ABSTRACT
The fabrication of low-voltage flexible organic thin film transistors using zirconia (ZrO(2)) dielectric layers prepared via supercritical fluid deposition was studied. Continuous, single-phase films of approximately 30 nm thick ZrO(2) were grown on polyimide (PI)/aluminum (Al) substrates at 250 °C via hydrolysis of tetrakis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptane-dionato) zirconium in supercritical carbon dioxide. This dielectric layer showed a high areal capacitance of 317 nF cm(-2) at 1 kHz and a low leakage current of 1.8 × 10(-6) A cm(-2) at an applied voltage of -3 V. By using poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as a semiconductor, we have fabricated flexible thin film transistors operating at V(DS) = -0.5 V and V(G) in a range from 0.5 V to -4 V, with on/off ratios on the order of 1 × 10(3) and mobility values higher than 0.1 cm(2)/(V s).
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Identification of the presence and drug resistance of Mycobacterium leprae is key to the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy in non-endemic country like Korea. The aim of this study was to screen the drug target DNA such as folP, rpoB, gyr, and 23S rRNA of drug resistance strain of M. leprae. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sequences of those genes were analyzed for the 104 bacterial index positive cases out of 171 leprosy patients in Korea using touchdown PCR, single stranded conformational polymorphism. RESULTS: Twenty (19.2%) cases have shown the mutations in folP gene of dapsone-resistant M. leprae in which three (2.89%) cases were mutations in two genes, folP and rpoB, of multidrugs resistant strains to dapsone and rifampin, and two (1.92%) cases in folP and gyr genes of resistance to dapsone and oflaxacin, respectively. Besides double mutation for folP gene was one case (0.96%) and for rpoB gene one case, respectively. There was no mutant isolates in 23S rRNA gene against clarithromycin. CONCLUSIONS: This result should leads to a better understanding of the status of multidrug resistant leprosy in Korea and may assist in the rapid diagnosis of drug resistant M. leprae and the choice of the appropriate treatment regimens.
Subject(s)
Bacterial Proteins/genetics , Drug Resistance, Bacterial/genetics , Leprostatic Agents/pharmacology , Leprosy/microbiology , Mutation , Mycobacterium leprae/drug effects , Adult , Animals , Female , Humans , Korea , Leprostatic Agents/therapeutic use , Leprosy/drug therapy , Male , Mice , Mice, Nude , Middle Aged , Mycobacterium leprae/genetics , Mycobacterium leprae/isolation & purification , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) is a key mediator of the immune response to mycobacterial infections, and mutations in TLR2 have been shown to confer susceptibility to infection with mycobacteria. This study investigated the profiles of cytokines, such as interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-10, IL-12 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in response to Mycobacterium leprae in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with the TLR2 mutation Arg677Trp, a recently reported polymorphism that is associated with lepromatous leprosy. In leprosy patients with the TLR2 mutation, production of IL-2, IL-12, IFN-gamma, and TNF-alpha by M. leprae-stimulated PBMC were significantly decreased compared with that in groups with wild-type TLR2. However, the cells from patients with the TLR2 mutation showed significantly increased production of IL-10. There was no significant difference in IL-4 production between the mutant and wild-type during stimulation. Thus, these results suggest that the TLR2 signal pathway plays a critical role in the alteration of cytokine profiles in PBMC from leprosy patients and the TLR2 mutation Arg677Trp provides a mechanism for the poor cellular immune response associated with lepromatous leprosy.
Subject(s)
Interleukin-10/biosynthesis , Interleukin-12/biosynthesis , Leprosy/immunology , Membrane Glycoproteins/genetics , Point Mutation , Receptors, Cell Surface/genetics , Adult , Aged , Animals , Base Sequence , Female , Humans , Leprosy/genetics , Leukocytes, Mononuclear/immunology , Male , Membrane Glycoproteins/metabolism , Mice , Mice, Nude , Middle Aged , Molecular Sequence Data , Receptors, Cell Surface/metabolism , Toll-Like Receptor 2 , Toll-Like Receptors , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/biosynthesisABSTRACT
Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) is a key mediator of the immune response to mycobacterial infections, and mutations in TLR2 have been shown to confer susceptibility to infection with mycobacteria. This study investigated the profiles of cytokines, such as interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-10, IL-12 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in response to Mycobacterium leprae in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with the TLR2 mutation Arg677Trp, a recently reported polymorphism that is associated with lepromatous leprosy. In leprosy patients with the TLR2 mutation, production of IL-2, IL-12, IFN-gamma, and TNF-alpha by M. leprae-stimulated PBMC were significantly decreased compared with that in groups with wild-type TLR2. However, the cells from patients with the TLR2 mutation showed significantly increased production of IL-10. There was no significant difference in IL-4 production between the mutant and wild-type during stimulation. Thus, these results suggest that the TLR2 signal pathway plays a critical role in the alteration of cytokine profiles in PBMC from leprosy patients and the TLR2 mutation Arg677Trp provides a mechanism for the poor cellular immune response associated with lepromatous leprosy.
