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Biomedical subjects

M Imagawa

Publications and source records attributed to M Imagawa.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Tissue-specific expression of the human growth hormone gene is conferred in part by the binding of a specific trans-acting factor.

The molecular basis for the pituitary-specific expression of the human growth hormone (hGH) gene was investigated, by gene transfer and protein footprinting experiments. Plasmid constructs in which CAT or Neo transcription units are fused to a 0.5 kb fragment of the hGH 5' sequences were efficiently expressed in GC and GH3 cells, derived from a pituitary tumor, but not in cell lines of other origins, indicating the presence of a tissue-specific promoter. DNaseI footprinting experiments have identified at least three factors that specifically bind to the hGH 5' region. While two of these factors were also detected in extracts of non-expressing cells, the third factor, GHF-1, was detected only in extracts of GH expressing pituitary tumor cells. Mutagenesis experiments suggest that binding of GHF-1 and some of the other more ubiquitous factors is required for optimal hGH promoter activity in vivo. Tissue specificity of the hGH promoter therefore seems to be determined by the binding of at least one tissue-specific trans-acting factor, acting in concert with several other more ubiquitous, yet specific, DNA binding proteins.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Comparative antigenicity of spore coat proteins from Bacillus species using antibody to spore coat proteins of Bacillus megaterium.

Spore coat proteins obtained by extraction with sodium dodecylsulfate/dithiothreitol from six Bacillus spores were compared by immunoblot analysis using antibodies to spore coat proteins from two strains of B. megaterium. Although the extract from spores of each strain had heterogenous proteins with various molecular weights, there were some bands which cross-reacted with specific antibodies from B. megaterium spores. Specific antibody to 48K protein from B. megaterium ATCC 12872 cross-reacted with 17K protein from B. megaterium ATCC 19213, 13K protein from B. cereus and 50K protein from B. subtilis 60015 and B. subtilis NRRL B558. Also, specific antibody to 22K protein from the same strain cross-reacted with 22K and 17K proteins from B. megaterium ATCC 19213 and 13K protein from B. cereus T. Specific antibody to 17K protein from B. megaterium ATCC 19213 reacted with 22K and 19K proteins in addition to 17K protein of own strain, and it was cross-reactive with 16K protein from B. megaterium ATCC 12872, 19K and 27K proteins from B. thiaminolyticus, 13K protein from B. cereus.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1986

Sodium-potassium cotransport in hypertension and hypotension.

Furosemide-sensitive Na-K cotransport was measured as zero-trans efflux of each ion from fresh or Na loaded erythrocytes in normotensives (n = 34), essential (n = 41) or secondary (n = 12) hypertensives and essential (n = 17) or secondary (n = 5) hypotensives. The stoichiometry of Na and K efflux was 0.9:1 in fresh cells and 1:1 in cells loaded with sufficient Na to give near the maximum velocity (Vmax) in a combined analysis. There was a tendency toward a negative correlation between the Vmax of Na efflux and serum total cholesterol (p = 0.09) in the whole and it was significant in normotensives (r = -0.60). Vmax of Na efflux also negatively correlated to age (p less than 0.01). After adjustment for age and total cholesterol level, essential hypertensives had a significantly (p less than 0.01) higher mean Vmax of Na efflux (0.657 +/- 0.029 mM/l cells/hr) than normotensives (0.388 +/- 0.045), while essential hypotensives had a lower value (0.212 +/- 0.047) (p less than 0.01). Na efflux from fresh cells adjusted for internal Na content was higher in essential hypertensives (0.173 +/- 0.018) than in normotensives (0.107 +/- 0.026) (p less than 0.05). Thus, elevated cotransport was linked to essential hypertension and reduced cotransport to hypotension. Whether it is a cause or a result remains to be further investigated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Germinability of coat-lacking spores of Bacillus megaterium.

Upon treatment with acid, the germinability of both intact and coat-lacking spores of Bacillus megaterium ATCC 19213 exhibited similar features. Namely, when the spores previously germinated by alanine in the presence of phosphate buffer were converted to H-spores by treatment with nitric acid, germination proceeded at a very low speed in a same germination medium. When H-spores converted to Ca-spores by treatment with calcium acetate and subsequently germinated, germination proceeded at a speed higher than that of native spores and occurred even in the absence of buffer. These results suggest that the site of exchangeable cations concerned with germinability must not exist in the coat.

Alanine↗
PubMed1985

A simple method for the conjugation of affinity-purified Fab' to horseradish peroxidase and beta-D-galactosidase from Escherichia coli.

A simple method was described for the conjugation of affinity-purified Fab' to horseradish peroxidase and beta-D-galactosidase from Escherichia coli. IgG was subjected to successive processes of pepsin digestion, reduction with 2-mercaptoethylamine, affinity-purification and reaction with maleimide groups introduced into the enzymes. In the present method, gel filtration was required only once to separate the conjugate from unconjugated components in the final step, while gel filtration had to be repeated 3-4 times in the previous methods. The conjugate preparations obtained by the present method contained less nonspecific conjugate and gave a lower background by immunoenzymometric assay technique than those obtained by the previous method.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1985

Characterization of a monoclonal antibody to hog thyroid peroxidase and its use for immunohistochemical localization of the peroxidase in the thyroid gland.

