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Biomedical subjects

S Tehrani

Publications and source records attributed to S Tehrani.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Phase-locking in double-point-contact spin-transfer devices.

Spin-transfer in nanometre-scale magnetic devices results from the torque on a ferromagnet owing to its interaction with a spin-polarized current and the electrons' spin angular momentum. Experiments have detected either a reversal or high-frequency (GHz) steady-state precession of the magnetization in giant magnetoresistance spin valves and magnetic tunnel junctions with current densities of more than 10(7) A cm(-2). Spin-transfer devices may enable high-density, low-power magnetic random access memory or direct-current-driven nanometre-sized microwave oscillators. Here we show that the magnetization oscillations induced by spin-transfer in two 80-nm-diameter giant-magnetoresistance point contacts in close proximity to each other can phase-lock into a single resonance over a frequency range from approximately <10 to >24 GHz for contact spacings of less than about approximately 200 nm. The output power from these contact pairs with small spacing is approximately twice the total power from more widely spaced (approximately 400 nm and greater) contact pairs that undergo separate resonances, indicating that the closely spaced pairs are phase-locked with zero phase shift. Phase-locking may enable control of large arrays of coupled spin-transfer devices with increased power output for microwave oscillator applications.

Journal Article↗

Studies on the size and stability of chlorpromazine hydrochloride nanostructures in aqueous solution.

The mean aggregate number (MAN) of the antipsychotic drug chlorpromazine hydrochloride (CPZ) nanostructure was investigated by fluorescence quenching using 9-methylanthracene (9-MA) as the quencher. The method was designed to take advantage of the intrinsic fluorescent properties of CPZ. The validity of this method was supported by the results obtained for the MAN which was determined to be approximately 37 for a solution of 10 mM CPZ in 0.1 M pH 6.5 phosphate buffer. An increase in the aggregate size with increasing drug concentration confirmed the stepwise aggregation theory of CPZ micelle formation. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to examine the effects of concentration on the thermodynamics of micellization. The enthalpy of demicellization increased with increasing CPZ concentration (5-12 mM), suggesting a greater stability of the aggregates at higher concentrations. At amphiphile concentrations higher than 12 mM, a plateau of approximately 10 kJ/mol was observed as the enthalpy of demicellization. Fluorescence lifetime results revealed a two-component system at low CPZ concentration, while data at amphiphile concentrations higher than 12 mM could not be fitted to either single or multi-component lifetime values, suggesting an increase in dispersity in these nanostructures at higher CPZ concentrations. Temperatures higher than 40 degrees C tend to destabilize the larger micelles, and demicellization was observed after approximately 45 degrees C. Changes in osmotic pressure in the presence of dextrose up to 0.3 M had no significant effect on the size of these micellar nanostructures.

Antipsychotic Agents↗

Advances in the stable isotope-mass spectrometric measurement of DNA synthesis and cell proliferation.

Methods for measuring rates of DNA synthesis, and thus cell proliferation, in humans had not been available until recently. We (D. C. Macallan, C. A. Fullerton, R. A. Neese, K. Haddock, S. S. Park, and M. K. Hellerstein, 1998, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 708-713) recently developed a stable isotope-mass spectrometric technique for measuring DNA synthesis by labeling the deoxyribose (dR) moiety of purine deoxyribonucleotides through the de novo nucleotide synthesis pathway. The original analytic approach had limitations, however. Here, we describe technical improvements that increase yield, stability, sensitivity, and reproducibility of the method. The purine deoxyribonucleoside, deoxyadenosine (dA), is directly isolated from hydrolysates of DNA by using an LC18 SPE column. Two derivatives were developed for analyzing the dR moiety of dA alone (without the base), an aldonitrile-triacetate derivative, and a reduced pentose-tetraacetate (PTA) derivative. The PTA derivative in particular exhibited greater stability (no degradation after several weeks), greater GC/MS signal, and much less abundance sensitivity of isotope ratios (i.e., less dependence of mass isotopomer abundances on the amount of material injected into the mass spectrometer source), compared to previous derivatives of dA. The need for complex, multidimensional abundance corrected standard curves was thereby avoided. Using the PTA derivative, dR enrichments from DNA of fully turned over cells of rodents with 2H2O enrichments in body water of 2.2-2.8% were 9.0-9.5%, and less than 1.0 microg DNA (ca. 2 x 10(5) cells) was required for reproducible analyses. In summary, these methodologic advances allow measurement of stable isotope incorporation into DNA and calculation of cell proliferation and death rates in vivo in humans and experimental animals, with fewer cells, greater reproducibility, and less labor. Many applications of this approach can be envisioned.

Animals↗

Immediate-early gene expression is sufficient for induction of natural killer cell-mediated lysis of herpes simplex virus type 1-infected fibroblasts.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)-infected human fibroblast (HSV-FS) targets are susceptible to lysis by natural killer (NK) cells, whereas uninfected FS are resistant to lysis. Studies were undertaken to determine the mechanism of this preferential susceptibility. HSV-FS were not intrinsically less stable than FS, as determined by a 51Cr release assay under hypotonic shock in the presence of rat granule cytolysin and by sensitivity to anti-human leukocyte antigen class I antibody plus complement. Single-cell assays in agarose demonstrated that although similar numbers of large granular lymphocytes bound to the HSV-FS and FS targets, the conjugates with HSV-FS were lysed at a much higher frequency than those with FS. These results suggested that both targets are bound by the NK cells but only the HSV-FS were able to trigger lysis. The requirement for active virus expression was demonstrated by failure of emetine-treated HSV-FS targets or targets infected with UV-inactivated HSV to be lysed by NK effectors. To evaluate the role of viral glycoproteins in conferring susceptibility to lysis, Fab were prepared from HSV-1-seropositive sera; these Fab were unable to block lysis of the HSV-FS. Furthermore, incubation in phosphonoacetic acid failed to reduce NK(HSV-FS) activity despite sharp reductions in viral glycoprotein synthesis. Finally, targets infected with tsLB2 at the nonpermissive temperature were lysed as well as or better than targets infected with wild-type virus, indicating that HSV immediate-early gene product expression is sufficient for conferring susceptibility to lysis. We conclude that expression of nonstructural viral proteins or virally induced cellular gene products early in the course of infection rather than structural glycoproteins is required for NK lysis of HSV-FS targets.

Animals↗