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Biomedical subjects

S Taniguchi

Publications and source records attributed to S Taniguchi.

At least 595 records · Page 33Linked to original sources

Preferential synthesis of diacyl and alkenylacyl ethanolamine and choline glycerophospholipids in rabbit platelet membranes.

In rabbit platelet membranes, the contents of alkenylacyl phospholipids (plasmalogen) were 56% of phosphatidylethanolamine and 3% of phosphatidylcholine. This uneven distribution of plasmalogens in each phospholipid class could be attributed to the different substrate specificity of ethanolaminephosphotransferase (EC 2.7.8.1) and cholinephosphotransferase (EC 2.7.8.2). The properties of the enzymes were studied, using endogenous diglycerides and CDP-[3H]ethanolamine or CDP-[14C]choline as substrates. The newly formed phospholipids were mainly diacyl and alkenylacyl and only rarely alkylacyl type. The ratios of the labeled alkenylacyl to diacyl type of phospholipids clearly varied with the concentrations of CDP-ethanolamine or CDP-choline. When 1, 10, and 30 microM CDP-[3H]ethanolamine were used, the labeled phospholipids contained 53, 37, and 27% of the alkenylacyl type, respectively. The apparent Km for CDP-ethanolamine to synthesize alkenylacyl and diacyl types were 2.2 and 8.1 microM. On the other hand, when 1, 10, and 30 microM CDP-[14C]choline were used, the labeled lipids contained 10, 17, and 24% alkenylacyl type, respectively. The apparent Km for CDP-choline to synthesize alkenylacyl and diacyl types were 24 and 4.3 microM. Further, the syntheses of diacyl type of phosphatidylethanolamine and the alkenylacyl type of phosphatidylcholine were markedly inhibited by unlabeled CDP-choline and CDP-ethanolamine, respectively. The two enzymes had opposite substrate specificities, and ethanolaminephosphotransferase showed a high preference to plasmalogen synthesis, especially in the presence of CDP-choline.

Animals↗

Synergism of leukemic blast growth factors in medium conditioned by human bladder carcinoma cell line 5637.

Leukemic blast growth factors (LBGFs) are necessary for in vitro growth of clonogenic cells from patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia. As the human bladder carcinoma cell line 5637 had previously been reported to secrete abundant LBGFs into the culture supernatant, the LBGFs in 5637-conditioned medium (5637-CM) were characterized. Measurement of LBGFs was done using an in vitro leukemic blast colony assay in methylcellulose culture. LBGFs in 5637-CM were fractionated by anion exchange chromatography, and two peaks of activity were recovered. Pool B (high-salt eluent) and/or purified granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) were added to the clonogenic leukemic blast cell assays. It was found that pool B was more active than G-CSF in the majority of cases examined and that the two types of activity were synergistic in some cases.

Cell Division↗

Biogenic amines in the Arthus reaction.

The concentrations of serotonin, tryptamine, dopamine, and tyramine were quantitatively determined in the Arthus reaction, since the activity of histamine-N-methyltransferase (HMT), a major histamine-metabolizing enzyme that had been demonstrated to be inhibited by such biogenic amines in vitro, decreased significantly in the reaction site. The concentrations of serotonin, tryptamine, and dopamine were unchanged in dinitrochlorobenzene allergic and croton oil dermatitis except for a slight increase of tryptamine in the latter. Tyramine was unable to be demonstrated quantitatively in all specimens tested. The concentration of serotonin decreased to about 30% that of the control level until 1 hr, followed by a prominent increase to about two-fold at 6 hr after the initiation of the Arthus reaction accompanying with a concomitant decrease in HMT activity. However, the concentrations of tryptamine and dopamine were rather decreased in the reaction site, and the net decrease of two amines was far greater than the increased amount of serotonin. The decrease in HMT activity is not stoichiometrically well elucidated from these results, and therefore, the presence of other hypothetic inhibitory factors that are increased in the Arthus reaction should be suspected.

Animals↗

Treatment of four patients with myelodysplastic syndrome with a small dose of aclacinomycin-A.

