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S S Chan

Publications and source records attributed to S S Chan.

47 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Peer review using a paired-comparison technique.

A paired-comparison technique is used to enable surgical residents and attending surgeons to make peer judgments of each other. Comparative peer judgments were made in three areas: the ability of the surgeon to make a diagnosis and to decide on a plan of active medical care, the operating ability of the surgeon, and the postoperative care of the patient. This method of peer judgment ensures the confidentiality of those making the judgments, and the analysis results in a final ranking of the surgeons and surgical residents with indicated significant differences (P less than 0.05) among them. The technique also includes an assessment of how consistent each judge is in making comparisons of fellow surgeons.

Clinical Competence↗

Rotational diffusion of cell surface components by time-resolved phosphorescence anisotropy.

The rotational diffusion of concanavalin A receptors of viable Friend erythroleukemia cells and the band 3 anion transport system of human erythrocytes has been measured via the time-dependent phosphorescence emission intensity and anisotropy of triplet probes excited by a 5-ns laser pulse. High-quality phosphorescence decay curves with a 10-microseconds time resolution were obtained at concentrations of the eosin probe down to 20 nM and in aqueous media at temperatures of 4-38 degrees C. A strong temperature dependence in the rotational behavior was observed for the band 3 anion transport protein, but the lectin receptors of the Friend erythroleukemia cells were found to be immobile on the time scale of 1-4000 microseconds at either 4 degrees C or 37 degrees C. The technique is applicable to other triplet probes and membrane components of living cells under conditions that do not destroy viability.

Concanavalin A↗

Proximity of lectin receptors on the cell surface measured by fluorescence energy transfer in a flow system.

Molecules of the lectin concanavalin A have been labeled separately with the fluorescein and rhodamine chromophores and jointly bound to the surface of transformed Friend erythroleukemia cells. The two dyes constitute an ideal donor-acceptor pair for fluorescence resonance energy transfer thereby permitting the determination of the proximity relationships between bound ligand molecules and the corresponding surface receptors. The transfer efficiency at saturation (about 57%) was measured in a multiparameter flow system using laser excitation at 488 nm and detection of fluorescein and rhodamine emission intensities as well as the emission anisotropy of the rhodamine fluorescence for each cell. The degree of energy transfer was estimated from the quenching of donor emission, the sensitization of acceptor emission, and the depolarization of acceptor fluorescence. The system has been modeled according to a formalism developed by Gennis and Cantor (Biochemistry 11: 2509, 1972). We estimate the separation between the surfaces of bound lectin molecules at saturation to be 0-40 A, a range possibly characteristic for micropatches induced by ligand binding.

Animals↗

Binding of carbon monoxide to isolated hemoglobin chains.

Binding of carbon monoxide to the separated alpha and beta chains of hemoglobin, with and without bound p-mercuribenzoate, has been measured at temperatures from 5 to 340 K for times 2 mus to 1 ks using flash photolysis. All four proteins exhibit three different rebinding processes. The data are interpreted by a model in which the carbon monoxide, moving from the solvent to the binding site at the ferrous heme iron, encounters three barriers. The temperature dependences of the three processes yield activation enthalpies and entropies for the three barriers for all four proteins. Binding at temperatures below about 200 K is nonexponential, implying that the innermost barrier has a distribution of activation enthalpies. The distributions for the four proteins have been determined. At temperatures below 30 K, the CO binding rates approach finite low-temperature limits; binding thus proceeds by quantum-mechanical tunneling. Invoking a simple model, the widths of the innermost barriers are extracted from the measured tunneling rates. The experimental parameters are correlated with structural features of the hemoglobin chains and compared with previously published data on myoglobin and protoheme. A correlation is established between the height of the innermost barrier and the equilibrium CO pressure.

Carbon Monoxide↗

The rate of entry of dioxygen and carbon monoxide into myoglobin.

The model for carbon monoxide or dioxygen recombination with heme proteins developed by the group at the University of Illinois is reexamined. We propose that the carbon monoxide or dioxygen molecule enters the protein at essentially a diffusion-limited rate determined by the solvent viscosity and that the protein offers no important barriers to this entry. The viscosity dependence of the entry rate k(ED), its magnitude (1 x 10(10) M(-1)s(-1), and the rate of quenching of triplet states of protoprophyrin IX in apomyoglobin by dioxygen are used as supporting evidence. Comparison is made to the model of a fluctuating protein developed by G. Weber.

Carbon Monoxide↗

Fast reactions in carbon monoxide binding to heme proteins.

Using fast flash photolysis, we have measured the binding of CO to carboxymethylated cytochrome c and to heme c octapeptide as a function of temperature (5 degrees-350 degreesK) over an extended time range (100 ns(-1) ks). Experiments used a microsecond dye laser (lambda = 540 nm), and a mode-locked frequency-doubled Nd-glass laser (lambda = 530 nm). At low temperatures (5 degrees-120 degreesK) the rebinding exhibits two components. The slower component (I) is nonexponential in time and has an optical spectrum corresponding to rebiding from an S = 2, CO-free deoxy state. The fast component (I*) is exponential in time with a lifetime shorter than 10 mus and an optical spectrum different from the slow component. In myoglobin and the separated alpha and beta chains of hemoglobin, only process I is visible. The optical absorption spectrum of I* and its time dependence suggest that it may correspond to recombination from an excited state in which the iron has not yet moved out of the heme plane. The temperature dependences of both processes have been measured. Both occur via quantum mechanical tunneling at the lowest temperatures and via over-the-barrier motion at higher temperatures.

Binding Sites↗

Tunneling in ligand binding to heme proteins.

Rebinding of carbon monoxide to the beta chain of hemoglobin after photodissociation by a laser flash is intramolecular below about 200 K. Above 25 K, rebinding occurs via classical over-the-barrier motion; below, quantum-mechanical tunneling dominates. Both are described by an energy spectrum peaked at Epeak=4.0 kilojoules per mole. The barrier width d(E), determined from the energy dependence of the tunneling rate, depends on barrier height, d(E) approximately 0.05 nanometer X (E/Epeak) 1.5.

Carbon Monoxide↗

A sensitive assay for the measurement of serum chondroitin sulfate 3B3(-) epitope levels in human rheumatic diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a sensitive assay to quantitate serum 3B3(-) levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) as well as levels in control sera. METHODS: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed using the monoclonal antibody (MAb) 3B3 to detect a chondroitin sulfate (CS) epitope in the sera and synovial fluid (SF) of RA and OA patients. Keratan sulfate levels were measured in the same biological fluids using the 5D4 monoclonal antibody. RESULTS: The detection limit for our 3B3(-) assay was 2 micrograms/L. Most OA sera sample curves run on the 3B3 assay were parallel (87.5%) to the standard curve and detectable (90.0%). RA sera sample curves were 87.1% detectable and 85.2% parallel. The 3B3(-) epitope was detectable in 60% of control sera and of these 66.7% of sample curves were parallel to the standard curve. All RA and OA SF had detectable quantities of 3B3(-). For the 3B3 assay, the OA and RA sera levels were significantly higher than for control sera (P = 0.03, P = 0.04 respectively). We found a significant correlation in a subset of paired OA sera and SF 3B3(-) concentrations. No correlation was found between age, joint activity scores, HAQ and CRP in RA patients and sera 3B3(-) and 5D4 levels. CONCLUSION: We have validated this assay for the quantification of 3B3(-) epitope in RA and OA serum. Levels of this epitope are significantly higher in sera from RA and OA patients than controls. 3B3(-) levels in RA sera were found to correlate with disease duration.

Adult↗