Tamoxifen retinal toxicity. Monitoring by multimodal imaging study.

Introduction: Tamoxifen is a non-steroidal anti-oestrogen that acts as an antagonist in breast tissue, neurosensory retina, and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The reported incidence of its ocular effects varies between 0.9% and 11%.

Mitofusin-2 independent juxtaposition of endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria: an ultrastructural study.

Besides its role in controlling the morphology of mitochondria, mitofusin-2 has been proposed to tether mitochondria to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), based largely on light microscopic analysis. In this study we have examined by electron microscopy the organization of ER and mitochondria in cells expressing or not mitofusin-2. Contrary to previous studies, we observed that loss of mitofusin-2 increased ER-mitochondria juxtaposition.

The [corrected] SEC23-SEC31 [corrected] interface plays critical role for export of procollagen from the endoplasmic reticulum.

COPII proteins are essential for exporting most cargo molecules from the endoplasmic reticulum. The membrane-facing surface of the COPII proteins (especially SEC23-SEC24) interacts directly or indirectly with the cargo molecules destined for exit. As we characterized the SEC23A mutations at the SEC31 binding site identified from patients with cranio-lenticulo-sutural dysplasia, we discovered that the SEC23-SEC31 interface can also influence cargo selection.

Induction of cortical endoplasmic reticulum by dimerization of a coatomer-binding peptide anchored to endoplasmic reticulum membranes.

Cortical endoplasmic reticulum (cER) is a permanent feature of yeast cells but occurs transiently in most animal cell types. Ist2p is a transmembrane protein that permanently localizes to the cER in yeast. When Ist2 is expressed in mammalian cells, it induces abundant cER containing Ist2.

Pancreatic steatosis: harbinger of type 2 diabetes in obese rodents.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if the fat accumulation in the exocrine pancreas fat of obese Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rodents, like that in their endocrine pancreas, precedes the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). As the fat content of whole pancreas, but not islets, can now be measured in humans by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), such measurements could be used as a predictor of impending T2DM and an indication for preventive intervention.

Animals: Obese ZDF (fa/fa) rats and lean (+/+) controls on a 6% fat diet were killed at time points from 6 to 16 weeks and total pancreatic fat was measured biochemically and electronmicroscopic examination of tissue for fat droplets was carried out.