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Surface Area Available (surface + area_available)

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Life Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Changes in capillary luminal diameter in rat soleus muscle after hind-limb suspension

ACTA PHYSIOLOGICA, Issue 4 2000
Kano
This study examined the time course change of the capillary luminal diameter and the number of capillaries in the rat soleus muscle during hind-limb suspension. Male Wistar rats were divided into 1 and 3 weeks of hind-limb suspension (HS) groups (HS-1 and HS-3). The HS groups were compared with age-matched control groups. All morphometric parameters with respect to capillary and muscle fibre cross-sectional area were determined in perfusion-fixed soleus muscles. After 1 and 3 weeks of hind-limb suspension, the mean muscle fibre cross-sectional area was significantly decreased in HS-1 (,32.0%) and HS-3 (,59.3%) compared with age-matched control groups. Despite a lower capillary-to-fibre ratio (HS-1, ,19.3%; HS-3, ,21.2%), the capillary density was unchanged in HS-1 and significantly increased in HS-3 compared with age-matched control groups. The mean capillary luminal diameter was significantly smaller in HS-1 (,19.9%) and HS-3 (,21.9%) than in the age-matched control groups. The capillary-to-fibre perimeter ratio which indicates the capillary surface area available for gas exchange between blood and tissue did not significantly differ between control groups and HS groups. In conclusion, the morphometrical adaptations in rat soleus with the suspension involved changes in both the capillary luminal diameter and number of capillaries, and the change in capillary surface area was proportional to the degree of muscle atrophy in HS groups. [source]

Integrated selective enrichment target , a microtechnology platform for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry applied on protein biomarkers in prostate diseases

ELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 21-22 2004
Simon Ekström
Abstract The performance of a miniaturized sample processing platform for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), manufactured by silicon microfabrication, called integrated selective enrichment target (ISET) technology was evaluated in a biological context. The ISET serves as both sample treatment device and MALDI-MS target, and contains an array of 96 perforated nanovials, which each can be filled with 40 nL of reversed-phase beads. This methodology minimizes the number of sample transfers and the total surface area available for undesired adsorption of the analytes in order to provide high-sensitivity analysis. ISET technology was successfully applied for characterization of proteins coisolated by affinity chromatography of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) from human seminal fluid. The application of ISET sample preparation enabled multiple analyses to be performed on a limited sample volume, which resulted in the discovery that prolactin inducible protein (PIP) was coisolated from the samples. [source]

Benzo[a]pyrene bioavailability from pristine soil and contaminated sediment assessed using two in vitro models

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2007
Luba Vasiluk
Abstract A major route of exposure to hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs), such as benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), is ingestion. Matrix-bound HOCs may become bioavailable after mobilization by the gastrointestinal fluids followed by sorption to the intestinal epithelium. The purpose of this research was to measure the bioavailability of [14C]-BaP bound to pristine soils or field-contaminated sediment using an in vitro model of gastrointestinal digestion followed by sorption to human enterocytes (Caco-2 cells) or to a surrogate membrane, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) thin film. Although Caco-2 cells had a twofold higher lipid-normalized fugacity capacity than EVA, [14C]-BaP uptake by Caco-2 lipids and EVA thin film demonstrated a linear relationship within the range of BaP concentrations tested. These results suggest that EVA thin film is a good membrane surrogate for passive uptake of BaP. The in vitro system provided enough sensitivity to detect matrix effects on bioavailability; after 5 h, significantly lower concentrations of [14C]-BaP were sorbed into Caco-2 cells from soil containing a higher percentage of organic matter compared to soil with a lower percentage of organic matter. The [14C]-BaP desorption rate from Caco-2 lipids consistently was twofold higher than from EVA thin film for all matrices tested. The more rapid kinetics observed with Caco-2 cells probably were due to the greater surface area available for absorption/desorption in the cells. After 5 h, the uptake of BaP into Caco-2 lipid was similar in live and metabolically inert Caco-2 cells, suggesting that the primary route of BaP uptake is by passive diffusion. Moreover, the driving force for uptake is the fugacity gradient that exists between the gastrointestinal fluid and the membrane. [source]

Disproportional effects of Igf2 knockout on placental morphology and diffusional exchange characteristics in the mouse

THE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 20 2008
P. M. Coan
Both complete knockout of the Igf2 gene (Igf2null+/,) and knockout of its placental specific transcript alone (Igf2P0+/,) lead to fetal growth restriction in mice. However, in the Igf2null+/, this growth restriction occurs concurrently in gestation with placental growth restriction, whereas, placental growth restriction precedes fetal growth restriction in the Igf2P0+/, mouse. Previous studies have shown that the Igf2P0+/, placenta has proportionate reductions in its cellular compartments and its diffusional exchange characteristics. Yet, nothing is known about the structural development or diffusional exchange characteristics of the Igf2null+/, mouse. Hence, this study compares the structural properties (using stereology) and diffusional exchange characteristics (using measurement of permeability,surface area product, P.S, of three inert hydrophilic tracers) of the Igf2null+/, and the Igf2P0+/, placenta to identify the role of Igf2 in the development of the labyrinthine exchange membrane and its functional consequences. Our data show disproportionate effects of complete Igf2 ablation on the compartments of the placenta, not seen when the placental-specific transcript alone is deleted. Furthermore, although the theoretical diffusing capacity (calculated from the stereological data) of the Igf2null+/, placenta was reduced relative to control, there was no effect of the complete knockout on permeability surface area available for small hydrophilic tracers. This is in contrast to the Igf2P0+/, placenta, where theoretical diffusion capacity and P.S values were reduced similarly. Total ablation of the Igf2 gene from the fetoplacental unit in the mouse therefore results in a disproportionate growth of placental compartments whereas, deleting the placental specific transcript of Igf2 alone results in proportional placental growth restriction. Thus, placental phenotype depends on the degree of Igf2 gene ablation and the interplay between placental and fetal Igf2 in the mouse. [source]