Magnetic separation of target cells from mixtures, such as peripheral blood and bone marrow, has considerable practical potential in research and medical applications. Among the current cell separation techniques, magnetic cell separation using immunomagnetic particles has been routinely applied and has proven rapidness and simplicity. Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 synthesizes intracellular nano-sized bacterial magnetic particles (BacMPs) that are individually enveloped by a stable lipid bilayer membrane. BacMPs, which exhibit strong ferrimagnetism, can be collected easily with commercially available permanent magnets. In this study, a novel magnetic nanoparticle displaying protein G (protein G-BacMPs) was fabricated, and one-step cell separation for direct cell separation from whole blood was performed using the protein G-BacMPs. B lymphocytes (CD20+ cells), which cover less than 0.3×10−2 % of whole blood cells, were separated with 93% purity using protein G-BacMPs binding with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies. The results of this study demonstrate the utility of protein G-BacMPs and the magnetic cell separation approach based on protein G-BacMPs in numerous applications.

Biotinylated magnetic nanoparticles were constructed by displaying biotin acceptor peptide (BAP) on the surfaces of bacterial magnetic particles (BacMPs) synthesized by Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1. Both BAP and green fluorescent protein (GFP) were fused to Mms13 that was isolated from BacMP membranes. The localization of the fusion protein, BAP-Mms13-GFP, was confirmed by fluorescence analysis. BacMPs that expressed BAP-Mms13-GFP (BAP/GFP-BacMPs) were extracted from bacterial cells and incubated with biotin and Escherichia coli biotin ligase. The in vitro biotinylation of BAP/GFP-BacMPs was confirmed using alkaline phosphatase (ALP)-streptavidin detection. The conjugation system developed in this study provides a method for producing biotin- or streptavidin-labeled magnetic nanoparticles without the use of a crosslinker reagent. Various functional materials can be immobilized site-selectively onto these uniquely designed BacMPs. By combining this site-selective biotinylation technology and protein display methodology, increasingly innovative and attractive magnetic nano-materials can be constructed.

Temperature dependency of the dielectric property of c-axis-oriented SrBi4Ti4O15 films was investigated in a temperature range from 80 to 400 K. c-axis-oriented epitaxial films with the film thickness of 30 and 140 nm were grown on (100)cSrRuO3//(100)SrTiO3 substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Increasing lattice distortions along the a- and c-axes with decreasing film thickness was ascertained by XRD reciprocal space mapping. However, capacitance change normalized by the capacitance data at 300 K for with temperature was independent of the film thickness; it increased from 80 to 230 K and contrary decreased with increasing the temperature. Especially, the temperature coefficient of capacitance from 230 to 330 K was almost the same. It indicates that dielectric characteristics of these films for the temperature are independent of the film thickness in the actual use. Moreover, the same mesurement for the 120 nm-thick fiber-textured c-axis-oriented SrBi4Ti4O15 film deposited on the (100)cLaNiO3/(111)Pt/TiO2/SiO2/(100)Si substrate was also investigated. Resultant capacitance change with the temperature was basically the same with that of the epitaxial one, even though the temperature at maximum capacitance value was slightly shifted to lower temperature of 200 K. These data suggest that of capacitance change with the temperature was almost independent of the film thickness and the in-plane orientation.

L12 modified titanium trialuminides have been prepared by replacing 9at.% of the aluminum in Al3Ti with chromium and/or iron. The materials were recrystallized into single phase polycrystals after isothermal forging resulting in an average grain diameter of about 40μm. Lattice parameter of the material containing 9 at.% chromium or 9 at.% iron, are 0.3959nm and 0.3939nm, respectively. The lattice parameters varied linearly with composition between these values for additions of both chromium and iron. Uniaxial compression tests were performed at temperatures ranging from 293K to 1300K. The yield strength is not sensitive to chemical composition within the range of compositions tested. Flow stress serrations of a few % were observed at temperatures around 600K, where intermittent drops in flow stress started immediately after yielding and continued to the end. These serrations were observed up to about 800K. At 900K and above the materials became fully deformable. Quasi steady state flow and strain softening were observed at 1200K and 1300K, respectively, due to dynamic recrystallization.

Effects of dietary protein restriction and ovariectomy on plasma concentrations and hepatic messenger RNA (mRNA) of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBP) were investigated in young female rats. Ovariectomy increased plasma IGF-I concentration in rats fed on either a 50 g casein/kg diet (protein-restricted diet) or a 200 g casein/kg diet (control diet), but it increased IGF-I mRNA in liver only in the rats fed on the control diet. On the other hand, by Western ligand blot analysis, we observed that ovariectomy increased plasma IGFBP-3 concentration, and decreased plasma IGFBP-4 concentration. Ovariectomy did not affect IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 mRNA in liver, but dietary protein restriction significantly increased them, which may correspond to their plasma concentrations. The present results show that ovarian hormones and dietary protein content affect the plasma concentrations of IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-4 and hepatic mRNA of IGF-I, IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-4 in different manners.

