Patterns of cervical metastasis from carcinoma of the oral tongue

Background  

Cancer of the oral tongue is the second most common cancer among males in various parts of India. Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment the failure rates in cancer of the oral tongue are high and survival poor. Majority of these failures occur in untreated neck.     

TLR2 modulates inflammation in zymosan-induced arthritis in mice

The interplay between the innate and acquired immune systems in chronic inflammation is not well documented. We have investigated the mechanisms of inflammation in murine zymosan-induced arthritis (ZIA) in the light of recent data on the roles of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and Dectin-1 in the activation of monocyte/macrophages by zymosan. The severity of inflammation, joint histology, lymphocyte proliferation and antibody production in response to zymosan were analyzed in mice deficient in TLR2 and complement C3, and the effects of Dectin-1 inhibition by laminarin were studied. In comparison with wild-type animals, TLR2-deficient mice showed a significant decrease in the early (day 1) and late phases (day 24) of joint inflammation. C3-deficient mice showed no differences in technetium uptake or histological scoring. TLR2-deficient mice also showed a significant decrease in lymph node cell proliferation in response to zymosan and a lower IgG antibody response to zymosan at day 25 in comparison with wild-type controls, indicating that TLR2 signalling has a role in the development of acquired immune responses to zymosan. Although laminarin, a soluble β-glucan, was able to significantly inhibit zymosan uptake by macrophages in vitro, it had no effect on ZIA in vivo. These results show that ZIA is more prolonged than was originally described and involves both the innate and acquired immune pathways. C3 does not seem to have a major role in this model of joint inflammation.     

Richness and Density of Birds in Timber <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nothofagus pumilio</Emphasis> Forests and their Unproductive Associated Environments

Research on forest management impact focuses mainly on timber stands, and leaves out the unproductive forest environments. These stands are spatially mixed with timber forests. The objective was to evaluate richness and density of birds in timber Nothofagus pumilio forests and their unproductive associated environments, and discuss forest management implications. These stands showed significant differences in their forest structure, which generate a great variety of ecological environments. A total of 1881 individuals belonging to 30 bird species were observed during the sampling, in spring and summer seasons. These species were mainly migratory and insectivores, Passeriforms being the most important group. From 12 to 17 birds/ha were found, which varied with the forest environments and seasons. Timber stands of Nothofagus pumilio support a low number of bird species. Most of them are opportunistic and a few prefer these woods over other forested or afforested areas. Low bird density and richness characterize these austral forests, which share their diversity with a high variety of ecosystems along Patagonia. Timber N. pumilio forests has a marginal value for bird species conservation, considering its richness, density and the percentage of this forest in the total forested landscape of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina).     

Structural Genomics of Eukaryotic Targets at a Laboratory Scale

Structural genomics programs are distributed worldwide and funded by large institutions such as the NIH in United-States, the RIKEN in Japan or the European Commission through the SPINE network in Europe. Such initiatives, essentially managed by large consortia, led to technology and method developments at the different steps required to produce biological samples compatible with structural studies. Besides specific applications, method developments resulted mainly upon miniaturization and parallelization. The challenge that academic laboratories faces to pursue structural genomics programs is to produce, at a higher rate, protein samples. The Structural Biology and Genomics Department (IGBMC – Illkirch – France) is implicated in a structural genomics program of high eukaryotes whose goal is solving crystal structures of proteins and their complexes (including large complexes) related to human health and biotechnology. To achieve such a challenging goal, the Department has established a medium-throughput pipeline for producing protein samples suitable for structural biology studies. Here, we describe the setting up of our initiative from cloning to crystallization and we demonstrate that structural genomics may be manageable by academic laboratories by strategic investments in robotic and by adapting classical bench protocols and new developments, in particular in the field of protein expression, to parallelization.     

Year-round testicular volume and semen quality evaluations in captive Chinchilla lanigera

In mammals, reproductive performance is usually associated with seasons. Chinchilla lanigera, an endemic South American rodent, reproduces throughout the year in captivity but its seasonal breeding pattern is not fully understood. The present study was designed to evaluate (bi-weekly) over 1 year: (1) testicular volume variations and (2) seminal volume, sperm concentration and functional activity changes. Five animals were studied; they were individually housed indoors (22.2 +/- 1.0 degrees C) under natural photoperiod in Argentina (Córdoba, 31 degrees S-64 degrees W). Semen was obtained by electroejaculation; a total of 116 ejaculates was evaluated. Monthly values for paired testicular volume were less in the middle of the summer than in other seasons (p < 0.006), while those for seminal volume and total spermatozoa/ejaculate were not significantly different; these variables ranged between 7.2-30.9 cm(3), 10-130 microL and 0.9-432.6 x 10(6), respectively. Spermatozoa concentration was (x 10(6)/mL) 2145.9 +/- 365.3 and the pH of semen was 7.3 +/- 0.0. Spermatozoa functional activity showed no significant differences between monthly evaluations; confidence intervals were calculated for the means of: motility, 92.2-95.8%; viability, 92.2-96.1%; swollen cells (hypo-osmotic swelling test), 81.2-87.7% and viable intact acrosome, 83.5-89.0%. The present study represents the first longitudinal reproductive assessment in the chinchilla male. In conclusion, males produce spermatozoa continuously that exhibit high quality functional activity.     

