• Title/Summary/Keyword: Biophysics

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Comparison of Somatostatin and Morphine Action on the Responses of Wide Dynamic Range Cells in the Dorsal Horn to Peripheral Noxious Mechanical and Heat Stimulation in Cats

  • Jung, Sung-Jun;Choi, Young-In;Kim, Jun
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.155-163
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    • 1998
  • The purpose of present study was to compare the effects of somatostatin (SOM) and morphine (Mor) on the responses of wide dynamic range (WDR) cells to peripheral noxious stimulation. Single neuronal activity was recorded with a carbon-filament electrode at the lumbosacral enlargement of cat spinal cord. After identifying WDR cells, their responses to peripheral noxious mechanical or thermal stimuli were characterized and the effects of SOM and Mor, applied either iontophoretically or intrathecally, were studied. In most cells SOM and Mor suppressed noxious stimulus-evoked WDR neuronal activity, though a few WDR neurons showed no change or were excited by SOM and Mor. Systemically applied naloxone, a non-specific opioid antagonist, always reversed the Mor induced suppression of neuronal activity evoked by noxious mechanical stimuli, but did not always reverse the suppression of neuronal activity elicited by SOM. The suppressive effect of Mor on thermal stimulus-evoked neuronal activity was partially reversed by naloxone, while that of SOM were not reversed at all. The above results suggest that both Mor and SOM exert an inhibitory effect on thermal and mechanical stimulus-evoked WDR neuronal activity in cat spinal dorsal horn, but the mechanisms are dependent upon the functional populations of dorsal horn nociceptive neurons.

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Lead Effects among Secondary Lead Smelter Workers with Blood Lead Levels below $80{\mu}g/100\;ml$

  • Lilis Ruth;Fischbein Alf;Diamond Sidney;Anderson Henry A.;Selikoff Irving J.;Blumberg William E.;Eisinger Josef
    • 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 1994.02a
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    • pp.549-559
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    • 1994
  • A subgroup or workers from a secondary lead smelter was defined to include those with blood lead levels not exceeding $80{\mu}g/100\;ml$ and with no pest history of elevated blood lead. Central nervous system symptoms (tiredness, sleeplessness, irritability, headache) were reported by 55% of the group and muscle and joint pain by 39%. Zinc proteporphyrin (ZPP) levels were elevated in 71% or cases. Low hemoglobin levels (less than 14 gm/l00 ml) were round in more than a third of the workers. While BUN and creatinine were mostly in the normal range, there - nevertheless n correlation between ZPP and both BUN and creatinine. Reduced nerve-conduction velocities were present in 25% or the group; this was not significantly different from findings in Ii control group. The data indicate that n blood level of $80{\mu}g/100\;ml$ is an inappropriate biological guide in the prevention or lead disease.

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Biotechnological Approaches in Sericultural Science and Technology of Uzbekistan

  • Madyarov Shukhrat R.
    • International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.13-19
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    • 2005
  • Biotechnological researches in Central Asian Research Institute of Sericulture were developed since 1981 when laboratory of artificial diets for mulberry silk­worm was created. The researches were directed not only to creation of accessible artificial diets (AD) for off-season mass rearing of economical beneficial insect and for industrialization of sericulture but also to obtaining of easy reproducible source of animal proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, enzymes, enzymes inhibitors and other metabolites - bioresource for manufacture of oriental medicine preparations. Space experiments with silkworms became possible with use of AD. These experiments used mulberry silkworm as high effective board test organism with outstanding developmental, reproductive and transgenic properties having impor­tant significance in future of cosmonautics. Introduction to practice of bioprotective and ecologically pure method of drying and sterilizing of green cocoons and by-products of silk manufacture allows to increase efficiency of cocoons reeling technology as well as to preserve nativity of biological active substances in mulberry silkworm pupae that is unachievable by traditional methods of raw material processing. New spheres of application of two important silk proteins - fibroin and sericin in medicine, cosmetics, for bio- and nanotechnology are opening with use of biotechnological approaches. At present the achievements and experience of R & D in these fields are used in creation of modern pests biocontrol agents. Schemes of efficient processing of cocoon raw material, by-products and wastes of sericulture and cocoon processing are devel- Institute of Physiology and Biophysics, Uzbek Academy of Sciences, I, Niyazov street, 700095, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. oped for obtaining of traditional and new consumer products.

