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Biomedical subjects

T Azuma

Publications and source records attributed to T Azuma.

At least 379 records · Page 21Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

A small hypervariable segment in the variable domain of an immunoglobulin light chain stimulates formation of anti-idiotypic suppressor T cells.

The induction in BALB/c mice of suppressor T cells that block a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to the idiotype of M315, a myeloma protein of BALB/c origin, was examined with a variety of immunoglobulin chains and fragments whose amino acid sequences are known. Normal BALB/c mice receiving either the light chain of M315 (L315, lambda 2 isotype) or the variable (V) domain of this chain prior to sensitization with M315 showed marked suppression of DTH to the M315 idiotype. In contrast, neither the heavy chain nor the variable domain of the heavy chain of M315 affected the DTH response. Two other lambda 2 chains were tested and they also failed to suppress DTH to M315. Comparison of amino acid sequences in the three lambda 2 chains indicates that in L315 at most four V region amino acid substitutions (each resulting from a somatic mutation in the V lambda 2 germ-line gene) determine the specificity of the T-cell suppressor pathway. One of the four is in the framework and probably of negligible importance; the other three, however, are all clustered in the third hypervariable loop of the L315 V domain. The tertiary structure of L315 may also be essential, because disruption of intrachain disulfide bonds abolished the ability of the chain to induce suppression.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1982

Numerical analysis of blood flow in the vertebral artery.

Abnormal hemodynamic forces associated with distortions of blood vessel lumen have been thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of focal vascular lesions. In the vertebral artery, segments located between osseous rings are ectatic compared with those surrounded by the rings. Based on the assumption that arterial blood flow was quasi-steady, this work was undertaken to investigate the structure of flow through arterial models with one or two sinusoidal stenoses. Numerical analysis was performed by an integral-momentum method. The validity of the method was examined by comparison of experimental data so far reported with theoretical results. Velocity and wall shear stress distributions were explored in a model with two stenoses simulating a part of the vertebral artery. The ectatic segments of the vertebral artery have been known as predilection sites for atherosclerotic lesions. The present study suggested that the ectatic wall was under unstable shear stresses, the direction of which was dependent upon the magnitude of the Reynolds number.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMed1982

Contraction of arterial smooth muscle induced by magnesium ions.

Dose-response relationships for Mg2+ in a Mg2+-free bathing solution were obtained with isolated canine femoral arteries. At concentrations less than 5 mM, relaxant responses appeared in the preparations. In a concentration range of 10-20 mM, however, every one of the preparations invariably showed dose-dependent contractions. The relaxant and contractile responses were induced by the action of Mg2+ per se but not by the hyperosmolarity associated with the addition of Mg2+. Neither response was affected by the drugs that inhibited the actions of catecholamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, or histamine. The contractile response was kept unchanged in Ca2+-free Locke's solution and was almost independent of environmental calcium concentrations ranging from 2.2 to 8.2 mM. The contractile response was not affected under the influence of Ca antagonists, verapamil, or Mn2+. The presence of Ba2+ or Sr2+ enhanced the relaxant response and dose dependently suppressed the contractile response. The contractile response was still evoked in smooth muscles that were in the state of K+ contracture. These results suggest the possibility that the contractile action of Mg2+ was mediated by a release of intracellular Ca2+ or exerted directly on the contractile machinery of arterial smooth muscle.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

The horseshoe vortex: a secondary flow generated in arteries with stenosis, bifurcation, and branchings.

In order to elucidate the fluid dynamic feature of arterial blood flow, the present flow visualization study was carried out with various transparent blood vessel models having a protuberance, a bifurcation, or branchings. The observed flow patterns could be understood in terms of occurrence of a secondary flow, named the horseshoe vortex. The mode of generation of the horseshoe vortex in a tube with a protuberance projecting into the boundary layer was explained as follows. A radial pressure gradient toward the tube wall was produced along the upstream surface of the protuberance because of the interaction between the viscous sheared flow and the wall. This pressure gradient made fluid particles turn round downward directly before the obstacle. Then they curled round on themselves and formed a bound vortex tube, the horseshoe vortex, which in turn passed round the front of the protuberance in both directions. In a tube with a Y-shaped bifurcation or rectangular side branch, the flow divider at the branching site acted in place of the protuberance to produce a vortex tube similar in pattern to the horseshoe vortex. The vortex tube extended from the high pressure region, i. e. the apex of the flow divider, to the low pressure region, i. e. the lateral margin of the branch orifice, and generated swirling secondary flows in the main and branched tubes. These results suggested that the following mechanical factors might initiate or facilitate athero- and thrombogenesis: collision of blood cells captured by the horseshoe vortex with blood vessel walls, the interaction of the walls and blood cells due to turbulence, and the occurrence of localized high wall shear stresses.

Aorta, Abdominal↗
PubMed1981

Conduction velocity of peristaltic waves in the in vivo ureter: application of a new diameter gauge.

The conduction velocity of peristaltic movements of the canine ureter was measured under anaesthesia with a new type of diameter gauge using an image sensor. The peristaltic velocity was 34.1 +/- 6.2 mm/sec in 10 experiments. Noradrenaline at a low dosage of 1 microgram/kg i.v. reduced the resting diameter, increased the conduction velocity to 47--56 mm/sec, and approximately doubled the frequency of contraction. The application of acetylcholine also caused an increase in both frequency and conduction velocity (42--46 mm/sec). A plot of the conduction velocity against the mean period of peristaltic contraction was hyperbolic in shape.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1981

Identification of a third type of lambda light chain in mouse immunoglobulins.

A third type of mouse lambda chain was identified in the course of examining light chains from four myeloma proteins and two monoclonal antibodies. On the basis of their antigenic properties and a characteristic COOH-terminal tryptic peptide, the light chains from these immunoglobulins had previously been provisionally identified as lambda 2 chains. However, four of these chains, designated now as lambda 3 (or lambda III), were found to share constant region features that clearly distinguish them from the other types of mouse lambda chains (lambda 1 and lambda 2). The amino acid sequence of more than 90% of the lambda 3 constant region (from position 120 to the COOH-terminus) was determined. In this region the lambda 3 sequence differs from the lambda 2 constant region at 5 positions and from the lambda 1 constant region at about 30 positions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1981

Androgenic action of glucocorticoids on the granular ducts of mouse submandibular glands.

The administration of cortisol acetate and dexamethasone to castrated-adrenalectomized mice increased the submandibular gland weight, the granular duct cell size of the gland and the number of androgen-dependent granules detected with the staining for tryptophan in the duct cell. These changes were not as pronounced as when testosterone propionate was given. Similar effects on the duct cells and an increase in androgen-dependent esteroprotease activity of the submandibular glands were observed in castrated mice, but not in mice with testicular feminization which are genetically deficient in androgen receptors. These results suggest that glucocorticoids exert a certain degree of androgenic action on the granular duct cell through androgen receptors when androgens are absent or deficient.

Adrenalectomy↗