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Biomedical subjects

Y Tokiwa

Publications and source records attributed to Y Tokiwa.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Improved technique for identification and enumeration of methanogenic bacterial colonies on roll tubes by epifluorescence microscopy.

Methanogenic fluorescent colonies can be clearly identified on roll tubes by using an epifluorescence microscope equipped with a x 2 objective. Methanogenic and nonmethanogenic colonies could be counted in roll tubes prepared from methanogenic enrichment cultures. Late-developing colonies appearing after 25 days of incubation were mainly methanogenic.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Dynemicins O, P and Q: novel antibiotics related to dynemicin A isolation, characterization and biological activity.

New antibiotics, dynemicins O (3), P (4) and Q (5), were isolated from the culture broth of Micromonospora chersina M956-1, the dynemicin A (1)-producing strain. An ethyl acetate extract of a tank culture was roughly separated by a column of Diaion SP-800 and was further purified by combining a variety of column chromatographies to afford a few mg of compounds 3, 4 and 5. Their structures, analyzed from the spectral data, had a bridging phenylene group, a vic-diol and an oxo group in place of the respective 1,5-diyn-3-ene bridge, the epoxide ring and the carboxyl group in dynemicin A. Their biological activities were evaluated against bacteria and tumor cells.

Alkenes↗
PubMed1987

[Cytologic studies of cervical adenocarcinoma].

Seventy three cases of cervical adenocarcinoma, classified histologically according to WHO classification, were cytodiagnostic examined for cellular arrangement, cellular shape, nuclear shape, chromatin pattern and appearance rate of nucleolus. In adenosquamous carcinoma, the observed cancer cells were classified further into five categories and the incidence of each type was clarified. The authors obtained the following conclusions. The cytological findings in cellular arrangement, cellular shape, chromatin pattern and nucleolus findings were closely related with the degree of differentiation of endocervical type adenocarcinoma. Since no substantial cytodiagnostic differences were seen between endometrioid adenocarcinoma and endocervical type adenocarcinoma, it appears to be difficult to differentiate between them. Clear cell adenocarcinoma is characterized by sheet-like cell arrangement, polycrystal cell shape, round nuclei, finely granular chromatin pattern and appearance of macronucleolus. Among them the occurrence of macronucleolus was clearly observed and appeared of high value in making a diagnosis. Adenosquamous carcinoma, showing no characteristic finding in cytology, is proved to have morphological diversity. Careful observation of the intermediate type cancer cells is necessary to presume the histology of adenosquamous carcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1985

Studies on the ontogenesis and the regulatory mechanisms of placental lactogen and insulin binding sites (receptor) in rat liver.

The ontogenesis of specific binding of 125I-hPL and 125I-insulin was determined in rat liver cell membranes (10(5) X g pellets), and the regulatory mechanisms of these binding sites were also examined. There were striking differences in the mode of ontogenesis between binding sites of hPL and insulin in rats. HPL binding sites were very few in liver cell membranes from fetal and immature rats. They began to increase after puberty, and markedly increased in late pregnancy. On the other hand, insulin binding sites, which decreased in late pregnancy, were dominant in fetal liver and placenta. Consequently, the lipolytic and glycogenolytic activities of hPL in maternal liver were accentuated, whereas the effects of insulin on maternal liver were suppressed. In contrast, in fetal liver and placenta only the anabolic effects of insulin seemed conspicuous. According to the results of experiments on in vivo administration of estradiol-17 beta, progesterone, hydrocortisone or hPL to intact or hypox-rats, and the measurement of serum rat chorionic mammotropin (rCM), rPRL, estradiol-17 beta, and insulin during pregnancy in rats, the increase in hepatic hPL binding sites observed in late pregnancy might be, at least in part, due to rCM secreted from placenta, and the decrease in insulin binding sites due to the increase in serum insulin itself in rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1985

[Insulin receptors in fat tissue of human and rat during pregnancy].

Insulin receptors in fat cell membranes (10(5)g pellets) were investigated by a conventional incubation method in pregnant and nonpregnant rats or women. Insulin binding in pregnant L20 rats was 8.1 +/- 2.1% (M +/- SD) less than that in nonpregnant rats (14.5 +/- 3.5%) in peripheral adipose tissues (p less than 0.05). In the former a reciprocal rise in the serum insulin level was observed. In pregnant women, insulin binding was determined in subcutaneous fat tissues obtained at cesarean section or other laparotomy. Insulin binding was 29.3 +/- 8.9% in nonpregnant women, and it did not change in early pregnancy (34.3 +/- 6.2%, NS). However, it decreased obviously in late pregnancy (20.4 +/- 6.4%) (p less than 0.05). Scatchard analysis indicated that the decrease in insulin binding was due to the changes in the number of insulin receptors in fat cell membranes. Their Kd values were indistinguishable from each other in rats and women. In addition, insulin binding correlated significantly with Insulin Sum, Glucose Sum at 75g OGTT, TG and FFA in serum. These results suggested that insulin receptors in adipose tissues were suppressed in late pregnancy, and this might be the cause of the "insulin resistance" observed in the maternal body in late pregnancy.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1985

[Insulin receptors in pregnant nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice].

