Expression of neuronal antigens and related ventral and dorsal proteins in the normal spinal cord and a surgically induced open neural tube defect of the spine in chick embryos: an immunohistochemical study.

Objective: The aims of this study were to elucidate the processes of neuronal differentiation and ventrodorsal patterning in the spinal cord of the chick embryo from embryonic day (E) 3 to E17 and to study the effect of a prenatal spinal open neural tube defect (ONTD) on these processes.

Method: Expression patterns of neuronal antigens (neuronal nuclear antigen, neurofilament-associated protein (NAP), and synaptophysin) and related ventral markers [sonic hedgehog, paired box gene (PAX)6, and islet-1], and dorsal markers (bone morphogenetic protein, Notch homolog 1, and PAX7) were investigated in the normal spinal cord and in a surgically induced spinal ONTD in chick embryos. Four normal and ONTD chick embryos were used for each antigen group.

Long-term surgical outcomes of temporal lobe epilepsy associated with low-grade brain tumors.

Background: Tumor-related temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has a high likelihood of medical intractability and requires surgical treatment. The aims of this study were to analyze the long-term surgical outcomes of and to present appropriate surgical strategies for tumor-related TLE.

Methods: The clinical data of 87 consecutive patients diagnosed with tumor-related TLE were analyzed.

Atypical cell clusters expressing both neuronal and oligodendrocytic markers: novel histological pattern of glioneuronal tumors?

Glioneuronal tumors are a group of brain tumors that consist of both neuronal and glial cells. The spectrum of glioneuronal tumors is currently expanding, and many atypical glioneuronal tumors require further characterization. Two patients are described who had an atypical glioneuronal tumor with peculiar pathological features.

Decreased level and defective function of circulating endothelial progenitor cells in children with moyamoya disease.

Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play an important role in physiological and pathological neovascularization and may be involved in attenuating ischemic diseases. This study aimed to characterize circulating EPCs in moyamoya disease (MMD), one of the most common pediatric cerebrovascular diseases. Twenty-eight children with MMD prior to any surgical treatment and 12 healthy volunteers were recruited.

Reproducible and persistent weakness in adult rats after surgical resection of motor cortex: evaluation with limb placement test.

Object: The purpose of this study was to develop a new rat model for surgical brain injury with motor weakness and to find an adequate behavior test for the application of the model.

Methods: Thirty rats were divided into three groups: craniectomy (n = 10), durotomy (n = 10), and corticectomy (n = 10) groups. The coordinates of the three points from the bregma (coordinate A = +4,+1, B = -2,+1, and C = +4,+6).

Brain tumors in the mesial temporal lobe: long-term oncological outcome.

Object: Surgical treatment of brain tumors in the mesial temporal lobe (MTL) is a highly demanding procedure. Only a few studies describing the surgery of MTL tumors have been reported, and they have been focused on the operative techniques and immediate results of the surgery. The authors have analyzed the long-term oncological outcome in patients with MTL tumors.

Mixed germ cell tumor of the midbrain. Case Report.

This 14-year-old boy presented with left hemiparesis, gait disturbance, and multiple cranial nerve palsies. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a multicystic mass with hemorrhagic fluid-fluid levels in the right midbrain, suggesting the presence of a cavernous malformation. Diffusion tensor imaging showed the mass to be close to the right corticospinal tract and ipsilateral medial lemniscus.

Targeting rat brainstem glioma using human neural stem cells and human mesenchymal stem cells.

Purpose: Brainstem gliomas are usually inoperable and have a dismal prognosis. Based on the robust tropisms of neural stem cells (NSC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to brain tumors, we compared the tumor-tropic migratory capacities of these stem cells and evaluated the therapeutic potential of genetically engineered human NSCs encoding cytosine deaminase (CD) and IFNbeta against brainstem gliomas.

Experimental Design: The directed migratory capacities of NSCs and MSCs to brainstem glioma (F98) were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo.

CKD-602, a camptothecin derivative, inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in glioma cell lines.

CKD-602 7-[2-(N-isopropylamino)ethyl]-(20S)-camptothecin, belotecan) is a synthetic water-soluble camptothecin derivative and topoisomerase inhibitor that has been shown to have clinical anticancer effect against ovarian and lung cancer. We studied its anticancer effects on four human glioma cell lines, U87 MG, U343 MG, U251 MG and LN229. Cell viability was quantified by a modified 2-(2-methoxy-4-nitropheyl)-3-(4-nitropheyl)-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, monosodium salt and significant time- and dose-dependent cytotoxicity was observed in all cell lines.

Spinal congenital dermal sinus with dual ostia.

Object: Congenital dermal sinus (CDS) usually develops in the midline of the body as a single tract. To date, only a few patients with multiple CDS tracts and ostia have been reported. The authors analyzed the clinical features of patients with spinal CDS and multiple ostia and proposed a novel hypothesis for the pathogenesis of the atypical CDS.

Radiosurgical treatment of vestibular schwannomas in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2: tumor control and hearing preservation.

