The angiosomes of the head and neck: anatomic study and clinical applications

The angiosome concept was introduced over a decade ago by Taylor and Palmer, whereby the body was considered to be composed anatomically of multiple three-dimensional composite blocks of tissue supplied by particular source arteries. Since then, detailed studies of the forearm and leg have been examined by Taylor and his coworkers. This study focuses on another region--the head and neck. Six fresh head and neck cadaver specimens were examined after infusion with a radio-opaque lead oxide mixture and correlated with over 24 previous body studies. The vascular anatomy of the skin, superficial musculoaponeurotic system (SMAS), muscles, brain, dura, and bone was examined. Each layer was painstakingly removed, photographed, labeled, and mapped to the respective arteries and veins. A radiologic subtraction technique was used to allow successive layers to be compared. This information was then scanned into a computer, analyzed, color coded, and labeled, thereby producing a three-dimensional study of the head and neck region to identify the respective angiosomes. As in previous detailed examinations of the leg and forearm, the angiosomes were found to be connected usually within tissues, such as muscle, skin, specialized organs or glands, rather than between the tissues. The muscles usually had vessels of two or more angiosomes supplying them and fell into three major groups based on the similarity of their arterial supply. In some areas, the midline anastomoses were rich, especially in the integument of the scalp, forehead, and lips. In other regions, the midline vascular connections were poor, especially in the tongue and palate. No fewer than 13 angiosomes of the head and neck, supplied by the branches of the external carotid, internal carotid, and subclavian arteries, have been defined, mapping their three-dimensional territories in the skin, the deep soft tissues, and the bones. Although most angiosomes spanned between skin and bone, three territories, those of the vertebral, lingual, and ascending pharyngeal vessels, were confined to the deep tissues without cutaneous representation. Finally, this study provides additional data for the surgeon to help plan safer incisions and better reconstructive flap procedures. It also gives information that may help explain the etiology and treatment of head and neck arteriovenous vascular malformations.     

The use of spun columns in the purification of double-stranded cDNA appropriate for tailing

A reliable estimation of the efficiency of adding homopolymeric tails to double-stranded cDNA molecules by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase is extremely important in the construction of cDNA libraries. Appreciable differences in transformation efficiency result when the homopolymer tails to be annealed are of inadequate length. We report here that the use of a Sephadex G-50 spun column to remove oligo(dT)12-18 frequently coprecipitating in ethanol with the cDNA results in a more dependable estimation of tail lengths.     

Spontaneous Germinal Activation of Quiescent Uq Transposable Elements in Zea Mays L

The spontaneous germinal activation of quiescent Uq transposable elements is reported. Thirty-nine spotted exceptions were observed at a rate of about 2 x 10(-4) from 687 otherwise colorless ears produced from the cross of a-ruq/a-ruq (colorless or occasionally sectored) X an a-ruq tester (colorless). All exceptions had spotting patterns distinct from the pattern of our original standard Uq (Uq1)-a-ruq spotting. From these spotted exceptions five new Uq elements (Uq2, Uq3, Uq4, Uq5 and Uq6) have been isolated. Genetic evidence for the Uq nature of the five germinal isolates is presented. First, each of the five spotted exceptions was homozygous for the a-ruq reporter allele. Second, four new Uq isolates (Uq2, Uq3, Uq4 and Uq5), after being reconstituted into a alpha degrees sh2/alpha degrees sh2 (no Uq) line, could transactivate the standard a-ruq allele and continue to produce their distinct spotting phenotypes. Third, these five new Uqs are also capable of transactivating the c-ruq65 and c-ruq67 alleles. However, the transactivation of c-ruq is generally weaker than that of a-ruq.     

Breakage-reunion domain of Streptococcus pneumoniae topoisomerase IV: crystal structure of a gram-positive quinolone target

The 2.7 A crystal structure of the 55-kDa N-terminal breakage-reunion domain of topoisomerase (topo) IV subunit A (ParC) from Streptococcus pneumoniae, the first for the quinolone targets from a gram-positive bacterium, has been solved and reveals a 'closed' dimer similar in fold to Escherichia coli DNA gyrase subunit A (GyrA), but distinct from the 'open' gate structure of Escherichia coli ParC. Unlike GyrA whose DNA binding groove is largely positively charged, the DNA binding site of ParC exhibits a distinct pattern of alternating positively and negatively charged regions coincident with the predicted positions of the grooves and phosphate backbone of DNA. Based on the ParC structure, a new induced-fit model for sequence-specific recognition of the gate (G) segment by ParC has been proposed. These features may account for the unique DNA recognition and quinolone targeting properties of pneumococcal type II topoisomerases compared to their gram-negative counterparts.     

