTA treated plasmid pUB3 was used to transfect an Escherichia coli NKJ2004 (nth nei) host, which is totally defective in glycosylases for thymine glycol and 5-hydroxycytosine, a 3.7 fold increase in mutation frequency was observed. Among 46 supF mutants sequenced, 28 had base substitutions, with G:C-->C:G transversion predominant (14 cases), followed by G:C-->T:A transversion (6 cases) and G:C-->A:T transition (6 cases). The results are consistent with our previous Fe2+ mutagenesis results where, in the wild type host, 78% were base substitutions, with G:C-->C:G transversion (59%) predominant, followed by G:C-->T:A transversion (28%) and G:C-->A:T transition (11%). Treatment of pUB3 DNA with Fe2+/EDTA did not yield formation of Endonuclease III sensitive sites. The possibility of 5-hydroxycytosine as the causative lesion for Fe2+ induced G:C-->C:G transversion is discussed.

DNA Repair

Cellular effect of thermal neutron capture treatment using 10B1-para-boronophenylalanine: lethal effect on melanoma cells with different degrees of X-ray sensitivity.

We studied the effect of neutron capture treatment using 10B-compound on X-ray sensitive P-39 and X-ray resistant G-361 human melanoma cell lines, and found a high lethal effect of boron neutron capture therapy in comparison with conventional ionizing radiation. The P-39 line was sensitive to thermal neutron radiation, and extremely sensitive to bleomycin treatment, whereas the G-361 line was resistant to both forms of treatment; however, the two cell lines had similar sensitivity to thermal neutron radiation after pretreatment with 10B1-para-boronophenylalanine (10B1-BPA, 200 micrograms/ml medium). These results show that the thermal neutron capture products (a 7Li nucleus and alpha particle) are highly damaging and short range in tumor cells and thus more efficiently inactivate melanoma cells irrespective of x-ray sensitivity, than conventional X-ray-irradiation.

Antibiotics, Antineoplastic

[Lymphangitis].

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Acute Disease

Preparation of characteristic diagram for refolding of lysozyme.

The characteristic diagram for refolding of denatured reduced lysozyme was prepared in terms of recovered activity by employing urea and LiCl concentrations as two axes of rectangular coordinates. The diagram obtained will serve as a new tool not only for the optimum design of refolding media but also for the study of the refolding mechanism.

Animals

Graded methylation in the promoter and body of the O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene correlates with MGMT expression in human glioma cells.

Expression of the O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene in human glioma cell lines is strongly associated with resistance to the chemotherapeutic agent 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea. To examine the possibility that methylation of the body and promoter regions of the MGMT gene is associated with MGMT expression in a graded, rather than a completely on/off fashion, the present study analyzed the methylation status of the MGMT gene in human glioma cell lines exhibiting a wide range of MGMT expression. Methylation in the body of the gene was uniform within each cell line and correlated directly with MGMT expression. The level of MGMT promoter methylation was also graded across the cell lines, at 21 of 25 CpGs tested, but correlated inversely with MGMT expression. Two sites in the MGMT promoter were also much more accessible to restriction enzyme digestion, and thus in a more open chromatin conformation, in nuclei from high MGMT expressors relative to nuclei from cells with little or no MGMT expression. We conclude that the level of methylation, in both the body and promoter of the MGMT gene, is associated with MGMT expression in a graded fashion and may be important in setting the transcriptional state of the MGMT promoter through changes in chromatin structure.

Base Sequence

Repair of 8-hydroxyguanine in DNA by mammalian N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase.

8-Hydroxyguanine is one of the major base lesions implicated in mutagenesis induced by ionizing radiation and radiomimetic agents. This lesion appears to be repaired by human cells via multiple pathways including the one that involves a base glycosylase. Mouse N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase, responsible for the removal of N-alkylpurines in DNA that are induced by simple monofunctional alkylating agents, also releases 8-hydroxyguanine from DNA in vitro and in vivo in Escherichia coli. The human N-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase, with a lower preference for N-alkylguanine than the mouse protein, removes the oxidized base less efficiently than the mouse protein. The recombinant mammalian glycosylases can rescue E. coli lacking MutM (Fpg) protein, the DNA glycosylase that is primarily responsible for removing 8-hydroxyguanine from the bacterial DNA.

Animals

Evidence for two DNA repair enzymes for 8-hydroxyguanine (7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine) in human cells.

Two DNA repair enzymes for 8-hydroxyguanine (also known as 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine; OH8Gua, oxo8Gua) have been identified in human HeLa cell nuclear extract. One is OH8Gua-glycosylase and the other is OH8Gua-endonuclease that lacks OH8Gua-glycosylase activity. They were separated by heparin-Sepharose column chromatography and characterized by endonuclease nicking assay or by measuring the OH8Gua released from substrate DNA using high pressure liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection. Both OH8Gua repair enzymes act only on the OH8Gua-containing strand of the duplex substrate DNA containing OH8Gua/C, OH8Gua/T, or OH8Gua/G. DNA containing OH8Gua/A base pair was very poor substrate for either enzymes. OH8Gua-endonuclease simultaneously cleaves phosphodiester bonds on both sides of the OH8Gua residue, leaving 5'-hydroxy and 3'-hydroxy groups.

Base Sequence

Induction of mutations in mouse FM3A cells by treatment with riboflavin plus visible light and its possible relation with formation of 8-hydroxyguanine (7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine) in DNA.

Photosensitized formation of 8-hydroxyguanine (oh8Gua; 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine, oxo8Gua) in cellular DNA and its repair was examined in mouse FM3A cells. oh8Gua was generated 7-fold above the background level by 10 min irradiation with visible light in the presence of riboflavin (160 microM0 and repaired to 60-70% of initial level after 2 h post-incubation. By this treatment, mutation frequency that was measured by counting ouabain-resistant colonies, was increased 7-fold above the background frequency. The accumulation of unrepaired oh8Gua in DNA generated by treatment with riboflavin plus visible light correlates to induction of mutations. Thus, oh8Gua will contribute to the mutation induced by visible light as well as spontaneous mutations.

Animals