Elevation of Chemosensitivity of Lung Adenocarcinoma A549 Spheroid Cells by Claudin-2 Knockdown through Activation of Glucose Transport and Inhibition of Nrf2 Signal

Claudin-2 (CLDN2), a tight junctional protein, is involved in the chemoresistance in a three-dimensional spheroid culture model of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. However, the mechanism has not been fully clarified. We found that the knockdown of CLDN2 expression by siRNA in the spheroid reduces the expression of glucose transporters and metabolic enzymes. In a two-dimensional culture model, the expression of these proteins was increased by glucose deprivation or fasentin, an inhibitor of glucose transporter. In addition, the expression levels of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and antioxidant enzymes including heme oxygenase-1, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase-1, and a glutamate–cysteine ligase modifier subunit were increased by fasentin. The fluorescence intensities of JC-1, a probe of mitochondrial membrane potential, and MitoROS 580, a probe of mitochondrial superoxide production, were increased by fasentin. These results suggest that mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species is increased by glucose deficiency. The knockdown of CLDN2 enhanced the flux of 2-deoxy-2-[(7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl)amino]-D-glucose (2-NBDG), a fluorescent deoxyglucose derivative, in a transwell assay, and the accumulation of glucose and 2-NBDG in spheroid cells. The expression of Nrf2 was decreased by CLDN2 knockdown, which was inhibited by fasentin and sulforaphane, a typical Nrf2 activator, in spheroid cells. The sensitivity of spheroid cells to doxorubicin, an anthracycline antitumor antibiotic, was enhanced by CLDN2 knockdown, which was inhibited by fasentin and sulforaphane. We suggest that CLDN2 induces chemoresistance in spheroid cells mediated through the inhibition of glucose transport and activation of the Nrf2 signal.     

Surface-active properties of novel cationic surfactants with two alkyl chains and two ammonio groups

A series ofbis-quaternary ammonium salts was easily prepared by the reaction of a long-chaintert-alkylamine with epichlorohydrin, and their surface-active properties were measured. The prepared amphipathic compounds had good water solubility and showed characteristic surface-active properties, particularly, extremely excellent foaming ability and foam stability for some specific compounds, such as the compound with a dodecyl and a tetradecyl group as the lipophilic chains. Their critical micelle concentration, which decreased with increased alkyl chainlength, is two orders of magnitude lower compared with the conventionalmono-quaternary ammonium salts. In comparison with surface-active properties ofbis-quaternary ammonium salts, prepared from various organic dichlorides, there are little differences based on the kind of connecting group in the surface-active properties except for foaming.     

New Processing Technique for Hydroxyapatite Ceramics by the Hydrothermal Hot-Pressing Method

A new processing technique for preparing hyroxyapatite (HAp) ceramics has been developed using the hydrothermal hot-pressing (HHP) method. Powder mixed dibasic calcium phosphate dihydrate and calcium hydroxide mixed with a Ca/P ratio of 1.67 was treated at 150°C and 40 MPa. The HHP method with the selection of the powder enabled the HAp to be solidified at the low temperature. The resulting HAp ceramics had a tensile strength of approximately 10 MPa. Furthermore, the HAp ceramics possessed a lamellar microstructure and high porosity.     

Transcriptional Induction of Metallothionein by Tris(pentafluorophenyl)stibane in Cultured Bovine Aortic Endothelial Cells

Vascular endothelial cells cover the luminal surface of blood vessels and contribute to the prevention of vascular disorders such as atherosclerosis. Metallothionein (MT) is a low molecular weight, cysteine-rich, metal-binding, inducible protein, which protects cells from the toxicity of heavy metals and active oxygen species. Endothelial MT is not induced by inorganic zinc. Adequate tools are required to investigate the mechanisms underlying endothelial MT induction. In the present study, we found that an organoantimony compound, tris(pentafluorophenyl)stibane, induces gene expression of MT-1A and MT-2A, which are subisoforms of MT in bovine aortic endothelial cells. The data reveal that MT-1A is induced by activation of both the MTF-1–MRE and Nrf2–ARE pathways, whereas MT-2A expression requires only activation of the MTF-1–MRE pathway. The present data suggest that the original role of MT-1 is to protect cells from heavy metal toxicity and oxidative stress in the biological defense system, while that of MT-2 is to regulate intracellular zinc metabolism.     

Fabrication of poly(vinyl alcohol)s (PVAs) nanotubes through the fusion of nanocapsules composed of PVAs multilayer films

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocapsules were fabricated by the deposition of PVA multilayer films onto the surface of silica particles followed by the removal of the silica cores. When a water dispersion of PVA nanocapsules was dried on a substrate, PVA nanotubes were formed through the one-dimensional fusion of the nanocapsules. This fusion behavior of the PVA nanocapsules was strongly affected by the molecular weights and acetylation degrees of PVA, the capsule film thickness of the PVA nanocapsules and the temperature to dry a water dispersion of the nanocapsules. When nanocapsules composed of 20 layered films of acetylated PVA with a 14% acetylation degree were used, nanotube formation via the fusion of these nanocapsules occurred effectively upon drying the water dispersion at 20 °C.     

