Time-resolved tunneling current measurement in the subpicosecond range was realized by ultrashort-pulse laser combined scanning tunneling microscopy, using the shaken-pulse-pair method. A low-temperature-grown GaN x As 1−x ͑x = 0.36% ͒ sample exhibited two ultrafast transient processes in the time-resolved tunnel current signal, whose lifetimes were determined to be 0.653± 0.025 and 55. Smaller and faster are the key words in the progress of current nanoscience and technology. Thus, for further advances, a method of exploring the ultrafast transient dynamics of the local quantum functions in organized small structures is eagerly desired. Ultrashort optical pulse technology in the near-infrared to ultraviolet region has allowed us to observe transient phenomena in the femtosecond range, the optical-monocycle region, 1,2 which, however, has a drawback of a relatively low spatial resolution due to electromagnetic wavelength. On the other hand, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), although its time resolution is limited by circuit bandwidth ͑ϳ100 kHz͒, enables us to observe spatial dynamics at the atomic level in real space. 3 Therefore, the integration of ultrashort optical technology with STM has been one of the most exciting goals since their invention. [4][5][6][7] Pioneering works were performed by Hamers et al., 4-7 which have attracted the extensive interest of researchers in various fields. However, there remain critical problems which have prevented the achievement of the laser-combined STM measurement, such as the displacement current due to the stray capacitance of the tunneling gap and photoelectrons produced by multiple photoabsorption. [4][5][6][7] In such cases, since a large area is included in the processes, the superior space resolution of STM cannot be utilized. In particular, the thermal expansion of the STM tip by photoillumination causes much large noise in the tunneling current, making the measurement difficult.Here, we show the results of the time-resolved tunneling current measurement in the subpicosecond range, which can advance the development of future research in terms of ultimate temporal and spatial resolutions.A schematic of the measurement system is shown in Fig. 1. We adopted the recently developed shaken-pulse-pairexcited STM (SPPX-STM) method, which realizes highly sensitive measurement free from the thermal expansion effect of the tip and sample. 8 The tunneling junction is directly illuminated by a sequence of laser pulse pairs and average tunneling current, I t ͑t d ͒, is measured as a function of the delay time between the two pulses, t d . To decrease broadband noise, the delay time of the two pulses t d is modulated with a small amplitude ⌬t d at frequency , and the tunneling current is detected by a lock-in amplifier. Since the tunneling current I t responds to the modulation as In the pulse-pair-excited STM measurement, the first laser pulse in each pulse pair acts as the pump pulse to excite and modulate the electronic structure of the sample surface, which might cause d...

Intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) oscillations seen in interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) are considered to be the primary pacemaker activity in the gut. Here, we show evidence that periodic Ca2+ release from intracellular Ca2+ stores produces [Ca2+]i oscillations in ICCs, using cell cluster preparations isolated from mouse ileum. The pacemaker [Ca2+]i oscillations in ICCs are preserved in the presence of dihydropyridine Ca2+ antagonists, which suppress Ca2+ activity in smooth muscle cells. However, applications of drugs affecting either ryanodine receptors or inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors terminated [Ca2+]i oscillations at relatively low concentrations. RT-PCR analyses revealed a predominant expression of type 3 RyR (RyR3) in isolated c-Kit-immunopositive cells (ICCs). Furthermore, we demonstrate that pacemaker-like global [Ca2+]i oscillation activity is endowed by introducing RyR3 into HEK293 cells, which originally express only IP3Rs. The reconstituted [Ca2+]i oscillations in HEK293 cells possess essentially the same pharmacological characteristics as seen in ICCs. The results support the functional role of RyR3 in ICCs.

SET domain genes have been identified in numbers of bacterial genomes based on similarity to SET domains of eukaryotic histone methyltransferases. Herein, a Chlamydophila pneumoniae SET domain gene was clarified to be coincidently expressed with hctA and hctB genes encoding chlamydial histone H1-like proteins, Hc1 and Hc2, respectively. The SET domain protein (cpnSET) is localized in chlamydial cells and interacts with Hc1 and Hc2 through the C-terminal SET domain. As expected from conservation of catalytic sites in cpnSET, it functions as a protein methyltransferase to murine histone H3 and Hc1. However, little is known about protein methylation in the molecular pathogenesis of chlamydial infection. cpnSET may play an important role in chlamydial cell maturation due to modification of chlamydial histone H1-like proteins. INTRODUCTIONChlamydophila pneumoniae is an obligatory intracellular eubacterium that causes acute respiratory diseases and may be involved in chronic inflammatory processes, such as atherosclerosis (Rosenfeld et al., 2000), asthma (Hahn et al., 1991) and Alzheimer's disease (Itzhaki et al., 2004). Persistence of chlamydial infection has been thought to be important for chronic diseases and has been characterized using model animals and activation stimuli such as cytokines and antibiotics (Beatty et al., 1993;Belland et al., 2003;Malinverni et al., 1995;Mehta et al., 1998). However, molecular-level relationships between chronic disease progression and persistent infection are not yet clear.Chlamydiae exhibit a unique life cycle in which they alternate morphologies between elementary bodies (EBs) and reticulate bodies (RBs). EBs are transcriptionally inactive electron-dense particles that are internalized into host cells by inducing phagocytosis. EB differentiation into RBs occurs with the development of phagosomes into inclusions. Transcriptionally active RBs multiply by binary fission with nutrients acquired from the host cell. At the end of the developmental cycle, RBs are converted into EBs and released from host cells for the next infection. Besides the developmental cycle, during persistent infection caused by exposure to interferon gamma (IFN-c) or antibiotics, RBs differentiate into aberrantly large and non-multiplying RBs (Belland et al., 2003). However, little is known about the switching mechanism whereby vegetative RBs convert into infectious EBs or aberrant RBs. Understanding this molecular system should be helpful for the prevention of persistent chlamydial infection.Two eukaryotic histone H1-like proteins of chlamydiae, Hc1 and Hc2, are present mainly in EBs, where those proteins bind DNA and promote genomic DNA condensation (Barry et al., 1992;Hackstadt et al., 1991;Perara et al., 1992;Tao et al., 1991). Recently a small regulatory RNA gene was identified as a suppressor of the lethal phenotype of hctA overexpression in Escherichia coli and it was shown to negatively regulate Hc1 synthesis at an early stage of infection (Grieshaber et al., 2006 HEp-2 cells (ATCC CCL-23) were used ...

The combination of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) with optical excitation using ultrashort laser pulses enables us, in principle, to simultaneously obtain ultimate spatial and temporal resolutions. We have developed the shaken-pulse-pair-excited STM (SPPX-STM) and succeeded in detecting a weak time-resolved tunnelling current signal from a low-temperature-grown GaNAs sample. To clarify the underlying physics in SPPX-STM measurements, we performed optical pump–probe reflectivity measurements with a wavelength-changeable ultrashort-pulse laser. By comparing the results obtained from the two methods with an analysis based on the nonlinear relationship between the photocarrier density and tunnelling current, we obtained a comprehensive explanation that the photocarrier dynamics is reflected in the SPPX-STM signal through the surface photovoltage effect.

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