Triggers of hair cell regeneration in the avian inner ear

We performed an in vitro study in order to determine possible triggers of hair cell regeneration in the chick basilar papilla following degeneration. We compared the response of sensory epithelium damaged by collagenase treatment with that damaged by acoustic trauma. The former exhibited no proliferative activity, but the latter did. The basilar papillae damaged by acoustic trauma could have proliferating activity in medium containing fetal bovine serum (FBS) or epidermal growth factor (EGF) but not in the medium without FBS or EGF. These findings indicate that regeneration of basilar papillae depends on the manner of cell death and that FBS or EGF is required for regeneration.     

Profiling of proteins phosphorylated or dephosphorylated during hyperactivation via activation on hamster spermatozoa

Background and Aims  It has been widely accepted that sperm hyperactivation is regulated by protein phosphorylations. But, the sperm hyperactivation phosphorylation pathway is not well understood yet because several different proteins have been detected in other studies. In order to understand the phosphorylation pathway that regulates hyperactivation, we established how to extract sperm protein completely and detected proteins that were phosphorylated during hyperactivation. Methods  Protein phosphorylation of hamster spermatozoa was detected by western blotting using antiphospho-amino acid monoclonal antibodies or the SELDI ProteinChip system with IMAC-Ga(III). Results  We detected 75 protein/peptide phosphoryations using the method established in the present study. Tyrosine phosphorylations occurred during hyperactivation. Serine or threonine phosphorylations occurred for 30 min. Furthermore, four of the serine or threonine phosphorations were phosphorylated by A-kinase. As for peptides, 15 peptides were dephosphorylated for 30 min. Other peptides were phosphorylated during hyperactivation. Conclusions  Because most of the proteins detected in the present study have been described previously, we could detect comprehensive protein phosphorylations. Moreover, we also detected many novel phosphopeptides. Although we did not understand the role of peptide, it was likely that motility was basically regulated by serine/threonine phosphorylations and hyperactivation was mainly regulated by tyrosine phosphorylations. (Reprod Med Biol 2006; 5: 123–135)     

Anesthetic management of MIDCAB in a patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

We experienced the anesthetic management of a minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) in a patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. A 55-year-old male had chest pain on effort and was diagnosed as having stenosis of the left coronary artery (#6). He was scheduled to undergo MIDCAB. Anesthesia was induced with midazolam 5 mg, fentanyl 300 micrograms, and vecuronium 10 mg and maintained with air-oxygen, propofol, and fentanyl (27 micrograms.kg-1). Diltiazem was continuously infused at a rate of 0.5-1.5 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 throughout the surgery. The hemodynamic parameters were maintained stable and paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia was not observed during the procedure. We conclude that the administration of propofol and a medium dose of fentanyl is useful for the anesthetic management of MIDCAB in patients with WPW syndrome and that intraoperative administration of diltiazem might be needed to avoid paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.