Hallmarks of aging: A user's guide for comparative biologists.

Since the first description of a set of characteristics of aging as so-called hallmarks or pillars in 2013/2014, these characteristics have served as guideposts for the research in aging biology. They have been examined in a range of contexts, across tissues, in response to disease conditions or environmental factors, and served as a benchmark for various anti-aging interventions. While the hallmarks of aging were intended to capture generalizable characteristics of aging, they are derived mostly from studies of rodents and humans.

Early life exercise impacts physiology and lifespan in a sex- and genotype-dependent manner in a Drosophila melanogaster exercise model.

Exercise is a common strategy for disease prevention or management, including for diabetes and cardiac dysfunction. However, exercise response varies immensely between individuals, and in humans, the same exercise treatment can lead both to positive and negative responses. Drosophila melanogaster is an established model for exercise research that can be leveraged to understand this variation in exercise response.

Incidentally Diagnosed Low-Grade Primary Peritoneal Serous Carcinoma Within the Umbilical Hernia Sac in a Male: A Report of an Extremely Rare Case and Review of the Literature.

Primary peritoneal serous carcinoma (PPSC) is a rare tumor that develops in the peritoneum. PPSC originates from embryonic nests of Müllerian cells in the peritoneum, which are also present in the epithelium of the ovary. This similarity explains the histopathological resemblance between PPSC and low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma.

Improvement in Hearing Loss Following Posterior Fossa Arachnoid Cyst Fenestration: A Case Study.

Arachnoid cysts are abnormal intradural collections of cerebrospinal fluid. For posterior fossa arachnoid cysts (PFACs), symptoms vary greatly, often relating to cranial nerve impingement and/or hydrocephalus. Literature on long-term symptomatic and radiographic follow-up of PFACs is lacking.

Recent Advances in Genitourinary Tumors: Updates From the 5th Edition of the World Health Organization Blue Book Series.

Context.—: Urinary and Male Genital Tumours is the 8th volume of the World Health Organization Classification of Tumours series, 5th edition. Released in hard copy in September 2022, it presents an update to the classification of male genital and urinary tumors in the molecular age.

Comparative analysis of animal lifespan.

Comparative studies of aging are a promising approach to identifying general properties of and processes leading to aging. While to date, many comparative studies of aging in animals have focused on relatively narrow species groups, methodological innovations now allow for studies that include evolutionary distant species. However, comparative studies of aging across a wide range of species that have distinct life histories introduce additional challenges in experimental design.

Multilineage Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors (PitNETs) Expressing PIT1 and SF1.

PitNETs are usually restricted in their cytodifferentiation to only one of 3 lineages dictated by expression of the pituitary transcription factors (TFs) PIT1, TPIT, or SF1. Tumors that show lineage infidelity and express multiple TFs are rare. We searched the pathology files of 4 institutions for PitNETs with coexpression of PIT1 and SF1.

The Mucosal Manifestations of Syphilis in the Head and Neck.

Syphilis is a resurging disease which can present itself in many ways, including lesions within the head and neck mucosa. Some of these lesions may clinically mimic oral malignancies. This literature review aims to better characterize the mucosal presentations of syphilis.

Recent Advances in the Classification of Gynecological Tract Tumors: Updates From the 5th Edition of the World Health Organization "Blue Book".

Context.—: The World Health Organization Classification of Tumours: Female Genital Tract Tumors, 5th edition, published in September 2020, comes 6 years after the 4th edition, and reflects the monumental leaps made in knowledge about the biology of gynecological tumors. Major changes include revised criteria for the assignment of the site of origin of ovarian and fallopian tube tumors, a revision in the classification of squamous and glandular lesions of the lower genital tract based on human papillomavirus association, and an entire chapter devoted to genetic tumor syndromes.

Functions of HP1 proteins in transcriptional regulation.

In eukaryotes, DNA is packaged into chromatin, which presents significant barriers to transcription. Non-histone chromatin proteins such as the Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) proteins are critical regulators of transcription, contributing to gene regulation through a variety of molecular mechanisms. HP1 proteins are highly conserved, and many eukaryotic genomes contain multiple HP1 genes.

Sex-specific aging in animals: Perspective and future directions.

