Cytology of nipple discharge in florid gynecomastia

OBJECTIVE: To determine the cytomorphologic spectrum of nipple discharge in florid gynecomastia. STUDY DESIGN: During a 22-year period (July 1979-June 2001), nipple discharge from nine males with breast lesions were examined. Smears from four of these cases with histologically documented gynecomastia were reviewed along with the tissue sections. RESULTS: In the three patients with florid gynecomastia the smears were cellular, with numerous benign ductal cells and papillary fragments along with foam cells and inflammatory cells. Epithelial atypia was mild in two cases and moderate in one. One of the three cases had an associated breast lump that showed features of florid gynecomastia on fine needle aspiration cytology. The biopsy from this case showed cystic hyperplasia of the breast similar to that in women with an intraductal papilloma. One case of simple gynecomastia on histology showed two fragments of benign ductal cells with occasional apocrine and foam cells. CONCLUSION: Nipple discharge in florid gynecomastia may pose problems in identification as the cellularity and atypia may lead to a misdiagnosis of carcinoma.     

Plant callose synthase complexes

Synthesis of callose (-1,3-glucan) in plants has been a topic of much debate over the past several decades. Callose synthase could not be purified to homogeneity and most partially purified cellulose synthase preparations yielded -1,3-glucan in vitro, leading to the interpretation that cellulose synthase might be able to synthesize callose. While a rapid progress has been made on the genes involved in cellulose synthesis in the past five years, identification of genes for callose synthases has proven difficult because cognate genes had not been identified in other organisms. An Arabidopsis gene encoding a putative cell plate-specific callose synthase catalytic subunit (CalS1) was recently cloned. CalS1 shares high sequence homology with the well-characterized yeast -1,3-glucan synthase and transgenic plant cells over-expressing CalS1 display higher callose synthase activity and accumulate more callose. The callose synthase complex exists in at least two distinct forms in different tissues and interacts with phragmoplastin, UDP-glucose transferase, Rop1 and, possibly, annexin. There are 12 CalS isozymes in Arabidopsis, and each may be tissue-specific and/or regulated under different physiological conditions responding to biotic and abiotic stresses.     

Decolorization of synthetic textile dyes by lignin peroxidase of Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Neem hull waste (containing a high amount of lignin and other phenolic compounds) was used for lignin peroxidase production byPhanerochaete chrysosporum under solid-state fermentation conditions. Maximum decolorization achieved by partially purified lignin peroxidase was 80% for Porocion Brilliant Blue HGR, 83 for Ranocid Fast Blue, 70 for Acid Red 119 and 61 for Navidol Fast Black MSRL. The effects of different concentrations of veratryl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, enzyme and dye on the efficiency of decolorization have been investigated. Maximum decolorization efficiency was observed at 0.2 and 0.4 mmol/L hydrogen peroxide, 2.5 mmol/L veratryl alcohol and pH 5.0 after a 1-h reaction, using 50 ppm of dyes and 9.96 mkat/L of enzyme.     

Quantitative determination of oleane derivatives in Terminalia arjuna by high performance thin layer chromatography

A simple, precise and rapid high performance thin layer chromatographic method has been developed for the simultaneous quantitative determination of five oleane derivatives, namely, arjunic acid, arjunolic acid, arjungenin, arjunetin and arjunglucoside I from stem bark extract of Terminalia arjuna. The isolation and separation of these compounds was carried out on 60F254 layers eluted with chloroform:methanol (90:10), and the analytes were visualised through colour development with vanillin in concentrated sulphuric acid:ethanol. Scanning and quantification of the spots at 640 nm showed good recoveries in the range 96.40-101.7%.     

A disposable microbial based biosensor for quality control in milk

The food industry needs suitable analytical methods for quality control, that is, methods that are rapid, reliable, specific and cost-effective as current wet chemistries and analytical practices are time consuming and may require highly skilled labor and expensive equipment. The need arises from heightened consumer concern about food composition and safety. The present study was carried out keeping in view the recently emerging concern of the presence of urea in milk, called "synthetic milk". The biocomponent part of the urea biosensor is an immobilized urease yielding bacterial cell biomass isolated from soil and is coupled to the ammonium ion selective electrode of a potentiometric transducer. The membrane potential of all types of potentiometric cell based probes is related to the activity of electrochemically detected product, and thus to the activity of the substrate by a form of the Nernst equation. Samples of milk were collected and analyzed for the presence of urea by the developed biosensor with a response time as low as 2 min. The results were in good correlation with the pure enzyme system.     

