Spontaneous remission of acute lymphoblastic leukemia: A series of nine cases and a review of literature.

Aims: To report a series of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cases with spontaneous remission and provide presenting clinical and pathologic information and details of clinical course to raise awareness among oncologists and patients.

Methods: We identified and analyzed nine patients with ALL and spontaneous remission. Review of literature reveals an additional nine previously reported cases with similar clinical course.

Molecular and immunological associations of elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase in metastatic melanoma patients: A fresh look at an old biomarker.

Elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase (sLDH) is associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients with stage IV metastatic melanoma (MM). It is currently unknown if sLDH elevation correlates with distinct molecular, metabolic, or immune features of melanoma metastases. The identification of such features may identify rational therapeutic strategies for patients with elevated sLDH.

Dataset of segmented nuclei in hematoxylin and eosin stained histopathology images of ten cancer types.

The distribution and appearance of nuclei are essential markers for the diagnosis and study of cancer. Despite the importance of nuclear morphology, there is a lack of large scale, accurate, publicly accessible nucleus segmentation data. To address this, we developed an analysis pipeline that segments nuclei in whole slide tissue images from multiple cancer types with a quality control process.

F-FAC PET Selectively Images Liver-Infiltrating CD4 and CD8 T Cells in a Mouse Model of Autoimmune Hepatitis.

Immune cell-mediated attack on the liver is a defining feature of autoimmune hepatitis and hepatic allograft rejection. Despite an assortment of diagnostic tools, invasive biopsies remain the only method for identifying immune cells in the liver. We evaluated whether PET imaging with radiotracers that quantify immune activation (F-FDG and F-1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-arabinofuranosyl)cytosine [F-FAC]) and hepatocyte biology (F-2-deoxy-2-fluoroarabinose [F-DFA]) can visualize and quantify liver-infiltrating immune cells and hepatocyte inflammation, respectively, in a preclinical model of autoimmune hepatitis.

Novel insights into the pathogenesis of T-cell lymphomas.

T-cell lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of rare malignancies with overlapping clinical, immunologic, and histologic features. Recent advances in our understanding of T-cell differentiation based on gene expression profiling, next-generation sequencing, and transgenic mouse modeling studies have better elucidated the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying the diverse biology of T-cell lymphomas. These studies show that although genetic alterations in epigenetic modifiers are implicated in all subtypes of T-cell lymphomas, specific subtypes demonstrate enrichment for particular recurrent alterations targeting specific genes.

Atrx inactivation drives disease-defining phenotypes in glioma cells of origin through global epigenomic remodeling.

Mutational inactivation of the SWI/SNF chromatin regulator ATRX occurs frequently in gliomas, the most common primary brain tumors. Whether and how ATRX deficiency promotes oncogenesis by epigenomic dysregulation remains unclear, despite its recent implication in both genomic instability and telomere dysfunction. Here we report that Atrx loss recapitulates characteristic disease phenotypes and molecular features in putative glioma cells of origin, inducing cellular motility although also shifting differentiation state and potential toward an astrocytic rather than neuronal histiogenic profile.

The Almost-Normal Liver Biopsy: Presentation, Clinical Associations, and Outcome.

Liver biopsies obtained for abnormal liver enzymes or unexplained ascites occasionally appear histologically almost normal. The differential diagnosis for these cases is challenging because literature addressing this topic is lacking. We aimed to establish a differential diagnosis and determine clinical associations and outcomes for almost-normal liver biopsies.

Successful pacemaker lead extraction involving an ossified thrombus: A case report.

A 41-year-old woman who had been fitted with a pacemaker 18 years prior presented for lead extraction because of device infection. First, we tried laser sheath. However, it cannot cross the binding in the innominate vein.

Abundance of infiltrating CD163+ cells in the retina of postmortem eyes with dry and neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: Prior research in animal models has suggested that retinal macrophages play an important role in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but studies have insufficiently characterized the distribution of retinal macrophages in various stages of human AMD.

Methods: In this case series, we analyzed H&E, periodic acid-Schiff, and CD163 and CD68 immunostained slides from 56 formaldehyde-fixed, paraffin-embedded autopsy eyes of patients over age 75: 11 age-matched, normal eyes, and 45 AMD eyes.

Results: Qualitative analysis of the macula and retinal periphery revealed that all eyes contained a significant number of CD163+ cells but a negligible number of CD68+ cells.

Engraftment of bone marrow-derived epithelial cells.

The long-held concept that transplanted bone marrow (BM)-derived cells contribute only to cells of the hematopoietic system was challenged by data from our laboratory showing that a single male BM-derived cell could not only reconstitute the hematopoietic system of an irradiated female recipient, but could also lead to the generation of mature BM-derived epithelial cells in the liver, lung, skin, and gastrointestinal tract. Careful costaining and single-cell analyses have been used to rule out false positive cells due to inadequate detection techniques in microscopy or cell overlay. Since this initial discovery, we have sought to understand the mechanisms underlying the formation of BM-derived epithelial cells, and to evaluate their therapeutic use for gene therapy and/or tissue regeneration.

Analysis of the cytoplasmic domains of Salmonella FlhA and interactions with components of the flagellar export machinery.

Most flagellar proteins are exported via a type III export apparatus which, in part, consists of the membrane proteins FlhA, FlhB, FliO, FliP, FliQ, and FliR and is housed within the membrane-supramembrane ring formed by FliF subunits. Salmonella FlhA is a 692-residue integral membrane protein with eight predicted transmembrane spans. Its function is not understood, but it is necessary for flagellar export.

Lack of a fusion requirement for development of bone marrow-derived epithelia.

Analysis of developmental plasticity of bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) is complicated by the possibility of cell-cell fusion. Here we demonstrate that epithelial cells can develop from BMDCs without cell-cell fusion. We use the Cre/lox system together with beta-galactosidase and enhanced green fluorescent protein expression in transgenic mice to identify epithelial cells in the lung, liver, and skin that develop from BMDCs without cell fusion.

Analysis of an engineered Salmonella flagellar fusion protein, FliR-FlhB.

Salmonella FliR and FlhB are membrane proteins necessary for flagellar export. In Clostridium a fliR-flhB fusion gene exists. We constructed a similar Salmonella fusion gene which is able to complement fliR, flhB, and fliR flhB null strains.