Molecular characterization of swine leukocyte antigen gene diversity in purebred Pietrain pigs.

The porcine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) harbors the highly polymorphic swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) class I and II gene clusters encoding glycoproteins that present antigenic peptides to T cells in the adaptive immune response. In Austria, the majority of commercial pigs are F 2 descendants of F 1 Large White/Landrace hybrids paired with Pietrain boars. Therefore, the repertoire of SLA alleles and haplotypes present in Pietrain pigs has an important influence on that of their descendants.

Tubulohelical membrane arrays: novel association of helical structures with intracellular membranes.

A novel organelle-like membrane specialization has been found in an epithelial cell line. Characteristically, the helical membrane arrays (referred to hereafter as TUHMAs) are organized around tubular, proteinaceous electron-dense cores of 80 nm in diameter. Depending on the cell status, up to 8 of these cores provide the basis for an intermingled membrane scaffold of an overall length of 3-5 microm.

Rapid microwave fixation of cell monolayers preserves microtubule-associated cell structures.

Microwave (MW) fixation has been suggested as a method to rapidly immobilize cellular dynamics for fine structural studies in the electron microscope. To show its suitability for studies on cell monolayers, one has to apply MW fixation systematically in correlation with samples on the light microscopy level. Examples for MW fixation of cell monolayers, however, are still rare.