Studying Cell Polarity Dynamics During Cancer Initiation Using Inducible 3D Organotypic Cultures.

Epithelial tissues are highly organized structures that are structured at both the cellular and tissue levels. Individual cells are characterized by an apical membrane facing a central lumen, and a basolateral membrane that contacts adjacent cells and the basement membrane. The maintenance of apical-basal polarity is crucial for maintaining epithelial homeostasis and is considered a barrier to carcinogenesis.

Girdin is a component of the lateral polarity protein network restricting cell dissemination.

Epithelial cell polarity defects support cancer progression. It is thus crucial to decipher the functional interactions within the polarity protein network. Here we show that Drosophila Girdin and its human ortholog (GIRDIN) sustain the function of crucial lateral polarity proteins by inhibiting the apical kinase aPKC.

Genetic alterations of epithelial polarity genes are associated with loss of polarity in invasive breast cancer.

Breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related death for women. The stepwise development of breast cancer through preinvasive to invasive disease is associated with progressive disruption of cellular and tissue organization. Apical-basal polarity is thought to be a barrier to breast cancer development, but the extent and potential mechanisms that contribute to disrupted polarity are incompletely understood.

Vaginal and cervical abnormalities associated with trichomonal infection.

Cytological changes were studied among 393 women, reporting to Samir Health Centre, Khartoum (Sudan), using Papanicolaou staining. Vaginal trichomoniasis was confirmed by wet-mounts and cultural methods. Non-specific inflammatory changes were prominent (17.

Evaluation of the laboratory diagnosis of vaginal trichomoniasis in Khartoum.

A total of 403 vaginal discharge specimens were investigated for Trichomonas vaginalis using fresh wet-mounts, culture and Papanicolaou staining. By fresh wet-mounts, 58 specimens (14.4%) were found harbouring the parasite.

Vaginal trichomoniasis at a sexually transmitted disease clinic at Khartoum.

At a sexually transmitted disease clinic at Khartoum 613 Sudanese women presenting with vaginal discharge were investigated. Specimens were examined by microscopy and culture. Trichomonas vaginalis infestation was found in 123 patients (20.

The interpretation of rate curves arising from membrane permeation studies.

Synopsis The evaluation of rate curves arising from the permeation of salicylic acid through human and pig skin is discussed. The approaches based upon steady state and time lag analyses are commented on in comparison with a more complete mathematical model. Some model zeolite/polystyrene membranes are also discussed.

Social and psychological factors in the distribution of STD in male clinic attenders. III Sexual activity.

We report on the relation between various aspects of sexual activity and risk of infection with sexually transmitted disease (STD) in two groups of men attending an STD clinic. Sexual promiscuity appeared to have little effect on the distribution of most STDs, showing a strong association only with gonorrhoea. This finding was contrary to expectation but consistent with the results reported in the first two papers in this series.

Social and psychological factors in the distribution of STD in male clinic attenders. II Personality disorders, psychiatric illness, and abnormal sexual attitudes.

Using standardised questionnaires we examined the possible contributions of psychiatric illness, delinquent and other abnormal personality traits, and disturbed attitudes to sex to the risk of sexually transmitted disease (STD) infection in men attending an STD clinic. We found certain differences in personality and in attitudes between the clinic sample and control men. These differences, however, a) were not comparable with those found in groups of clinically abnormal subjects, b) were confined to homosexual and bisexual men, and c), with the possible exception of gonorrhoea, were not related to risk of STD infection.

Social and psychological factors in the distribution of STD in male clinic attenders. I Demographic and social factors.

We describe three related studies of possible aetiological risk factors for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in men attending an STD clinic. In this paper we present the results for a variety of social and demographic variables traditionally associated with STD. In contrast to the results in the next two papers, these were largely negative.

Clinical aspects of Reiter's disease.

The clinical manifestations and results of investigations in a series of 221 patients diagnosed as suffering from Reiter's disease are described in detail. Attention is drawn to the very varied natural history of the disease, the relapse rate of 60% and the development of serious complications and disability in young people. The failure to establish the cause of the condition or to unravel its relationship to nonspecific urethritis and bacillary dysentery contrasts with the reported presence of the human leucocyte antigen HLA-B27 in 76% of patients.

Isoenzyme characterisation of Trichomonas vaginalis.

Clones of 32 strains of Trichomonas vaginalis isolated from patients attending a venereal diseases clinic were compared among themselves and with authentic Pentatrichomonas hominis on the basis of their isoenzyme patterns for eight enzymes by thin-layer starch-gel electrophoresis. The enzymes examined were: glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI); phosphoglucomutase (PGM); malic enzyme (NADP+) (ME); hexokinase (HK); malate dehydrogenase (NAD+) (MDH); glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD); aldolase (ALD); and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). From the isoenzyme patterns of four enzymes (LDH, MDH, HK, and GPI) the strains of T vaginalis could be divided clearly into five groups.

Recombination kinetics following nanosecond laser photolysis of carbonmonoxyhaemogloblin.

The kinetics of the ultrafast ligand recombination following 347 nm laser photolysis of aqueous solutions of carbonmonoxyhaemogloblin have been investigated. The process is biphasic and the rate constants for the two processes as functions of temperature have been used to give activation energies of 6 +/- 3.9 kJ .