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Biomedical subjects

S Sugiura

Publications and source records attributed to S Sugiura.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Active movement of cardiac myosin on Characeae actin cables.

The active sliding of cardiac myosin on actin cables was studied using an in vitro movement assay. Cardiac myosin prepared from either adult rabbit or rat hearts was mixed with small latex beads to coat them. Actin cables were obtained from the internodal cells of green algae, Characeae. When the myosin-coated beads suspended in physiological buffer were introduced into the internodal cells, the myosin started to interact with the actin causing the beads to move. The sliding movement of the beads was observed under microscopy and the sliding velocity measured. The observed movement was smooth and the velocity was constant over a long distance. The movement was physiological in nature: a) it was ATP-dependent, but above a certain level of ATP, the velocity was constant; b) the velocity was maximum at pH 7.0, and decreased in both acidic and alkaline conditions. The average sliding velocity of cardiac myosin obtained from rabbit ventricles (0.31 +/- 0.11 micron/s) was slower than that from rat ventricles (1.04 +/- 0.26 micron/s) reflecting the lower ATPase activity of rabbit cardiac myosin. This assay system is considered to be a useful tool linking biochemistry and physiology at the molecular level.

Actins

Dementia in cerebral amyloid angiopathy: a clinicopathological study.

Dementia is in addition to cerebral haemorrhage major symptom of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAa). In order to explore the pathological basis for dementia in CAa-related conditions, we made a clinicopathological analysis of CAa, with special attention to dementia. Among 150 patients (mean age 78.6 years) with autopsy-proven intracranial haemorrhage in Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Medical Center, CAa with cerebral haemorrhage accounted for 8.0% (12 cases), associated with hypertension and metastatic brain tumour. Among 38 patients with lobar haemorrhage, CAa represented the second most common cause (21.1%) of intracranial haemorrhage after hypertension. A total of 20 patients with CAa (mean age 82.5 years) were studies clinically and pathologically. Hypertension was present in 50%. Thirteen had a history of stroke and others had either ill-defined or no strokes. The average number of strokes 2.9. Fifteen patients (75%) had dementia. Based on the clinicopathological grounds for dementia, CAa-related conditions could be divided into three subtypes: "haemorrhagic", "dementia-haemorrhagic" and "dementia" type. Haemorrhagic type (30%, 6 cases) showed multiple recurrent lobar haemorrhages caused by CAa. Hypertension was present in only 1 patient. The incidence of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles was generally correlated with age. Only 1 patient had dementia. The dementia-haemorrhagic type (40%, 8 patients) had recurrent strokes with cerebral haemorrhage after preceding dementia. There were two different neuropathological subsets: CAa with atypical senile dementia of Alzheimer type (SDAT) and CAa with diffuse leucoencephalopathy. Patients with CAa with atypical SDAT had multiple cerebral haemorrhages caused by CAa combined with atypical Alzheimer-type pathology. Patients with CAa with diffuse leucoencephalopathy had cerebral haemorrhages in combination with diffuse white matter damage like Binswanger's subcortical vascular encephalopathy (BSVE). The incidence of senile changes correlated with age. Patients with the dementia type (30%, 6 patients) showed progressive dementia with or without haemorrhage. All had hypertension. They had a combined condition of Alzheimer-type pathology with conspicuous CAa with BSVE. Dementia in CAa-related conditions may be responsible for multiple factors including not Alzheimer-type degeneration, but also diffuse leucoencephalopathy like Binswanger's disease. We also found an asymptomatic type, an ischaemic type, a vasculitis type and an hereditary type in this condition.

Aged

Sliding velocity of isolated rabbit cardiac myosin correlates with isozyme distribution.

