A prototype, nonisotopic, chemiluminescent DNA probe test called the Gen-Probe PACE (Probe Assay-Chemiluminescence Enhanced) system for Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Gen-Probe, San Diego, Calif.) was compared with conventional Martin-Lewis culture medium in JEMBEC plates for the laboratory diagnosis of gonorrhea. This 2-h noncultural assay is based upon the use of an acridinium ester-labeled DNA probe...

Changes were studied in induced photon emission (as an indicator of oxidative stress), ATP level and sperm motility during seven day-storage of boar semen at 15 degrees C extended with the use of BTS extender. Photon emission was measured using a luminometer equipped with a cooled photomultiplier with a spectral response range from 370 to 620 nm. The time of storage had a significant effect on ...

The aim of this study was to establish a tumor model in mice with the expression of luciferase (Luc) and human prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), in order to evaluate the activities of anticancer drugs or vaccines for prostate cancer. RM-1 cells were stably transfected with pcDNA-Luc and pcDNA-PSCA plasmids. The Luc-expressing cells were examined using a luminometer and the PSCA-expressing cell...

This study examines a concurrent profiling of circulating and extravasated polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) in a rat model of experimental sepsis. Fecal peritonitis was induced in Wistar male rats by intraperitoneal instillation of a fecal suspension in saline (1:1 w/v). Blood and peritoneal fluid were collected 8 h following fecal inoculation for the evaluation of inflammatory response of P...

Abstract The study objective was to evaluate leukocyte coping capacity (LCC) as a measure of acute heat stress in growing pigs. LCC method utilizes an artificial challenge procedure on whole blood samples mimic the respiratory burst that is typically observed response pathogen exposure. A reduction size, measured relative light units (RLU) by chemiluminescence, indicates less and greater physio...

OBJECTIVES To utilize bioluminescence to follow the effect of ciprofloxacin challenge on Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. METHODS The Sorbarod continuous perfusion culture system was used for the cultivation of biofilms of a self-bioluminescent strain of P. aeruginosa PAO1. Biofilms were challenged with ciprofloxacin (5 mg/L) in the perfusing medium for 3 h and allowed to recover to pre-chall...

Recently we have developed new kinetic methods of bacterial cell estimation in food products by measurement of the increase in bacterial adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) content during incubation using a conventional firefly luminometer [Fujikawa and Morozumi: Jpn. J. Food Hyg. (2002)]. The methods were the end point method and the delay method. We, in this study, evaluated these methods for bacter...

BACKGROUND The multicellular green alga Volvox carteri represents an attractive model system to study various aspects of multicellularity like cellular differentiation, morphogenesis, epithelial folding and ECM biogenesis. However, functional and molecular analyses of such processes require a wide array of molecular tools for genetic engineering. So far there are only a limited number of molecu...

We previously described a functional assay for G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) based on stably transformed insect cells and using the promiscuous G protein Galpha16. We now show that, compared with Galpha16, the use of chimeric Galphaq subunits with C-terminal modifications (qi5-HA, qo5-HA, or qz5-HA) significantly enhances the ability of insect cells to redirect Gi-coupled GPCRs into a Gq-...

Several breeding programs are under way to introduce resistance to bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum in solanaceous crops. The lack of screening methods allowing easy measurement of pathogen colonization and the inability to detect latent (i.e., symptomless) infections are major limitations when evaluating resistance to this disease in plant germplasm. We describe a new method to ...