S100B immunoreactivity: a new marker of hypoxia-related cardiac damage in newborn piglets.

Objective: The evaluation of the expression of S100B protein, in the swine heart in an experimental model of hypoxia - reoxygenation.

Methods: Normocapnic hypoxia was induced in 40 male Landrace/Large White neonatal piglets by decreasing the inspired concentration of oxygen to 6-8%. When animals developed bradycardia or severe hypotension, reoxygenation was initiated.

Thymosin β4 expression reveals intriguing similarities between fetal and cancer cells.

Thymosin β4 (Tβ4) is highly expressed in saliva of human newborns but not in adults. Here preliminary immunohistochemical analyses on different human tissues are reported. Immunoreactivity for Tβ4 in human salivary glands show high quantities of Tβ4 before birth, followed by downregulation of expression in adulthood.

S100B protein expression in the heart of deceased individuals by overdose: a new forensic marker?

Objective: The evaluation of S100B protein expression in the human heart and its correlation with drug-related death.

Method: Left ventricular samples were collected from 74 serial forensic autopsies (15 overdose-related deaths; 59 non-overdose-related deaths) from 2007 to 2010. Tissue sections from each sample were immunostained for S100B protein by a commercial antibody.

Hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced myocardial lesions in newborn piglets are related to interindividual variability and not to oxygen concentration.

Objective: Evaluation of myocardial histological changes in an experimental animal model of neonatal hypoxia-reoxygenation.

Methods: Normocapnic hypoxia was induced in 40 male Landrace/Large White piglets. Reoxygenation was initiated when the animals developed bradycardia (HR <60 beats/min) or severe hypotension (MAP <15 mmHg).

MUC1 in mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition during human nephrogenesis: changing the fate of renal progenitor/stem cells?

Background: The development of the human kidney is a complex process requiring interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal cells. The condensed cap mesenchyme is hypothesized to generate a population of stem/progenitor cells that undergo mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) originating nephrons. Few immunohistochemical markers are available for detecting cap mesenchymal cells in the early phases of MET.

Expression of WT1 during normal human kidney development.

Wilms Tumor 1 (WT1) is a zinc finger protein, expressed by human podocytes in the adult kidney, which plays a relevant role in different phases of nephrogenesis in experimental animals. Since no data are available for specific role in the human fetal kidney, this study aimed at investigating the expression of WT1 during the different phases of nephrogenesis. To this end, the expression of WT1 was evaluated in the kidneys, from four human fetuses and two newborns.

Toward nephrogenesis in the pig kidney: the composite tubulo-glomerular nodule.

Background: Significant differences regarding nephrogenesis and its completion among different animal species have been reported. Since many informations on clinical conditions (i.e.

Thymosin beta 10 expression in developing human salivary glands.

Thymosin beta 10 (Tβ10) is a member of beta-thymosins (Tβs), a family of low molecular mass peptides abundant in many cell types. In previous studies, Tβs have been shown to play essential roles in many cellular functions, including cytokinesis, migration and endocytosis. Recently, Tβ10 has been found in high quantities in the saliva of human newborns, while it disappeared in the adults.

Thymosin beta-10 expression in developing human kidney.

Thymosin beta-10 (Tβ10) is a member of beta-thymosins (Tβs), a family of low molecular mass peptides, which play essential roles in many cellular functions, including apoptosis, cell proliferation, cell migration, and endocytosis. The report that the Tβ10 gene is expressed at high levels in embryonic human brain as well in human kidney induced us to study Tβ10 reactivity in the preterm kidney in order to verify, at tissue level, the expression of this peptide during renal embryogenesis. To this end, we analyzed, using immunocytochemistry, the expression of Tβ10 in samples of human kidney obtained, at autopsy, from 8 fetuses, 12 preterm infants, ranging from 25 to 36 weeks of gestation and 3 at term newborns.

Marked interindividual variability in renal maturation of preterm infants: lessons from autopsy.

The kidney of low birthweight preterm infants is characterized by a reduced number of mature nephrons at birth. The aim of the present study was to determine whether, in preterms, active glomerulogenesis occurs in the postnatal period and whether it may compensate the reduced number of nephrons developed during the intrauterine life. Kidney samples were obtained at autopsy from 8 human fetuses, 12 premature infants, and 3 term newborns.