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Biomedical subjects

A Kanda

Publications and source records attributed to A Kanda.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Immunoelectron-microscopic detection of globotriaosylceramide accumulated in the skin of patients with Fabry disease.

BACKGROUND: Fabry disease is characterized by the systemic accumulation of glycosphingolipids, particularly in the lysosomes of vascular endothelial cells of most organs due to the deficient activity of alpha-galactosidase A. The major glycolipid accumulated in tissue is globotriaosylceramide (GL-3). To date, no direct detection of GL-3 by immunoelectron microscopy has been reported. OBJECTIVES: To examine whether GL-3 is accumulated exclusively in lysosomes of cutaneous cells using an anti-GL-3 monoclonal antibody (mAb) and immunoelectron microscopy. METHODS: Skin specimens from seven patients with Fabry disease were examined immunohistochemically by light and electron microscopy using an anti-GL-3 mAb. RESULTS: By light microscopy, the cytoplasm of vascular endothelial cells, eccrine gland cells, and perineurium was stained with mouse anti-GL-3 antibody. Electron microscopically, positive signals for GL-3 were limited to dilated lysosomes in the cytoplasm of endothelial cells, pericytes, eccrine gland cells, dermal fibroblasts and perineurium. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that the cytoplasmic deposit in Fabry disease was GL-3 and the accumulated GL-3 was localized essentially to lysosomes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Experimental evidence for giant vortex states in a mesoscopic superconducting disk.

The response of a mesoscopic superconducting disk to perpendicular magnetic fields is studied by using the multiple-small-tunnel-junction method, in which transport properties of several small tunnel junctions attached to the disk are measured simultaneously. This allows us to make the first experimental distinction between the giant vortex states and multivortex states. Moreover, we experimentally find a magnetic-field induced rearrangement and combination of vortices. The experimental results are well reproduced in numerical results based on the nonlinear Ginzburg-Landau theory.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Red blood cells regulate eosinophil chemotaxis by scavenging RANTES secreted from endothelial cells.

BACKGROUND: Eosinophils play a critical role in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. CC chemokines, such as regulated on activation, normal, T cell expressed, and secreted (RANTES), are key regulators of eosinophil locomotion. Although eosinophils migrate from the bloodstream into tissues, mechanisms that generate a chemogradient across the endothelium remain to be fully elucidated. OBJECTIVE: We first examined the polar secretion of RANTES by endothelial cells. We also studied the functional scavenging effect of red blood cells (RBCs) on RANTES secreted into the intravascular side. METHODS AND RESULTS: Endothelial cells were cultured in a transwell chamber with a membrane pore size of 0.45, 3.0, and 8.0 microm and stimulated with TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, or IFN-gamma from the apical or basolateral side for 16 h. The measurement of RANTES in the supernatant was performed by ELISA. We did not see any difference in the amount of RANTES secreted from the cytokine-stimulated endothelium between inner (intravascular side) and outer (extravascular side) wells separated by the 8.0-microm membrane, although apical polarization was observed with the 0.45-microm membrane. The addition of RBCs (hemoglobin (Hb): 0.5-15 g/dL) to the apical supernatant of TNF-alpha-stimulated endothelial cells reduced the RANTES level in a concentration-dependent manner. The treatment of supernatant on the intravascular side with RBCs significantly enhanced the migration of eosinophils. CONCLUSION: RBCs possess a scavenging effect on intravascular RANTES, and thereby regulate transendothelial migration of eosinophils. Our findings suggest a new role of RBCs in allergic inflammation.

Cell Line↗
PubMed2004

Human airway submucosal glands augment eosinophil chemotaxis during rhinovirus infection.

BACKGROUND: Asthma exacerbations are frequently associated with rhinovirus (RV) infections. However, the contribution of airway submucosal gland (SMG) to exacerbations of asthma in RV respiratory infection has not been studied. OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to examine whether RV-infected human respiratory SMG cells produce pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines for eosinophils, and augment eosinophil transmigration across human airway epithelium. METHODS: We infected cultured human tracheal SMG cells with RV14, collected culture media at 1, 3, and 5 days after infection, and measured the chemotactic activity for eosinophils in the culture supernatant using a 48-well microchemotaxis chamber and a (51)Cr-labelled eosinophil transmigration assay. RESULTS: Exposing a confluent human tracheal SMG cell monolayer to RV14 consistently led to infection. Human SMG cells with RV infection secreted soluble factors activating human eosinophil chemotaxis into the culture supernatant in a time-dependent manner, and the culture supernatant significantly augmented the transmigration of (51)Cr-labelled eosinophils through human airway epithelial cell layers from the basal to mucosal side. These effects were completely abolished by a mixture of a monoclonal antibody regulated on activation, normal T cells expressed and secreted (RANTES) and an antibody to granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that human respiratory SMG cells may augment eosinophil transmigration across the airway epithelium through the secretion of RANTES and GM-CSF after RV infection, and may contribute to exacerbations of asthma.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Increased susceptibility to airway responses in CD40-deficient mice.

