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Biomedical subjects

E Tanaka

Publications and source records attributed to E Tanaka.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Improved method for the determination of trimethadione and its demethylated metabolite, dimethadione, in human serum by gas chromatography.

An improved gas chromatographic method, involving the use of a wide-bore capillary column, for the determination of trimethadione and its only demethylated metabolite, dimethadione, in human serum is described. The results indicate that both substances and the internal standard (maleinimide) were well separated with no tailing peak. The detection limit was 10 ng/ml for trimethadione and 50 ng/ml for dimethadione. This improved method is reliable in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility for the simultaneous determination of both compounds in human serum.

Adult

Mitogen-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of 41 kDa and 43 kDa proteins. Potential role in integrating multiple mitogenic signalling pathways.

We have examined the possible involvement of pertussis toxin (PT)-sensitive GTP-binding protein and protein kinase C (PKC) in mitogen-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the 41 kDa and 43 kDa cytosol proteins using PT-pretreated (inactivation of PT-sensitive GTP-binding protein) or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-pretreated (depletion of PKC) mouse fibroblasts. The effects of the inactivation of PT-sensitive GTP-binding protein and the depletion of PKC on mitogen-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of the proteins were similar and varied significantly and systematically in response to growth factors. The important finding was that such inhibitory effects of PT-sensitive GTP-binding protein inactivation and PKC depletion on protein tyrosine phosphorylation induced by each mitogen always correlated well with their inhibitory effects on each mitogen-stimulated DNA synthesis. Although the extent of platelet-derived-growth-factor-induced phosphorylation of the proteins was decreased to approx. 50% in PT- and PMA-pretreated cells compared with native cells, protein phosphorylation itself was not affected and occurred at identical sites on each protein in native, PT- and PMA-pretreated cells. These results suggest that: (1) 41 kDa and 43 kDa proteins are located downstream of PT-sensitive GTP-binding protein and PKC in the mitogenic signalling pathways of growth factors, (2) protein phosphorylation occurs via a cascade of events which includes the activation of the receptor tyrosine kinases, PKC and other unidentified kinase(s) which directly participate(s) in the phosphorylation of the 41 kDa and 43 kDa proteins, and (3) their phosphorylation may play an important role in integrating multiple mitogenic signalling pathways.

3T3 Cells

Hepatocyte growth factor rapidly induces the tyrosine phosphorylation of 41-kDa and 43-kDa proteins in mouse keratinocytes.

We have examined the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-mediated changes in protein-tyrosine phosphorylation in mouse keratinocytes (PAM-212) and canine kidney epithelial cells (MDCK). In PAM-212 cells HGF and epidermal growth factor, both of which stimulated the DNA synthesis, rapidly induced the tyrosine phosphorylation of two 41-kDa and two 43-kDa proteins: increased tyrosine phosphorylation of those proteins has been commonly observed when quiescent fibroblasts are stimulated with a variety of mitogenic agents. In contrast, HGF did not stimulate the DNA synthesis but induced cell dissociation in MDCK cells; under this condition, increased tyrosine phosphorylation of the 41-kDa and 43-kDa protein was not observed. A possible role of the increased tyrosine phosphorylation of 41-kDa and 43-kDa protein in the signaling pathway of HGF is discussed.

Amino Acids

Mitogen-induced tyrosine-phosphorylated 41- and 43-kDa proteins are family members of extracellular signal-regulated kinases/microtubule-associated protein 2 kinases.

Two antipeptide antibodies, one against the peptide corresponding to residues 307-327 (alpha Y91) and one against the peptide corresponding to the C-terminal portion (alpha C92) of the deduced amino acid sequence of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 (ERK1), precipitated two 41-kDa and/or two 43-kDa phospho-proteins from mitogen-stimulated Swiss 3T3 cells. Electrophoretic mobilities on two-dimensional gels of the immunoprecipitated 41- and 43-kDa phosphoproteins were similar to those of the 41- and 43-kDa cytosol proteins, whose increased tyrosine phosphorylation we and others had originally identified in various mitogen-stimulated cells (Cooper, J. A., Sefton, B. M., and Hunter, T. (1984) Mol. Cell. Biol. 4, 30-37; Kohno, M. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 1771-1779); phosphopeptide map analysis revealed that they were respectively identical molecules. All those phosphoproteins contained phosphotyrosine, and the more acidic forms contained additional phosphothreonine. Immunoprecipitated 41- and 43-kDa phosphoproteins had serine/threonine kinase activity toward myelin basic protein (MBP) and microtuble-associated protein 2 (MAP2). With the combination of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and the kinase assay in MBP-containing polyacrylamide gels of the alpha Y91 immunoprecipitates, with or without phosphatase 2A treatment, we showed that only their acidic forms were active. These results clearly indicate that 41- and 43-kDa proteins, the increased tyrosine phosphorylation of which is rapidly and commonly induced by mitogen stimulation of fibroblasts, are family members of ERKs/MAP2 kinases and that phosphorylation both on tyrosine and threonine residues is necessary for their activation.