A monoclonal antibody (30.1.2) to hog thyroid peroxidase was produced, purified, and characterized. The IgG of 30.1.2 formed an immune complex with the peroxidase in a 1:2 or 1:1 molar ratio depending on the IgG to antigen ratio in the incubation mixture. Immune complex formation did not inhibit the peroxidase activity, which was actually activated 2-fold in the 1:1 complex. Studies of the binding of the conjugate of the IgG or its Fab' with horseradish peroxidase to untreated and acetone-treated thyroid microsomes showed that the IgG conjugate could bind to only a very small portion of the total binding sites (thyroid peroxidase) present in untreated microsomes even after prolonged incubation. The binding of the Fab' conjugate to untreated microsomes, on the other hand, increased as the incubation time was increased, reaching 40% of the total sites after 20 h of incubation. These findings indicated that thyroid peroxidase is localized on the inner surface of the microsomal membranes and that the Fab' conjugate, but not the IgG conjugate, can slowly penetrate through the membrane barrier to reach the peroxidase. Immunohistochemical experiments using the Fab' conjugate as a probe revealed that most thyroid peroxidase in the thyroid gland is located in the endoplasmic reticulum and perinuclear cisternae of the follicular cell, although a small amount could occasionally be detected in the apical membrane including microvilli. In contrast to previous reports, no thyroid peroxidase could be found in other cellular structures such as Golgi apparatus and apical vesicles by the immunohistochemical technique employed.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Inhibition of cortex hydrolysis during spore germination by CdCl2.

When the spores of Bacillus megaterium QM B1551 (ATCC 12872) were incubated with 5 mM CdCl2 at 30 C, they underwent the early germination events, such as loss of heat resistance and release of calcium dipicolinate, in the same way as when they were germinated by glucose + KNO3. However, germination by CdCl2 caused no increase in the reducing groups in the cortex and no excretion of glucosamine-containing materials due to the hydrolysis of the cortex peptidoglycan. Addition of CdCl2 at any time during germination by glucose + KNO3 inhibited the release of glucosamine-containing materials from the spores, whereas removal of cadmium from the CdCl2-germinated spores by treatment with cysteine restored the hydrolysis of peptidoglycan. These results suggested that CdCl2 caused the early events of spore germination but prevented the spores from undergoing the events following germination by inhibiting the enzymatic lysis of the cortex peptidoglycan. The conclusion from the study is that cortex degradation is not always required for the initiation of germination.

Bacillus megaterium↗
PubMed1985

Collapse of cortex expansion during germination of Bacillus megaterium spores.

When spores of Bacillus megaterium ATCC 12872 were incubated with CdCl2, they germinated without decomposition of the cortex. Moreover, the volume ratio of cortex to protoplast-plus-cortex, C/(P+C), of the CdCl2-germinated spores was reduced. Incubation of isolated cortex with the divalent compounds Cd2+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ reduced the gel volume to about 1/5 but incubation with a nonionic compounds, glucose, did not. The spores with reduced C/(P+C) were observed in the early period of glucose-induced germination. The time required for a 50% change in cortex morphology to occur was 2.5 min, which corresponds well with the time for 50% loss of heat resistance. This time was shorter than that necessary for release of peptidoglycan fragments and hydrolysis of cortex glycan chains. These data indicate that cortex hydrolysis is not related to the initiation of germination. 50% of the dipicolinic acid, calcium and magnesium were released at 3.4, 4.0, and 2.4 min, respectively. These results suggest that collapse of cortex expansion by the interaction of cortex with dipicolinic acid and cations released from the core, or exogenous ionic germinants is an important step in the initiation of germination.

Bacillus megaterium↗
PubMed1985

Germination of the decoated spores of Bacillus megaterium.

Decoated spores of Bacillus megaterium ATCC 12872 were prepared by extracting the inner coat components with an alkaline solution containing sodium dodecyl sulfate and dithiothreitol (SDS-DTT) from outer coat-deficient mutant spores, which were produced from one of the mutants isolated and named MAE-05 by us. The decoated mutant spores germinated as well as the intact spores of the mutant and the parent, indicating that the outer and inner spore cats cannot be essential structures for the initiation of germination. When the SDS-DTT-treated MAE-05 spores were converted to H-spores by incubation in citrate-phosphate buffer (pH 3.5) at 30 C for 3 hr, they lost their germinability by glucose and KNO3. Ca-spores, prepared by treating H-spores with 10 mM calcium acetate at 37 C for 60 min, regained the germinability. Experiments on the interaction of 45Ca with the cortex and the inner membrane isolated from H-spores suggested that the calcium present in the inner membrane might be related to germinability.

