Intercellular communication most likely plays a significant coordinating role in morphogenesis. Blockage of a specific type of intercellular communication, that mediated by gap junctions, has been proposed as a mechanism of action of some teratogens. Several glycol ethers have recently been shown to be teratogenic in laboratory animals. Because these compounds are negative in genotoxic assays, ...

We tested the hypothesis that an increased epithelial permeability may affect sites other than the intestine in patients with Crohn's disease by simultaneously evaluating their pulmonary and intestinal permeability. Pulmonary and intestinal permeability were measured by clearance of inhaled technetium-99m diethylene triamine pentacetate (99mTc-DTPA) and by urinary recovery of chromium-51 ethyle...

To elucidate the effect of cytochrome P450 levels in hepatic microsomes on the metabolism of lidocaine in vivo, we investigated the metabolism of lidocaine in untreated (UT group) and phenobarbital-treated rats (PB group) in vivo and compared the results with those obtained by immunoblotting of rat hepatic microsomes. There were no differences in pharmacokinetic parameters for lidocaine between...

The deposition and dissolution of sodium superoxide (NaO2) was investigated by atomic force microscopy. Rectangular prisms consisting of 8 smaller sub-structures grew from NaO2 platelets, when discharged in 0.5 M NaClO4, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite. During oxidation the 8 sub-structures are conserved. Ring-like structures of Na2CO3 of 200 nm diameter re...

Ketoconazole is an imidazole antifungal drug belonging to the class II of Biopharmaceutic Classification System. Maintenance of gastric acidity is essential for adequate dissolution and absorption of ketoconazole. Concurrent administration of antacid and antiulcer preparations decreases the oral absorption of ketoconazole often causing therapeutic failure. The aim of this study was to evaluate ...

The effect of cigarette smoke exposure on pulmonary epithelial permeability was studied in 45 smokers and 22 non-smokers. An index of cigarette smoke exposure was obtained from the carboxyhaemoglobin concentration (HbCO%). Pulmonary epithelial permeability was proportional to the half-time clearance rate of technetium-99m-labelled diethylene triamine pentacetate (99mTc DTPA) from lung to blood ...

This paper describes microfluidic channels that can be erased and then reconstructed. These channels were constructed between two stacked lass slides. These slides had ground and hydrophobic surfaces, and a line had previously been drawn on their surfaces using an inkjet printer ith a water-soluble liquid as its “ink”. A water solution was injected between the slides, and it flowed along the pr...

Background. Reversible phosphorylation catalysed by kinases is probably the most important regulatory mechanism in eukaryotes. Methodology/Principal Findings. We studied the in vitro phosphorylation of peptide arrays exhibiting the majority of PhosphoBase-deposited protein sequences, by factors in cell lysates from representatives of various branches of the eukaryotic species. We derived a set ...