3T3 Cells

Simultaneous determination of caffeine and its primary demethylated metabolites in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography.

An improved high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of caffeine and its three primary metabolites (theophylline, theobromine and paraxanthine) in human plasma is described. The four substances were separated on a reversed-phase column (5 microns TSK gel ODS-80TM, 150 mm x 4.6 mm I.D.) by use of the mobile phase methanol-0.1 M NaH2PO4 (30:70, v/v) with a flow-rate of 0.8 ml/min. Absorbance was monitored at 274 nm. The detection limit was 5 ng/ml for theobromine and caffeine and 10 ng/ml for paraxanthine and theophylline. The linearity and reproducibility were sufficient for drug monitoring of caffeine and its primary methylxanthines.

Adult

A simplified approach for evaluation of hepatic drug-oxidizing activity with a simultaneous determination of caffeine and trimethadione and their demethylated metabolites in rats with a selective cytochrome P-450 inducer.

We determined the blood concentrations of caffeine (CA) and its three primary dimethylxanthine metabolites: theobromine (TB), paraxanthine (PX), and theophylline (TP), and trimethadione (TMO) and its demethylated metabolite dimethadione (DMO) after the simultaneous administration of CA (10 mg kg-1) and TMO (4 mg kg-1) to rats pretreated with phenobarbital (PB:40 and 80 mg kg-1 i.p. daily for 3 days) and 3-methylcholanthrene (MC: 10 and 20 mg kg-1 i.p. daily for 2 days). After the oral administration of CA and TMO, the PB-pretreated rats showed a significant increase in TMO metabolism, whereas the CA metabolism was greatly accelerated in rats pretreated with MC. In five pretreated groups, there were correlations which were determined 1 h after the administration of CA and TMO, between the plasma half-life (t1/2) of CA and the TB/CA, PX/CA, and TP/CA ratios. The coefficients of correlation (r) ranged from -0.881 to -0.908, and the coefficients of correlation between the CL of CA and the TB/CA, PX/CA, and TP/CA ratios ranged from 0.959 to 0.989. There were high correlations between the t1/2 of TMO and the DMO/TMO ratio at 1 h after administration with r = -0.966, and between the CL of TMO and the DMO/TMO ratio with r = 0.971. The above results suggest that one blood sampling after the simultaneous administration of CA and TMO enables prediction of the degree of each hepatic drug-oxidizing activity because the P-450 isozymes involved in metabolism of CA and TMO are different.

Animals

Detection of chronic hepatitis C virus infection by four diagnostic systems: first-generation and second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay and nested polymerase chain reaction analysis.

Serum samples from 100 patients with non-A, non-B hepatitis-related chronic liver disease and 100 patients with hepatitis B-related chronic liver disease were tested by first-generation and second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, a second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay and the nested polymerase chain reaction. In non-A, non-B hepatitis-related chronic liver disease, second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (anti-c22 and/or c200) and second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay showed 98% positivity, whereas first-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (anti-c100-3) showed 89% positivity. The two second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay-negative samples were positive by nested polymerase chain reaction, but one second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay-positive sample was polymerase chain reaction negative. However, when this second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay-positive sample was tested by polymerase chain reaction using another set of primers, it was polymerase chain reaction positive. Therefore, 100% of the non-A, non-B hepatitis-related chronic liver disease serum samples were hepatitis C virus RNA positive by polymerase chain reaction. Nine hepatitis B-related chronic liver disease samples were first-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay positive. Of the eight second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-positive hepatitis B-related chronic liver disease samples, six were first-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay positive and five were second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay positive and polymerase chain reaction positive. One indeterminate second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay sample was polymerase chain reaction negative. Therefore, second-generation recombinant immunoblot assay appears to be as useful as polymerase chain reaction for detecting a chronic hepatitis C virus infection, although some discrepancies were noted.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult

Caroli's disease in three siblings.

