Glycogen depletion can increase the specificity of mucin detection in airway tissues.

Objective: Mucin is an important parameter for detection and assessment in studies of airway disease including asthma and cystic fibrosis. Histochemical techniques are often used to evaluate mucin in tissues sections. Periodic acid Schiff (PAS) is a common technique to detect neutral mucins in tissue, but this technique also detects other tissue components including cellular glycogen.

Allograft Inflammatory Factor 1 as an Immunohistochemical Marker for Macrophages in Multiple Tissues and Laboratory Animal Species.

Allograft inflammatory factor 1 (AIF1) is a commonly used marker for microglia in the brains of humans and some animal models but has had limited applications elsewhere. We sought to determine whether AIF1 can be used as a macrophage marker across common laboratory animal species and tissues. We studied tissues (that is, spleen, liver, and lung) with defined macrophage populations by using an AIF1 immunostaining technique previously validated in human tissue.

Essentiality of Regulator of G Protein Signaling 6 and Oxidized Ca/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II in Notch Signaling and Cardiovascular Development.

Background: Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects worldwide. Although defective Notch signaling is the major cause of mouse embryonic death from cardiovascular defects, how Notch signaling is regulated during embryonic vasculogenesis and heart development is poorly understood.

Methods And Results: Regulator of G protein signaling 6 (RGS6)/Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) double mutant mice were developed by crossing RGS6 mice with mice expressing an oxidation-resistant CaMKIIδ (CaMKII), and the resulting embryonic defects/lethality were investigated using E7.

Approaches to Evaluate Lung Inflammation in Translational Research.

Inflammation is a common feature in several types of lung disease and is a frequent end point to validate lung disease models, evaluate genetic or environmental impact on disease severity, or test the efficacy of new therapies. Questions relevant to a study should be defined during experimental design and techniques selected to specifically address these scientific queries. In this review, the authors focus primarily on the breadth of techniques to evaluate lung inflammation that have both clinical and preclinical applications.

Mouse-adapted MERS coronavirus causes lethal lung disease in human DPP4 knockin mice.

The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012, caused by a zoonotically transmitted coronavirus (CoV). Over 1,900 cases have been reported to date, with ∼36% fatality rate. Lack of autopsies from MERS cases has hindered understanding of MERS-CoV pathogenesis.

Use of terbinafine in the treatment protocol of intestinal Cryptococcus neoformans in a dog.

A 2.5 yr old sexually intact male vizsla was admitted to the Iowa State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for persistent diarrhea, weight loss, and panhypoproteinemia. Examination revealed an emaciated condition and melena.

Idiopathic eosinophilic meningoencephalomyelitis in a Rottweiler dog.

A 6-month-old, female, intact Rottweiler dog was presented to the Iowa State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for a progressive history of abnormal behavior and generalized ataxia. At necropsy, there was eosinophilic infiltration of the brain and spinal cord, most severe in the medulla oblongata, cerebellum, and cervical spinal cord. Infiltrates of eosinophils were also present in the liver and small intestines.