The interaction between CD40 and its ligand (CD154) is crucial for IL-12 production and effective humoral immunity such as IgE production. Although the interaction seems to play a crucial role in asthmatic inflammation, previous studies investigating the role of the CD40 and CD154 interaction in experimental animal models of asthma are complicated due to multistep reactions in developing asthma. Here, in order to investigate the role of CD40 in the effector phase in the development of airway responses, we used CD40-deficient mice backcrossed with mice transgenic for an ovalbumin (OVA)-specific TCR (TCRtg). Using intranasal OVA administration followed by aerosol inhalation of OVA, greater airway hyperreactivity and eosinophilia in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were observed in CD40-deficient mice backcrossed with TCRtg mice (CD40-/-/ TCRtg mice), compared with control littermates (CD40+/+/ TCRtg mice). CD4+ helper T cell subset analysis of lung draining lymph nodes revealed that the Th1 component was significantly decreased in CD40-/-/ TCRtg mice. Airway hyperreactivity and airway eosinophilia significantly correlated with the predomination of Th2 cells. Cytokine measurements in BALF also showed decreased IL-12 and the predominance of Th2 cells in CD40-/-/ TCRtg mice. These results suggest that CD40 may play a protective role in developing asthma in the phase after establishing specific memory T cells through the regulation of the balance between Th1 and Th2 cells presumably via induction of IL-12.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Total synthesis of (+/-)-stemodinone via an efficient ring-exchange strategy.

A total synthesis of (+/-)-stemodinone, a tetracyclic stemodane diterpene, from the known tricyclic methyl olefin 11 is described. The key steps involve an efficient ring-exchange reaction and palladium(0)-catalyzed lactone migration. The ring-exchange strategy for controlling the stereochemistry was based on an initial Diels-Alder reaction to form a new ring followed by cleavage of the original ring. Cleavage of the original ring of the Diels-Alder adduct 9 was achieved by an initial regio- and chemoselective Baeyer-Villiger oxidation followed by the Pd(0)-catalyzed lactone-migration reaction reported by us.

Antiviral Agents↗
PubMed2001

Total synthesis of human chymase inhibitor methyllinderone and structure--activity relationships of its derivatives.

Total synthesis of human chymase inhibitor methyllinderone has been achieved in only four steps with an overall yield of 21% from dimethyl squarate. We developed an efficient synthetic method for obtaining methyllinderone derivatives and found the active compound. In addition, we propose the inhibition mechanism of the active compound against human chymase using calculations.

Alkenes↗
PubMed2001

Lower lip-lifting brace for bilateral facial nerve palsy: a case report.

A 55-year-old man suffered from pontine hemorrhage 5 years before he visited our outpatient clinic with complaints of gait disturbance and dysphagia. At the first examination, his inability to close his mouth, eyes, and lower lip led to the diagnosis of facial diplegia. He was instructed to wear a gauze surgical mask and to use artificial saliva for his xerostomia. A videofluorogram of his swallowing excluded aspiration but revealed dysphagia attributable to neck hyperextension arising from efforts to prevent food spilling from his mouth. We prescribed a brace to lift his lower lip as a treatment of his dysphagia. This brace covered his chin to support his lower lip. Our brace resulted in improved function; liquids no longer leaked from his mouth and because the lip elevation eliminated his xerostomia, he no longer required artificial saliva or the gauze mask.

Braces↗
PubMed2001

Tas-301, a new synthetic inhibitor of neointimal thickening after balloon injury, inhibits calcium-dependent signal transduction and cytoskeletal reorganization.

We previously demonstrated that a recently synthesized drug, TAS-301 [3-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)methylene-2-indolinone], inhibited neointimal thickening after single-balloon injury to the rat common carotid artery by inhibiting both the migration and proliferation processes of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). The purpose of this current study was to elucidate the possible mechanism of action for its inhibition of the migration process of VSMCs. We also determined the efficacy of TAS-301 on second neointimal formation 14 days after a double-balloon injury to the rat common carotid artery. Neointimal thickening, 14 days after second balloon injury, was reduced by the oral administration of TAS-301 in a dose-dependent manner. In in vitro assays using rat VSMCs, Western blot analysis showed that TAS-301 inhibited platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of both focal adhesion kinase and paxillin. Tyrosine phosphorylation of these proteins depended on the increment of intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). The PDGF-induced elevation of [Ca2+]i and activation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) were also inhibited by TAS-301. Additionally, TAS-301 at 10 micromol/l reduced the extent of F-actin stress fiber depolymerization observed in response to PDGF. These results indicate that TAS-301 reduced the intimal thickening after denudation to a pre-existing lesion to the same extent as it reduced that after a single-balloon injury to the normal artery. Furthermore, the results of our in vitro experiments suggest that antimigratory mechanisms of TAS-301 that contribute to preventing the intimal thickening might be mediated by drug inhibition of Ca2+ -dependent signal molecules and the following cytoskeletal depolymerization.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

A patient with exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis which was resolved probably due to the coexisting hyperbilirubinemia?