Three sisters with cystic dilatation of the intrahepatic bile ducts (Caroli's disease) are reported. The index case, a 41-year-old woman with remittent high fever and right upper quadrant abdominal pain, was diagnosed as Caroli's disease with hepatic lithiasis and cholangitis based on findings of ultrasonography, computed tomography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiography. Her two older sisters were also examined and found to have the same disease without clinical symptoms. Their symptoms, locations of the dilated ducts and complications all varied. The hereditary mode of Caroli's disease in 13 families (32 cases) reported in the world literature including our study was examined. While Caroli's disease is thought to be an autosomal recessive disease, a conclusion on the hereditary mode of transmission could not be made in this study because of an insufficient investigation of family members, especially the parents.

Adult

An analytic method for evaluating condylar position in the TMJ and its application to orthodontic patients with painful clicking.

The purpose of this study was to develop a new method for evaluating the three-dimensional position of the mandibular condyle relative to the glenoid fossa and further to investigate its clinical application to orthodontic patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). A three-dimensional configuration of the temporomandibular joint was constructed by 108 triangles for the condyle and 180 triangles for the glenoid fossa. The shortest distance between the condyle and glenoid fossa (CGFD) was calculated in the model along a line perpendicular to the center of gravity of a triangle on the condyle. The CGFD was determined in the anterior, posterior, middle, lateral, and medial areas on the condyle. Preliminary investigation revealed that the present technique is accurate, regardless of condylar rotation and/or inclination to the tomographic table. The technique was applied to the diagnosis of orthodontic patients with painful clicking and TMD. It is shown that the present approach provides a method for evaluating the positional relationship between the mandibular condyle and glenoid fossa in patients with TMD.

Adolescent

Genetic analysis of a Drosophila microtubule-associated protein.

The 205-kD microtubule-associated protein (205K MAP) is one of the principal MAPs in Drosophila. 205K MAP is similar to the HeLa 210K/MAP4 family of MAPs since it shares the following biochemical properties: it is present in several isoforms, has a molecular mass of approximately 200 kD, and is thermostable. Furthermore, immuno-crossreactivity has been observed between mouse MAP4, HeLa 210K, and Drosophila 205K MAP. Currently, there is little information concerning the biological function of this group of nonmotor MAPs. We have used a classical genetic approach to try to identify the role of the 205K MAP in Drosophila by isolating mutations in the 205K MAP gene. An F2 lethal screen was used to acquire deficiencies of 100EF, the chromosomal location of the 205K MAP gene. Drosophila bearing a homozygous deficiency for the 205K MAP region are fully viable and show no obvious phenotype. A recently developed polymerase chain reaction screen was also used to recover five P-element insertions upstream from the 205K MAP gene. Western blot analysis has shown that these insertions result in hypomorphic mutations of the 205K MAP gene. As was seen with animals that have no 205K MAP, these mutations appear to have no phenotype. These data unambiguously demonstrate that the 205K MAP gene is inessential for development. These results also suggest that there may exist protein(s) with redundant function that can substitute for 205K MAP.

Animals

New hepatocellular carcinoma cell line SUHC-1 established from a patient with hepatitis C virus RNA in serum.

A new human hepatocellular carcinoma cell (HCC) line, designated SUHC-1, was derived from a Japanese patient with hepatocellular carcinoma having antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HCV-RNA in his serum, and established in tissue culture. This cell line exhibited typical epithelial cell morphology in culture as observed by phase-contrast and electron microscopy. The SUHC-1 cells produced albumin and alpha 2-macroglobulin. Chromosomal analysis showed several rearrangements at short and long arms of chromosome 1, 17 and 20 (1p-, 1q-, i(1q), i(17q) and 20q+) with a modal number of 91. HCV-RNA was not detected in the supernatant of SUHC-1 cells by nested polymerase chain reaction assay or in the SUHC-1 cells by the in situ hybridization method. We concluded that complete HCV does not exist in the SUHC-1 cell line. The SUHC-1 cell line is the first line of HCC to have been derived from a patient with persistent HCV infection, and may provide a suitable model for studies of hepatocarcinogenesis related to HCV.

Aged

Simplified test for determination of drug-oxidizing capacity in rats with chemical-induced liver injury using caffeine and trimethadione as model drugs.

