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Biomedical subjects

Satoshi Adachi

Publications and source records attributed to Satoshi Adachi.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Convection effects on crystallinity in the growth of In0.3Ga0.7 as crystals by the traveling liquidus zone method.

The influence of convection in a melt on the crystallinity of the TLZ-grown In(0.3)Ga(0.7)As crystals has been investigated by growing crystals with various shapes and dimensions on the ground. No single crystals have been grown when the crystal diameter was 10 mm, but we were successful in growing single crystals by reducing crystal diameter to 2 mm. These results suggested the importance of suppressing convection in the melt during alloy crystal growth because constitutional supercooling tends to occur at the freezing interface or ahead of the interface by the segregation effect. Large area is required for substrate use in various applications. This requirement can be fulfilled by the crystal growth in microgravity because density difference-induced convection is suppressed in microgravity. Another means for suppressing convection without deteriorating area is plate-shape crystal growth with reduced thickness. The latter can be applied on the ground and we succeeded in growing single crystals of plate-shaped In(0.3)Ga(0.7)As by the traveling liquidus zone (TLZ) method. Dimensions of obtained single crystals were 10 mm in width and 2 mm in thickness and lengths ranged from 20 to 40 mm. Compositional uniformity was good and 0.3 +/- 0.02 in InAs mole fraction was achieved.

Journal Article↗

Cytoplasmic domain phosphorylation of heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor.

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is synthesized as a transmembrane precursor protein that is anchored to the plasma membrane. The extracellular EGF-like domain acts as a mitogen and motogen upon ectodomain shedding, but the functional roles of the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains are largely unknown. We demonstrate here that cytoplasmic domain of HB-EGF is phosphorylated by external stimuli, and that the phosphorylation site is involved in HB-EGF-dependent tumorigenesis. Treatment of Vero cells overexpressing human HB-EGF with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) caused ectodomain shedding of HB-EGF and generated two carboxyl (C)-terminal fragments with distinct electrophoretic mobilities. Mutation analysis showed that Ser207 in the cytoplasmic domain of HB-EGF is phosphorylated upon TPA stimulation, generating two C-terminal fragments with distinct phosphorylation states. Treatment of cells with lysophosphatidic acid, anisomycin, and calcium ionophore, all of which are known to induce ectodomain shedding, also caused phosphorylation of HB-EGF. Although ectodomain shedding and phosphorylation of HB-EGF occurred coordinately, Ala substitution of Ser207 had no effect on TPA-induced or constitutive ectodomain shedding. Injection of cells overexpressing HB-EGF into nude mice showed that Ala substitution of Ser207 reduced the tumorigenic activity of HB-EGF, even though the cell surface level and ectodomain shedding of HB-EGF were not affected by the mutation. Moreover, we found that the cytoplasmic domain of another EGFR ligand, transforming growth factor-alpha, is phosphorylated upon TPA stimulation. Thus, the present results suggest a novel role for the cytoplasmic domain of HB-EGF and other EGF family growth factors that is regulated by phosphorylation.

Alanine↗

Development of a monoclonal antibody-based sandwich ELISA for detection of guinea pig interleukin-2.

Interleukin 2 (IL-2) is a T cell proliferation factor released by Th0- and Th1-type helper T cells and is an essential cytokine for immune responses. In the present study, recombinant glutathione S-transferase (GST)-guinea pig IL-2 (GPIL-2) fusion protein was prepared by Escherichia coli (E. coli) and by using this protein as an immunogen, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against GPIL-2 were produced to establish a basis for a research on immune responses in guinea pigs. Three stable hybridoma cell lines were established, and specific binding of each mAb to recombinant GPIL-2 produced by E. coli and insect cells infected with recombinant baculovirus was shown by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and/or immunoblot analysis. Isotype analyses of these mAbs revealed that all three mAbs were IgG1 and had kappa chain. Furthermore, assessment of their epitopes by competition binding assay indicated that the mAbs obtained in this study bound to three different epitopes. Thus, a sandwich ELISA based on the two mAbs specific to different GPIL-2 epitopes was developed for detection of GPIL-2, which had a sensitivity threshold of about 0.3 ng/ml of GPIL-2.