Screening from the Genome Databases: Novel Epoxide Hydrolase from Caulobacter crescentus

  • HWANG SEUNGHA;HYUN HYEJIN;LEE BYOUNGJU;PARK YOUNGSEUB;CHOI CHAYONG;HAN JIN;JOO HYUN
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.32-36
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    • 2006
  • The genome sequences from several microbes have led to the discovery of numerous open reading frames of unknown functionality. The putative bacterial epoxide hydrolase (EH) genes selected from the genome databases were examined for their activities toward various epoxides. Among the nine open reading frames (ORFs) from four microbial species, the ORF from Caulobacter crescentus showed an epoxide hydrolase activity. The kinetic resolution, using C. crescentus EH (CCEH) of the aryl epoxides such as styrene oxide, could be performed more efficiently than short aliphatic epoxides. The resolution of racemic indene oxide, which could previously be resolved only by fungal epoxide hydrolases, was effectively accomplished by CCEH.

The Characterization of the Increase of Membrane Conductance after Depolarization in Single Rat Adrenal Chromaffin Cells

  • Lim, Won-Il;Kim, Sang-Jeong;Kim, Jun
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.95-100
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    • 1998
  • The conductance change evoked by step depolarization was studied in primarily cultured rat adrenal chromaffin cells using patch-clamp and capacitance measurement techniques. When we applied a depolarizing pulse to a chromaffin cell, the inward calcium current was followed by an outward current and depolarization-induced exocytosis was accompanied by an increase in conductance trace. The slow inward tail current which has the same time course as the conductance change was observed in current recording. The activation of slow tail current was calcium-dependent. Reversal potentials agreed with Nernst equation assuming relative permeability of $Cs^+\;to\;K^+$ is 0.095. The outward current and tail current were blocked by apamin (200 nM) and d-tubocurarine (2 mM). The conductance change was blocked by apamin and did not affect membrane capacitance recording. We confirmed that conductance change after depolarization comes from the activation of the SK channel and can be blocked by application of the SK channel blockers. Consequently, it is necessary to consider blocking of the SK channel during membrane capacitance recording.

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Mainchain NMR Assignments and secondary structure prediction of the C-terminal domain of BldD, a developmental transcriptional regulator from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

  • Kim, Jeong-Mok;Won, Hyung-Sik;Kang, Sa-Ouk
    • Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.59-66
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    • 2013
  • BldD, a developmental transcription factor from Streptomyces coelicolor, is a homodimeric, DNA-binding protein with 167 amino acids in each subunit. Each monomer consists of two structurally distinct domains, the N-terminal domain (BldD-NTD) responsible for DNA-binding and dimerization and the C-terminal domain (BldD-CTD). In contrast to the BldD-NTD, of which crystal structure has been solved, the BldD-CTD has been characterized neither in structure nor in function. Thus, in terms of structural genomics, structural study of the BldD-CTD has been conducted in solution, and in the present work, mainchain NMR assignments of the recombinant BldD-CTD (residues 80-167 of BldD) could be achieved by a series of heteronuclear multidimensional NMR experiments on a [$^{13}C/^{15}N$]-enriched protein sample. Finally, the secondary structure prediction by CSI and TALOS+ analysis using the assigned chemical shifts data identified a ${\beta}-{\alpha}-{\alpha}-{\beta}-{\alpha}-{\alpha}-{\alpha}$ topology of the domain. The results will provide the most fundamental data for more detailed approach to the atomic structure of the BldD-CTD, which would be essential for entire understanding of the molecular function of BldD.

The Excitatory Mechanism of Substance P in the Antral Circular Muscle of Guinea Pig Stomach

  • Jun, Jae-Yeoul;Kim, Sung-Joon;Choi, Youn-Baik;Kim, Ki-Whan
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology
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    • v.28 no.1
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    • pp.51-59
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    • 1994
  • This study was carried out to elucidate the excitatory mechanisms of Substance P in the antral circular muscle, using isometric contraction recording, conventional microelectrode method and whole-cell patch clamp technique. Substance P produced tonic and phasic contractions in a dose-dependent manner and depolarized membrane potential with increased amplitude of slow waves in muscle strips. Voltage-dependent $Ca^{2+}$ currents were increased by the application of Substance P from a holding potential of -60mV to 50mV in 10mV steps and this effect was blocked by the addition of an antagonist. Also Substance P increased transient and spontaneous oscillatory $K^+$ outward currents. The enhanced outward currents were abolished by apamin in dispersed single cells. These results suggest that the depolarization of membrane potential by Substance P activates voltage-dependent $Ca^{2+}$ channels, which represents an excitatory response in the antral circular muscle and led to an increase in $Ca^{2+}\;activated\;K^+\;currents$.

