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Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a role in endogenous neovascularization of ischaemic tissues. Isolation and characterization of EPCs from circulating mononuclear cells are important for developing targeted cellular therapies and reproducibility of data are the major scientific goals. Here we compared two currently employed isolation methods, i.e. from total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and from enriched CD133+ cells, by defining the cell morphology and functional activities. We show that EPCs from cultured PBMCs resulted in an adherent population of 23% ± 4% merged cells positive for Dil-Ac-LDL and lectin, whereas the percentage of double positive cells in cultured CD133+ enriched cells was 50% ± 7% (P < 0.01). These data were obtained through a novel and a more complete method of analysis of cell calculations (specifically by dividing each microscope field into 120 subfields). When stimulated with tumour necrosis factor α (TNF)-α and glucose, cell number was reduced in EPCs from total PBMCs and, more consistently, in CD133+ enriched cells. However, both cultured total PBMCs and CD133+ enriched cells respond similarly to TNF-α or glucose-induced p38-phosphorylation.EPCs from both procedures show similar results in terms of phenotype and response to modulators of their functional activities. However, when the cell phenotype of CD133 + enrichment-derived cells was compared with that of cells from the total PBMC, a significant increase in CD133+ expression was observed (P < 0.01) This may have relevance during intervention studies using cultured EPCs. © 2007 The Japanese Biochemical Society.

To assess the presence of Candida spp. in lesions of the oral cavity in a sample of patients with precancer or cancer of the mouth and evaluate the limitations and advantages of microbiological and histological methods, 103 subjects with precancerous or cancerous lesions and not treated were observed between 2007 and 2009. The presence of Candida in the lesions was analyzed by microbiological and histological methods. Cohen's k statistic was used to assess the agreement between culture method and staining techniques. Forty-eight (47%) patients had cancer and 55 (53%) patients had precancerous lesions. Candida spp. were isolated from 31 (30%) patients with cancerous lesions and 33 (32%) with precancerous lesions. C. albicans was the most frequent species isolated in the lesions. The k value showed a fair overall agreement for comparisons between culture method and PAS (0.2825) or GMS (0.3112). This study supports the frequent presence of Candida spp. in cancer and precancerous lesions of the oral cavity. Both microbiological investigations and histological techniques were reliable for detection of Candida spp. It would be desirable for the two techniques to be considered complementary in the detection of yeast infections in these types of lesions.

The first cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor to be discovered was the p21 cdk interacting protein (a.k.a., WAF1, Cip1, CAP20, Sdi1, mda6). p21 expression may or may not be dependent on p53. This pathway also inhibits DNA replication by merit of p21's interaction with PCNA, but it has also been shown that this same inhibitory interaction with p21 does not affect PCNA DNA repair abilities. We assessed the immunohistochemical expression of p21 protein in 60 curative surgical resected non small cell lung cancers relating it to the expression of PCNA to clarify the contribution of the p21/PCNA pathway to the development of NSCLC. We did not find any relationship between PCNA and p21 expression. This last result may indicate that the mechanism by which PCNA controls the DNA repair is the most important activity of this protein during lung cancer progression and development, compared to its contribution to cell proliferation. In fact, this last event is strongly counteracted by p21 expression, which in this last case works as an inhibitor of PCNA expression. In conclusion this study highlighted the important role of the p21/PCNA pathway in lung carcinogenesis, pointing out the contribution of PCNA to the response to lung aggression and not only it's role as a proliferation index. Therefore, these results offer a background to further study to evaluate potential novel therapeutic approaches to lung cancer treatment.

The authors describe a rare case of peritoneal mesothelioma. Cytological, histological and immunohistochemical characterization of the tumor allowed the differential diagnosis from papillary carcinoma and suggested the diagnosis of leiomyoid mesothelioma.

By immunohistochemistry, the presence of major iron-binding proteins (lactoferrin, transferrin, ferritin) has been investigated in adenocarcinomas (27 cases), adenosquamous carcinoma (1 case), undifferentiated sarcomatoid carcinoma (1 case) and mucinous adenocarcinomas (3 cases) of the gallbladder; 10 samples of chronic lithyasic cholecystitis, 4 adenomyomas and 6 tubulo-villous adenomas have also been studied. In a variable share of adenocarcinomas, a positive immunoreactivity for iron-binding antisera was encountered in the cytoplasm, while tubulo-villous adenomas, adenomyomas and the normal epithelium of the gallbladder were generally unreactive. In carcinomatous lesions, the staining intensity was variable between different cases or individual tumour cells. The production of these iron-binding proteins in the gallbladder carcinoma in itself could be related to a greater availability of iron for metabolic processes in the neoplastic cell; alternatively, the cytoplasmic localization of these substances in carcinomatous elements may be a consequence of a defective or impaired function of iron-binding receptors with a modified degree of transmembranous iron transfer.

Este estudo teve por objetivo avaliar a fitotoxidez dos acidos acetico e butirico sobre o crescimento de plantulas de arroz (Oriza sativa L. - cv. BR IRGA 409) cultivadas em solucao nutritiva. Os tratamentos constaram da adicao de acido acetico e butirico e quatro concentracoes (0,0, 0,1, 1,0 e 10 mM), em tubos contendo a solucao Hoagland (No 2) e ajustadas a tres niveis de pH (4,0, 5,0 e 6,0). As plantulas cresceram durante dez dias em camara de crescimento a 26 ± 2°C sob uma intensidade luminosa de 6 Klux, durante doze horas. Independentemente de pH e concentracao, o acido butirico resultou mais fitotoxico que o acetico, que reduziu a expansao da area radicular em 55%, enquanto o butirico, em 78%. Observou-se que 1,0 mm de acido acetico nao teve efeito sobre o peso seco radicular, enquanto o butírico, em igual concentracao, provocou reducao de 78%. A 10 mM, os dois acidos tiveram igual efeito inibitorio sobre o crescimento ra-dicular e da parte aerea. A elevacao de pH, de 4,0 para 6,0, propiciou uma atenuacao da toxidez, estimulando linearmente o crescimento de raizes e parte aerea. Made available in DSpace on 2011-04-09T12:13:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pab04set93.pdf: 351317 bytes, checksum: 1d6dc67106ad7e2a53b28931b53c6fb2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2001-08-16

Twenty patients with known ovarian cancer have been investigated in this pilot study to verify the clinical usefulness of radioimaging using the B72.3 monoclonal antibody labelled with iodine-131. No adverse reactions occurred after intravenous injection of B72.3 MoAb. The radioimaging results were compared with those obtained with other diagnostic methods, including computed X-ray tomography and ultrasound. A sensitivity of 85% in the detection of primary ovarian cancers and collections of ascites, and of 84% in the detection of abdominal and extraperitoneal metastases has been demonstrated using this radioiodinated antibody in vivo. No false localization occurred. Immunohistochemical studies showed no cross-reactions between B72.3 MoAb and mesothelial cells, confirming the high specificity of binding between B72.3 MoAb and neoplastic cells in ascites. Negligible uptake of radiolabelled B72.3 MoAb has been demonstrated in the unaffected ovary. The major advantage of using this monoclonal antibody is related to the expression of a recognized antigen (called TAG 72) in mucinous, serous and in differentiated adenocarcinomas of the ovary.