Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) integrates its proviruses into random sites in host chromosomal DNA. Random integration of the proviruses was observed in asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers and patients with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM/TSP). However, clonal integration has been reported in patients with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL), including that in the smoldering, chronic, and acute states, indicating clonal expansion of infected cells. In this study, we found that about 20% of HAM/TSP patients and their seropositive family members harbored subpopulation(s) of clonally proliferated cells infected with HTLV-1, although they still maintained randomly infected cells as a major population. These clones were stable during examination periods of 4 months to 3 years. However, these carriers or HAM/TSP patients did not show any significant indication of ATL. This extremely high frequency of clonal expansion of HTLV-1-infected cells indicates that some clones of HTLV-1-infected cells have a tendency to proliferate more efficiently than the other population without malignant transformation.
Since 1990s, micro-free-flow electrophoresis (µFFE) devices have been developed to allow for smaller sample volume and reagent consumption. To solve several technical problems involving the generation of electrolysis gas on the electrodes, most of the µFFE devices reported in the past were fabricated using elaborate micromachining process on silicon or glass substrates. However, high-cost micromachining processes were required and these were not suitable for mass production. In this paper, we report a polymer-based easy-to-fabricate µFFE device using a poly(methyl methacrylate-co-styrene), P(MMA-co-S), substrate and tetra-PEG gel for preventing the invasion of electrolysis gas into the separation chamber. In the separation experiment using a mixture of rhodamine B and sulforhodamine B, the resolution increased linearly with the increase of the applied voltages up to 50 V, whereas a deviation from the linear relation was observed above 50 V, which is possibly the Joule heating. These results indicate that this device could be applicable to separation of biological samples.
Low-density InAs quantum dots (QDs) with a large lateral size were grown on InP(001) by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy with a post-growth annealing process. A decrease in QD density with the amount of InAs deposited was shown by atomic force microscopy, and a density of 5×108 QDs/cm2 was obtained for 0.8 monolayer InAs deposition. Moreover, we found that the growth mechanism of QDs changed significantly depending on the amount of InAs deposited in the vicinity of critical thickness, even if the same annealing condition was applied. Near-field photoluminescence spectroscopy of single QDs demonstrated the high optical qualities of low-density QDs.
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