Cytological features of chronic follicular cervicitis in liquid-based specimens: a potential diagnostic pitfall

A review of negative split-sample cervical cytology cases revealed five cases reported as chronic follicular cervicitis. These cases showed characteristic morphological features in conventional smears with lymphoid cells, plasma cells and tingible body macrophages smeared across the slides. This contrasts with the presentation of ThinPrep samples (Cytic Corporation, Boxburgh, MA, USA), where cells were observed aggregated in clumps. The different presentation noted in liquid-based samples may require careful microscopic evaluation at high-power magnification.     

The cell biology of Drosophila wing metamorphosis in vitro

Summary We have examined the metamorphosis of the wing imaginal disc of Drosophila during culture in vitro in the continuous presence of 20-hydroxy ecdysone (0.1 g/ ml). We find that the sequence of cellular changes in the wing blade during culture closely match those occurring in situ, involving two periods at which the dorsal and ventral surfaces are joined only by cell processes containing trans-alar microtubule arrays. Good pupal and imaginal cuticle secretion is found in this system.     

Puromycin enhances 20-hydroxyecdysone-induced protein synthesis in wing discs of Drosophila melanogaster

The effect of cycloheximide and puromycin on 20-hydroxyecdysone-induced protein synthesis in wing discs of Drosophila melanogaster has been studied by one-dimensional and two-dimensional SDS polyacrylamide electrophoresis. It is found that puromycin, but not cycloheximide, when applied simultaneously with the hormone enhanced the hormone-induced synthesis of the early and late proteins. However, when puromycin was applied after hormone treatment, only the late proteins were induced. The possible implication of these observations is discussed.     

The development of the sensory organs of the legs in the blowfly,Phormia regina

Summary The development of the sensory neurons of the legs of the blowfly,Phormia regina has been described from the third instar larva to the late pupa using immunohistochemical staining. The leg discs of the third instar larva contain 8 neurons of which 5 come to lie in the fifth tarsomere of the developing leg. Whereas 2 neurons persist at least to the late pupa, the other cells degenerate. The first neurons of gustatory sensilla arise in the fifth tarsomere at about 1.5 h after formation of the puparium. Most of these sensilla, however, appear within a short time period beginning at about 18 h. The femoral chordotonal sensory neurons first appear at the time of formation of the puparium, as a mass of cells situated in the distal femur. During later pupal development 2 groups of these cells come to lie at the femur-trochanter border, where they become the proximal femoral chordotonal organ of the adult; the remaining cells become the distal femoral chordotonal organ. Other scolopidial neurons appear later in development. The nerve pathways of the late pupal leg are established either by the axons of the cells that are present in the larval leg disc or by new outgrowing processes of sensory neurons. In the tibia, the initial direction of new outgrowth differs in different regions of the segment: proximal tibial neurons grow distally, while distal tibial neurons grow initially proximally.     

Anatomy of the hominoid wrist joint: Its evolutionary and functional implications

Observations on the behavior of living hominoids show generic differences in the use and posture of the wrist joint. Both orang-utans and hylobatids usually use the wrist in suspensory behaviors. However, orang-utans emphasize markedly adducted and flexed wrist postures, while hylobatids emphasize violent forearm and wrist rotation. African apes, especially the gorilla, use the wrist more frequently than other hominoids for terrestrial quadrupedal weight-bearing. Humans use the wrist less frequently for supportive purposes than do other hominoids. These behavioral differences correspond to structural specializations in the proximal carpal joint of each of the hominoid genera. Although each of the hominoid genera has apparently modified its proximal carpal joint best to serve its characteristic behaviors, all hominoids share a unique proximal carpal joint that permits approximately 160ℴ of forearm rotation. The hylobatid proximal carpal joint is specialized in exhibiting a marked development of those structures limiting forearm rotation, but it is in most respects the least derived— that is, closest to the nonhominoid anthropoids. Chimpanzees show a proximal carpal joint that is more generalized than those of the other great apes but more derived than that of hylobatids. The human and gorilla proximal wrist joints, on the other hand, show marked modifications for weight-bearing in terrestrial behaviors. Orang-utans have the most derived proximal carpal joint, which in many respects parallels that of the slow-climbing nonhominoid primates. The comparative anatomy and structural specializations of the wrist joint support (a) an early divergence of hylobatids from the common hominoid stock, (b) a common ancestry for gorillas and humans separate from the other hominoids, and (c) a long independent evolutionary period for orang-utans since their divergence from the common hominoid stock, or one that was marked by strong selection pressures for wrist specializations. Unfortunately, the generalized condition of the chimpanzee’s wrist joint and the very derived condition of the orang-utan wrist provide uncertain evidence as to which of the two was first to diverge from the common hominoid stock. Identification of hominoid wrist specializations as reflecting real phylogenetic relationships or parallelisms depends on how well the phytogeny inferred from wrist morphology accords with those arrived at from the study of other systems.     

Behavioural variation in natural populations. V. Morphological correlates of locomotion in the garter snake (Thamnophis radix)

A series of morphologieal and locomotor performance variables was measured in a population of newborn garter snakes to determine whether performance capacity has a significant morphological basis in these animals. Morphological traits measured were body length and mass, number of body and tail vertebrae and numbers of vertebral abnormalities. Locomotor performances included burst and mid-distance speed and distance and time crawled before anti-predator displays were assumed. All performance variables were repeatable in daily replicate trials ( P < 0.001). Individual burst speed, mid-distance speed, and distance crawled were significantly correlated pairwise ( P < 0.01). Most morphological and performance variables had a significant mass dependence (static allometry), although the effects were rather weak ( r ² < 0.1, except for body length): larger animals performed better and had fewer abnormalities. There were significant associations between some morphological traits and locomotor performance. Morphological factors accounted for 19% of the variation in mid-distance speed and 14% of the variation in antipredator behavior by multiple regression analysis. Canonical correlation of all performance and morphological variables simultaneously accounted for 24% of the observed variation in performance. Numbers of body and tail vertebrae (assayed by scale counts) had an interactive effect on speed of locomotion.     

Seroreactivity to HPV-16 proteins in women with early cervical neoplasia

Summary Although serological reactivity to human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) proteins has been demonstrated in patients with invasive cervical carcinoma, the degree of seroreactivity to these proteins in women with preinvasive disease and its relationship to the HPV type associated with the disease are unclear. We obtained sera from 27 women undergoing cone biopsy for cervical precursor lesions and 22 controls and analyzed seroreactivity by Western blot to fusion proteins containing portions of the HPV-16 E4, L1 and L2 open-reading frames (ORFs). Positives were analyzed by scanning densitometry and intensity values for each case plotted relative to controls. Cervical biopsy specimens from patients were analyzed for HPV-16 nucleic acids by DNA · DNA in situ hybridization. Mean intensity values for seroreactivity to the pATH-E4 protein approached significance (P = 0.058) and a significantly higher proportion of cases vs controls registered values over 4.0 for pATH-E4 (26% vs 4.5%;P = 0.04) and pATH-L2 (48% vs 18%;P = 0.03) proteins. A significantly higher mean intensity value for E4 was observed for cases containing HPV-16 DNA vs HPV-16 negative cases or controls. Thus, seroreactivity to HPV-16-derived proteins may be more common in women with preinvasive cervical disease, and for some protein targets (E4) may indicate a relatively type-specific response.Supported in part by grants from the National Cancer Institute [CA 47676 (C.P.C.)], American Cancer Society [MV-395 (C.P.C.)] and an institutional support grant (J.K.R.). Dr. Crum is a recipient of a Physician Scientist Award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (AI00628)     

The expression of PS integrins in Drosophila melanogaster imaginal disc cell lines

Summary Drosophila imaginal disc cell lines show a characteristic pattern of aggregation in culture, which appears to be due to cell-cell rather than cell-substrate interactions. We have examined the distribution of PS integrins in wing and leg cell lines, and find that these integrin homologues are expressed preferentially in aggregates. Cell sheets, small cell clumps and chains of cells express antigen at points of cell-cell contact only.     

Gap junction reductions precede tissue hyperplasia following temperature-upshift in theDrosophila ts-mutantl(3)c43 hs1

Summary The wing discs of the temperature-sensitiveDrosophila mutantl(3)c43 ^hs1 become hyperplastic when larvae are reared at the restrictive temperature of 25° C or above (Martin et al. 1977). We have previously shown that reductions in gap junctions are correlated with the hyperplasia (Ryerse and Nagel 1984a). We report here that reductions in gap junction surface density, number and percent of the lateral plasma membrane area precede the onset of tissue hyperplasia as defined by the gross appearance of tissue overgrowth in the wing pouch and an increase in cell number. Gap junction reductions begin soon after temperature upshift and become significantly different from non-shifted controls by 16 h. Direct cell counts indicate that there is no difference in the total number of cells in experimental vs control discs until after 16 h when the 28° C discs begin to grow rapidly with a cell doubling time of about 6 h as compared with about 13 h for the 20°C controls. The finding that gap junction reductions precede the onset of tissue hyperplasia is consistent with the idea that gap junctions play a regulatory role in growth control and pattern formation and strengthens our hypothesis (Ryerse and Nagel 1984b) that a minimum number and a specific distribution of gap junctions are required for normal development.