The effect of a small dose of aclacinomycin-A (ACR) was examined in two patients with refractory anemia (RA) and two with refractory anemia with excess of blasts in transformation (RAEB-t). ACR (7 or 14 mg/m2) was given for 10 days in a 2-h per day drip infusion. Clinical symptoms and laboratory data improved in 3 of these 4 patients. In a patient with RA, marked increase in reticulocytes and elevation of the hemoglobin level from 6 to 9 g/dl was observed after two courses of ACR therapy. In two with RAEB-t, Auer's rod bearing cells disappeared in the bone marrow and megaloblastic change of the erythroblasts was diminished in one patient. Hemoglobin levels rose from 4.7 to 10 g/dl in one, and platelets and WBC increased in another. No effect was seen in a patient with RA. The cytoreductive effect of ACR was minor compared to the therapy with small dose of cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C). Therefore, ACR warrants further consideration for the treatment of patients with MDS.

Aclarubicin↗

Spin label study of erythrocyte deformability. Ca2+-induced loss of deformability and the effects of stomatocytogenic reagents on the deformability loss in human erythrocytes in shear flow.

The Ca2+-induced loss of deformability in human erythrocytes and the recovery of the lost deformability by stomatocytogenic reagents were investigated by means of a new flow electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spin label method, which provides information on deformation and orientation characteristics of spin labeled erythrocytes in shear flow. The Ca2+-induced loss of deformability is attributed mainly to the increase in intracellular viscosity resulting from efflux of intracellular potassium ions and water (Gardos effect). Partial recovery of the lost deformability is demonstrated in the presence of stomatocytogenic reagents, such as chlorpromazine, trifluoperazine, W-7, and calmidazolium (R24571). The recovery can not be explained solely by suppression of the Gardos effect due to the reagents. Incorporation of an optimal amount of the reagents into the membrane appears to compensate for the membrane modification due to Ca2+ ions to restore a part of the lost deformability.

Calcimycin↗

Tyrosine-specific dephosphorylation-phosphorylation with alkaline phosphatases and epidermal growth factor receptor kinase as evidenced by 31P NMR spectroscopy.

The dephosphorylation of phospho-amino acids with alkaline phosphatase (AlPase) from calf intestine or Escherichia coli and the phosphorylation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor kinase from human A431 epidermoid carcinoma cells were investigated by 31P NMR spectroscopy. The initial rates of the dephosphorylation of phospho-tyrosine (P-Tyr) and phosphoserine (P-Ser) with AlPase were essentially the same in the one-substrate system. In the two-substrate system (P-Tyr plus P-Ser), however, the ratio of the initial rate for P-Tyr vs. P-Ser was 2.4 to 4.5 depending on the buffer and pH conditions employed. This substantiates for the first time the specificity of AlPases to P-Tyr over P-Ser at the free amino acid level. In the stationary phase of the overall process, the dephosphorylation of P-Ser became slow compared to that of P-Tyr in the one-substrate system. The decrease in the rate for P-Ser was further pronounced in the two-substrate system. For this remarkable effect, the rephosphorylation of serine was responsible, as demonstrated in the reaction mixture containing serine, Pi, and AlPase. BSA phosphorylated by EGF receptor kinase exhibited sharp 31P resonances around 0 ppm at neutral pH, far distant from the peak positions (4.9 ppm) of histone H1 phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. These NMR data are directed evidence that BSA was phosphorylated exclusively at the tyrosyl residues, whereas the phosphorylation of histone H1 was at the seryl residues.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

In vivo phosphorylation of histones H1 and H5 in calf thymus and chicken erythrocyte as studied by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

The 31P NMR method was first applied to characterize in vivo phosphorylation of H1 and H5 in calf thymus and chicken erythrocytes as well as in vitro phosphorylation of H1 and H5 by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. The amino acid residues phosphorylated in vivo in the histones were exclusively serine residues, and the mole fraction of phosphoserine was estimated to be 0.34 and 0.27 per molecule of calf thymus H1 and chicken erythrocyte H5, respectively. Interestingly, chicken erythrocyte H1 was not phosphorylated in vivo. Three H1 subtypes from calf thymus H1 varied in the 31P NMR spectra, and the bisected fragments of calf thymus H1 and chicken erythrocyte H5 exhibited characteristic spectral patterns, indicating that there are considerable diversities of the degree of phosphorylation and phosphorylation sites in very-lysine-rich histones. Furthermore, it was found that the microenvironment of phosphoserine residues phosphorylated in vivo in calf thymus H1 and chicken erythrocyte H5 is quite distinct from that of phosphoserine residues phosphorylated in vitro by bovine heart cAMP-dependent protein kinase.

Animals↗

Two-mass models of the vocal cords for natural sounding voice synthesis.