Background: The radiosurgical treatment of vestibular schwannomas in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is controversial. The authors investigated the radiologically proven tumor control rate after gamma knife radiosurgery. The factors that affect tumor control and serviceable hearing preservation were analyzed.

Third ventricular chordoid meningioma in a child.

Meningiomas are rare in children. Chordoid meningioma is a very rare variant, as only 16 cases in children have been reported. The authors report the first case of a chordoid meningioma in the third ventricle.

Congenital subependymal giant cell astrocytoma: clinical considerations and expression of radial glial cell markers in giant cells.

Objects: Congenital Subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA), diagnosed in fetal and neonatal period, is extremely rare. Previous studies have reported poor surgical outcomes of this small group of patients. We encountered a patient diagnosed as congenital SEGA and report the surgical outcome along with interesting immuno-phenotypes of giant tumor cells.

Sox2 expression in brain tumors: a reflection of the neuroglial differentiation pathway.

Sox2 is a key transcription factor that maintains the proliferation of neuroglial stem cells and inhibits neuronal fate commitment. Moreover, it was recently found that brain tumors contain stem cells that resemble normal neuroglial stem cells in many respects. This study was undertaken to describe Sox2 expression in various brain tumors, and to determine whether Sox2 expression is a universal feature of brain tumors, or whether its expression is limited to a specific lineage of brain tumors.

Gamma Knife surgery and trigeminal schwannoma: is it possible to preserve cranial nerve function?

Object: The current study was undertaken to evaluate the tumor control rate and functional outcome after Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) in patients with a trigeminal schwannoma. The conditions associated with the development of cranial neuropathies after radiosurgery were scrutinized.

Methods: The authors reviewed the clinical records and radiological data in 22 consecutive patients who received GKS for a trigeminal schwannoma.

Endogenous neurogenesis and neovascularization in the neocortex of the rat after focal cerebral ischemia.

The present study was designed to examine whether endogenous neurogenesis and neovascularization occur in the neocortex of the ischemic rat brain after unilateral middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six groups (n = 29): one control group (n = 4) and five groups composed of animals sacrificed at increasing times post-MCAO (2 days and 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks; n = 5 per group). To determine the presence of neurogenesis and neovascularization in the ischemic brain, nestin, Tuj1, NeuN, GFAP, Tie2, RECA, and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) were analyzed immunohistochemically.

Simple measurement of spinal cord evoked potential: a valuable data source in the rat spinal cord injury model.

Measurement of spinal cord evoked potentials (SCEPs) is proposed as a means of predicting locomotion outcome in the rat spinal cord injury (SCI) model. Using 55 rats, three reproducible peak waves (waves I, II and III) were observed during stimulation at the C7 level with recording at the L1 epidural space. Hemisection at the T13 level showed three wave loss patterns: wave III loss only, loss of both wave II and III, and loss of all three waves.

Expression of Sox2 in mature and immature teratomas of central nervous system.

Sox2 is a transcription factor that plays a critical role in the maintenance of the self-renewal capability of neural stem cells. This study was undertaken to investigate the expression pattern of Sox2 in mature and immature teratomas of the central nervous system. Sox2 immunohistochemistry was performed in 14 cases of central nervous system teratoma: five mature, five immature teratomas, and four mixed germ cell tumors with a prominent teratoma component.

Reclosure of surgically induced spinal open neural tube defects by the intraamniotic injection of human embryonic stem cells in chick embryos 24 hours after lesion induction.

Object: The authors previously reported that human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) injected into the amniotic cavity of chick embryos immediately after neural tube incision in a surgically induced spinal open neural tube defect (ONTD) model promote the reclosure capacity of neural tubes. To simulate more closely the clinical situation of human ONTDs, in which a substantial time period elapses before the prenatal diagnosis of spinal ONTDs, the authors investigated whether this reclosure capacity remains enhanced by the intraamniotic injection of hESCs at 24 hours after ONTD induction.

Methods: One hundred twenty-two chick embryos with ONTDs were randomly assigned to two groups: the control group (59 embryos) and the hESC-injection group (hESC group, 63 embryos).

The role of matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinase in microcystic meningiomas.

We studied the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMP) in microcystic meningiomas to investigate a possible underlying mechanism for the development of microcysts and of peritumoral edema, which are frequent characteristics of this rare subtype. Between October 1995 and June 2004, 10 of 19 patients who had histologically confirmed pure microcystic meningiomas were enrolled in the study. Six patients with meningothelial meningiomas, three with atypical meningiomas, and one with a transitional meningioma were included as a control group.

Immature teratomas of the central nervous system: is adjuvant therapy mandatory?

Object: Immature teratomas of the central nervous system (CNS) are rare neoplasms. Although adjuvant therapy is generally recommended after resection, the exact role of each therapeutic modality is not yet established. The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinicopathological correlation and the role of resection to define the optimal treatment modalities for immature teratomas of the CNS.