Glioblastoma is one of the most fatal malignant tumors because of its invasiveness and radioresistance. Unfortunately photon irradiation and hypoxic condition are reported to enhance cancer cells' aggressiveness respectively. The purpose of this study is to clarify the effect of carbon ion beam on invasive potential of glioblastoma cells. Relative Biological Effectiveness of A172 cells measured by the dose for 1% survival fraction was 2.22. X-irradiation and hypoxic condition promoted invasion and migration of A172 and T98G cells respectively, while carbon ion beam suppressed both the two capabilities enhanced by hypoxia. GTP-RhoA (active form) was increased by 0.5 Gy of X-irradiation. On the other hand RhoA was inactivated by 1 and 4 Gy of carbon ion beam. Carbon ion beam irradiation suppressed glioblastoma cells' invasion and migration via inactivation of RhoA. Furthermore carbon ion beam also inhibited these abilities enhanced by hypoxia.

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We examined the neurological and pathological effects of moxibustion on body temperature in the rat by using in vivo physiological and pathological approaches. To mimic direct and indirect moxibustion, the forelimb skin of rats was stimulated by heat at 80 or 40°C. Heat at 40°C evoked rapid increases in rectal temperature and heart rate. Surgical and chemical sympathectomy antagonized these effects. In contrast, heat at 80°C evoked slow increases in rectal temperature and heart rate, as well as in blood tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6. Although the concentrations of these pyrogens increased significantly, surgical and chemical sympathectomy antagonized these effects. Collectively these data demonstrate that moxibustion may increase body core temperature mainly through sympathetic nerve stimulation, and that low-temperature stimulation is more effective than high-temperature treatment. Therefore, indirect moxibustion or moxibustion at low temperature is safer than direct moxibustion.

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Using a rotating wall vessel (RWV) bioreactor, which simulates a microgravity environment for cells, approximately 150 osteosarcoma MG63/collagen sponge composites (3 mmϕ x 3 mm) were three-dimensionally cultured simultaneously in a cylindrical vessel (250 ml) to produce the same number of cancer tissues of an equal size and quality. Then, these tissues were exposed to the anticancer drug doxorubicin, and dose dependence of the effect of this drug on the viability of the cells was examined compared with a conventional two-dimensional culture system. The dose-dependent effect on three-dimensional tissues was markedly different from the two-dimensional culture because of differences in the culture systems.

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The embryotoxicity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has been investigated using the embryonic stem cell test (EST) protocol. Embryoid bodies (EBs) were generated with the hanging drop culture of ES-D3 cells, followed by one-week culture in three-dimensionally cultured collagen gel with MWCNTs. The contraction of myocardia that differentiated in teratomas could be microscopically observed. However, the myocardial contraction rhythms were examined by image analysis, because they markedly varied. Without MWCNTs, the contraction rhythms of the myocardia were constant. Some teratomas showed peristalsis, suggesting differentiation into the gastrointestinal tract. However, MWCNTs mixture had no effect on the peristaltic rhythms. Conductive MWCNTs that contaminate the scaffolds may have electrical effects. This phenomenon should be further investigated because biological problems are a concern regarding MWCNTs.

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Silver metals have been used as chemical catalysis and antimicrobial agents. We examined the cytotoxicity of silver nanoparticles by using Paramecium cells. Our results indicate that silver nanoparticles continuously produce silver ions in water. The silver ions, in turn, cause serious cytotoxicity towards paramecia. We have identified three kinds of proteins; human serum albumin (HSA), bovine serum albumin (BSA) and casein (CA) as potent antidotes for silver ions. Our findings will provide a useful method for detoxification of silver ions not only for human health but also for water environments.

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In this study, we prepared a hydrophilic, choline-like room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), and investigated its use as an electroconductive pretreatment for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations of wet biological samples. Wet biological samples generally require pretreatment before SEM observation because of their properties. Conventional pretreatment methods consist of multiple tedious steps that take from several hours, to a day or more. In contrast, our pretreatment only requires the samples to be immersed in an RTIL. This gives the sample suitable electroconductivity for SEM analysis, which can then be carried outperformed rapidly. In addition, samples pretreated with RTILs can remain wet even in the vacuum chamber of SEM. This property allows morphological observation of wet biological samples in "a life-like manner" because our method avoids the chemical fixation, dehydrogation and drying processes required by conventional pretreatment. Moreover, some samples can be successfully visualized after pretreatment using RTILs without dilution. These results suggest that this method can allow simple and rapid conductive pretreatment of wet biological and insulating samples without optimizing their concentrations.

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