Transposable elements,genes and recombination in a 215-kb contig from wheat chromosome 5A(m)

Sequencing of a contiguous 215-kb interval of Triticum monococcum showed the presence of five genes in the same order as in previously sequenced colinear barley and rice BACs. Gene 2 was in the same orientation in wheat and rice but inverted in barley. Gene density in this region was 1 gene per 43 kb and the ratio of physical to genetic distance was estimated to be 2,700 kb cM^–1. Twenty more-or-less intact retrotransposons were found in the intergenic regions, covering at least 70% of the sequenced region. The insertion times of 11 retrotransposons were less than 5 million years ago and were consistent with their nested structure. Five new families of retroelements and the first full-length elements for two additional retrotransposon families were discovered in this region. Significantly higher values of GC content were observed for Triticeae BACs compared with rice BACs. Relative enrichment or depletion of certain dinucleotides was observed in the comparison of introns, exons and retrotransposons. A higher proportion of transitions in CG and CNG sites that are targets for cytosine methylation was observed in retrotransposons (76%) than in introns (37%). These results showed that the wheat genome is a complex mixture of different sequence elements, but with general patterns of content and interspersion that are similar to those seen in maize and barley. Electronic Publication     

Intercontinental distribution of Plagiochila corrugata (Plagiochilaceae, Hepaticae) inferred from nrDNA ITS sequences and morphology

Plagiochila sect. Vagae is a large pantropical clade that is characterized morphologically by frequent terminal branching, vegetative distribution by propagules on the ventral surface of the leaves and a capsule wall with thickenings in all layers. Plagiochila corrugata from Brazil is characterized by strongly undulate, toothed leaf margins and represents the only known neotropical species of sect. Vagae with unispiral elaters. Plagiochila cambuena from Madagascar is distinguished by the same features. Maximum likelihood and parsimony analyses of 38 nrDNA ITS sequences of Plagiochila reveal P. corrugata and P. cambuena in a weakly (ML) to well (MP) supported monophyletic lineage within P.  sect.  Vagae . As an outcome of the morphological and molecular investigation, P. cambuena is relegated to the synonymy of P. corrugata. Plagiochila corrugata is placed in a Vagae -subclade with 11 further American species. The range of P. corrugata can be ascribed to long-range dispersal from the Neotropics rather than a Gondwanan distribution. Species from tropical Asia and Africa are placed at the base of the Vagae clade. Branch length within P.  sect.  Vagae points to a sudden radiation.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 146 , 469–481.     

Interaction of vasculotropin/vascular endothelial cell growth factor with human umbilical vein endothelial cells: Binding,internalization, degradation,and biological effects

Vasculotropin/vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VAS/VEGF) is a newly purified growth factor with a unique specificity for vascular endothelial cells. We have investigated the interactions of VAS/VEGF with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVE cells). ¹²⁵I-VAS/VEGF was bound to HUVE cells in a saturable manner with a half-maximum binding at 2.8 ng/ml. Scatchard analysis did show two classes of high-affinity binding sites. The first class displayed a dissociation constant of 9 pM with 500 sites/cell. The dissociation constant and the number of binding sites of the second binding class were variable for different HUVE cell cultures (K_D = 179 ± 101 pM, 5,850 ± 2,950 sites/cell). Half-maximal inhibition of ¹²⁵I-VAS/VEGF occurred with a threefold excess of unlabeled ligand. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and heparin did not compete with ¹²⁵I-VAS/VEGF binding. In contrast, suramin and protamin sulfate completely displaced ¹²⁵I-VAS/VEGF binding from HUVE cells. VAS/VEGF was shown to be internalized in HUVE cells. Maximum internalization (55% of total cell-associated radioactivity) was observed after 30 min. ¹²⁵I-VAS/VEGF was completely degraded 2–3 hr after binding. At 3 hr, the trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-soluble radioactivity accumulated in the medium was 60% of the total radioactivity released by HUVE cells. No degradation fragment of ¹²⁵I-VAS/VEGF was observed. Chloroquine completely inhibited degradation. VAS/VEGF was able to induce angiogenesis in vitro in HUVE cells. However, it did not significantly modulate urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), and tissue factor (TF). Prostacyclin production was only stimulated at very high VAS/VEGF concentrations. Taken together, these results indicate that VAS/VEGF might be a potent inducer of neovascularization resulting from a direct interaction with endothelial cells. The angiogenic activity seems to be independent of the plasminogen activator or inhibitor system.