Three new two-mass models of the vocal cords are treated. First, the features, structure, and differential equations of motion are described for each of the new models and compared with those of previous models. Second, performances of the models are discussed in terms of glottal volume flow, glottal area, radiated sound pressure, trajectories of mass movement, running spectra of the output sound pressure, and perceptual naturalness of the output sound. Finally, the major effects of glottal source-vocal tract interaction including skewing, truncation, and superposition are investigated, using one of the simplest types of two-mass models and two types of load representing the vocal tract.

Communication Devices for People with Disabilities↗

Cloning and characterization of Streptococcus mutans LM7 plasmid pAM7.

The 5.6-kilobase-pair cryptic plasmid, pAM7, of Streptococcus mutans LM7 was cloned into Escherichia coli plasmids or a shuttle plasmid to examine whether the plasmid encodes bacteriocin. Plasmid pAM7 encoded proteins with molecular weights of 30,000, 22,000, and 12,000, but none of them appeared to be bacteriocin.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Necrobiosis-lipoidica-like skin manifestation in lymphomatoid granulomatosis (Liebow).

A 58-year-old man developed 3 indurative erythematous lesions like necrobiosis lipoidica on the right lower leg. He had had similar cutaneous lesions 1.5 years previously. These had been surgically excised, and a histologic diagnosis of necrobiosis lipoidica was made at another hospital. He was diagnosed as having lymphomatoid granulomatosis by lung biopsy in our hospital. Nasal involvement was confirmed in later examinations and the skin lesions were also considered to be the cutaneous manifestation of lymphomatoid granulomatosis. This outlines that cutaneous manifestations may allow early diagnosis of lymphomatoid granulomatosis.

Biopsy↗

Lower serum free thyroxine (T4) levels in painless thyroiditis compared with Graves' disease despite similar serum total T4 levels.

Serum total T4 (T4), total T3 (T3), free T4 (FT4), free T3 (FT3), and T4-binding globulin concentrations and T3 resin uptake values were measured in 17 women with thyrotoxicosis due to painless thyroiditis (PT) and compared with the same parameters in 17 women with thyrotoxicosis due to Graves' disease (GD) with similar serum T4 levels. The mean serum T3 resin uptake value and T3, FT4, and FT3 concentrations in the PT patients were significantly lower than those in the GD patients. The mean serum T4-binding globulin concentration [20.2 +/- 4.2 (+/- SD) microgram/mL] in patients with PT did not differ significantly from those in patients with GD (18.0 +/- 2.6 micrograms/mL) and normal euthyroid women (21.9 +/- 4.0 micrograms/mL). The serum T3 to T4 (nanogram per microgram) ratio was higher than 20 in 14 GD patients, but lower than 20 in all patients with PT, whereas the individual serum FT3 to FT4 ratio values considerably overlapped in the 2 groups. In patients with PT, FT4 correlated well with T4 at various times during the clinical course. These findings indicate that the elevation in serum FT4 in patients with PT is mostly due to the increase in circulating T4 levels, whereas GD patients also have some diminution in T4 binding. The serum T3 to T4 ratio, but not the FT3 to FT4 ratio, may be helpful for differentiation between the two diseases.

Adolescent↗

Results of internal mammary artery-coronary artery bypass surgery and the characteristics of internal mammary artery grafts.

Coronary artery bypass grafting utilizing the internal mammary artery (IMA) was performed in 108 patients with an operative mortality (less than 1 month) of 0% and a hospital mortality of 1.9%. The IMA was used most often in the left anterior descending artery system in combination with saphenous vein grafts (SVG) to the right and left circumflex artery systems. Although the IMA flow was smaller than the SVG flow when measured intraoperatively by an electromagnetic flow meter, postoperative clinical, electrocardiographic, isotopic, angiographic and coronary sinus flow-metric studies all demonstrated that the IMA can respond well to myocardial blood flow demand both at rest and during exercise, resulting in excellent clinical improvements with no detectable signs of flow deficiency. In addition, no signs of ischemia were detected in any of the 15 patients with stenosis in the left main trunk treated with an IMA graft. The IMA graft appears to have a great adaptive capacity to meet increased myocardial demand. Postoperative angiography performed at an average of 3 months after surgery in 60 unselected patients demonstrated an IMA patency rate of 98% in comparison with 88% patency in SVGs to the left anterior descending artery (p less than 0.05). Not only the patency rate, but also the graft wall characteristics were much better in IMA grafts than in SVGs. Some SVGs showed marked wall irregularity as early as 3 months after surgery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Serum free thyroxine and thyroxine-binding globulin concentrations in early phase of subacute thyroiditis.

