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Biomedical subjects

N Aoki

Publications and source records attributed to N Aoki.

At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Expression and characterization of pro alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor.

alpha s-Plasmin inhibitor (alpha 2PI), one of the serine protease inhibitors in plasma, was expressed in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cell line. The expression vector was constructed with its genomic DNA and cDNA, and was transfected into BHK cells by the calcium phosphate method. The recombinant alpha 2PI which was secreted from the cells was estimated by SDS-PAGE to have a molecular mass of 67 kDa, which is indistinguishable from that of normal plasma alpha 2PI. The leader peptide of 12 amino acids was retained at the amino terminus of the recombinant alpha 2PI. This finding suggests that alpha 2PI has pre-pro type processing and the propeptide of 12 amino acids is not removed in BHK cells. This pro-alpha 2PI shows essentially the same inhibitory activity on plasmin and the same affinity for plasmin(ogen) as those of normal alpha 2PI. However, the cross-linking ability to fibrin is reduced to less than one-third of that of normal alpha 2PI. The cross-linking site is the glutamine residue located at the second position from the amino terminus of normal alpha 2PI. The conformational change of this region caused by the addition of the propeptide may have affected the cross-linking capacity of the inhibitor.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1989

Modified application of three-point skull clamp for infants.

A standard three-point skull clamp is modified for application to infants. Rubber plugs (usually used for antibiotic bottles) pierced by the skull pins are used to avoid intracranial penetration of the pins. The upper surface of the rubber plugs attached to the scalp contributes to support of the head. Four infants were successfully treated in a prone position with this technique.

Brain Neoplasms↗
PubMed1989

Zygomatic temporopolar approach for basilar artery aneurysms.

For surgery of upper basilar artery aneurysms, we have modified the temporopolar approach proposed by Sano by detaching the zygomatic arch to obtain a wide, shallow operating field. This approach seems to be suitable for anteriorly protruding, high-positioned, or large aneurysms of the upper basilar artery. We have used this zygomatic temporopolar approach in 4 patients with such aneurysms and obtained satisfactory results. In this paper, we detail the operative procedure and emphasize certain technical points to minimize temporal lobe retraction and to prevent oculomotor and facial nerve injuries.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

The effects of vincristine and doxorubicin on the clonogenic cells of a human lung cancer cell line in methylcellulose and suspension culture.

The effects of vincristine (VCR) and doxorubicin (DOX) on the growth of an established line of human lung cancer cells, PC9, were studied in methylcellulose and suspension cultures. The secondary colony formation in methylcellulose and recovery of clonogenic cells in suspension were considered to reflect well the self-renewal of the clonogenic cells. When dose-response curves were obtained for VCR and DOX, the primary clonogenic cells (PE1) were more sensitive than secondary clonogenic cells (PE2) or clonogenic cells in suspension. Repeated exposure to VCR in suspension did not inhibit the exponential growth of the clonogenic cells. These data indicated that both drugs were relatively ineffective in specifically suppressing the self-renewal of the clonogenic cells.

Cell Division↗
PubMed1989

Effects of verapamil on the cellular accumulation of daunorubicin in blast cells and on the chemosensitivity of leukaemic blast progenitors in acute myelogenous leukaemia.

Verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, was studied for its effects on the cellular daunorubicin (DNR) accumulation in blast cells and on the sensitivity of the blast progenitors to DNR in 30 acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) patients. Using flow cytometry, verapamil was shown to increase the accumulation of DNR in blast cells. The effect was more prominent in the patients who showed poorer response to chemotherapy including DNR. The per cent increases of DNR content by verapamil were 6.4 +/- 6.3% and 19.5 +/- 23.1% in the 16 responders and the 14 nonresponders, respectively (P less than 0.05). The data suggest the presence of enhanced efflux of DNR in nonresponders. Marked variation in the effects of verapamil among nonresponders suggests the heterogeneity of the mechanisms of drug resistance involved. Verapamil also enhanced the sensitivity of blast progenitors to DNR. The degree of increase of cellular DNR accumulation by verapamil correlated with the degree of increase in chemosensitivity of blast progenitors (nonresponders, P less than 0.005; responders, P less than 0.05). We conclude that enhanced efflux of DNR in blast progenitors may be related to remission induction failure in at least some of resistant AML patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Anti-EDRF effect of tumor necrosis factor in isolated, perfused cat carotid arteries.