A study of the loss characteristics of the amorphous magnetic material under nonsinusoidal wave magnetic flux

This paper presents a study on iron loss characteristics of an amorphous magnetic material under nonsinusoidal wave magnetic flux. The iron loss characteristics of the amorphous magnetic material have been compared to those of grain‐oriented magnetic steel sheets. Measurements of the iron loss have been carried out by means of an SST. It was found that the ratio of the iron loss increase of the amorphous magnetic material under the excitation by distorted waveforms and symmetric PWM waveforms is lower than that of grain‐oriented magnetic steel sheets. On the other hand, the ratio of the iron loss increase of the amorphous magnetic material under the excitation by asymmetric PWM waveforms is higher than that of grain‐oriented magnetic steel sheets. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 150(3): 11–18, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20004     

A new characterization method of the microstructure using the macroscopic composition gradient in alloys

A new experimental method to determine the phase boundary and phase equilibria is accomplished by using the transmission electron microscopic observation of alloys having the macroscopic composition gradient. The various phase boundaries,i.e., the coherent binodal and spinodal lines and incoherent binodal line, are distinctly determined for the Cu-Ti alloy system. Furthermore, the equilibrium compositions at the interface of precipitate/matrix are experimentally obtained for various particle sizes, and therefore, the Gibbs-Thomson relation is verified. It is expected that the composition gradient method proposed in the present study will become an important experimental method for microstructural characterization.     

Proposal of voltage transient sag compensator with controlled gradational voltage

This paper presents a new concept for a voltage transient sag compensator and the experimental result of its 400‐V‐class compensator. This compensator is composed of the series connection of some inverter units with gradational output voltages. Because each output voltage is different by 2ⁿ times, an approximate sinusoidal voltage is generated by controlling operation of each inverter and compensates voltage sag of the power line. The compensator can be directly installed in a power line without an insertion transformer and a large filter, and thus it is expected to be a compact and economical system. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 154(3): 65–72, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20289     

Effects of radio-frequency plasma on structure and properties in Ti film deposition by dc and pulsed dc magnetron sputtering

Structure and subsequent properties of films deposited by direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering and pulsed dc magnetron sputtering with or without inductively coupled radio-frequency (rf) plasma using a Ti target have been investigated for various discharge pressures ranging from 0.3 to 2.0 Pa. By cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, it is found that films deposited by pulsed dc sputtering with an rf plasma at pressures of 0.3 and 1.5 Pa become denser than those deposited by dc sputtering without an rf plasma. Surface roughness also decreases with the presence of rf plasma at all discharge pressures. The change in reflectance correlates well to that in surface roughness. Decrease in resistivity due to the presence of rf plasma is remarkable for discharge pressures of 1.5 and 2.0 Pa and less remarkable for discharge pressures of 0.3 and 0.5 Pa. These result from the increase in crystallinity and film density by the presence of rf plasma in a high pressure range. It is presumed that a Ti film with a fine columnar structure results from the enhancement in the energy transferred to the surface of a growing film due to the increase in ion fraction and ion energy in the combination of pulsed dc and inductively coupled rf discharges. The effects of rf plasma on film structure and properties is more remarkable at higher discharge pressures because in this pressure range, the energy loss that occurred through collision scattering, inducing a voided structure, in conventional dc magnetron sputtering is compensated for effectively by the addition of energy to the particles in rf-plasma-assisted sputtering.     

Room-temperature mechanical properties of cold-rolled thin foils of binary,stoichiometric Ni3Al

In our previous works, thin foils of boron-free stoichiometric Ni₃Al, with thicknesses ranging from 57 to 315 μm, were fabricated by cold rolling of single-crystalline sheets which were sectioned from directionally solidified ingots. In this article, the room-temperature mechanical properties of the 83 and 95 pct cold-rolled foils were examined. Depending on the initial rolling direction, the foils exhibited two types of deformation microstructures: a banded structure with dual {110} textures and a band-free structure with a single {110} texture. The 83 pct cold-rolled foils showed very high Vickers hardness numbers: 649 and 604 for the banded and band-free structures, respectively. The foils possessed very high tensile fracture stress (1.7 to 2.0 GPa), with no appreciable plastic elongation along the rolling direction. The fracture stress of the 95 pct cold-rolled foils was slightly higher than that of the 83 pct cold-rolled foils. The banded-structure foils showed slightly higher fracture stress than the band-free-structure foils at the 83 pct reduction, but there was no difference between both the structures at the 95 pct reduction. Although there was no appreciable tensile elongation, slip traces were clearly observed on the surfaces of the foil specimens after the tensile test, indicating traces of some plastic deformation. The 95 pct cold-rolled foils possessed bending ductility, which was estimated as about 12 pct elongation on the tension-side surface of the bent specimen.