The dynamics of insulin receptors was investigated in the feto-placenta-maternal system of DM-onset pregnant nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. Insulin binding experiments were carried out by conventional incubation methods using cell membrane fractions (10(5) X g pellets). The results were as follows. In the case of JCL-ICR mice, used as the control, insulin specific binding in liver cell membranes, which was 26.6 +/- 3.2% in the nonpregnant state, decreased in late pregnancy (20.7 +/- 2.7%). On the other hand, in pregnant NOD mice hepatic insulin binding was 24.3 +/- 1.0%, more than that of JCL-ICR pregnant mice. By Scatchard analyses, these changes were found to be due to the changes in the number of receptors especially in high affinity sites. The serum insulin level was 6.3 +/- 4.2 microU/ml in pregnant NOD mice, which was much lower than that in other mice (nonpregnant JCL-ICR: 14.8 +/- 6.4, pregnant JCL-ICR: 37.3 +/- 18.3). In fetal liver and carcasses of NOD fetuses, insulin binding was also much greater than that in JCL-ICR fetuses. In conclusion, the hormone sensitivity to insulin was accentuated in pregnant DM-onset NOD mice not only in the maternal body but also in the fetus. This is regarded as a metabolic adaptation to the environment in the insulin deficient state of these mice. And it is speculated that insulin receptors are also down-regulated in fetal liver as well as in adult mice.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Degradation of the rubber in truck tires by a strain of Nocardia.

A strip of tread compound cut from a truck tire was degraded only slightly when it was used as the sole growth substrate for a strain of Nocardia. On the contrary, its degradation was markedly enhanced by addition of a strip cut from a latex glove which the organism readily utilized as a growth substrate. When a glove strip was added, the biomass concentration in the experimental flask became more than 10-fold higher than the control without a glove strip and the colonization of the tire strip was significantly enhanced. After 8 weeks' cultivation, about 28% of the tire strip was disintegrated into very small black particles (mostly less than 30 microns in diameter) and the weight of the remaining unchanged portion of the strip was about 49% of the initial weight. Four kinds of truck tire treads were attacked in differing degrees by the organism under the same conditions. The treads containing more than 70 phr (parts per hundred of rubber) of natural rubber were considerably attacked, while those with a natural rubber content of less than 55 phr were attacked only slightly. The microbial activity against the rubber in the side wall of a truck tire was relatively high, but the inner liner was hardly attacked and the bead rubber not at all.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Photosynthetic accumulation of poly-(hydroxybutyrate) by cyanobacteria--the metabolism and potential for CO2 recycling.

Regulatory mechanism in PHB [poly-(hydroxybutyrate)] accumulation by cyanobacteria, especially by a thermophilic isolate, Synechococcus MA19 was reviewed in comparison with a genetically engineered strain. The strain, MA19 accumulates PHB under nitrogen starved and photoautotrophic conditions (MA19-N). Little PHB synthase activity was detected in crude extracts from the cells grown in nitrogen sufficient conditions (MA19 + N). The activity was detected exclusively in membrane fractions from MA19 + N. The change of the enzyme activity was insensitive to chloramphenicol, which suggests post-translational activation. In vitro, acetyl phosphate activated PHB synthase in membrane fractions from MA19 + N, and the extent of activation depended on the concentration of acetyl phosphate. Phosphotransacetylase which catalyzes the conversion of acetyl-CoA to acetyl phosphate was detected in crude extracts from MA19-N but not in those from MA19 + N. These results suggested that intracellular acetyl phosphate concentration could be controlled, depending on C-N balance and intracellular acetyl-CoA concentration. On the contrary, in genetically-engineered cyanobacterium (transformant with PHB synthesizing genes from Ralstonia eutropha), it did not seem to be PHB synthase but acetyl-CoA flux that limits PHB synthesis. The closer association of PHB granules with thylakoid membranes in MA19 is suggested than that in the genetically-engineered cyanobacterium, which may reflect the difference of distribution of PHB synthase. Transposon-mutagenesis was used to acquire mutants of its altered PHB regulatory mechanism. PHA production by cyanobacteria was considered from the aspects of photobioreactors.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Failure of low molecular weight dextran to prevent clotting during continuous renal replacement therapy.

Clotting of the extracorporeal circuit during continuous renal replacement therapy results in decreased ultrafiltration rates, impaired solute clearance and, ultimately, occlusion of the extracorporeal circuit. The authors conducted an open-label randomized controlled trial to determine whether low molecular weight dextran could prevent hemofilter clotting in patients undergoing continuous venovenous hemodialysis. Eleven patients were randomized to receive a continuous infusion of 10% low molecular weight dextran at 25 mL/hr; 8 patients served as control subjects. No differences in the frequency of hemofilter clotting or hemofilter lifespan were detected. The authors concluded that continuous infusion of low dose low molecular weight dextran is not effective in preventing clotting during continuous renal replacement therapy.

Adult↗