Summary
Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL) induces apoptosis in many transformed cells, but not in normal cells, and hence TRAIL has recently emerged as a novel anti‐cancer agent. Adult T‐cell leukaemia lymphoma (ATLL) is a neoplasm of T‐lymphocyte origin aetiologically associated with human T‐lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV‐I), and is resistant to standard anti‐cancer therapy. We thus characterized the sensitivity of ATLL cells to TRAIL in this study. Although most primary ATLL cells and cell lines expressed TRAIL death receptors on their surface, they showed only restricted sensitivity to TRAIL. Among the 10 ATLL cell lines examined, one was sensitive, but two had insufficient death‐receptor expression, two had an unknown resistant mechanism with abrogation of the death signal upstream of caspase‐8, and the remaining five showed attenuation of the signal in both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways by X‐linked inhibitor of apoptosis and Bcl‐2/Bcl‐xL respectively. Furthermore, the level of HTLV‐I tax expression was significantly correlated to TRAIL resistance. Interestingly, ATLL cells themselves expressed TRAIL on the cell surface. Constitutive production of TRAIL may offer resistance, thus allowing the development of TRAIL‐resistant ATLL cells. Consequently, the resistant mechanism in ATLL cells against TRAIL was assigned to multiple factors and was not explained by a definitive single agent.
A generalized theory that includes short-range elasticity, long-range elasticity, and flow effects is used to simulate and characterize the shear flow of liquid crystalline materials as a function of the Deborah (De) and Ericksen (Er) numbers in the presence of fixed planar director boundary conditions; the results are also interpreted as a function of the ratio R between short-range and long-range elasticity. The results are effectively summarized into rheological phase diagrams spanned by De and Er, and also by R and Er, where the stability region of four distinct flow regimes are indicated. The four regimes for planar (two-dimensional orientation) shear flow are (1) the elastic-driven steady state, (2) the composite tumbling-wagging periodic state, (3) the wagging periodic state, and (4) the viscous-driven steady state. The coexistence of the four regimes at a quacritical point is shown to be due to the emergence of a defect structure. The origin, the significant steady and dynamical features, and the transitions between these regimes are thoroughly characterized and analyzed. Quantitative and qualitative comparisons between the present complete model predictions and those obtained from the classical theories of nematodynamics (Leslie-Ericksen and Doi theories) are presented and the main physical mechanisms that drive the observed deviations between the predictions of these models are identified. The presented results fill the previously existing gap between the classical Leslie-Ericksen theory and the Doi theory, and present a unified description of nematodynamics.
Many species of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) possess vivid body colors. These colors and patterns show diversity between coccinellid species, or even within species. However, the molecular underpinnings of these striking body colors are scarcely understood. One of the candidate pigmentation molecules responsible for ladybird body color is ommochrome pigment, which is well known as the red pigment molecule responsible for the red eyes of Drosophila. Various insects also use ommochrome in body coloration. It is known that ommochrome pigment precursors are imported into appropriate cells by the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins White and Scarlet. Thus, these ABC transporter genes are potentially involved in various color and pattern expressions seen in ladybird beetle species. In this study, in order to identify the repertory of ABC transporter genes responsible for such body colors, we performed molecular characterization of pigment-related ABC transporter genes, especially white and scarlet, in the coccinellid Harmonia axyridis. By using whole genome data for H. axyridis and subsequent RACE-PCR, six white orthologs and one scarlet ortholog were successfully identified. According to the results of functional analyses via RNA interference (RNAi), only one of these genes had a major function in eye pigmentation. Specific effects on body color and pattern were not detected by our RNAi experiments of any of these genes. This is the first report of this striking duplication of white genes and their functional analyses in insects.
Abstract— Interest in the use of electrophoretic displays for smart handheld applications has grown tremendously over the past few years. Since the launch of the Philips and E Ink joint development effort in February 2001, material parameters, TFT backplane, electronic hardware and software and modulization skills have been developed to make this promising display concept into a real product. The first commercial launch of active‐matrix electronic‐ink display modules is planned for mid 2004.
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