Low-pressure microwave-induced helium plasma emission spectrometry: Vaporization characteristics of metal chlorides,nitrates, and sulfates

A low-pressure microwave-induced helium plasma serves as an excitation source for metal chlorides, nitrates, and sulfates vaporized from a filament, resulting in fractional vaporization and differential sensitivities of detection of the elements depending on the vapor pressures of their salts. The shapes of the single emission peaks, which are simple in the presence of potassium chloride, become complex and may double in number.     

Cancer Cell Analyses at the Single Cell-Level Using Electroactive Microwell Array Device

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), shed from primary tumors and disseminated into peripheral blood, are playing a major role in metastasis. Even after isolation of CTCs from blood, the target cells are mixed with a population of other cell types. Here, we propose a new method for analyses of cell mixture at the single-cell level using a microfluidic device that contains arrayed electroactive microwells. Dielectrophoretic (DEP) force, induced by the electrodes patterned on the bottom surface of the microwells, allows efficient trapping and stable positioning of single cells for high-throughput biochemical analyses. We demonstrated that various on-chip analyses including immunostaining, viability/apoptosis assay and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) at the single-cell level could be conducted just by applying specific reagents for each assay. Our simple method should greatly help discrimination and analysis of rare cancer cells among a population of blood cells.     

Use of an activated carbon column for the synthesis of disaccharides by use of a reversed hydrolysis activity of β-galactosidase

Summary An activated carbon column was utilized for the synthesis of disaccharides by use of a reversed hydrolysis activity of an immobilized -galactosidase column in order to shift the equilibrium to the direction of condensation. The yields of lactulose and allo-lactulose from galactose and fructose, and N-acetyl lactosamine and N-acetyl allolactosamine from galactose and N-acetyl glucosamine, were 11.3% and 10.0%, respectively.     

Development of the bovine ileal mucosa

The development of the bovine ileal mucosa was studied with particular reference to maturation during the fetal and neonatal period. In this region, by 4-5 months of fetal development, vacuolation of the epithelial cells had occurred on the villi, and the goblet and absorptive cells in the crypts were present. By 6-9 months, the villi were longer and more numerous than in the previous stages. At the same time, the vacuolated cells could be seen predominantly on the upper half of each villus. The absorptive cells and goblet cells were more distinct in the crypt and lower half of each villus. Moreover, the goblet cells showed differences in mucin, while in the submucosa the lymphoid follicles were seen to have enlarged to become a prominent feature of the Peyer's patches at this stage. At birth, in suckled animals, the ileal cells on the lower area of each villus and in the crypt appeared more like mature cells. In contrast, there were numerous inclusion bodies in epithelial cells on the upper half of each villus. They appeared in the apical portion of the cytoplasm as vacuoles with stainable or dense contents. By 1 week, however, epithelial cells no longer contained inclusion bodies, and absorptive and goblet cell populations had begun to emerge from the crypts. These histological results suggest that the bovine ileal mucosa has two distinct turning points during its development in the fetus and the neonate. Initially all the mucosal structures are present in fetuses at 6-7 months of gestation, and then the vacuolated cells covering the ileal villi are replaced by mature, nonpinocytosing epithelium which emerges from the crypts on or before the 7th day after birth (ileal closure).     

Hydrophobicity of Fusobacterium necrophorum biovars A and B

Abstract Biovar A strains of Fusobacterium necrophorum exhibited high hydrophobicity when examined by the method of Rosenberg et al. Biovar B strains showed a lower cell surface hydrophobicity than biovar A strains. Biovar B strains were divided into 2 groups according to their hydrophobic activity. The strains of biovar A and the first group of biovar B were increasingly removed from aqueous phase to octane phase by increasing the volume of octane, but the turbidity of the second group of biovar B was not significantly affected. The hydrophobicity of biovar A strains decreased on heating at 60 and 100°C for 30 min.     

Surface Charge Density Estimation of Vigna mungo Protoplasts Using a Fluorescent Dye, 9-Aminoacridine

We showed that the surface charge density of protoplasts canbe estimated by the 9-aminoacridine method. The estimated surfacecharge density of the protoplasts isolated from elongating regionsof Vigna mungo root was – 39 ? 8 mC/m². The negative surfacecharge density increased when protoplasts were treated withglutaraldehyde or when EDTA was added to the protoplast suspensionmedium. These results support the validity of our estimationof the surface charge density of protoplasts by the 9-aminoacridinemethod. The concentration of amino groups at the surface ofthe protoplasts was estimated to be 34 mC/m². (Received June 19, 1987; Accepted April 11, 1988)     

Amino acid sequence of the calcium-binding light chain of myosin from the lower eukaryote, Physarum polycephalum

We have established a new method for preparing Physarum myosin whose actin-activated ATPase activity is inhibited by micromolar levels of Ca2+. This Ca2+-inhibition is mediated by the Ca2+ binding to the myosin rather than by the Ca2+-dependent modification of the phosphorylated state of the myosin (Kohama, K., and Kendrick-Jones, J. (1986) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 99, 1433-1446). Ca2+-binding light chain (CaLC) has been suggested to be primary importance in this Ca2+ inhibition (Kohama, K., Takano-Ohmuro, H., Tanaka, T., Yamaguchi, T., and Kohama, T. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 8022-8027). The amino acid sequence of CaLC was determined; it was composed of 147 amino acid residues and the N terminus was acetylated. The molecular weight was calculated to be 16,131. The homology of CaLC in the amino acid sequence with 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) light chain and alkali light chain of skeletal muscle myosin were rather low, i.e., 25% and 30%, respectively. Interestingly, however, the CaLC sequence was 40% homologous with brain calmodulin. This amino acid sequence was confirmed by sequencing the cloned phage DNA accommodating cDNA coding CaLC. Northern and Southern blot analysis indicated that 0.8-kilobase pair mRNA was transcribed from a single CaLC gene. This is the first report on the amino acid sequence of myosin light chain of lower eukaryotes and nucleotide sequence of its mRNA.