PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN BLOOD MONOCYTE SUBPOPULATIONS IN PSORIASIS AND ATOPIC DERMATITIS: EVIDENCE FOR DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF SURFACE MOLECULES

Peripheral blood monocytes seem to be of importance for the initiation and maintenance of the psoriatic tissue reaction. Hyperproliferation of monocytopoiesis as well as functional abnormalities of monocytes in psotiasis have previously been described. We sought to determine whether peripheral blood monocyte subpopulations from patients with psoriasis show altered phentypes. and how the altered

DYNAMIC ASPECT OF THE INTERACTION OF DIATOMIC MOLECULES WITH METAL SURFACES

The dynamics of the scattering processes of diatomic molecules from metal surfaces has been studied with different theoretical approaches. Modified LEPS (London-Eyring-Polanyi-Sato) potential surfaces for several diatomie molecule-surface systems have been constructed and examined for the dynamic study. The surfaces are treated as rigid but corrugated. The potential parameters are adjusted to produce reliable potential hypersurfaces. Molecular dissociation, diffraction, adsorption and consequent desorption in the scattering processes have been observed through quasiclassieal trajectory calculations. The significance of the effective corrugation of the potential surfaces has been evaluated in calculating the dissociation and adsorption probabilities. Vibration-rotation-translation energy transfer in the inelastic scattering is investigated to understand the mechanism of selective adsorptions mediated through vibrational or rotational degrees of freedom. We have carried out quantum mechanical calculations to obtain the rotational and vibrational transition probabilities. Relative importance of rotational and vibrational transitions for each adsorbed state with respect to incidence energy has been carefully examined to determine the dominant factor which causes the adsorbed state. The results show that vibration mediation is an essential factor to the selective adsorption especially in the ease of higher incidence energies.

Simulation of the interaction of methane,carbon dioxide and coal

Gas adsorption has an important influence on gas flow in a coal body.Research on the characteristics of coal and gas adsorption is the theoretical basis for studying gas flow in coal.In this paper,the interaction between methane,carbon dioxide and surface molecules of anthracite was simulated using the quantum chemistry method.Adsorption energy and adsorption configurations of different quantities of gas molecules absorbed on the coal surface were calculated.The results show that adsorption between coal and the two kinds of gas molecules is a physical adsorption process and there is an optimal configuration.Gas molecules are more easily adsorbed in the hydroxyl-containing side chain,while it is difficult for them to be adsorbed at the position of the benzene ring.Besides,carbon dioxide molecules are more readily adsorbed on the coal surface than methane molecules.The findings have an important significance in revealing the nature of gas adsorption in coal.

Time development of surface enhanced Raman intensities of the adsorbed pyrazine molecules on the silver electrode as the applied voltage varies

In this work,the time development of surface enhanced Raman intensities of the vibrational modes involving the ring skeleton and the C—H motions of the pyrazine molecule as the applied voltage on the silver electrode is shifted between -0.2 V and -0.5 V (vs.saturated calomel electrode)is reported.The observation shows that there are two processes of enhancement involved during this shift of applied voltage.One is vibrational mode dependent while the other is not.The detailed behavior of these two processes of enhancement is discussed along with the retarded response of the Helmholtz double layer structure to the change of the applied voltage on the electrode.

High affinity soluble ILT2 receptor:a potent inhibitor of CD8^(+)T cell activation

Using directed mutagenesis and phage display on a soluble fragment of the human immunoglobulin superfamily receptor ILT2(synonyms:LIR1,MIR7,CD85j),we have selected a range of mutants with binding affinities enhanced by up to 168,000-fold towards the conserved region of major histocompatibility complex(MHC)class I molecules.Produced in a dimeric form,either by chemical cross-linking with bivalent polyethylene glycol(PEG)derivatives or as a genetic fusion with human IgG Fc-fragment,the mutants exhibited a further increase in ligand-binding strength due to the avidity effect,with resident half-times(t1/2)on the surface of MHC I-positive cells of many hours.The novel compounds antagonized the interaction of CD8 co-receptor with MHC I in vitro without affecting the peptide-specific binding of T-cell receptors(TCRs).In both cytokine-release assays and cell-killing experiments the engineered receptors inhibited the activation of CD8^(+)cytotoxic T lymphocytes(CTLs)in the presence of their target cells,with subnanomolar potency and in a dose-dependent manner.As a selective inhibitor of CD8^(+)CTL responses,the engineered high affinity ILT2 receptor presents a new tool for studying the activation mechanism of different subsets of CTLs and could have potential for the development of novel autoimmunity therapies.