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Biomedical subjects

K Isa

Publications and source records attributed to K Isa.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Homonymous defect of macular vision in ischemic stroke.

It is generally believed that a homonymous defect of macular vision (HMV) is caused by a small lesion restricted to the occipital lobe tip and rarely results from ischemic stroke. The incidence of HMV was studied retrospectively in 54 patients with infarction of the posterior cerebral artery territory who underwent Goldmann's visual field test. HMV was found in 6 patients (11%). In all of them, HMV was first dismissed due to a confrontation test of visual fields at the bedside and later detected by Goldmann's visual field test. All had a relatively large infarction extending from the occipital lobe tip to the posterior part of the calcarine cortex and/or the neighboring subcortical regions. Stroke-induced HMV can be caused by a large lesion involving the occipital pole and may not be so rare as generally considered.

Aged↗

[A case with frequent episodes of transient ischemic attack presenting the Wallenberg syndrome before and after the onset of brain infarction].

A 52-year-old man with diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and smoking habit, experienced transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) with symptoms of left orbital pain, left blepharoptosis and hoarseness lasting for five minutes on March 10, 1997. Subsequently, the same symptoms repeated once or twice daily. On March 28, he had dysphagia, numbness and disturbance of pain and temperature sensation (segmental dissociated sensory disturbance) on the right side of the body above the level of the Th10, the right upper limb and face. The deficits persisted for more than 24 hours. Angiographic studies revealed an occlusion of the left vertebral artery immediately after branching of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery. MRI demonstrated a hyperintense lesion on MRI T2 weighted image in the left lateral medulla. About three months after the completed stroke, he had six episodes of TIAs of left Horner's sign and hoarseness. To our knowledge, this is the rare case that had frequent TIAs presenting the Wallenberg syndrome before and after the onset of lateral medullary infarction. We speculate that the TIAs resulted from microembolism from the proximal end of occluted left vertebral artery and failure of the microcirculation in and around the lateral portion of the medulla oblongata.

Cerebral Infarction↗

Transoral carotid ultrasonography.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We attempted ultrasonographic evaluation of the distal extracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) using the transoral method (transoral carotid ultrasonography [TOCU]). METHODS: The subjects consisted of five healthy volunteers and seven stroke patients. Examinations were performed with a color Doppler flow imaging system equipped with convex array transducers (7 or 9.5 MHz), originally designed for transrectal use. After local anesthesia of the pharynx, we inserted a probe covered with thin gum transorally, touching the tip to the pharyngeal posterolateral wall. We then attempted to detect the ICA and measure flow velocity of the distal extracranial ICA using principal images obtained by TOCU. RESULTS: TOCU was successfully performed in all subjects without any difficulty. In the healthy volunteers, the ICA was identified at a depth of 2.2+/-0.6 cm and visualized as a vertical linear vessel 2.9+/-0.3 cm in length and bent slightly backward. The diameter and mean flow velocity of the distal extracranial ICA were 4.7+/-0.2 mm and 50+/-7 cm/s, respectively. In the stroke patients, some remarkable findings were obtained, including a narrow ICA with low flow velocity in a patient with possible ICA dissection, a lucent echo without flow signal in a patient with acute cardioembolic ICA occlusion, and decreased ICA flow velocity in a patient with ipsilateral MCA stenosis. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data demonstrate the potential applicability of TOCU to the evaluation of flow in the far distal extracranial ICA. TOCU definitely warrants further investigation in patients with carotid artery disease.

Adult↗

Large-scale DNA typing for human platelet alloantigens by PCR-PHFA (preferential homoduplex formation assay).

Alloimmunization against human platelet alloantigens (HPA) is known to be involved in disorders such as neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenic purpura, posttransfusion purpura, and refractoriness to platelet transfusion therapy. HPA typing is essential in diagnosis and management of patients. Therefore a reliable and speedy method is necessary for HPA typing. We have successfully applied a new DNA typing method, PCR-preferential homoduplex formation assay (PHFA) method, to typing for the HPA-1, -2, -3, -4, -5 and -6 systems. This method is based on DNA strand competition during hybridization under a precisely controlled temperature gradient between a double-labelled amplicon (standard DNA), prepared from biotin- and DNP-labelled primers, and an unlabelled amplicon (sample DNA). The results obtained by PCR-PHFA typing were in good agreement with the allotypes determined by serological typing and by other DNA typing methods. The PCR-PHFA method can be easily automated, is suitable for typing both small and large numbers of samples, and thus is applicable to routine HPA typing.

