IgG4-related skin disease.

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a recently established clinical entity characterized by high levels of circulating IgG4, and tissue infiltration of IgG4(+) plasma cells. IgG4-RD exhibits a distinctive fibroinflammatory change involving multiple organs, such as the pancreas and salivary and lacrimal glands. The skin lesions of IgG4-RD have been poorly characterized and may stem not only from direct infiltration of plasma cells but also from IgG4-mediated inflammation. Based on the documented cases together with ours, we categorized the skin lesions into seven subtypes: (1) cutaneous plasmacytosis (multiple papulonodules or indurations on the trunk and proximal part of the limbs), (2) pseudolymphoma and angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (plaques and papulonodules mainly on the periauricular, cheek and mandible regions), (3) Mikulicz disease (palpebral swelling, sicca syndrome and exophthalmos), (4) psoriasis-like eruption (strikingly mimicking psoriasis vulgaris), (5) unspecified maculopapular or erythematous eruptions, (6) hypergammaglobulinaemic purpura (bilateral asymmetrical palpable purpuric lesions on the lower extremities) and urticarial vasculitis (prolonged urticarial lesions occasionally with purpura) and (7) ischaemic digit (Raynaud phenomenon and digital gangrene). It is considered that subtypes 1-3 are induced by direct infiltration of IgG4(+) plasma cells, while the other types (4-7) are caused by secondary mechanisms. IgG4-related skin disease is defined as IgG4(+) plasma-cell-infiltrating skin lesions that form plaques, nodules or tumours (types 1-3), but may manifest secondary lesions caused by IgG4(+) plasma cells and/or IgG4 (types 4-7).

Ultra-stable nanoparticles in A(II)B(VI), (A(II) = Cd, Zn; BVI, = S, Se, Te) compounds.

Laser ablation on binary A(II)B(VI) compounds exhibits in time-of-flight mass spectra abundant peaks at stoichiometric (A(II)B(VI)),n with n = 13, 19, 33 and 34 measured on bulk powders of CdSe, CdS, CdTe, ZnS and ZnSe. Investigation on solution grown nanometer size particles of CdSe shown an existence of ultra-stable stoichiometric clusters (CdSe)13, (CdSe)19, (CdSe)33, (CdSe)34 and (CdSe)48. This set of n has not been predicted as particularly stable particles in previous bulk fragment models based on either zinc-blende or wurtzite, and a different type of structures is required to explain our experimental results. Present investigation shows that nanoparticles formed in vacuum as magic numbers above are found in solution as preferentially grown species in CdSe, and possibly in other A(II)B(VI). It is suggested that the high stability of the observed magic clusters originates from their specific structure as endohedral binary fullerenes, supposedly. These molecular-like particles composed of few tens of atoms lie between atom and solid, and exhibit novel materials functions not realizable in the bulk.

The solid state reaction of Fe with the Si(111) vicinal surface: splitting of bunched steps.

The solid state reaction of deposited Fe (four monolayers, ML) with vicinal Si(111) substrate induced by subsequent thermal treatment has been studied using scanning tunnelling microscopy. At the lower range of annealing temperatures up to 400 °C the bunched steps of bare substrate are reproduced by the surface of the covering iron silicide layer. At 400 °C the onset of three-dimensional growth of iron silicide islands is observed. In comparison to the samples covered with smaller amounts of Fe it appears at a lower annealing temperature. Above 500 °C the bunched steps split into lower ones but more densely distributed due to proceeding reactions between Fe-rich iron silicide and Si substrate. As a consequence, at 700 °C the well-developed three-dimensional nanocrystallites of iron silicide are randomly distributed on the Si surface. This observation is in contrast to the formation of a regular array of iron silicide crystallites upon deposition of 2 ML of Fe.

The cell death machinery controlled by Bax and Bcl-XL is evolutionarily conserved in Ciona intestinalis.

