Adsorption characteristics of bovine serum albumin onto alumina with a specific crystalline structure

Bone cement containing alumina particles with a specific crystalline structure exhibits the ability to bond with bone. These particles (AL-P) are mainly composed of delta-type alumina (δ-Al2O3). It is likely that some of the proteins present in the body environment are adsorbed onto the cement and influence the expression of its bioactivity. However, the effect that this adsorption of proteins has on the bone-bonding mechanism of bone cement has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) onto AL-P and compared them with those of its adsorption onto hydroxyapatite (HA), which also exhibits bone-bonding ability, as well as with those of adsorption onto alpha-type alumina (α-Al2O3), which does not bond with bone. The adsorption characteristics of BSA onto AL-P were very different from those onto α-Al2O3 but quite similar to those onto HA. It is speculated that BSA is adsorbed onto AL-P and HA by interionic interactions, while it is adsorbed onto α-Al2O3 by electrostatic attraction. The results suggest that the specific adsorption of albumin onto implant materials might play a role in the expression of the bone-bonding abilities of the materials

Flexible and dynamic nucleosome fiber in living mammalian cells

© Landes Bioscience, 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nucleus 4 (2013): 349-356, doi:10.4161/nucl.26053.Genomic DNA is organized three dimensionally within cells as chromatin and is searched and read by various proteins by an unknown mechanism; this mediates diverse cell functions. Recently, several pieces of evidence, including our cryomicroscopy and synchrotron X-ray scattering analyses, have demonstrated that chromatin consists of irregularly folded nucleosome fibers without a 30-nm chromatin fiber (i.e., a polymer melt-like structure). This melt-like structure implies a less physically constrained and locally more dynamic state, which may be crucial for protein factors to scan genomic DNA. Using a combined approach of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, Monte Carlo computer simulations, and single nucleosome imaging, we demonstrated the flexible and dynamic nature of the nucleosome fiber in living mammalian cells. We observed local nucleosome fluctuation (~50 nm movement per 30 ms) caused by Brownian motion. Our in vivo-in silico results suggest that local nucleosome dynamics facilitate chromatin accessibility and play a critical role in the scanning of genome information.This work was supported by a grant-in-aid for a MEXT grant, JST CREST, Yamada Science Foundation and Takeda Science Foundation. Nozaki T and Hihara A are JSPS fellows

Leiomyosarcoma of the sigmoid colon with multiple liver metastases and gastric cancer: a case report

BACKGROUND: Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) of the gastrointestinal tract is an extremely rare high-grade neoplasm with poor prognosis. For advanced LMS with distant metastasis, the decision as to the choice of the most appropriate therapeutic strategy, including chemotherapy and surgery, is difficult. Here, we present an unusual case of LMS of the sigmoid colon with liver metastases and gastric cancer. The survival of this patient was prolonged by a combined modality therapy involving chemotherapy and surgery. CASE PRESENTATION: A 66-year-old woman who had been diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer and multiple liver metastases was referred to our hospital. The initial treatment with docetaxel and S-1 considerably reduced both the gastric cancer and liver tumors; consequently we performed surgical resection. Pathological examination revealed that no viable tumor cells remained in the stomach and chemotherapy resulted in complete remission of the gastric cancer. The liver tumors were immunohistochemically diagnosed as LMS. A tumor of the sigmoid colon was subsequently discovered and the liver tumors were found to have recurred. The surgically resected sigmoid colon and liver tumors were all immunohistochemically diagnosed as LMS. These findings indicated that the multiple liver metastases arose from the LMS in the sigmoid colon, and that they were accompanied by advanced gastric cancer. We performed another surgical resection and administered chemotherapy to treat the recurring liver metastases. The patient survived for 4 years and 10 months after initial presentation at our hospital. CONCLUSION: Colonic LMS is rare and its joint occurrence with gastric cancer is extremely unusual. Although LMS is a high-grade neoplasm, a multimodal therapeutic approach can increase patient survival time even when multiple liver metastases are present

Thermal Infrared Imaging Experiments of C-Type Asteroid 162173 Ryugu on Hayabusa2

The thermal infrared imager TIR onboard Hayabusa2 has been developed to investigate thermo-physical properties of C-type, near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu. TIR is one of the remote science instruments on Hayabusa2 designed to understand the nature of a volatile-rich solar system small body, but it also has significant mission objectives to provide information on surface physical properties and conditions for sampling site selection as well as the assessment of safe landing operations. TIR is based on a two-dimensional uncooled micro-bolometer array inherited from the Longwave Infrared Camera LIR on Akatsuki (Fukuhara et al., 2011). TIR takes images of thermal infrared emission in 8 to 12 μm with a field of view of 16×12∘ and a spatial resolution of 0.05∘ per pixel. TIR covers the temperature range from 150 to 460 K, including the well calibrated range from 230 to 420 K. Temperature accuracy is within 2 K or better for summed images, and the relative accuracy or noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) at each of pixels is 0.4 K or lower for the well-calibrated temperature range. TIR takes a couple of images with shutter open and closed, the corresponding dark frame, and provides a true thermal image by dark frame subtraction. Data processing involves summation of multiple images, image processing including the StarPixel compression (Hihara et al., 2014), and transfer to the data recorder in the spacecraft digital electronics (DE). We report the scientific and mission objectives of TIR, the requirements and constraints for the instrument specifications, the designed instrumentation and the pre-flight and in-flight performances of TIR, as well as its observation plan during the Hayabusa2 mission

Roles of emotional separation and parental trust on autonomy in elementary and junior high school students

Several theories have proposed that emotional separation and parental trust in parent–adolescent relationships have significant roles on adolescent autonomy development. Although these associations have been demonstrated among middle-to-late adolescents, no empirical study has tested them among children and early adolescents. The present study aimed to investigate the associations of emotional separation and parental trust with diverseindicators of behavioral autonomy, including communication behaviors with parents (i.e., individuality-oriented and connectedness-oriented communications) and behaviors at homeand school (i.e., waking up at regular times, doing homework, reviewing learning contents, and observing rules at school), among children and early adolescents. Elementary school students (n = 857; 49.59% girls; Mage = 10.80) and junior high school students (n = 518; 47.68% girls; Mage = 13.56) completed the questionnaires. Emotional separation was positively associated with individuality-oriented communication and negatively associated with connectedness-oriented communications, doing homework, and reviewing learning contents. Meanwhile, parental trust was positively related to both individuality-oriented and connectedness-oriented communications, waking up at regular times, doing homework, reviewing learning contents, and observing rules at school. These results indicate that emotional separation may promote one’s firm sense of self differing from his/her parents; however, emotional separation generally works negatively in autonomy development, whereas parental trust works positively. Overall, the present study provides further understandings of the roles of emotional separation and parental trust on autonomy in childhood and early adolescence, which have not been examined to date.本研究は，国際的／青年期発達探究プロジェクト (都筑学・中間玲子・畑野快・杉村和美: http://web.hyogo-u.ac.jp/nakama/iappj/src/index.html) の予備調査の一部として実施された