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Characterization and Release Behavior of Polymersomes of PEG-Poly(fumaric-sebacic acids)-PEG Triblock Copolymer in Aqueous Solution (PEG-Poly(fumaric-sebacic acids)-PEG 삼중 블록 공중합체로 수용액에서 만들어진 폴리머솜의 분석과 방출특성)

  • Pourhosseini, Pouneh S.;Saboury, Ali A.;Najafi, Farhood;Divsalar, Adeleh;Sarbolouki, Mohammad N.
    • Polymer(Korea)
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    • v.37 no.3
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    • pp.294-301
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    • 2013
  • Polymersomes made of biodegradable triblock copolymers based on poly(fumaric acid-co-sebacoyl chloride)/PEG (PEG-co-P(FA/SC)-co-PEG) were prepared and studied in aqueous solutions. TEM confirmed the formation of vesicles in aqueous media. Aggregation behavior of the copolymers was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy of 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid, and the critical aggregation concentration (c.a.c.) of the copolymer was found to be ${\sim}26.2{\mu}M$ indicating desirable stability of the vesicles. Dynamic light scattering revealed that the size of the vesicles was distributed within the range of 170-270 nm. Turbidity measurements confirmed the relative short-term stability of the polymersomes. Carboxyfluorescein, a hydrophilic compound, was simply encapsulated in the vesicles during polymersome preparation. The release of encapsulant from the polymersomes at 25 and $37^{\circ}C$ lasted about 3 weeks, and the rate of release followed a first-order kinetics. The release is speculated to be primarily carried out through diffusion. These results confirm that these polymersomes are promising as controlled-release carriers of various drugs.

Induction of Megakaryocytic Differentiation in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Cell K562 by 3-Hydrogenkwadaphnin

  • Meshkini, Azadeh;Yazdanparast, Razieh
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.40 no.6
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    • pp.944-951
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    • 2007
  • 3-Hydrogenkwadaphnin (3-HK) is a daphnane-type diterpene ester isolated from Dendrostellera lessertii (Thymelaeaceae) with high differentiation and apoptotic potency in leukemic cells without any measurable adverse effects on normal cells (Moosavi et al., 2005b). In this study, we report that 3-HK (12 nM) has the ability to cease proliferation, induce differentiation and apoptosis in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) K562 cell line. The treated cells lost erythroid properties and differentiated along the megakaryocytic lineage based on the morphological features apparent after Wright-Giemsa staining, DNA content analysis and the expression of cell surface marker glycoprotein IIb as analyzed by flow cytometry. Moreover, using Hoechst 33258 and Annexin V double staining indicated the occurrence of apoptosis among the treated cells. On the other hand, restoration of the depleted GTP pool size by exogenous addition of guanosine ($50{\mu}M$) reduced the effect of the drug regarding the extent of differentiation while no further enhancement of 3-HK effect was obtained by addition of exogenous hypoxanthine ($100{\mu}M$). These interesting results necessitate further investigation regarding the mechanism of action of this unique anti-leukemic agent.

Interaction of Native and Apo-carbonic Anhydrase with Hydrophobic Adsorbents: A Comparative Structure-function Study

  • Salemi, Zahra;Hosseinkhani, Saman;Ranjbar, Bijan;Nemat-Gorgani, Mohsen
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.39 no.5
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    • pp.636-641
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    • 2006
  • Our previous studies indicated that native carbonic anhydrase does not interact with hydrophobic adsorbents and that it acquires this ability upon denaturation. In the present study, an apo form of the enzyme was prepared by removal of zinc and a comparative study was performed on some characteristic features of the apo and native forms by far- and near-UV circular dichroism (CD), intrinsic fluorescent spectroscopy, 1-anilino naphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS) binding, fluorescence quenching by acrylamide, and Tm measurement. Results indicate that protein flexibility is enhanced and the hydrophobic sites become more exposed upon conversion to the apo form. Accordingly, the apo structure showed a greater affinity for interaction with hydrophobic adsorbents as compared with the native structure. As observed for the native enzyme, heat denaturation of the apo form promoted interaction with alkyl residues present on the adsorbents and, by cooling followed by addition of zinc, catalytically-active immobilized preparations were obtained.