Expression of anti-Mullerian hormone receptor on the appendix testis in connection with urological disorders.

The female internal sex organs develop from the paramesonephric (Mullerian) duct. In male embryos, the regression of the Mullerian duct is caused by the anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), which plays an important role in the process of testicular descent. The physiological remnant of the Mullerian duct in males is the appendix testis (AT).

Inhibition of TASK-3 (KCNK9) channel biosynthesis changes cell morphology and decreases both DNA content and mitochondrial function of melanoma cells maintained in cell culture.

TASK-3 channel overexpression was shown to facilitate the survival of malignantly transformed cells, possibly by providing greater hypoxia tolerance through a still unknown mechanism. Although it has been suggested previously that TASK-3 channels are expressed in the mitochondrial membranes, their role here remains elusive. In this study, a transient transfection of TASK-3 knockdown melanoma cell cultures was produced to show the significance of TASK-3 expression.

Cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration changes evoked by muscarinic cholinergic stimulation in primary and metastatic melanoma cell lines.

Experiments were performed to explore differences between cultured primary and metastatic melanoma cell lines in their muscarinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated intracellular Ca signalization. The expression of type 1 and type 3 muscarinic receptors was detected and compared at the protein level using both immunocytochemistry and semiquantitative western blotting. The functionality of muscarinic receptors was tested by applying carbamylcholine (CCh; 1 mmol/l) and by recording the associated increases in cytoplasmic Ca using Ca imaging with the application of the Ca indicator dye, fluo-4.

Voltage-gated potassium channel (Kv) subunits expressed in the rat cochlear nucleus.

Because the neuronal membrane properties and firing characteristics are crucially affected by the depolarization-activated K(+) channel (Kv) subunits, data about the Kv distribution may provide useful information regarding the functionality of the neurons situated in the cochlear nucleus (CN). Using immunohistochemistry in free-floating slices, the distribution of seven Kv subunits was described in the rat CN. Positive labeling was observed for Kv1.

Mitochondrial expression of the two-pore domain TASK-3 channels in malignantly transformed and non-malignant human cells.

The presence of TASK-3 channels has been described in a number of healthy and malignantly transformed cells, showing mainly intracellular distribution with relatively insignificant labelling of the cell surface membrane. In this work, immunochemical and molecular biology methods were utilised to establish the intracellular organelle whose TASK-3 expression accounts for this strong intracellular labelling using cultured melanoma and HaCaT cells. Before the immunocytochemical experiments, the presence of TASK-3 mRNA was also confirmed in melanoma cells.

Rhodamine backfilling and confocal microscopy as a tool for the unambiguous identification of neuronal cell types: a study of the neurones of the rat cochlear nucleus.

Adequate interpretation of the functional data characterising the projection neurones of the cochlear nucleus (CN) is impossible without the unequivocal classification of these cell types at the end of the experiments. In this study, morphological criteria applicable for unambiguous identification of CN neurones have been sought. The neurones were labelled with rhodamine from incisions severing the projection pathways of the individual cell types, allowing their selective labelling and morphological characterisation.

Melanoma cells exhibit strong intracellular TASK-3-specific immunopositivity in both tissue sections and cell culture.

Amplification of the kcnk9 gene and overexpression of the encoded channel protein (TASK-3) seems to be involved in carcinogenesis. In the present work, TASK-3 expression of melanoma cells has been studied. For the investigation of TASK-3-specific immunolabelling, a monoclonal antibody has been developed and applied along with two, commercially available polyclonal antibodies targeting different epitopes of the channel protein.