Graded dextrans were used as tracers to study glomerular permeability in nephrotic rats. Two narrow range fractions were used, one which was approximately the same size as albumin (62,000 mol wt) and one which was considerably larger (125,000 mol wt). Nephrosis was induced with daily injections of an aminonucleoside of puromycin, and the animals examined after 7 days, when proteinuria is minima...

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) was used to quantify the translational diffusion of microinjected FITC-dextrans and Ficolls in the cytoplasm and nucleus of MDCK epithelial cells and Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts. Absolute diffusion coefficients (D) were measured using a microsecond-resolution FRAP apparatus and solution standards. In aqueous media (viscosity 1 cP), D for the FITC-dext...

The effect of virus uncoating on endosome integrity during the early steps in viral infection was investigated. Using fluid-phase uptake of 10- and 70-kDa dextrans labeled with a pH-dependent fluorophore (fluorescein isothiocyanate [FITC]) and a pH-independent fluorophore (cyanine 5 [Cy5]), we determined the pHs of labeled compartments in intact HeLa cells by fluorescence-activated cell sorting...

Chronic epidermal wounds that do not heal within 30 days afflict nearly 8.2 million patients across the country, costing US healthcare system up to $96 billion annually. Electrical stimulation (ES) of skin speeds healing chronic despite absence specific mechanisms. We are testing hypotheses understand mechanisms by which non-excitable cells involved with wound sense these EFs. For comparison, h...

BACKGROUND Clinical efficacy of thrombolytic drugs is limited by lack of specific delivery and requires large therapeutic doses which increase toxicity. Encapsulating these drugs in temperature-sensitive liposomes and applying hyperthermia to deliver thrombolytic agents locally to thrombus might theoretically favourably alter the therapeutic window. The objectives of this study were to formulat...

Human pregnancy is associated with substantial increments in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal plasma flow (RPF). We have previously demonstrated that permselectivity to neutral dextrans is altered in pregnancy, theoretical analysis of the dextran sieving curves suggesting that elevated GFR is due to increased RPF and decreased glomerular oncotic pressure (pi(GC)) with no evidence of i...