Cat carotid arteries that have an intact endothelium were isolated and perfused with Krebs-Henseleit solution containing recombinant human tumor necrosis factor (rhTNF). Perfused arteries were preconstricted with KCl and then dilated with acetylcholine (ACh) or acidified NaNO2. After perfusion with TNF (4 micrograms/ml) for 120 min, the ACh-induced vasodilator response was markedly blunted, but the NaNO2 vasodilator response was not significantly affected. Arteries perfused with 2 micrograms/ml TNF for 60-120 min or with 4 micrograms/ml for 60 min did not develop a significantly impaired relaxation to ACh. Moreover, perfusion with 20-100 micrograms/ml cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, blocked the TNF-induced impairment of the relaxation to ACh. On the other hand, the vasodilator response to acidified NaNO2 did not change in any perfused carotid arteries. These results suggest that TNF promotes the synthesis of proteins that contribute to the damage of endothelial cells directly, probably by inhibiting endothelium-derived relaxing factor release.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1989

Molecular basis for congenital deficiency of alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor. A frameshift mutation leading to elongation of the deduced amino acid sequence.

The present study was designed to elucidate the molecular genetic basis of a familial deficiency of alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor (alpha 2PI). Southern blot hybridization analysis with human alpha 2PI cDNA and genomic DNA probes demonstrated no gross deletion or rearrangement of the gene. By sequencing all the coding exons and exon-intron boundaries of the gene of a homozygote, we identified a single cytidine nucleotide insertion in the exon coding for the carboxyl-terminal region. This frameshift mutation leads to an alteration and elongation of the carboxyl-terminal portion of the deduced amino acid sequence. Synthetic oligonucleotide probes confirmed this frameshift mutation in all the affected family members including both heterozygous parents. In a transient expression assay, the alpha 2PI level in the culture medium of the cells transfected with the mutated alpha 2PI expression vector was very low and only 4% of that of the cells transfected with the normal vector, although the transcript levels and the cellular contents of alpha 2PIs did not differ significantly. Elongation of amino acid sequence in the mutant alpha 2PI was confirmed by an analysis of alpha 2PI in a transient expression experiment. These data indicate that this mutation is the cause of alpha 2PI deficiency in this pedigree.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Intraventricular cryptococcal granulomas--case report.

A 54-year-old, previously healthy female with chronic meningocencephalitis is presented. Computed tomography (CT) revealed hydrocephalus and mass lesions in both the lateral and fourth ventricles. A culture of cerebrospinal fluid obtained from the lateral ventricle on admission was negative, but 2 years later, when the meningoencephalitis recurred, Cryptococcus neoformans was cultured. The diagnostic difficulties and CT features of intracranial cryptococcal granulomas are discussed.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMed1989

Effects of dietary pyrazinamide, tryptophan, or nicotinic acid and gamma-ray irradiation on levels of NAD and NADP in various organs of mice.

The effects of large amounts of tryptophan, pyrazinamide, or nicotinic acid in diets on the contents of total NAD (NAD + NADH) and NADP (NADP + NADPH) of various organs were investigated in mice with or without gamma-irradiation. Female C3H/HeN mice were fed one of the following 4 kinds of experimental diets for one week: 1) control diet (20% casein diet containing 3 mg niacin per 100g diet); 2) diet supplemented by 0.5% L-tryptophan (T-diet); 3) diet supplemented by 0.5% L-tryptophan (T-diet); 4) diet supplemented by 0.1% nicotinic acid (NA-diet). Half of the mice in each group were subsequently irradiated with 8 Gy of gamma-ray (60 Co) after 4 h of fasting. Then, the contents of total NAD and NADP in thymus, spleen, kidney, liver, and blood were determined in all animals. The results indicated that NAD content of spleen was higher in PT-group (21.5%) and NA-group (23.2%) than in that of control group. In thymus, however, NAD content of only the PT-group was significantly greater (13.1%) than control. NAD level of kidney was also significantly higher (32.6%) in PT-group. By gamma-irradiation, NAD contents of thymus and spleen of all groups tended to be decreased, but those of kidney and liver were not always reduced. In the latter two organs, significant NAD reduction was shown only in kidney of PT-group and in liver of PT- and NA-groups. Even after irradiation, NAD levels of spleen and thymus in PT- and NA-groups tended to be kept higher than those in irradiated control group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1989

[Study of in vitro OK432-induced IFN-gamma production in patients with gastric and esophageal cancers: comparison with in vitro skin tests].

