Infantile human labial glands: Distribution of aquaporins and claudins in the context of paracellular and transcellular pathways.

Human labial glands consist of saliva-secreting cells which are formed by serous and predominantly mucous glandular cells. The following excretory duct system converts the isotonic saliva into a hypotonic fluid. Liquids are transported across the membrane of epithelial cells by paracellular or transcellular mode of action.

Diversity of mucins in labial glands of infants.

Mucins as highly glycosylated proteins comprise multiple functions like protection, homeostasis, immune defense, cell signaling. Various epithelial tissues including glandular structures express different specific mucin types. We investigated labial salivary glands in infants for the occurrence of MUC1, MUC2, MUC3, MUC4, MUC5AC, MUC5B, and MUC7 by immunohistochemistry.

Evaluation of Tissue-engineered Skin on Base of Human Amniotic Membrane for Wound Healing.

Unlabelled: Human amniotic membranes (hAMs) have shown promising results in recent studies aimed at improving wound healing through several mechanisms. We wanted to investigate its properties as a scaffold by adding autologous cells to treat full-thickness skin defects and hypothesized that recultivated hAM would show an even improved wound healing by accelerating the epidermal closure of the wound.

Methods: In an air-liquid cell culture, we cultivated autologous keratinocytes and fibroblasts on the hAM until a mostly keratinized surface was achieved.

Immunolocalization of Surfactant Proteins SP-A, SP-B, SP-C, and SP-D in Infantile Labial Glands and Mucosa.

Surfactant proteins in different glandular structures of the oral cavity display antimicrobial activity for protection of invading microorganisms. Moreover, they are involved in lowering liquid tension in fluids and facilitate secretion flows. Numerous investigations for studying the occurrence of surfactant proteins in glandular tissues were performed using different methods.

Image analysis of immune cell patterns in the human mammary gland during the menstrual cycle refines lymphocytic lobulitis.

Purpose: To improve microscopic evaluation of immune cells relevant in breast cancer oncoimmunology, we aim at distinguishing normal infiltration patterns from lymphocytic lobulitis by advanced image analysis. We consider potential immune cell variations due to the menstrual cycle and oral contraceptives in non-neoplastic mammary gland tissue.

Methods: Lymphocyte and macrophage distributions were analyzed in the anatomical context of the resting mammary gland in immunohistochemically stained digital whole slide images obtained from 53 reduction mammoplasty specimens.

An Immunohistochemical Study on the Role of Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress in Irradiated Skin.

Background/aim: The effects of ionizing radiation through the generation of free radicals, reactive aldehydes, and other oxidative and nitrosative by-products account for skin injuries as side effects of radiation therapy (RT). This study aims to identify cellular pathways in oxidative and nitrosative stress in irradiated skin using well-established marker proteins in an immunohistochemical analysis.

Materials And Methods: Tissue specimens of 51 patients were obtained during operative access to the neck.

Labial Salivary Glands in Infants: Histochemical Analysis of Cytoskeletal and Antimicrobial Proteins.

Human labial glands secrete mucous and serous substances for maintaining oral health. The normal microbial flora of the oral cavity is regulated by the acquired and innate immune systems. The localization and distribution of proteins of the innate immune system were investigated in serous acinar cells and the ductal system by the method of immunohistochemistry.

An expression analysis of markers of radiation-induced skin fibrosis and angiogenesis in wound healing disorders of the head and neck.

Background: Radiation-induced fibrosis (RIF) is one of the severe long-term side effects of radiation therapy (RT) with a crucial impact on the development of postoperative wound healing disorders (WHD). The grades of fibrosis vary between mild to severe depending on individual radiosensitivity. In this study, we have investigated the molecular pathways that influence RIF and have correlated data from immunohistochemistry (IHC) for von -Willebrand Factor (vWF) and from Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) concerning markers such as Transforming Growth Factor (TGF)-β 1, and vWF, with clinical data concerning the occurrence of WHD during follow-up.

Evaluation of human amniotic membrane as a wound dressing for split-thickness skin-graft donor sites.

Human amniotic membrane (HAM) has been used as a biomaterial in various surgical procedures and exceeds some qualities of common materials. We evaluated HAM as wound dressing for split-thickness skin-graft (STSG) donor sites in a swine model (Part A) and a clinical trial (Part B). Part A: STSG donor sites in 4 piglets were treated with HAM or a clinically used conventional polyurethane (PU) foil (n = 8 each).

Evaluation of intraoperative cytological assessment of bone resection margins in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Frozen sections are routinely applied to control for adequate resection margins. In cases in which carcinoma infiltrates bone, the intraoperative microscopic assessment of bone margins remains challenging due to technical difficulties to section native bone. The objective of the current study was to evaluate an intraoperative cytological approach to control bone resection margins in patients with bone-infiltrating oral squamous cell carcinomas.

Immunolocalization of antimicrobial and cytoskeletal components in the serous glands of human sinonasal mucosa.

Secretory cells in the seromucous glands of paranasal sinuses secrete antibacterial proteins for innate immune mucosal integrity. We studied the localization of antimicrobial and cytoskeletal components of the human seromucous glands and respiratory epithelium of the maxillary sinus and the ethmoidal cells by immunohistochemical methods. The presence of a variety of defense proteins such as lysozyme, lactoferrin, cathelicidin, and defensin-1, -2, -3 point to a crucial role in the immune defense for the respiratory tract.

Ischemia-reperfusion-induced unmeasured anion generation and glycocalyx shedding: sevoflurane versus propofol anesthesia.

Introduction: Vascular leakage after ischemia-reperfusion (IR) is largely attributed to the destruction of the endothelial barrier and its associated negatively charged glycocalyx. In vitro, sevoflurane attenuates these changes. Therefore, we compared sevoflurane with propofol with regard to the protection of the glycocalyx and the release of negatively charged substances in vivo.