To investigate the relationship between the mechanical and biochemical properties of cardiac myosin, the sliding velocity of isolated cardiac myosin obtained from both euthyroid and hyperthyroid rabbits on actin cables was measured with an in vitro motility assay system. Ten rabbits (T) were treated with L-thyroxine to induce hyperthyroidism, and eight nontreated animals (N) were used as controls. Myosin was purified from the left ventricles of anesthetized animals. Myosin isozyme content was analyzed by the pyrophosphate gel electrophoresis method, and myosin adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activity was determined on the same sample. Long well-organized actin cables of green algae, Nitellopsis, were used in the in vitro motility assay. Small latex beads were coated with purified cardiac myosin and introduced onto the Nitellopsis actin cables. Active unidirectional movement of the beads on the actin cables was observed under a photomicroscope, and the velocity was measured. The velocity was dependent on ATP concentrations, and the optimal pH for bead movement was approximately 7.0-7.5. The mean velocity was higher in T than in N (0.66 +/- 0.12 vs. 0.32 +/- 0.09 micron/s, P less than 0.01). Both Ca(2+)-activated ATPase activity and the percentage of alpha-myosin heavy chain were also higher in T than in N (0.691 +/- 0.072 vs. 0.335 +/- 0.072 microM Pi.mg-1.min-1, P less than 0.01, and 79 +/- 12 vs. 26 +/- 7%, P less than 0.01, respectively). The velocity of myosin closely correlated with both Ca(+2)-activated myosin ATPase activity (r = 0.87, P less than 0.01) and the percentage of alpha-myosin heavy chain (r = 0.87, P less than 0.01).

Animals

Cardiac adaptation and its limitation in an experimental model of congestive heart failure.

To elucidate mechanisms of adaptation and maladaptation in heart failure, abnormalities of left ventricular function and their relationships to myocardial contractile protein were studied in the Syrian hamster Bio 14.6. Left ventricular and heart weights were both increased in 20-week-old cardiomyopathic hamsters, indicating cardiac hypertrophy as a compensatory mechanism to the disease process of cardiomyopathy. However further increase in the left ventricular weight was not observed in older (40-week-old) cardiomyopathic hamsters. On the other hand left ventricular volume and volume/mass ratio were increased progressively. Correspondingly, V3 type myosin was increased and myosin sliding velocity was decreased. Left ventricular function of cardiomyopathic hamsters evaluated using an isovolumically beating perfused heart preparation was depressed, and this functional impairment was also progressive. Chronic administration of metoprolol, a beta-blocking agent, induced further increase in left ventricular volume and mass without changing left ventricular function and myosin isozyme pattern. Thus in cardiomyopathic hamsters, left ventricular function progressively deteriorates in spite of a variety of adaptive mechanisms, and remodeling occurs.

Adaptation, Physiological

Effect of a bradycardic agent on the isolated blood-perfused canine heart.

Bradycardic agents could limit the consequences of myocardial ischemia via two mechanisms: by decreasing myocardial oxygen demand (MVO2) and by increasing diastolic coronary blood flow (CBF). We investigated whether the benzazepinone UL-FS 49 affects only sinus node cells or also smooth muscle and/or myocardial cells. To avoid confounding interactions with the periphery, we performed experiments on 11 isolated, blood-perfused canine hearts. Injection of UL-FS 49 (1 mg/kg i.c.) significantly reduced heart rate (HR) from 104 +/- 7 to 93 +/- 7 min-1 (mean +/- SEM) and increased stroke volume (n = 6: 9.8 +/- 1.1 vs. 13.2 +/- 1.6 ml), so that cardiac output remained unchanged (n = 6: 1.1 +/- 0.1 vs. 1.2 +/- 0.1 l/min). The contractile state, assessed by isovolumic peak systolic pressure, was unaltered by UL-FS 49 (n = 5: 72 +/- 6 vs. 72 +/- 6 mmHg). At a constant coronary arterial pressure (CAP) of 80 mmHg, mean CBF was slightly decreased (102 +/- 11 vs. 97 +/- 10 ml/[min.100 g]) by UL-FS 49, such that mean coronary resistance remained unchanged (0.9 +/- 0.1 vs 1.0 +/- 0.1 mmHg.min.100 g/ml). The slight decreases in arteriovenous oxygen content difference (n = 6: 6.6 +/- 0.7 vs. 6.5 +/- 0.7 ml/100 ml) and in CBF lead to a calculated, significant decrease in MVO2 (n = 6: 6.9 +/- 0.5 vs. 6.0 +/- 0.4 ml.100 g/min). In conclusion, UL-FS 49 at the dose used decreases MVO2 by reducing HR in isolated canine hearts. In the absence of negative inotropic and vasodilating effects, cardiac output is maintained via increased stroke volume, and CAP will likely be preserved in situ. Thus, this specific bradycardic agent could be useful in treating ischemic myocardial disease.