Bax and Bcl-XL are key regulators of apoptosis in mammals. Here we report the functional characterization of two Bcl-2 homologues, ciBax and ciBcl-XL, in a basal invertebrate-chordate ascidian Ciona intestinalis. CiBax is a Ciona homologue of the BH1-3 pro-apoptotic protein Bax, whereas ciBcl-XL is a Bcl-XL-like anti-apoptotic protein. Molecular modeling analysis showed that ciBax and ciBcl-XL share both sequence and structural similarities to human Bax and Bcl-XL, respectively. Like their human counterparts, ciBax could form a homodimer or oligomers as well as heterodimerize with ciBcl-XL, and overexpression of ciBax caused apoptosis that could be attenuated by ciBcl-XL. Mutagenesis studies showed that the BH3 domain of ciBax is critical for its cell death-inducing function and also for its interaction with ciBcl-XL. In Ciona embryos, ectopic expression of ciBax but not its BH3 deletion mutant resulted in cell dissociation and apoptosis after late gastrula stage of embryonic development. Moreover, not only wild type ciBcl-XL but also a mutant ciBcl-XL(F101V), which is unable to interact with ciBax, could block cell dissociation and developmental deficit in Ciona embryos induced by overexpression of ciBax. Taken together, these findings suggest that functional homologues of both the BH1-3 death effector Bax and the pro-survival Bcl-XL exist in sea squirt Ciona intestinalis, and they control the cell death machinery independent of their heterodimerization.

A method for characterizing carbon nanotubes.

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy of a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) at elevated temperatures were studied. Although the observation was carried out at 200 kV, the crystal structures of the MWCNT were observed without introducing defects. In addition, contamination on the MWCNT, such as nanobubbles, was removed during the observation at 600 degrees C. In this paper, we report the observation conditions and experimental results. The experimental results obtained both at 600 degrees C and at room temperature were compared.

Interaction between peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and its agonists: docking study of oximes having 5-benzyl-2,4-thiazolidinedione.

The molecular modelling of oximes having 5-benzyl-2,4-thiazolidinedione moieties, agonists of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma), was performed with respect to their structures complexed with the ligand binding domain of PPAR gamma. For each ligand molecule, the 5-benzyl-2,4-thiazolidinedione head group was used as an anchor and the conformation of the rest of the molecule was searched for the most energetically favorable interaction with the receptor by systematic conformation search and manual modelling. Although both tail-up and tail-down configurations, which have been observed in the crystal structure of eicosapentaenoic acid when complexed with PPAR delta, appeared among the lowest energy structures for most of the compounds, potent agonists were found to adopt a configuration similar to that of rosiglitazone when bound to PPAR gamma, according to the crystal structure. The structure-activity relationships were analyzed based on the receptor-ligand interaction. The alkyl group and the aromatic ring of the tail group of the ligands had hydrophobic interactions with the receptor, and these interactions were found to be essential for the strong activity.

Thermal effect in unoccupied molecular orbitals of C60 molecules adsorbed on a Si(001)-(2 x 1) surface studied by NEXAFS.

We report here the temperature-dependent unoccupied molecular orbitals (MO's) of C60 molecules adsorbed on a Si(001)-(2 x 1) surface measured using near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). At 300 K, the NEXAFS spectrum reveals that the interaction between a 1.0 monolayer (ML) C60 film and a Si(001) surface is mainly the van der Waals force. After annealing the samples at 500 K, we observe an increment in the full-width at half-maximum of unoccupied MO's, which indicates the change of the interaction. Moreover, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) shifts to the higher photon energy side and the intensity of the LUMO+1 relative to that of the LUMO+3 decreases in the NEXAFS spectrum. These results suggest that the strong interaction induced at 500 K has a covalent character, to which the LUMO+1 contributes.

A method for assessing the side chain orientations of histidine, asparagine, and glutamine as well as the protonation forms of histidine in protein structures.

In protein X-ray crystallography, it is sometimes impossible to distinguish N and O in amide side chains and N and C in His side chains, resulting in the 'flipped' conformations in these side chains. We have developed a simple, but effective, approach to assess the side chain orientations of His. Asn, and Gln as well as the protonation forms of His in protein structures. This method finds the most favorable side chain orientation and His form by calculating the van der Waals interaction and hydrogen bonding energies around each residue in question. This evaluation is repeated until consistent results are obtained. Our approach was applied to four proteins and in overall approximately 25% of His, Asn, and Gln were evaluated as 'flipped' and 63% of the imidazole rings were suggested to have a polar hydrogen atom only on N epsilon2. In the individual cases, it was found that our results were comparable to or even better than those obtained by a traditional method. The present approach is therefore quite useful to construct initial protein structures for the molecular modeling studies.

Origin of anomalous lattice expansion in oxide nanoparticles

Anomalous lattice expansions have been measured for the first time in monodisperse CeO2-x nanoparticles and in BaTiO3 single nanoparticles by electron diffraction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies on CeO2-x nanoparticles and ab initio computer simulation on BaTiO3 clusters show that the origin of expansion is the decrease of electrostatic force caused by valence reduction of Ce ions and the increase in ionicity of Ti ions, respectively. The lattice constant change of oxide (ionic) nanoparticles with the increase in ionicity would depend on the structure of the particles. Hence, first-principles calculations of large ionic clusters are indispensable.