Antigens, Human Platelet↗

K252a, a potent inhibitor of protein kinases, inhibits the migration of cerebellar granule cells in vitro.

In order to elucidate the cellular mechanisms of migrating neurons, we developed an assay system in vitro, using an aggregation culture of developing granule cells from the rat cerebellum. This assay system allowed us to eliminate the effects of various factors other than neurons and to examine the direct effects of individual molecules on neuronal migration. In this assay system, we examined the effects of several protein kinase inhibitors on cerebellar granule cell migration, and revealed that K252a, an inhibitor of protein kinases and of the actions of neurotrophins, inhibited the migration. Within 5 min after the addition of K252a to the culture medium, most of the migrating spindle-shaped cells changed into non-migrating large and polygonal cells, which had many microspikes. Staining with rhodamine-phalloidin revealed the appearance of actin bundles that resembled stress fibers within these large cells. On the other hand, extension of neurites was not severely inhibited by the addition of K252a. These results suggest that the migration is regulated by a different mechanism from that of neurite growth.

Animals↗

DNA-based typing of human platelet antigen systems by polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism method.

Polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) method has been established to discriminate genotypes for the human platelet antigen (HPA) systems HPA-1, HPA-2, HPA-3, HPA-4, and HPA-5. Gene fragments which contain polymorphic sequences corresponding to the HPA-1, HPA-2, HPA-3, HPA-4, and HPA-5 systems were PCR-amplified with specific primers. The amplified DNA was denatured and subjected to non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by silver staining. The results obtained by the PCR-SSCP method were in good agreement with those of the allotypes determined by serological typing. Furthermore, the results agreed with those obtained by other DNA-based typing methods such as PCR-allele-specific restriction enzyme analysis and PCR-sequence-specific primer. These results indicate that PCR-SSCP is a simple and sensitive method for determining HPA genotypes and identifying unknown polymorphisms.

Antigens, Human Platelet↗

Formation of thick, curving bundles of actin by drebrin A expressed in fibroblasts.

Drebrin A is a neuron-specific protein, the expression of which is regulated during development. Upon transfection of fibroblasts with drebrin A cDNA, the protein is expressed at high levels in fibroblasts and the outgrowth of highly branched, neurite-like cell processes is induced. In this report, we describe a biochemical examination of the binding of drebrin A to actin filaments. We also demonstrate by an immunocytochemical method that, when drebrin A is expressed in transfected cells, it binds to actin filaments and is concentrated in cell processes. Furthermore, we provide evidence that thick, curving bundles of actin together with drebrin are formed in some of the transfected cells. Our results suggest that the actin filaments that bind drebrin might be a novel class of actin filaments and might play a role in neuronal morphogenesis.

Actins↗

A novel extracellular cyclic lipopeptide which promotes flagellum-dependent and -independent spreading growth of Serratia marcescens.

Serrawettin W2, a surface-active exolipid produced by nonpigmented Serratia marcescens NS 25, was examined for its chemical structure and physiological functions. The chemical structure was determined by degradation analyses, infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Serrawettin W2 was shown to be a novel cyclodepsipeptide containing a fatty acid (3-hydroxydecanoic acid) and five amino acids. The peptide was proposed to be D-leucine (N-bonded to the carboxylate of the fatty acid)-L-serine-L-threonine-D-phenylalanine-L-isoleucine (bonded to the 3-hydroxyl group). By examining the effects of isolated serrawettin W2 on serrawettinless mutants, this lipopeptide was shown to be active in the promotion of flagellum-independent spreading growth of the bacteria on a hard agar surface. The parent strain NS 25 formed a giant colony with a self-similar characteristic after incubation for a relatively long time (1 to 2 weeks), similar to other fractal colony-producing strains of S. marcescens (producers of the different serrawettins W1 and W3). On a semisolid medium that permitted flagellum-dependent spreading growth, an external supply of serrawettin W2 accelerated surface translocation of a serrawettinless mutant during a short period (12 h) of observation. In contrast, bacterial translocation in the subsurface space of the semisolid agar was not enhanced by serrawettins. Thus, the extracellular lipids seem to contribute specifically to the surface translocation of the bacteria by exhibiting surfactant activity.

Amino Acid Sequence↗