It has been reported that loss of ovarian oestrogen after menopause or by ovariectomy causes osteoporosis. In order to elucidate the effect of dietary protein restriction on bone metabolism after ovariectomy, we fed ovariectomized young female rats on a casein-based diet (50g/kg diet (protein restriction) or 200g/kg diet (control)) for 3 weeks and measured mRNA contents of bone-matrix proteins such as osteocalcin, osteopontin and α1 type I collagen, insulin-like growth factors (IGF) and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP) in femur. Ovariectomy decreased the weight of fat-free dry bone and increased urinary excretion of pyridinium cross-links significantly, although dietary protein restriction did not affect them. Neither ovariectomy nor protein restriction affected the content of mRNA of osteopontin and osteocalcin; however, ovariectomy increased and protein restriction extensively decreased the α1 type I collagen mRNA content in bone tissues. Ovariectomy increased IGF-I mRNA only in the rats fed on the control diet. Conversely, protein rest riction increased and ovariectomy decreased the IGF-II mRNA content in femur. Furthermore, the contents of IGFBP-2, IGFBP-4 and IGFBP-5 mRNA increased, but the content of IGFBP-3 mRNA decreased in femur of the rats fed on the protein-restricted diet. In particular, ovariectomy decreased the IGFBP-2 mRNA content in the protein-restricted rats and the IGFBP-6 mRNA content in the rats fed on the control diet. These results clearly show that the mRNA for some of the proteins which have been shown to be involved in bone formation are regulated by both quantity of dietary proteins and ovarian hormones.

The alloying effect of vanadium upon σ-phase titanium trialuminide has been investigated using materials whose compositions were of the type Al3(Ti,V). Six types of ternary aluminum-titanium-vanadium alloys, ranging from Al3Ti to Al3V at 5 atomic % intervals, have been prepared by arc melting. All the materials showed the D022 tetragonal structure, suggesting vanadium atoms substitute titanium atoms. The 0.2% proof stress increased with increasing vanadium content up to about 10 atomic %, and then decreased toward that of Al3V both at room temperature and at elevated temperatures. Such behavior can be interpreted as substitutional solid solution strengthening.

Two types of aluminum–titanium–iron–vanadium ( Al–Ti–Fe–V ) quarternary intermetallic compounds have been prepared by arc melting under argon atmosphere. Their compositions were nominally Al66Ti25Fe6V3 and Al66Ti25Fe3V6. These alloys are based on the iron–modified titanium trialuminide with L12 cubic structure. Vanadium addition up to about 6 mol% did not destroy the cubic symmetry, and L12 solid solution compounds were produced in these two Al–Ti–Fe–V quarternary alloys. Microstructure and mechanical properties have been investigated. It has been demonstrated that vanadium addition to iron–modified L12 titanium trialuminides can enhance their strength.

Effect of quantity and nutritional quality of dietary proteins on the content of mRNA of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) was studied in rat liver and kidney. IGFBP-1 mRNA content per unit RNA increased in liver and kidney of rats fed on a protein-free diet and in those of fasted rats compared with that in the rats fed on a casein diet. When rats were given a gluten diet for 7 d, IGFBP-1 mRNA content in liver did not change significantly but that in kidney increased considerably compared with that in those organs of the rats fed on the casein diet. Because IGFBP-1 mRNA has been demonstrated both in liver parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells (Takenaka et al. 1991), the effect of the protein-free diet on these two types of cells has been studied. An increase in IGFBP-1 mRNA content under protein deprivation was observed in both liver parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells, suggesting that these two types of cells are regulated in a similar mode as far as IGFBP-1 mRNA content is concerned. The physiological and nutritional significance of the previously stated results on protein anabolism are discussed when considered together with our previous observations on the plasma concentrations of IGF-1 (Takahashi et al. 1990) and IGFBP (Umezawa et al. 1991) and insulin-like growth factor-1 mRNA content in liver (Miura et al. 1991).

Two types of aluminum-titanium-vanadium ternary intermetallic compounds have been prepared by arc melting under argon atmosphere. Their compositions were nominally AI65Ti25V10 and Al57 Ti 22V21; the numbers represent the molar fractions in mol%. These two alloys stand within the gamma-phase field where the L10 face-centered tetragonal structure is produced. Metallographic structure and mechanical properties have been investigated. It is suggested that vanadium addition to titanium aluminides and titanium trialuminides can enhance their strength.