Yasumasa Okazaki

Thermal plasmas and lasers are used in medicine to cut and ablate tissues and for coagulation. Non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma (NEAPP) is a recently developed, non-thermal technique with possible biomedical applications. Although NEAPP reportedly generates reactive oxygen/nitrogen species, electrons, positive ions, and ultraviolet radiation, little research has been done into the use of this technique for conventional free radical biology. Recently, we developed a NEAPP device with h

Despite advances in the development of powerful antibiotics and intensive care unit, sepsis is still life threatening and the mortality rate remains unchanged for the past three decades. Recent prospective trials with biological response modifiers have shown a modest clinical benefit. The pathological basis of sepsis is initially an excessive inflammatory response against invading pathogens, leading to systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Evidence reveals that a variety of inflammator

Milk provides a well-balanced source of amino acids and other ingredients. One of the functional ingredients in milk is lactoferrin (LF). LF presents a wide variety of bioactivities and functions as a radical scavenger in models using iron-ascorbate complexes and asbestos. Human clinical trials of oral LF administration for the prevention of colon polyps have been successful and demonstrated that dietary compounds exhibit direct interactions. However, antioxidative properties of LF in distant or

The divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) is essential for cellular uptake of iron, mediating iron absorption across the duodenal brush border membrane. We have previously shown that with iron feeding DMT1 in the brush border membrane undergoes endocytosis into the subapical compartment of enterocytes. To understand the mechanisms of iron-induced endocytosis of DMT1, we used the yeast two-hybrid system to find proteins that interact with DMT1 and isolated from a rat duodenal cDNA library a protein

Malignant mesothelioma (MM), which is associated with asbestos exposure, is one of the most deadly tumors in humans. Early MM is concealed in the serosal cavities and lacks specific clinical symptoms. For better treatment, early detection and prognostic markers are necessary. Recently, CD146 and insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding protein 3 (IMP3) were reported as possible positive markers of MM to distinguish from reactive mesothelia in humans. However, their application on MM of differen

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is one of the most lethal tumors in humans. The onset of MM is linked to exposure to asbestos, which generates reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are believed to be derived from the frustrated phagocytosis and the iron in asbestos. To explore the pathogenesis of MM, peritoneal MM was induced in rats by the repeated intraperitoneal injection of iron saccharate and nitrilotriacetate. In the present study, we used microarray techniques to screen the microRNA (miR) expres

It is beneficial to seek scientific basis for the effects of functional foods. Natural pigments derived from plants are widely known as possible antioxidants. Black soybean contains a larger amount of anthocyanins than regular soybean. Here we studied the antioxidative effect of a beverage obtained via citric acid fermentation of black soybean (BBS), using a rat model of renal oxidative injury induced by a renal carcinogen, ferric nitrilotriacetate. BBS (10 ml/kg) was orally administered 30 min