Size-exclusion SPR sensor chip: application to detection of aggregation and disaggregation of biological particles

We propose a novel surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor chip with a microfabricated slit array. The microslit excludes micrometre-size objects larger than its slit size from the SPR sensing area, so that it functions as an in situ filter. We demonstrated the sensing of microparticles of different diameters using the chip, and the results show a successful size-exclusion effect. As a demonstration of the biological application, we performed the detection of aggregation and disaggregation of biological particles using sugar-chain-immobilized gold nanoparticles as a test sample.     

Recent advances in liver sinusoidal endothelial ultrastructure and fine structure immunocytochemistry

Ultrastructure reports have described that liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC)s contain a cytoskeletal framework of filamentous actin. Small G protein has emerged as an important regulator of the actin cytoskeleton, and consequently, of cell morphology and motility. We investigated actin filaments in relation to SEF in LSECs using a heavy meromyosin-decorated reaction and thereby elucidated the roles of small G protein and actin cytoskeleton in the morphological and functional alterations of SEF. Caveolin-1 expression has also been found in fenestrations with many characteristics of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells. Currently, fenestral studies and human disease are revealing ways to increase the liver sieve's porosity, which is reduced through pathological mechanisms. Hepatic sinusoidal endothelial dysfunction, which is known to impair endothelium-dependent relaxation in the liver microcirculation, contributes to increased intrahepatic vascular resistance.     

Rational design of smart supramolecular assemblies for gene delivery: chemical challenges in the creation of artificial viruses

Polymeric materials have been extensively developed as a delivery vehicle for nucleic acids over the past two decades. Many previous studies have demonstrated that synthetic delivery vehicles can be highly functionalized by chemical approaches to overcome biological barriers in nucleic acid delivery, similar to viruses. Based on our current knowledge, this tutorial review describes rational strategies in the design of polymeric materials to achieve construction of the versatile vehicles, that is "artificial viruses", for successful gene therapy, especially focusing on the chemical structures with the minimal adverse effects.     

Application of mixture analysis to crude materials from natural resources (III): NMR spectral studies to analyze chalcones from Angelica keiskei

This study presents the application of the NMR-based analyses, DOSY and ROSY, to the chalcones, xanthoangelol (1) and 4-hydroxyderricin (2) from Angelica keiskei. We investigated whether virtual separation and structural information from each compound can be obtained. DOSY displays spectra of (1) and (2) in one dimension and diffusion spectra in the other. And the 1H slice spectra were analyzed in detail by comparison with authentic samples previously isolated from the same material. The resulting ROSY spectrum clearly showed two distinct peaks in the 1H T1 dimension. Each slice of the ROSY spectrum along the 13C dimension contains over-lapped signals, which are difficult to assign at this time.     

A catalytic version of hypervalent aryl-λ3-iodane-induced Hofmann rearrangement of primary carboxamides: iodobenzene as an organocatalyst and m-chloroperbenzoic acid as a terminal oxidant

The first catalytic version of hypervalent aryl-λ(3)-iodane-induced Hofmann rearrangement of primary carboxamides, which probably involves in situ generation of a tetracoordinated bis(aqua)(hydroxy)phenyl-λ(3)-iodane complex as an active oxidant from a catalytic amount of iodobenzene by the reaction with m-chloroperbenzoic acid in the presence of HBF(4) in dichloromethane-water under mild conditions, was developed.     

NanoPARCEL: a method for controlling cellular behavior with external light

We developed a simple preparation procedure for the protein encapsulated nanoparticle and used the nanoparticle for spatiotemporal activity control of various proteins. We succeeded in the local protein activation within cells by light using the nanoparticle.     

Silica-porphyrin hybrid nanotubes for in vivo cell tracking by near-infrared fluorescence imaging

Near-infrared fluorescent silica-porphyrin hybrid nanotubes (HNTs) were successfully synthesized by π-π stacking, electrostatic interaction and a sol-gel reaction. The HNTs-labeled macrophages were detected in vivo, and the minimum detectable number of cells was 200. Furthermore, the biodistribution of HNTs-labeled macrophages was tracked by fluorescence imaging.     

Hyper-generalized-gradient functionals constructed from the Lieb-Oxford bound: implementation via local hybrids and thermochemical assessment

In 2009 Odashima and Capelle (OC) showed a way to design a correlation-only density functional that satisfies a Lieb-Oxford bound on the correlation energy, without empirical parameters and even without additional theoretical parameters. However, they were only able to test a size-inconsistent version of it that employs total energies. Here, we show that their alternative size-consistent form that employs energy densities, when combined with exact or semilocal exchange, is a local hybrid (lh) functional. We test several variants of this nonempirical OC-lh functional on standard molecular test sets. Although no variant yields enthalpies of formation with the accuracy of the semilocal Tao-Perdew-Staroverov-Scuseria (TPSS) exchange-correlation, OC-lh correlation with exact exchange yields rather accurate energy barriers for chemical reactions. Our purpose here is not to advocate for a new density functional, but to explore a previously published idea. We also discuss the importance of near-self-consistency for fully nonlocal functionals.     

Influence of peak inspiratory flow rates and pressure drops on inhalation performance of dry powder inhalers

The aim of this study was to reveal the relationship between human inspiratory flow patterns and the concomitant drops in pressure in different inhalation devices, and the influence of the devices on inhalation performance. As a model formulation for inhalers, a physically mixed dry powder composed of salbutamol sulfate and coarse lactose monohydrate was selected. The drops in pressure at 28.3?L/min of three inhalation devices, Single-type, Dual-type, and Reverse-type, was 1.0, 5.1, and 8.7?kPa, respectively. Measurements of human inspiratory patterns revealed that although the least resistant device (Single) had large inter- and intra-individual variation of peak flow rate (PFR), the coefficients of variation of PFR of the three devices were almost the same. In tests with a human inspiratory flow simulator in vitro, inhalation performance was higher, but the variation in inhalation performance in the range of human flow patterns was wider, for the more resistant device. To minimize the intra- and inter-individual variation in inhalation performance for the model formulation in this study, a formulation design that allows active pharmaceutical ingredient to detach from the carrier with a lower inhalation flow rate is needed.     

Rotational Spectra of XeH and Its Isotopic Species

Frequencies of rotational transitions of XeH⁺ and its isotopic species were measured in the 1–5 THz region with a highprecision far-infrared spectrometer using a tunable radiation source. Measured frequencies were analyzed together with previous microwave and infrared measurements to refine mass-independent Dunham parameters.