Immobilized recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 enhances the phosphorylation of receptor-activated Smads.

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 plays an important role in bone growth and regeneration; however, BMP-2 is easily lost by diffusion through body fluid and has some inhibitory pathways. To address this problem, we previously immobilized recombinant human BMP-2 (rhBMP-2) on succinylated type I atelocollagen. Here, we examined the effect of immobilized rhBMP-2 in vitro and vivo.

Erdheim-Chester disease in a child presenting with multiple jaw lesions.

Background: Erdheim-Chester disease is a rare histiocytic disease entity related to juvenile xanthogranuloma. It is a systemic condition, usually occurs in adult, characterized by infiltration of foamy histiocytes within the bone and soft tissues.

Methods And Results: We report a case of 13-year-old female patient who first presented with multiple osteolytic lesions of the jaws followed by bilateral symmetrical bone lesions affecting the lower extremities, as well as brain and abdominal involvement.

Osteogenic potential of primed periosteum graft in the rat calvarial model.

Repair of bone defects remains a major concern in plastic and maxillofacial surgery. Based on modern concepts of tissue engineering, periosteum has gained attention as a suitable osteogenic material. We tested the hypothesis that surgically released and immediately repositioned periosteum would exhibit high osteogenic capacity upon grafting in a rat calvarial defect.

Immunolocalization of vascular endothelial growth factor during heterotopic bone formation induced from grafted periosteum.

Vessel invasion is an important step in cartilage replacement that leads to bone formation, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been implicated as a key player in this process. Although grafted periosteum undergoes endochondral ossification, little is known about the role of VEGF in this process. In the current study the authors investigated by immunohistochemical, histochemical, and ultrastructural techniques the localization of VEGF during bone formation in periosteal grafts.

Immunohistochemical observations of cellular differentiation and proliferation in endochondral bone formation from grafted periosteum: expression and localization of BMP-2 and -4 in the grafted periosteum.

Purpose: To clarify the involvement of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) in the proliferation and differentiation of osteo/chondrogenic cells during the process of bone formation from grafted periosteum.

Material And Methods: Tibial periosteum of young Japanese white rabbits was grafted into suprahyoid muscles and removed after 7, 9, 14 or 21 days. BMP-2, -4, proliferative cell nucleus antigen (PCNA) immunoreaction and Alcian blue staining in grafted periosteum was then sought microscopically.

Pathology of the temporomandibular joint of patients with rheumatoid arthritis--case reports of secondary amyloidosis and macrophage populations.

Introduction: The pathogenetic features of rheumatoid arthritis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) are not well defined. In this paper the histological features of TMJs affected by rheumatoid arthritis, and the detection of secondary amyloidosis and macrophage populations in the TMJs of two patients with progressive rheumatoid arthritis are described.

Methods: In two patients (64-year-old man and 61-year-old woman) with rheumatoid arthritis total TMJ replacement were performed.

Expression pattern of cisplatin-induced metallothionein isoforms in squamous cell carcinoma.

Cisplatin (CDDP) is a useful drug for the treatment of malignant solid tumors of the head and neck. Because CDDP includes the heavy metal platinum as a component, it is thought metallothionein (MT) may be involved in CDDP-resistance. However, functional differences between the four MT isoforms (MT-I, II, III and IV) remain unclear.

Evaluation of osteogenic/chondrogenic cellular proliferation and differentiation in the xenogeneic periosteal graft.

To determine whether grafted young periosteum can induce new bone formation in elderly patients, this preliminary study evaluated cell proliferation and differentiation in xenogeneic periosteal grafts in old rats radiographically, histologically, and immunohistochemically. Periosteum harvested from the tibia of young Japanese white rabbits were grafted into old Sprague-Dawley rats with or without administration of 1.0 mg per kilogram per day immunosuppressant FK506.