This report presents the case of a patient with corticosteroid and cyclophosphamide resistant exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which was definitely resolved in accordance with increased levels of serum conjugated bilirubin due to biliary tract obstruction. Histological examination of the lung showed an accumulation of bile pigments in the alveolar mural tissues, especially in the cytoplasm of the alveolar macrophages, which play crucial roles in the development of IPF. This case suggests that bile pigments have some important roles in tissue protection against inflammatory damage in IPF, and may illustrate an important key for treatment of this fatal disorder.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Superconductor-insulator transition in a two-dimensional array of resistively shunted small josephson junctions

We have fabricated two-dimensional (2D) small-Josephson-junction arrays of which each Al-AlOx-Al junction is shunted by a Cr resistor. The arrays with large junction resistance and large charging energy show a transition from insulating to superconducting behavior when the shunt resistance is lowered below a critical value, which is close to 2R(Q) ( R(Q) identical withh/4e(2) = 6.45 kOmega). The measured phase diagram is consistent with theories of quantum-fluctuation-driven and dissipation-driven phase transitions in the 2D Josephson-junction array with Ohmic shunt resistors.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

p110beta is up-regulated during differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells and contributes to the highly insulin-responsive glucose transport activity.

Activation of p85/p110 type phosphatidylinositol kinase is essential for aspects of insulin-induced glucose metabolism, including translocation of GLUT4 to the cell surface and glycogen synthesis. The enzyme exists as a heterodimer containing a regulatory subunit (e.g. p85alpha) and one of two widely distributed isoforms of the p110 catalytic subunit: p110alpha or p110beta. In the present study, we compared the two isoforms in the regulation of insulin action. During differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes, p110beta was up-regulated approximately 10-fold, whereas expression of p110alpha was unaltered. The effects of the increased p110 expression were further assessed by expressing epitope tagged p110beta and p110alpha in 3T3-L1 cells using adenovirus transduction systems, respectively. In vitro, the basal lipid kinase activity of p110beta was lower than that of p110alpha. When p110alpha and p110beta were overexpressed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, exposing cells to insulin induced each of the subunits to form complexes with p85alpha and tyrosine-phosphorylated IRS-1 with similar efficiency. However, whereas the kinase activity of p110beta, either endogenous or exogeneous, was markedly enhanced by insulin stimulation, only very small increases of the activity of p110alpha were observed. Interestingly, overexpression of p110beta increased insulin-induced glucose uptake by 3T3-L1 cells without significantly affecting basal glucose transport, whereas overexpression of p110alpha increased both basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Finally, microinjection of anti-p110beta neutralizing antibody into 3T3-L1 adipocytes abolished insulin-induced translocation of GLUT4 to the cell surface almost completely, whereas anti-p110alpha neutralizing antibody did only slightly. Together, these findings suggest that p110beta plays a crucial role in cellular activities evoked acutely by insulin.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed2000

Fabry disease: ultrastructural lectin histochemical analyses of lysosomal deposits.

Fabry disease is an X-linked inborn error of glycosphingolipid catabolism resulting from a deficiency of lysosomal alpha-galactosidase activity. Globotriaosylceramide accumulates predominantly in lysosomes of various tissues. Former studies have clarified the nature of this disease, and the accumulated materials in the lysosomes have been analyzed using biochemical techniques. In the present study, transmission electron microscopy was used to reveal the fine structure of these lysosomal deposits, and sugar residues in the lysosomal deposits in Fabry disease were examined by lectin histochemistry combined with enzyme digestion. This is the first report to describe the lysosomal sugar residues in Fabry disease analyzed using lectin histochemistry at the ultrastructural level. With these techniques, we were able to detect alpha-galactosyl, beta-galactosyl and glucosyl sugar residues in the lysosomal deposits. The experimental procedures used in this study have considerable potential for use in investigations of glycolipid and glycoprotein storage diseases without the need for complex methodology and expensive materials.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

TAS-301 blocks receptor-operated calcium influx and inhibits rat vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation induced by basic fibroblast growth factor and platelet-derived growth factor.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a recently synthesized drug, TAS-301 [3-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)methylene-2-indolinone], on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and the intracellular signal transduction pathways involved in VSMC proliferation. In an in vitro assay, TAS-301 inhibited the proliferation of rat VSMCs stimulated by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB, basic fibroblast growth factor, or 2% fetal bovine serum in a concentration-dependent manner. TAS-301 dose-dependently inhibited the PDGF-induced Ca2+ influx; the concentration for the inhibition of Ca2+ influx was nearly identical to that for inhibition of VSMC proliferation. The Ca2+ influx induced by PDGF was also attenuated by NiCl2 but not by nifedipine, suggesting that PDGF-induced Ca2+ influx would be mediated by some non-voltage-dependent mechanisms. Furthermore, TAS-301 inhibited PDGF-induced activation of protein kinase C (PKC) and the phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-mediated induction of activator protein 1 (AP-1) in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings indicate that TAS-301 inhibited the proliferation of VSMCs by blocking voltage-independent Ca2+ influx and downstream signals such as the Ca2+/PKC signaling pathway, leading to AP-1 induction.

Animals↗