Mamiko Asano

Spectrophotometric determination of hydrogen peroxide with osmium(VIII) and m-carboxyphenylfluorone.

Spectrophotometric determination of hydrogen peroxide was accomplished with osmium(VIII) and m-carboxyphenylfluorone (MCPF) in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC). In the determination of hydrogen peroxide based on the fading of the color of osmium(VIII)-MCPF complex, Beers law was obeyed in the range 20-406 ng mL(-1), with an effective molar absorption coefficient (at 580 nm) of 5.21×10(4) L mol(-1) cm(-1) and a relative standard deviation of 0.33% (n=6). Further, we performed the characterization of MCPF and obtained the crystal structure.

Bio-imaging of hydroxyl radicals in plant cells using the fluorescent molecular probe rhodamine B hydrazide, without any pretreatment.

Rhodamine B hydrazide can be used to detect hydroxyl radicals in plant cells. RBH was easily inserted into plant cells without any pretreatment, and specifically reacted with intracellular hydroxyl radicals produced by antimycin A. RBH will be a powerful tool for detecting hydroxyl radicals in plant cells.

Spectrophotometric determination of titanium with o-carboxyphenylfluorone in cationic micellar media, and its equilibrium and kinetic studies.

Spectrophotometric determination of titanium(IV) was accomplished with o-carboxyphenylfluorone (OCPF) in the presence of hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (HTAC) under strongly acidic media. In the determination of titanium(IV), Beers law was obeyed in the range of 24-340 ng mL(-1) with an effective molar absorption coefficient (at 530 nm) and relative standard deviation of 2.24 × 10(5)dm(3)mol(-1)cm(-1) and 0.64% (n=8), respectively. The severe interference of iron ions was easily eliminated by the addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA); the effects of other foreign substances were low. Equilibrium and kinetic studies under analytical conditions were investigated to quantitatively evaluate the reaction mechanism. The obtained orange complex is considered to be Ti(OCPF)(4). Its stability log K(f) and rate constant K(obs) are 16.88 and 1.65 × 10(-2)s(-1), respectively. It is suggested that the color of the complex is related to the species of OCPF in the solution.

Effects of Normothermic Conditioned Microwave Irradiation on Cultured Cells Using an Irradiation System with Semiconductor Oscillator and Thermo-regulatory Applicator

We investigated the effects of microwave irradiation under normothermic conditions on cultured cells. For this study, we developed an irradiation system constituted with semiconductor microwave oscillator (2.45 GHz) and thermos-regulatory applicator, which could irradiate microwaves at varied output powers to maintain the temperature of cultured cells at 37 °C. Seven out of eight types of cultured cells were killed by microwave irradiation, where four were not affected by thermal treatment at 42.5 °C. Since the dielectric properties such as ε’, ε” and tanδ showed similar values at 2.45 GHz among cell types and media, the degree of microwave energy absorbed by cells might be almost the same among cell types. Thus, the vulnerability of cells to microwave irradiation might be different among cell types. In HL-60 cells, which were the most sensitive to microwave irradiation, the viability decreased as irradiation time and irradiation output increased; accordingly, the decrease in viability was correlated to an increase in total joule. However, when a high or low amount of joules per minute was supplied, the correlation between cellular viability and total joules became relatively weak. It is hypothesized that kinds of cancer cells are efficiently killed by respective specific output of microwave under normothermic cellular conditions.

Normothermic Microwave Irradiation Induces Death of HL-60 Cells through Heat-Independent Apoptosis

Microwaves have been used in various cancer therapies to generate heat and increase tumor cell temperature; however, their use is limited by their side-effects in normal cells and the acquisition of heat resistance. We previously developed a microwave irradiation method that kills cultured cancer cells, including a human promyelomonocytic leukemia (HL-60) cell line, by maintaining a cellular temperature of 37 °C during treatment. In the present study, we investigated the mechanisms underlying HL-60 cell death during this treatment. The microwave-irradiated HL-60 cells appear to undergo caspase-independent apoptosis, whereby DNA fragmentation was induced by mitochondrial dysfunction-related expression of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF). Caspase-dependent apoptosis was also interrupted by the loss of apoptotic protease-activating factor 1 (Apaf-1) and caspase 9. Moreover, these cells did not exhibit a heat-stress response, as shown by the lack of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) upregulation. Alternatively, in HL-60 cells heated at 42.5 °C, HSP70 expression was upregulated and a pathway resembling death receptor-induced apoptosis was activated while mitochondrial function was maintained. Collectively, these results suggest that the cell death pathway activated by our 37 °C microwave irradiation method differs from that induced during other heating methods and support the use of normothermic microwave irradiation in clinical cancer treatments.

Author Correction: Normothermic Microwave Irradiation Induces Death of HL-60 Cells through Heat-Independent Apoptosis

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.