Ultrasound application in the presence of microbubbles is a promising strategy for intracellular drug and gene delivery, but it may also trigger other cellular responses. This study investigates the relationship between the change of cell membrane permeability generated by ultrasound-driven microbubbles and the changes in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)). Cultured rat cardiomyo...

isolation of rat islets of langerhans was carried out by using collagenase and the destruction of exocrine tissue was performed through the injection of hanks' solution into the common bile duct. the identification of the islets was done by techniques including the use of a stereomicroscope against a black background. vital staining was done by an injection of neutral red solution through ...

reduction of methoxyketon 1 by nabh4 gives methoxyketol 2. allthough acetate and tosylate of this alchohol were not seprated, benzoate ester was isolated. reduction of ketol 2 by lialh4 gives alchohol 4. ketol 9 does not react with methyl magnesium iodide, but methoxyketon 1 react with both methyl magnesium iodide and phenyl magnesium iodide gives corresponding hydrocarbons. keton 13 with pheny...

BACKGROUND Streptococcus pneumoniae causes serious diseases such as pneumonia and meningitis. Its major pathogenic factor is the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin pneumolysin, which produces lytic pores at high concentrations. At low concentrations, it has other effects, including induction of apoptosis. Many cellular effects of pneumolysin appear to be calcium dependent. METHODS Live imaging o...

Exposure to hyposmotic solution causes release of ATP from lens cells via hemichannels. Because hemichannel opening feasibly could swamp the cells with calcium, we carried out studies to measure the magnitude of the increase in cytoplasmic calcium concentration caused by hemichannel opening. In studies on porcine lens epithelial cells in primary culture, propidium iodide (PI) uptake was measure...

Isolation of rat islets of Langerhans was carried out by using collagenase and the destruction of exocrine tissue was performed through the injection of Hanks' solution into the common bile duct. The identification of the islets was done by techniques including the use of a stereomicroscope against a black background. Vital staining was done by an injection of neutral red solution through t...

Flow cytometry was utilized to measure the influx of calcium into fresh and frozen-thawed equine and bovine spermatozoa that had been treated with either dilauroyl-phosphatidylcholine ( PC-12) or the calcium ionophore A23187 (A23187) to initiate sperm capacitation. Sperm suspensions were stained with the fluorescent calcium indicator, Fluo-3, to measure intracellular calcium concentrations and ...