We examined the possibility of predicting the extent of hepatic drug-oxidizing capacity by determination of caffeine, trimethadione and their metabolites in three groups of rats with chemically induced liver injuries. Trimethadione (4 mg/kg) and caffeine (10 mg/kg) were simultaneously administered as two probe drugs. In rats with chemically induced liver injuries pretreated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4: 0.25 ml/kg), alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate (ANIT: 40 mg/kg), or D-galactosamine (GalN: 400 mg/kg), the half-life (t1/2) of caffeine and trimethadione was significantly (P less than 0.01) prolonged compared to those of control groups total body clearance as dramatically reduced (P less than 0.01), whereas apparent volumes of distribution (Vds) were increased in ANIT and GalN groups. In rats with liver damage the production of three metabolites (theobromine, paraxanthine and theophylline) of caffeine as well as the only metabolite (dimethadione) of trimethadione after oral administration of both drugs were significantly decreased compared to those of controls. In rats with liver injuries, total body clearance of caffeine and trimethadione showed a strong correlations (r = 0.99, P less than 0.01); also total body clearance of caffeine correlated well with the ratio of dimethadione/trimethadione after 1, 2, and 4 hr of trimethadione administration (r = 0.93, P less than 0.01; r = 0.97, P less than 0.01 and r = 0.97, P less than 0.01 respectively). Besides, total body clearance of caffeine also correlated well (coefficients ranging from 0.74 to 0.96; P less than 0.01) with the ratio of theobromine/caffeine, paraxanthine/caffeine and theophylline/caffeine after 1, 2 and 4 hr) of caffeine administration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

1-Naphthylisothiocyanate

[An effective concentration method for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)].

We designed an effective virus concentration method to prevent the infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in laboratories. The absorbent of Minicon concentrators (Amicon Division, M.R. Grace & Co.-Conn.) was changed to chitin, a mucopolysaccharide extracted from the shells of Japanese pink crab. HIV-1 in the supernatant of HIV-1 infected Molt-4 cells was concentrated by Minicon and the new concentrators. The new concentrator showed good concentration rate and equality of concentration speed.

Chitin

Decreased natural killer cell activity in women with endometriosis.

Natural killer (NK) cell activity is characterized by the spontaneous capacity of lymphoid cells derived from nonimmunized hosts to recognize and lyse certain tumor cell lines, virus-infected cells and transplanted tumor cell lines. Endometriosis is characterized by implantation and proliferation of autologous ectopic tissue in the pelvic cavity. Therefore, we focused on examining NK cell activity in women with endometriosis. NK cell activity in peripheral blood from women with endometriosis was lower than in women without endometriosis. On the basis of this finding, we analyzed also the effect of peripheral sera of women with endometriosis on NK cell activity. In the presence of peripheral sera of women with endometriosis, NK cell activity was significantly suppressed as compared with the sera of women without endometriosis. The suppressive effect of sera of women with endometriosis on NK cell activity showed dose-dependent curves. These studies provide the speculation that natural immunity mediated by NK cells may modulate the development of endometrial implants.

Cytotoxicity, Immunologic

Systemic hypersensitivity vasculitis associated with bronchiectasis.

Systemic hypersensitivity vasculitis developed in a 53-year-old man during acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. High grade fever, mononeuropathy multiplex, cutaneous vasculitis, and biopsy specimen-proved mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis with crescent formation and leukocytoclastic vasculitis associated with circulating immune complex occurred. Corticosteroid and cyclophosphamide therapy was effective for vasculitis and bronchiectasis.

Acute Disease

Diagnosis and management of endobronchial tuberculosis.

We examined the records of sixty-one patients (17 males and 44 females) with endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB). Smear tests of acid-fast bacilli were positive in 42 cases and cultures of tubercle bacilli (TB) were positive in 57. The main findings of chest roentgenogram on admission were as follows: no abnormal findings in 8, atelectasis in 30, infiltration in 25, and cavitary lesions in 6. The localization and cross-sectional extension of lesions confirmed bronchoscopically were as follows: trachea in 15, with 3 circular lesions (CLs). Right (R-) main bronchus in 19 with 11 CLs, left (L-) main bronchus in 18 with 11 of CLs, R-truncus intermedius in 14 with 6 of CLs, R-upper lobar bronchus (UB) in 17 with 12 CLs, R-middle lobar bronchus in 14 with 11 of CLs, R-lower lobar bronchus (LB) in 6 with 2 CLs, L-UB in 10 with 7 CLs and L-LB in 3 with 2 CLs. All cases were treated by combination chemotherapy with isoniazid, rifampicin, streptomycin and/or ethambutol and the rate of negative conversion of TB was good, but most of circular lesions resulted in severe bronchial stenosis or complete obstruction during and after chemotherapy, and no improvement was seen in any of the atelectasis cases at the cessation of chemotherapy. We discuss the points of early diagnosis and management of EBTB.

Adult