Animals

Dynamic properties of left ventricular response to changes in coronary perfusion.

To determine the dynamic property of cardiac function response to alterations in coronary perfusion, we varied coronary arterial pressure (CAP) sinusoidally around one of four mean CAP levels with a constant amplitude at several frequencies in isolated, isovolumically contracting canine heart preparations. From the frequency spectrum of the peak left ventricular pressure (PLVP) response, we arrived at a phenomenological model with two components coupled in parallel and estimated the parameter values. One component is a first-order delay system having a short time constant (approximately 1 s) and a small gain (range 0.08-0.16); it probably represents a hydraulic effect of coronary perfusion. The other component is a second-order delay system with longer time constants (approximately 15 and 6 s) and a larger gain (range 0.14-0.69); this probably represents a metabolic effect. The gain value of the slow component varied inversely with the mean CAP level, and studies with adenosine suggested that this dependence was due to the coronary autoregulation. The model prediction of the transient responses of PLVP to step changes in CAP agreed reasonably well with those experimental data of transient responses obtained in the identical hearts but not used to determine the model parameter values.

Adenosine

[Individual differences in image and pulse-wave responses elicited by listening to music].

This study was undertaken to clarify individual differences in psycho-physiological responses observed in subjects listening to music. Forty-five healthy females listened to the third movement of Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" via a biaural headphone at 69.4 dB(A) in Leq and 83.6 dB(A) in Lmax. This was undertaken twice with an interval of six days between sessions. Pulse-waves were recorded continuously before, during, and after listening by using a photoelectric plethysmograph. The psychological image each listener had of the music was measured immediately after listening by the SD method composed of fifteen scales with five rating points. The following results were obtained: 1) The pulse-wave height initially became low right after the onset of listening, though the degree of the decrement weakened in the second trial. Spectral analysis of pulse-waves revealed that the power percentage in the low frequency-bands below 0.3912 Hz grew markedly and that in the frequency-bands above 0.4238 Hz it dwindled during and after listening at the first trial. However, these changes of power percentage weakened in the second trial. 2) The image of the music being listened to changed significantly in 11 scales from the first trial to the second trial. 3) Subjects having a previous experience of listening to the music showed smaller image changes and responses in pulse-waves in the second trial than subjects having no such experience. 4) Previous experience of learning any music and the amount of contact with any music were not related to the image changes and pulse-wave responses in the second trial.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult

Enhancement of in vitro mineralization in human osteoblasts by a novel prostaglandin A1 derivative TEI-3313.

Human osteoblasts derived from long bone periosteum were induced to mineralize in culture in the presence of 2 mM alpha-glycerophosphate, with typical characteristics of mineralization, namely, accumulation of hydroxyapatite and increases in alkaline phosphatase activity and in osteocalcin production. Mineralization was also enhanced by 10(-8) M 1 alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. In this system, a prostaglandin A1 derivative, TEI-3313, with the chemical structure 5-[(Z,2E)-4,7-dihydroxy-2-heptenyridene]-4-hydroxy-2-methylthio-4- (4- phenoxybutyl)-2-cyclopentenone, was found to enhance mineralization as effectively as 1 alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, although its potency was 10 times lower than that of the vitamin D3 metabolite. Osteocalcin, a bone-specific noncollagenous matrix protein, accumulated onto the cell layers by treatment with TEI-3313 to a much greater extent than those released into the culture medium. TEI-3313 also enhanced collagen synthesis. Based on the finding that TEI-3313 enhanced the synthesis of both collagen and noncollagenous protein, it is speculated that TEI-3313 enhanced the mineralization by stimulating the expression of various genes in osteoblasts.

Adult

Loss of nerve fibres in the corpus callosum of progressive subcortical vascular encephalopathy.

The nerve fibres of the corpus callosum were studied by electron microscopy in five elderly patients with progressive subcortical vascular encephalopathy (PSVE) and compared with those in six age-matched controls. The number of nerve fibres per unit area of the corpus callosum was decreased in PSVE by 18-26%. The loss of nerve fibres in the corpus callosum can play a role in inducing the cognitive deficit of PSVE, on the basis of the loss of nerve fibres in the cerebral hemispheres.

Aged

Preservation of ventricular function by treatment of ventricular fibrillation with phenylephrine.