Conformational analysis of 2-[2-(3-methoxyphenyl) ethyl]phenoxyalkylamines with high 5-HT2 receptor binding affinity.

A conformational analysis of three groups of 2-[2-(3-methoxyphenyl)ethyl]phenoxyalkylamines with high 5-HT2 receptor binding affinity has been performed using the systematic search. Two groups of compounds with different lengths of alkyl chains connecting the amine nitrogen and the central oxygen showed a one order difference in their 5-HT2 receptor binding affinity. The computational analysis of these compounds confirmed the differences in the N--O distances between the two groups, quantitatively. A probable active conformation was proposed based on a superimposition of the stable conformations over a rigid molecule, mianserin. Two hydroxy derivatives in the third group showed a significant difference in their binding affinity depending on the stereochemistry of the hydroxy group. The difference in the energetically favorable order of the stable conformations reasonably explained the relationship between the stereochemistry and the binding activity. A molecular dynamics-based conformational search was also carried out to compare it with the systematic search.

Inhibitory effect of nitric oxide on the renin-angiotensin system in Dahl salt-sensitive rats.

1. To explore the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the regulation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) rats, the effects of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) on plasma renin activity (PRA), and concentrations of angiotensin (Ang)I and AngII in the plasma, aorta and kidney were investigated in DS and Dahl salt-resistant (DR) rats. 2. NG-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (12-18 mg/kg per day) administration for 1 week increased mean arterial pressure (MAP) in DS and DR rats fed a 0.3% NaCl diet and in DR rats fed an 8% NaCl diet compared with corresponding vehicle (water)-treated groups. However, L-NAME administration did not change MAP in DS rats fed an 8% NaCl diet. 3. NG-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester administration increased PRA in DS rats fed an 8% NaCl diet, but not in DR rats fed an 8% NaCl diet. NG-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester administration increased AngI and AngII concentrations in plasma, aorta and kidney only in DS rats fed an 8% NaCl diet. The ratio of AngI to AngII did not change following L-NAME administration in any rats. 4. These results suggest that NO has an inhibitory role on renin release in DS rats fed a high-salt diet.

Structure-activity relationship of HIV-1 protease inhibitors containing alpha-hydroxy-beta-amino acids. Detailed study of P1 site.

The structure-activity relationship of HIV-1 protease (HIV-1 PR) inhibitors containing alpha-hydroxy-beta-amino acids is discussed. We demonstrated that substituent groups on the P1 aromatic rings of the inhibitors exert significant influence on their biological activity. Inhibitors bearing an alkyl or a fluorine atom at the meta and para position on their P1 benzene ring were found to be good inhibitors. We also discovered that the substitution positions of the P2 benzamides were crucial for good antiviral potency. In this study, inhibitor 48 was the most potent [IC90 (CEM/HIV-1 IIIB) 27 nM] and showed good pharmacokinetics in rats.

Intrarenal angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

We examined the hypotensive effect of enalapril in relation to the local renin-angiotensin system of the kidney in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Oral administration of enalapril for 7 days decreased mean arterial blood pressure and renal tissue angiotensin II concentration without affecting plasma angiotensin II concentration in SHR. The enalapril treatment did not affect maximum binding of angiotensin II to renal tubules and glomeruli in SHR. In normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats, no significant changes in mean arterial blood pressure, renal and plasma angiotensin levels were observed with enalapril treatment. Direct infusion of enalapril into the renal medullary interstitium decreased mean arterial blood pressure in association with the reduction of renal tissue angiotensin II concentration without changes in plasma angiotensin II concentration in SHR. These observations suggest that the inhibition of angiotensin conversion in the kidney is important for the hypotensive action of enalapril.

Three-dimensional structure analysis of PROSITE patterns.

Pattern matches for each of the sequence patterns in PROSITE, a database of sequence patterns, were searched in all protein sequences in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank (PDB). The three-dimensional structures of the pattern matches for the 20 patterns with the largest numbers of hits were analysed. We found that the true positives have a common three-dimensional structure for each pattern; the structures of false positives, found for six of the 20 patterns, were clearly different from those of the true positives. The results suggest that the true pattern matches each have a characteristic common three-dimensional structure, which could be used to create a template to define a three-dimensional functional pattern.