Regulation and distribution of MAdCAM-1 in endothelial cells in vitro

Mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1(MAdCAM-1) is a 60-kDa endothelial cell adhesion glycoprotein thatregulates lymphocyte trafficking to Peyer's patches and lymph nodes.Although it is widely agreed that MAdCAM-1 induction is involved inchronic gut inflammation, few studies have investigated regulation ofMAdCAM-1 expression. We used two endothelial lines [bEND.3 (brain) and SVEC (high endothelium)] to study the signal paths that regulate MAdCAM-1 expression in response to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- using RT-PCR, blotting, adhesion, and immunofluorescence. TNF- induced both MAdCAM-1 mRNA and protein in a dose- and time-dependent manner. This induction was tyrosine kinase (TK), p42/44, p38mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and nuclear factor(NF)-B/poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) dependent. Because MAdCAM-1is regulated via MAPKs, we examined mitogen/extracellularsignal-regulated kinase (MEK)-1/2 activation in SVEC. We found thatMEK-1/2 is activated by TNF- within minutes and is dependent on TKand p42/44 MAPKs. Similarly, TNF- activated NF-B through TK,p42/44, p38 MAPKs, and PARP pathways in SVEC cells. MAdCAM-1 was alsoshown to be frequently distributed to endothelial junctions both invitro and in vivo. Cytokines like TNF- stimulate MAdCAM-1 inhigh endothelium via TK, p38, p42/22 MAPKs, and NF-B/PARP.MAdCAM-1 expression requires NF-B translocation through both directp42/44 and indirect p38 MAPK pathways in high endothelial cells.

     

Comparative study on the therapeutic potential of neurally differentiated stem cells in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis

Background

Transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) is a promising novel approach to the treatment of neuroinflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). NSCs can be derived from primary central nervous system (CNS) tissue or obtained by neural differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells, the latter having the advantage of readily providing an unlimited number of cells for therapeutic purposes. Using a mouse model of MS, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of NSCs derived from ES cells by two different neural differentiation protocols that utilized adherent culture conditions and compared their effect to primary NSCs derived from the subventricular zone (SVZ).

Methodology/Principal Findings

The proliferation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines by antigen-stimulated splenocytes was reduced in the presence of SVZ-NSCs, while ES cell-derived NSCs exerted differential immunosuppressive effects. Surprisingly, intravenously injected NSCs displayed no significant therapeutic impact on clinical and pathological disease outcomes in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced by recombinant myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, independent of the cell source. Studies tracking the biodistribution of transplanted ES cell-derived NSCs revealed that these cells were unable to traffic to the CNS or peripheral lymphoid tissues, consistent with the lack of cell surface homing molecules. Attenuation of peripheral immune responses could only be achieved through multiple high doses of NSCs administered intraperitoneally, which led to some neuroprotective effects within the CNS.

Conclusion/Significance

Systemic transplantation of these NSCs does not have a major influence on the clinical course of rMOG-induced EAE. Improving the efficiency at which NSCs home to inflammatory sites may enhance their therapeutic potential in this model of CNS autoimmunity.     

Development of doubled haploids from an elite <Emphasis Type="Italic">indica</Emphasis> rice hybrid (BS6444G) using anther culture

A total of 200 doubled haploids (DHs) were generated from an elite rice hybrid, ‘BS6444G’ for which an androgenic method was developed by manipulating the physical and chemical factors. The spike pretreated at 10?°C for 7–8 days was effective for callusing and green plant regeneration. The maximum callus frequency was achieved when the anthers cultured in N6 medium supplemented with 2.0 mg L^?1 2,4-diclorophenoxyacetic acid, 0.5 mg L^?1 6-benzylaminopurine and 3% maltose. Calli induced in N6 media also showed significant green shoot regeneration in MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L^?1 1-napthalene acetic acid, 0.5 mg L^?1 kinetin, 1.5 mg L^?1 benzylaminopurine and 3% sucrose producing 210 green plants. Assessment of the ploidy status showed 95.71% fertile diploids and 4.2% polyploids; no haploids were observed. A total of 38 sequence-tagged microsatellite (STMS) markers proved able to discriminate a heterozygote from all the 200 DHs. The DHs grown in the field showed significant variation for their agronomic traits. Comparison of traits with control indicates homogeneity within each DH line and significant variance of traits between DH lines. Nine DH lines produce higher grain yield than the hybrid parent which suggests the possibility of exploiting hybrid vigor in indica rice through the development of DH lines of high yielding hybrids.