Epinephrine promotes resuscitation from ventricular fibrillation because of its peripheral vasoconstrictive effects. However, the beta-adrenergic effects of epinephrine may be detrimental because of the stimulation of myocardial oxygen demand. To test whether functional recovery from fibrillation in hearts treated with a selective alpha-adrenergic agent is greater than in hearts treated with epinephrine, ventricular fibrillation was induced in eight isolated dog hearts while coronary perfusion pressure was maintained at 30 mm Hg. In random order, epinephrine (5 micrograms/min), phenylephrine (50 micrograms/min) or no drug was infused for 5 min. The heart was then defibrillated, the drug infusion stopped and coronary perfusion pressure increased to 100 mm Hg. Coronary blood flow (ml/min per 100 g), arteriovenous oxygen difference (ml O2/dl) and myocardial oxygen consumption (ml O2/min per 100 g) measured after 4 min of ventricular fibrillation were greater with epinephrine (mean +/- SD 30.9 +/- 11.7, 17.5 +/- 1.6 and 5.4 +/- 1.9, respectively) than with phenylephrine (24.4 +/- 6.0, 15.7 +/- 2.6 and 3.8 +/- 1.1, respectively) or no drug (19.8 +/- 5.2, 12.8 +/- 1.8 and 2.6 +/- 0.7, respectively) (p less than 0.05, p less than 0.05 and p less than 0.05, respectively). The slope of the end-systolic pressure-volume relation 10 min after defibrillation and restoration of normal coronary perfusion pressure was depressed (percent of prefibrillation value) most by epinephrine infusion (72 +/- 17%, n = 6), less by no drug infusion (82 +/- 12%, n = 4) and was increased after phenylephrine infusion (143 +/- 17%, n = 6) (p less than 0.002).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

DNA binding properties of purified replication initiator protein (Rep) encoded by plasmid pSC101.

We have purified the replication initiator protein (Rep) coded by plasmid pSC101. The purified protein was confirmed to be Rep by its amino-terminal sequence. Rep exists as a dimer and has a sequence-specific DNA-binding property. Protection experiments with DNA against cleavage by DNase I or exonuclease III showed that Rep bound preferentially to two nearly dyad-symmetric sequences overlapping the promoter of the rep gene, a structure gene of Rep. Transcripts in vitro from the rep promoter were identified and the precise initiation sites were determined by the primer-extension method. Rep represses the transcription from the rep promoter but not that from the bla gene promoter in the same reaction mixture, that is the rep gene is autoregulated. The replication origin (ori) of the plasmid contains directly repeated sequences similar to the symmetric sequences. However, a one order of magnitude higher concentration of the protein is required to bind to the origin repeats.

Amino Acid Sequence

Naviculo-cuneiform coalition--report of three cases.

Naviculo-cuneiform coalition is a very rare condition and has only been reported by Lusby and Miki. We hereby describe three cases of this condition. The chief complaint was mild pain in the midfoot region especially after physical activity. There were no detectable deformities such as calcaneo-valgus, flatfoot or peroneal spastic foot, moreover the range of motion of the subtalar joint appeared to be normal. Conventional tomography confirmed coalition in two out of our three cases. 99mTc-MDP bone scintigraphy may be useful as a screening procedure. In past the pain associated with tarsal coalition was considered to result from the decreased range of motion in the fused joint due to ossification. However, our study have indicated that pain appeared to originate from the weakness of the cartilagenous bridges relative to the weight-bearing force over the naviculo-cuneiform joint.

Adolescent

Decrease in nerve fibres in cerebral white matter in progressive subcortical vascular encephalopathy of Binswanger type. An electron microscopic study.

To study white matter changes in the frontal lobes and to investigate the histopathological basis for the dementia in progressive subcortical vascular encephalopathy (PSVE), the frontal white matter was examined by electron microscopy in seven cases with PSVE, and compared with that in a control group and in cases with senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT). The number of nerve fibres per unit selected area of the white matter was significantly less in PSVE compared with that in the control group or in SDAT. Nerve fibres in PSVE had a tendency to have thinner myelin sheaths than in the control group or in SDAT, but the difference was not significant. The pallor of the frontal white matter in PSVE is mainly based on the loss of nerve fibres, and may be in part based on the thin myelin sheaths. The dementia in PSVE is probably related to the loss of nerve fibres in the cerebral white matter.

Aged