Animals↗

Controlling interparticle spacing among metal nanoparticles through metal-catalyzed decomposition of surrounding polymer matrix.

Systematic and reproducible control over average interparticle spacing of Pt, Ni, and Cu nanoparticles embedded in polyimide thin layers was achieved. The metal-catalyzed decomposition of polyimide matrixes surrounding metal nanoparticles causes a decrease in the composite layer thickness, while maintaining the size of nanoparticles. This ability provides an effective methodology for the preparation of metal/polymer nanocomposites with tailored microstructures and holds great promise toward the fundamental understanding of the physical interactions among metal nanoparticles.

Journal Article↗

Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor and ErbB signaling is essential for heart function.

The heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a member of the EGF family of growth factors that binds to and activates the EGF receptor (EGFR) and the related receptor tyrosine kinase, ErbB4. HB-EGF-null mice (HB(del/del)) were generated to examine the role of HB-EGF in vivo. More than half of the HB(del/del) mice died in the first postnatal week. The survivors developed severe heart failure with grossly enlarged ventricular chambers. Echocardiographic examination showed that the ventricular chambers were dilated and that cardiac function was diminished. Moreover, HB(del/del) mice developed grossly enlarged cardiac valves. The cardiac valve and the ventricular chamber phenotypes resembled those displayed by mice lacking EGFR, a receptor for HB-EGF, and by mice conditionally lacking ErbB2, respectively. HB-EGF-ErbB interactions in the heart were examined in vivo by administering HB-EGF to WT mice. HB-EGF induced tyrosine phosphorylation of ErbB2 and ErbB4, and to a lesser degree, of EGFR in cardiac myocytes. In addition, constitutive tyrosine phosphorylation of both ErbB2 and ErbB4 was significantly reduced in HB(del/del) hearts. It was concluded that HB-EGF activation of receptor tyrosine kinases is essential for normal heart function.

Animals↗

Divergence-free WKB method.

A new semiclassical approach to the linear and nonlinear one-dimensional Schrödinger equation is presented. For both equations our zeroth-order solutions include nonperturbative quantum corrections to the WKB solution and the Thomas-Fermi solution, thereby allowing us to make uniformly converging perturbative expansions of the wave functions. Our method leads to a new quantization condition that yields exact eigenenergies for the harmonic-oscillator and Morse potentials.

Journal Article↗

The difference in condylar position between centric relation and centric occlusion in pretreatment Japanese orthodontic patients.

This study investigates the differences in condylar position between centric relation (CR) and centric occlusion (CO) in Japanese orthodontic patients before treatment. We employed 150 consecutive cases (age range: 6-57 years) for the study. Dental casts were mounted on a Panadent articulator with a power centric CR bite record. The differences in condylar position between CR and CO in all three spatial planes were measured using the Panadent Condyle Position Indicator (CPI). The subjects were divided into groups by age, gender, mandibular plane angle or angle classification. No significant differences in the magnitude of CPI measurements were found among the groups. The three-dimensional distances of condylar displacement on both sides were almost identical, and the superoinferior displacement (S-I) was greater (P < .0001) than the anteroposterior displacement (A-P). The S-I was greater (P = .02) on the left side than on the right side, while the A-P displacement was smaller (P < .0001) on the left side than that on the right side. Significant condylar displacement (2.0 mm for S-I and A-P, 0.5 mm for the lateral displacement, L) was found frequently in L (31.3%), S-I, and A-P, in that order. Fifty-eight (38.7%) of the subjects had significant displacement in L, S-I, or A-P. Moreover, Angle Class III subjects tended to have significant condylar displacement toward the left side. The results suggest that orthodontists should be aware of a high incidence of condylar displacement in Japanese orthodontic patients and measure condylar displacement before the start of comprehensive orthodontic treatment to unmask real jaw relationships and avoid possible misdiagnoses.

Adolescent↗