Experimental findings have suggested that the metabolic activities of articular cartilage can be influenced by mechanical stimuli. Our recent mathematical analysis predicted that cyclic compressive loading may create periods of intermittent negative hydrostatic pressure within the cartilage extracellular matrix. Therefore, we hypothesize that intermittent negative hydrostatic pressure, created in the cartilage extracellular matrix during dynamic compression, has a stimulative effect on the biosynthesis of chondrocytes. In order to test this hypothesis, the present study developed a custom designed negative pressure generator to subject a monolayer culture of chondrocytes to an intermittent negative pressure. It was found that the intermittent negative pressure produced a 40% increase in proteoglycan and a l7% increase in non-collagenous protein synthesis during the pressurization period(p (0.05). The collagenous protein synthesis was not affected by the intermittent negative pressure regimen used in this study. After the intermittent negative pressurization, the metabolic activities of the chondrocytes returned to normal(control level). The intermittent negative pressure also produced an increase in the mRNA signals for aggrecan. Therefore, we conclude that intermittent negative pressure may be one of the major mechanical stimulators of chondrocytes in articular cartilage during dynamic compression.
Aggrecans ; Cartilage ; Cartilage, Articular ; Chondrocytes* ; Collagen ; Extracellular Matrix ; Hydrostatic Pressure* ; Metabolism* ; Proteoglycans ; RNA, Messenger

No abstract available.
Drug Resistance, Microbial* ; Plasmids* ; Pneumonia*

No abstract available.
Citrobacter* ; Enterobacter*

No abstract available.
Escherichia coli* ; Escherichia*

No abstract available.

The reconstruction of foot remains difficult problem with many surgical modalities because foot has unique structure, insufficient local soft tissue and poor vascularity. The medial plantar island flap is capable of providing sensate and structurally similar tissue with single operative procedure. We reconstructed 5 cases of soft tissue defects on the foot by using medial plantar island flap(3 cases proximally- based, 2 cases distally-based) in diabetics. Successful soft tissue coverage was achieved on medial malleolus, dorsal midfoot, tendo calcaneus, and forefoot. The size of flap ranged from 3.5 x 3.0 cm to 6.0 x 4.0 cm. Follow-up ranged from 8 months to 26 months. All flaps survived without serious complication. All patients had protective sensation in daily activities and were able to ambulate in normal footwear. This paper demonstrates that medial plantar island flap with proximally and distally-based pedicle should be considered as a useful technique for reconstruction of soft tissue defect from ankle to forefoot.
Ankle ; Calcaneus ; Follow-Up Studies ; Foot ; Humans ; Sensation ; Surgical Procedures, Operative

E6 and E7 proteins produced by oncogenic HPV bind to the protein products of cellular tumor suppressor genes p53 and Rb, respectively. This mechanism has been suggested to contribute to the oncogenesis of HPV-infected carcinoma. The cells which are blocked the function of p53 and pub protein continue to divide by bypassing Ml stage known as antiproliferative mechanism but telomeres, the genetic elements at the ends of chromosomes, continue to shorten until the telomeres are so short that further replication is prevented(M2 stage). But telomeres can be maintained if telomerase is derepressed, giving rise to a immortal cell. The present study has been investigated the presence of HPV, telomere length and telomerase activation in cervical carcinomas. HPV DNA were detected by polymerase chain reaction in 17 of 19 precancerous lesions and cervical carcinoma specimens; HPV16 was detected in 12 cases, HPV18 in one case, HPV33 in two cases, and HPV58 in two cases. Overall, the prevalence of HPV was 89.5%. To study the difference of telomere length in cervical carcinomas and each normal counterpart, DNAs were digested with Hinf III and Rsa I to liberate the terminal restriction fragments(TRF). TRFs were resolved on agarose gels and detected by hybridization to the telomeric probe. This result indicated that there were no significant difference of TRF length in samples tested except two cases. TRF length of one carcinoma specimen was found to be significantly increased as compared with normal counterpart, but the other was found to be significantly decreased. Telomerase activity was detected in 4 of dysplasia specimens(5 cases), all of carcinoma in situ(CIS), and 6 of 8 invasive carcinoma. Overall, telomerase activity was detected in 84%. The degree of telomerase activity was high in 2 of dysplasia, 3 of CIS, and 3 of invasive carcinoma. And then there was no apparent association between HPV types and levels of telomerase activity. However, telomerase activity was depressed in invasive carcinoma as compared to dysplasia and CIS. These results suggest that HPV may be a possible causative agent in cervical carcinoma. In addition, telomerase activation may be necessary for the immortalization of cells and the progression of malignancy in cervical carcinoma.
Carcinogenesis ; Cervix Uteri* ; DNA ; Female ; Gels ; Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Humans* ; Papilloma* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Sepharose ; Telomerase* ; Telomere*

No abstract available.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell* ; Cell Line* ; Interferon-gamma*

No abstract available.
Capillaries* ; DNA* ; Vacuum*

PURPOSE: The spectrum of melanoma antigen gene (MAGE)-expressing tumor is very wide and the gene of MAGE express antigens that are targets for specific recognition by cytotoxic T lymphocytes derived from tumor-bearing patients. All of these characteristics represent MAGE as tumor vaccine can be useful for cancer prevention or treatment. Here, we detected MAGE-3 gene expression in cancer cell lines and evaluated recombinant MAGE-3 protein producibility of MAGE plasmid to develope MAGE DNA vaccine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MAGE-3 gene expression of cancer cell lines was evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chanin reaction (RT-PCR). Two kinds of MAGE-3 expressing plasmids were constructed and their MAGE-3 protein producibility was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting using monoclonal anti-MAGE-3 antibody. RESULTS: Among 13 cell lines, SNU484, AMC-HN-3, AMC-HN-4, AMC-HN-7, HeLa, NCI H1703 and HT29 expressed MAGE-3 mRNA. In order to make MAGE plasmid, cDNA that showed 100% DNA homology with MAGE-3 gene was cloned into pcDNA 3 plasmid and pSecTag plasmid. Intracytoplasmic and secretory recombinant MAGE-3 was produced by MAGE-3 containing pcDNA 3 plasmid and pSecTag plasmid, respectively. CONCLUSION: In this study, we showed high expression frequency of MAGE-3 in cancer cell line, and established two kinds of plasmid that produce recombinant MAGE-3 in cell lines. We expect these plasmids will be used in cancer treatment or MAGE-3 function study in future.
Cell Line ; Clone Cells ; DNA* ; DNA, Complementary ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Immunoblotting ; Immunohistochemistry ; Melanoma ; Plasmids* ; RNA, Messenger ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic