Hydatidiform mole: genetic origin in polyploid conceptuses

Summary The origin of 29 polyploid conceptuses with villous cystic swelling was examined. One tetraploid specimen showed one maternal and three paternal contributions to the genome. Informative cytogenetic markers in 24 triploids were consistent with fertilization by dispermy. Analysis of cytogenetic markers indicated that polyspermy may account for essentially all polyploid conceptions with an excess of paternal to maternal chromosome complements. The origin of the genome was primarily demonstrated by the study of cytogenetic markers, while HLA determination and enzyme analysis were less informative.     

Choriocarcinoma after Hydatidiform Mole. Studies Related to Effectiveness of Follow-up Practice after Hydatidiform Mole

Chemotherapy, in conjunction with other methods of treatment, was used in 100 patients with invasive hydatidiform mole or choriocarcinoma following mole. When treatment was instituted within two to six months of the antecedent mole serious drug resistance was not encountered, drug toxicity was slight, the duration of treatment was comparatively short, and sustained remissions were obtained in 57 out of 60 patients. When the start of chemotherapy was delayed beyond six months drug resistance occurred in many instances, toxicity was often severe, the duration of treatment was much longer, and sustained remissions were obtained in 22 out of 40 patients.The practice of giving prophylactic chemotherapy to all patients with mole is not established as effective or safe. Differences in the social background to hydatidiform mole in different geographical areas may be such that conclusions based on evidence from one area are not necessarily applicable to another.Careful follow-up after mole remains essential, though present methods often fail to ensure recognition of choriocarcinoma while it is still curable. Standard qualitative and quantitative methods for detecting the continued excretion of chorionic gonadotrophin, though useful, are sometimes too insensitive. It is suggested that to supplement local arrangements some form of centralized or regionalized follow-up service based on notification of patients with hydatidiform mole, and making use of radioimmunoassays for chorionic gonadotrophin, could reduce deaths attributable to late diagnosis.     

Establishment of epithelial cell strains from normal adult mouse lung resembling a urethane-induced lung adenoma cell strain and a metastasizing mouse lung carcinoma cell line

Epithelial cell strains, designated NAL, have been established from normal lungs of adult female Balb/c mice. The ultrastructural characteristics, effect of dexamethasone on cellular morphology and proliferation rate, and the cytoskeletal protein pattern of NAL suggests that these cell strains may be related to a urethane-induced mouse lung adenoma cell strain NUL and to a metastasizing mouse lung tumour cell line CMT. NAL exhibited no anchorage-independent growth under normal conditions, however extensive passaging in the presence of 5 X 10(-6)M dexamethasone resulted in a colony forming efficiency in soft agar of 8.4% at passage number 30.     

In vitro growth and chromosome constitution of placental cells. II. Hydatidiform moles

Histopathological features, in vitro growth, and cytogenetic characteristics of tissue samples from molar placentae were studied. Tissue from complete moles is often degenerate, making them more difficult to establish in culture. However, if viable stromal cells are present, complete moles can be cultured as easily as other placental tissue. Longitudinal cytogenetic studies of molar cultures showed the emergence of clonal chromosome abnormalities to be a common feature in both complete and partial moles. The distribution of chromosome abnormalities among these clones was nonrandom, with a high proportion having an additional chromosome 20; among the complete moles, 9 of the 14 clones studied were trisomic for chromosome 20.     

Seasonal changes of thermoregulation in the mole vole Ellobius talpinus.

Seasonal changes of thermoregulation were studied in mole voles (Ellobius talpinus Pall.) from southern Siberia. Spontaneous fluctuations of body temperature were significantly higher in summer than in autumn. Standard deviations from average daily temperature of individuals were 0.95 (N=212) in summer and 0.57 (N=248) in autumn. Thermoregulatory response to cold exposure and to norepinephrine injection varied in different seasons of the year. In cold seasons, mole voles are able to maintain temperature homeostasis in a wide range of environmental conditions. This ability declined only in summer. Hence, the mole vole's adaptation to the continental climate is based on distinct seasonal variations of thermoregulation. In summer, thermoregulatory mechanisms are similar to those of desert eusocial fossorial species, but in spring and autumn, mole voles share the thermoregulatory strategies of boreal terrestrial rodents.     

The effect of phosphatidylcholine to sphingomyelin mole ratio on the dynamic properties of sheep erythrocyte membrane.

Sheep red blood cells are shown to incorporate phosphatidylchline when incubated in human plasma in the presence of EGTA. This treatment results in up to a 5-fold increase in mol ratio of phosphatidylcholine to sphingomyelin. By replacing EGTA with Ca+ the increase of phsphatidylcholine content is completely inhibited, due to the activation of the membrane bound lecithinase which rapidly degrades the incorporated phosphatidylcholine. Analogous treatments of the isolate membranes resulted in similar phosphatidylcholine incorporation but in the presence of Ca+ a residual phosphatidylcholine uptake was still oberved. These results suggest that in the isolated membranes small amounts of phosphatidylcholine can be incorporated into an additional region which is unavailable for the membrane lecithinase. The increase in the phosphatidylcholine to sphingomyelin mol ratio in sheep red blood cells is concomitant with an increase in lipid fluidity, as well as increase in osmotic fragility9     

The mole nose instructs the brain

Star-nosed moles normally have 11 mobile appendages, or rays, extending from each side of the nose. In cytochrome oxidase preparations, each ray is visible in primary somatosensory cortex as a dark band separated by light septa. When a single mole was found with 12 rays on each side of the nose, primary somatosensory cortex had 12 bands. We take this as further evidence that morphological features of somatosensory cortex are determined by the periphery.