In the present study, we measured in vitro production of IFN-gamma induced by OK432 in peripheral mononuclear cells (PMC) and investigated the relationship between the skin reaction to Su-Ps, an extract of Streptococcus Pyogenes, and purified protein derivative (PPD) and the productibility of IFN-gamma in patients with gastric and esophageal cancers. PMC isolated with the Ficoll-conray centrifugation technique were adjusted to 10(6) cells/ml in RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum and incubated over 7 days at 37 degrees C in the presence of OK432 at 0.17 KE/ml in microculture plates. IFN-gamma secreted in the supernatants was measured consecutively during the observation period with radioimmunoassay. The results are summarized as follows. 1. The production of IFN-gamma in PMC from patients with negative skin reaction to Su-Ps and PPD was significantly decreased as compared with the value obtained from patients who were positive in these skin tests (p less than 0.001). 2. In vitro production of IFN-gamma induced by OK432 was significantly correlated with the degree of skin tests to Su-Ps and PPD as well (r = 0.48, r = 0.41, p less than 0.01, respectively). Thus, it is concluded that the assay of IFN-gamma produced in PMC cultures is useful to evaluate the immunological status of patients with cancer.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1989

Protective effects of a combination thromboxane synthesis inhibitor-receptor antagonist, R-68070, during murine traumatic shock.

The effects of R-68070 were studied in a well-characterized model of drum-induced traumatic shock in rats. R-68070 is a combination thromboxane A2 (TxA2) synthetase inhibitor-TxA2 receptor antagonist. Pentobarbital-anesthetized (50 mg/kg) rats subjected to Noble-Collip drum trauma developed a lethal circulatory shock state characterized by a marked decrease in mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) to about 75 mmHg, resulting in a survival time of 1.58 +/- 0.18 h. This compares with MABP of 120 +/- 4 mmHg 5 h after anesthetization in rats subjected to a sham traumatic shock protocol. Administration of R-68070 (1.5 mg/kg) significantly attenuated the plasma accumulation of the lysosomal protease, cathepsin D (p less than 0.05), as well as free amino-nitrogen concentration (p less than 0.05) and myocardial depressant factor activity (p less than 0.02). Additionally, R-68070 significantly prolonged survival time to 2.85 +/- 0.48 h (p less than 0.015) compared with traumatized rats given only the vehicle. These results suggest that TxA2 may be an important mediator in traumatic shock, and that R-68070 may prove to be a useful therapeutic agent in this situation if given early in the course of the shock state.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

State of hepatitis B viral genomes in cirrhotic and hepatocellular carcinoma nodules.

DNA of individual cirrhotic nodules (CN) and hepatocellular carcinoma nodules (HCN) of three hepatitis B surface antigen positive autopsy cases with macronodular cirrhosis were analyzed by Southern blot and slot blot hybridization with a hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA probe. Evidence of episomal or replicating viral DNA, viral DNA integration at the same cellular DNA site in many cells (clonal integration) and viral integration in different cellular DNA sites in many different cells (non-clonal integration) was found in different cirrhotic nodules of the same liver, indicating heterogeneity in the state of HBV in different cells and in different cirrhotic nodules within each infected liver. Episomal or replicating viral DNA forms were found in all cirrhotic nodules of one liver, in less than 10% of examined nodules of a second liver and in none of the third. Evidence of clonal viral integration was found in CN of all three livers and non-clonal integration in CN of the latter two. Cirrhotic nodules with apparent different integrations in many different cells (non-clonal integration) outnumbered those with the same integration site in many cells (clonal integration), and many cirrhotic nodules in those two livers had no detectable viral DNA. Cirrhotic nodules with a viral integration in the same cellular DNA site in many cells would appear to have been formed by clonal expansion of an original cell containing the viral integration, and cirrhotic nodules with different integrations in many different cells (non-clonal integration) may have been formed by recruitment of many different cells with different viral integrations or by clonal expansion of cells without HBV integrations and subsequent viral integrations occurring integration. In one liver, three different hepatocellular carcinoma nodules appeared to represent metastatic lesions because the clonal pattern of HBV integration was identical in each, and in another liver different HCN appeared to be of different clonal origin, i.e. to have arisen from different cells, because multiple viral integrations (i.e. multiple individual restriction fragments with HBV sequences) were each different in different HCN of that liver.

Blotting, Southern↗