Amniotic membrane as part of a skin substitute for full-thickness wounds: an experimental evaluation in a porcine model.

Background: We evaluated the use of human amniotic membrane (HAM) as a graft material for the treatment of iatrogenic full-thickness (FT) skin wounds in a porcine model with a view to reducing donor site morbidity in free flap transfer.

Methods: Forty experimental FT-wounds were covered with an autologous split-thickness skin graft (STSG) alone or in combination with a mono- or multilayer HAM or Integra(®). Untreated wounds served as controls.

Human β-defensins and psoriasin/S100A7 expression in salivary glands: anti-oncogenic molecules for potential therapeutic approaches.

Background: Host defence peptides (HDPs), including human β-defensins (hBDs) and psoriasin/S100A7, exert antimicrobial and immunoregulatory functions of the innate defense system. In addition to these functions, the search for cancer biomarkers has identified HDPs as playing a potential role in both tumor suppression and oncogenesis. Although HDPs are highly expressed in salivary glands, their role as molecules for potential diagnostic and therapeutic approaches has not yet been analyzed.

The human submandibular gland: immunohistochemical analysis of SNAREs and cytoskeletal proteins.

Submandibular acinar glands secrete numerous proteins such as digestive enzymes and defense proteins on the basis of the exocrine secretion mode. Exocytosis is a complex process, including a soluble NSF attachment protein receptor (SNARE)-mediated membrane fusion of vesicles and target membrane and the additional activation of cytoskeletal proteins. Relevant data are available predominantly for animal salivary glands, especially of the rat parotid acinar cells.

Quantitative comparison of the expression of antimicrobial peptides in the oral mucosa and extraoral skin.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) defend epithelial surfaces against pathological micro-organisms. We know of no comparison of their expression between the oral mucosa and extraoral epithelium, but knowledge of differences in their quantities is of interest, possibly as a starting point for new treatments. Expression of AMP human beta-defensin (hBD)-1/-2/-3 and psoriasin in the oral mucosa and extraoral epithelium of the head and neck were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (n=14), immunohistochemistry (n=6), and western blot (n=8).

Human axillary apocrine glands: proteins involved in the apocrine secretory mechanism.

The apocrine secretory mechanism is a mode of secretion by which the apical part of the cell cytoplasm is pinched off, which leads to the formation of an aposome. The distinct mechanism of formation and decapitation of the aposome is not well investigated. Only few proteins are known that are involved in this secretory mechanism.

Perspectives in microvascular fluid handling: does the distribution of coagulation factors in human myocardium comply with plasma extravasation in venular coronary segments?

Background: Heterogeneity of vascular permeability has been suggested for the coronary system. Whereas arteriolar and capillary segments are tight, plasma proteins pass readily into the interstitial space at venular sites. Fittingly, lymphatic fluid is able to coagulate.

Radiofrequency ablation in breast tissue: experimental study for evaluation of radiofrequency effects in the bovine udder and review of the literature.

Purpose: To investigate the radiofrequency (RF) effects on the nonlactating and lactating ex vivo bovine udder as a model for normal breast tissue.

Materials And Methods: RF ablation in three lactating and three nonlactating ex vivo bovine udders (ie, six udders) was performed. The opening of the electrodes was 3 cm.

The glycocalyx of the human umbilical vein endothelial cell: an impressive structure ex vivo but not in culture.

Potter and Damiano recently assessed the hydrodynamic dimensions of the endothelial glycocalyx in vivo (mouse cremaster muscle venules) and in vitro (human umbilical vein and bovine aorta endothelium cultured in perfused microchannels) using fluorescent microparticle image velocimetry (Circ Res. 2008;102:770-776). Great discrepancy was observed, the glycocalyx presenting a zone of interaction extending approximately 0.

Helicobacter pylori cag-Pathogenicity island-dependent early immunological response triggers later precancerous gastric changes in Mongolian gerbils.

Infection with Helicobacter pylori, carrying a functional cag type IV secretion system (cag-T4SS) to inject the Cytotoxin associated antigen (CagA) into gastric cells, is associated with an increased risk for severe gastric diseases in humans. Here we studied the pathomechanism of H. pylori and the role of the cag-pathogenicity island (cag-PAI) for the induction of gastric ulcer and precancerous conditions over time (2-64 weeks) using the Mongolian gerbil model.

Magnetic resonance imaging of heterotaxis syndrome.

Failure to establish normal left-right body axis (LRA) formation during embryogenesis results in heterotaxis, a multi-malformation syndrome. We report on a 20-year-old young woman who presented to the emergency room with upper abdominal pain. On chest X-ray, dextrocardia was noted.

Exogenous nitric oxide requires an endothelial glycocalyx to prevent postischemic coronary vascular leak in guinea pig hearts.

Introduction: Postischemic injury to the coronary vascular endothelium, in particular to the endothelial glycocalyx, may provoke fluid extravasation. Shedding of the glycocalyx is triggered by redox stress encountered during reperfusion and should be alleviated by the radical scavenger nitric oxide (NO). The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of exogenous administration of NO during reperfusion on both coronary endothelial glycocalyx and vascular integrity.

Immunolocalization of defensins and cathelicidin in human glands of Moll.

The human gland of Moll located at the margin of the eyelids is a specialized apocrine gland, the function of which is not exactly known. The presence of antimicrobial proteins was identified in this gland recently, suggesting a function in the external ocular defense barrier against pathogens. In this study, we have demonstrated beta-defensin-1, beta-defensin-2 and cathelicidin (LL-37) in the secretory endpieces of the glands of Moll using immunohistochemical methods.