Overexpression of polo-like kinase 1 and its clinical significance in human non-small cell lung cancer

Polo-like kinase 1 is a serine/threonine kinase which plays an essential role in mitosis and malignant transformation. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of polo-like kinase 1 expression and determine its possibility as a therapeutic target in non-small cell lung cancer. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay was performed to detect polo-like kinase 1 mRNA expression in non-small cell lung cancer cells or tissues. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect polo-like kinase 1 protein expression in 100 non-small cell lung cancer tissue samples, and the associations of polo-like kinase 1 expression with clinicopathological factors or prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer patients were evaluated. RNA interference was employed to inhibit endogenous polo-like kinase 1 expression and analyzed the effects of polo-like kinase 1 inhibition on the malignant phenotypes of non-small cell lung cancer cells including growth, apoptosis, radio- or chemoresistance. Also, the possible molecular mechanisms were also investigated. The levels of polo-like kinase 1 mRNA expression in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines or tissues were significantly higher than those in normal human bronchial epithelial cell line or corresponding non-tumor tissues. High polo-like kinase 1 expression was significantly correlated with advanced clinical stage, higher tumor classification and lymph node metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer patients (P = 0.001, 0.004 and 0.001, respectively). Meanwhile, high polo-like kinase 1 protein expression was also an independent prognostic molecular marker for non-small cell lung cancer patients (hazard ratio: 2.113; 95% confidence interval: 1.326-3.557; P = 0.017). Polo-like kinase 1 inhibition could significantly inhibit in vitro and in vivo proliferation, induce cell arrest of G₂/M phase and apoptosis enhancement in non-small cell lung cancer cells, which might be activation of the p53 pathway and the Cdc25C/cdc2/cyclin B1 feedback loop. Further, inhibition of polo-like kinase 1 could enhance the sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer cells to taxanes or irradiation. Thus, polo-like kinase 1 might be a prognostic marker and a chemo- or radiotherapeutic target for non-small cell lung cancer.     

Intentionally introduced species: more easily invited than removed

Alien species are brought into countries world wide on a massive scale for agricultural production, ex situ conservation, landscape aesthetics, gardens, and ecosystem restoration. Unfortunately, some of these species have escaped and adversely impacted on regional as well as global biodiversity conservation and agricultural production. To reduce such risks, it is necessary to implement specific and effective measures. Since various government departments and institutions are involved in the management of alien species, it is difficult to prevent native and agroecosystems from being invaded by invited species. We propose the establishment of a supervision and inspection continuum over intentional species introduction, similar to that which exists in some countries over unintentional species introductions. Namely, a justification of the necessity to import, a risk assessment, assurances as to provision of an adequate containment facility assessment, and a damage-limitation protocol should that need to be invoked. These requirements should be satisfied before an alien species is knowingly imported, and the necessary follow-up supervision is important post- importation.     

Intratumoral expression of IL-17 and its prognostic role in gastric adenocarcinoma patients

In this study, we characterized the intratumoral expression of IL-17 and CD8(+) TILs in gastric adenocarcinoma patients after resection and determined the correlation between the survival probability of gastric adenocarcinoma patients and the expression of IL-17 in tumor. Expression of IL-17 and CD8 was assessed by immunohistochemistry, and the prognostic effects of intratumoral IL-17 expression and CD8(+) TILs were evaluated by Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Immunohistochemical detection revealed the presence of IL-17 and CD8(+) cells in gastric adenocarcinoma tissue samples (90.6%, 174 out of 192 patients and 96.9%, 186 out of 192 patients, respectively). We have also found that intratumoral IL-17 expression was significantly correlated with age (p=0.004) and that the number of CD8(+)TILs was significantly correlated with UICC staging (p=0.012) and the depth of tumor invasion (p=0.022). The five-year overall survival probability among patients intratumorally expressing higher levels of IL-17 was significantly better than those expressing lower levels of IL-17 (p=0.036). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analyses revealed that intratumoral IL-17 expression (HR: 0.521; 95% CI: 0.329-0.823; p=0.005) was an independent factor affecting the five-year overall survival probability. We conclude that low levels of intratumoral IL-17 expression may indicate poor prognosis in gastric adenocarcinoma patients.