Serum total thyroxine (T4), total triiodothyronine (T3), T4-binding globulin (TBG), free T4(FT4) and free T3(FT3) concentrations and the T3-uptake(T3-U) value were estimated in 11 patients with subacute thyroiditis, and compared with the same parameters in 11 patients with Graves' disease, whose serum T4 concentrations were similar to the former group. Seven patients with subacute thyroiditis, who were treated with dicrofenac sodium alone, were investigated as to the sequential changes in serum parameters during their clinical courses. The mean serum T3-U value and FT4, T3 and FT3 concentrations in patients with subacute thyroiditis were increased, but all were significantly lower than those in patients with Graves' disease (p less than 0.01, p less than 0.001, p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.001, respectively). Three patients with subacute thyroiditis, who showed shorter duration of symptoms than 10 days, had serum TBG excess. Thus the mean (+/- SD) serum TBG concentration (26.5 +/- 8.4 micrograms/ml) was significantly higher than that (18.3 +/- 2.9 micrograms/ml) in patients with Graves' disease (p less than 0.02). The ratios of serum T3 to T4 and FT3 to FT4 in patients with subacute thyroiditis were also significantly lower than those in patients with Graves' disease (p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.001, respectively). The serum FT4 in 7 patients treated with dicrofenac sodium alone decreased to the normal range after 3 to 8 weeks from the onset of the illness. In 3 patients with TBG excess and one patient (TBG; 29.0 micrograms/ml), serum TBG declined in consequence of the serum FT4 normalization.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Potentiation of cytotoxicity of zinostatin under acidic conditions in vitro and in vivo.

The cytotoxicity and antitumor effects of zinostatin (NCS) were examined under various conditions of pH using cultured HeLa cells and a transplantable tumor line of WKA rats. The cytotoxicity of NCS against HeLa cells was highly dependent on the pH at ranges of 6-8. When HeLa cells were treated with 0.075 microgram/ml of NCS, the survival rate was about 1% at pH 6.0, while it was near 90% at pH 7.4 and pH 8.0. Even at pH 6.5-6.75, the survival rate was about 50% lower than that seen with pH 7.4 and pH 8.0. The ratio of the dose of NCS for a 90% cell mortality at pH 6.0 to that at pH 7.4 was less than one-seventh. Antitumor effects were assessed by local intra-arterial infusion against tumors 4 or 9 days after inoculation of 10(6) RBT-1 tumor cells into the thigh of rats. When NCS (0.7 mg/kg) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (pH 7.4) or 5 mM lactate (about pH 3.0) was administered, the ratio of average tumor weight about 2 weeks after treatment (tumor weight of the rats given NCS in PBS/tumor weight of the rats given NCS in lactate) was 3.2 or 1.7 for the rats treated 4 or 9 days after tumor inoculation, respectively. Lactate or PBS alone had no effect on the growth of tumor. After treatment there was no difference in body weight change between the group treated with NCS in lactate and the group treated with NCS in PBS. We conclude that the cytotoxicity of NCS was potentiated under acidic conditions, both in vitro and in vivo.

Animals↗

Phospholipid base exchange activity in the leukocyte membranes of patients with inflammatory disorders.

Phospholipid base exchange and cholinephosphotransferase (CPT) and ethanolaminephosphotransferase (EPT) activities were assessed in the membranes of neutrophils or lymphocytes from patients with various inflammatory disorders. Ethanolamine exchange activity was significantly enhanced in both neutrophils and lymphocytes from patients with active Behçet's disease, active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and severe bacterial infections and slightly enhanced in those from patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), compared with healthy controls. No abnormal findings were found in CPT, EPT, or serine or choline base exchange activities in the leukocytes from any of the diseased groups tested or in the ethanolamine exchange activity of patients with severe viral infections and inactive SLE, RA, and Behçet's disease. The authors have recently demonstrated the enhancement of transmethylation and phospholipase A2 activity in human leukocyte membranes at the height of inflammatory disease states, as well as the activation of leukocyte ethanolamine exchange by bioactive stimulants. These data postulate that phosphatidylethanolamine synthesis by the base exchange reaction may be the precursor of transmethylation and its subsequent activation of phospholipase A2, leading to the induction of arachidonic acid cascade.

Adolescent↗