Bacillus megaterium↗
PubMed1985

Synthesis and deposition of spore coat proteins during sporulation of Bacillus megaterium.

Rabbit (anti-spore coat protein) IgG was prepared by immunization with coat proteins extracted with sodium dodecyl sulfate and dithiothreitol from isolated spore coats of Bacillus megaterium ATCC 12872. Coat proteins were detected from 3 hr after the end of exponential growth (t3) in the mother cell cytoplasmic fraction by sandwich enzyme immunoassay using this antibody. The proteins in the forespore coat protein fraction increased from t3 and reached a plateau at t10. Immunoblot analysis for the coat proteins in sporulating cells revealed the sequential synthesis of various proteins in the mother cell cytoplasmic fraction and simultaneous deposition of the same proteins as in the forespore coat fraction. These results suggest that turnover of precursor proteins of the spore coat is very rapid if precursor proteins are produced and they are proteolytically processed to produce mature proteins. Specific antibody to the 48,000-dalton protein, which is a major protein, did not cross-react with any other major (36,000, 22,000, 19,500, and 17,500-dalton) proteins. Specific antibody to the 22,000-dalton protein did not cross-react with the 48,000, 36,000, 19,500, 17,500, and 16,000-dalton proteins, but did cross-react with the 44,000, 25,000, and 12,000-dalton proteins.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

[Experimental and clinical studies on cefmetazole in the field of internal medicine].

Susceptibilities in various types of clinical isolates to cefmetazole (CMZ) were determined by the disk method and the serial agar dilution method for MIC measurement. CMZ showed high antibacterial activity for all Gram-positive cocci except E. faecalis, and for H. influenzae, E. coli, Klebsiella sp. and Proteus sp.. CMZ was administered on 33 patients with infections, mainly biliary tract infections, in the field of internal medicine. The clinical efficacy of the drug was 86.7% for infections of the biliary tract, 80.0% for respiratory tract infections, 100% for urinary tract infections and 76.7% for all cases. There were no adverse reaction or changes in laboratory findings caused by CMZ in any of the patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Comparison of beta-D-galactosidase from Escherichia coli and horseradish peroxidase as labels of anti-human ferritin Fab' by sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique.

beta-D-Galactosidase from Escherichia coli and horseradish peroxidase were compared as labels of anti-human ferritin Fab' by sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique using fluorogenic substrates for enzyme assay. The anti-human ferritin Fab'-peroxidase conjugates gave lower nonspecific bindings and higher specific bindings than the corresponding Fab'-beta-D-galactosidase conjugates. As a result, the former provided more sensitive dose response curves for human ferritin than the latter. However, the peroxidase conjugates were required in a larger quantity, since peroxidase assay was much less sensitive than beta-D-galactosidase assay.

Antibodies↗
PubMed1984

Preparation of a monomeric 2,4-dinitrophenyl Fab'-beta-D-galactosidase conjugate for immunoenzymometric assay.

A method is described for the preparation of a monomeric Fab'-beta-D-galactosidase conjugate, which is required for the development of a sensitive immunoenzymometric assay. Anti-human IgG F(ab')2 was labeled with 2,4-dinitrophenyl groups, split into Fab' by reduction and reacted with excess maleimide groups which had been introduced into beta-D-galactosidase through thiol groups using N,N'-o-phenylenedimaleimide. The monomeric 2,4-dinitrophenyl Fab'-beta-D-galactosidase conjugate was subsequently separated from unconjugated beta-D-galactosidase by affinity chromatography on a column of (anti-2,4-dinitrophenyl) IgG-Sepharose 4B. In the monomeric conjugate preparation, 98% of beta-D-galactosidase activity was associated with Fab' and 90% was associated with specific (anti-human IgG) Fab'. This conjugate allowed the measurement of 0.1 fmol of human IgG by an immunoenzymometric assay technique.

2,4-Dinitrophenol↗
PubMed1984

Evaluation of beta-D-galactosidase from Escherichia coli and horseradish peroxidase as labels by sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique.

beta-D-galactosidase from Escherichia coli and horseradish peroxidase were evaluated as labels of Fab' in dose-response curves for human alpha-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin by sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique using fluorogenic substrates for enzyme assay. The non-specific binding of Fab'-peroxidase conjugates to IgG-coated polystyrene balls was less than that of Fab'-beta-D-galactosidase conjugates, and the affinity-purified Fab'-peroxidase conjugates gave more sensitive dose-response curves for these antigens than the corresponding beta-D-galactosidase conjugates. However, a large quantity of Fab'-peroxidase conjugates was required and a longer incubation was necessary for the peroxidase assay, since the peroxidase assay was much less sensitive than the beta-D-galactosidase assay. Other advantages and disadvantages of the two enzymes are discussed.

Antigen-Antibody Reactions↗