Sex differences in aging occur in many animal species, and they include sex differences in lifespan, in the onset and progression of age-associated decline, and in physiological and molecular markers of aging. Sex differences in aging vary greatly across the animal kingdom. For example, there are species with longer-lived females, species where males live longer, and species lacking sex differences in lifespan.

The Drosophila HP1 family is associated with active gene expression across chromatin contexts.

Drosophila Heterochromatin Protein 1a (HP1a) is essential for heterochromatin formation and is involved in transcriptional silencing. However, certain loci require HP1a to be transcribed. One model posits that HP1a acts as a transcriptional silencer within euchromatin while acting as an activator within heterochromatin.

Exercise-induced changes in climbing performance.

Exercise is recommended to promote health and prevent a range of diseases. However, how exercise precipitates these benefits is unclear, nor do we understand why exercise responses differ so widely between individuals. We investigate how climbing ability in changes in response to an exercise treatment.

A Case of Retroperitoneal Synovial Sarcoma in Pregnancy Treated with Antepartum Doxorubicin plus Ifosfamide Chemotherapy.

We report a case of a 25-year-old pregnant woman diagnosed with a large, unresectable retroperitoneal synovial sarcoma. Successful neoadjuvant treatment with doxorubicin plus ifosfamide prepartum and continuing postpartum resulted in significant disease response allowing for later tumor resection. Following the first prepartum chemotherapy cycle, a decreased amniotic fluid index was noted, representing a potential complication of chemotherapy.

Measuring the Efficacy of Pathology Career Recruitment Strategies in US Medical Students.

Context.—: Multiple articles and surveys in the literature suggest that medical students find a career in pathology undesirable and believe it is disproportionately focused primarily on the autopsy.

Objective.

The Epigenome and Beyond: How Does Non-genetic Inheritance Change Our View of Evolution?

Evidence from across the tree of life suggests that epigenetic inheritance is more common than previously thought. If epigenetic inheritance is indeed as common as the data suggest, this finding has potentially important implications for evolutionary theory and our understanding of how evolution and adaptation progress. However, we currently lack an understanding of how common various epigenetic inheritance types are, and how they impact phenotypes.

GWAS reveal a role for the central nervous system in regulating weight and weight change in response to exercise.

Body size and weight show considerable variation both within and between species. This variation is controlled in part by genetics, but also strongly influenced by environmental factors including diet and the level of activity experienced by the individual. Due to the increasing obesity epidemic in much of the world, there is considerable interest in the genetic factors that control body weight and how weight changes in response to exercise treatments.

Plasma Cell Myeloma Within a Renal Cell Carcinoma, an Intimate Histologic Relationship: A Case Report and Literature Review.

The coexistence of two separate malignancies in a patient is a rare occurrence. Even more infrequent is the coexistence of a hematologic malignancy and a solid tumor. However, the relationship between renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and plasma cell myeloma (PCM) has been reported in previous studies.

Primary Cutaneous Gamma/Delta T-cell Lymphoma and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Associated With AIDS.

Primary cutaneous gamma delta T-cell lymphoma (PCGD-TCL) is a rare lymphoma that makes up less than 1% of all cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. Patients with PCGD-TCL typically present with rapidly progressing plaques and ulceronecrotic nodules most frequently located on extremities without lymph node or bone marrow involvement. The overall prognosis is poor with a median overall survival of approximately 15 months.

Variation in the response to exercise stimulation in : marathon runner versus sprinter genotypes.

Animals' behaviors vary in response to their environment, both biotic and abiotic. These behavioral responses have significant impacts on animal survival and fitness, and thus, many behavioral responses are at least partially under genetic control. In , for example, genes impacting aggression, courtship behavior, circadian rhythms and sleep have been identified.

Social Media Engagement at Academic Conferences: Report of the Association of Pathology Chairs 2018 and 2019 Annual Meeting Social Media Committee.

The use of social media at academic conferences is expanding, and platforms such as Twitter are used to share meeting content with the world. Pathology conferences are no exception, and recently, pathology organizations have promoted social media as a way to enhance meeting exposure. A social media committee was formed ad hoc to implement strategies to enhance social media involvement and coverage at the 2018 and 2019 annual meetings of the Association of Pathology Chairs.

Gene fusion characterisation of rare aggressive prostate cancer variants-adenosquamous carcinoma, pleomorphic giant-cell carcinoma, and sarcomatoid carcinoma: an analysis of 19 cases.

Aims: To evaluate the molecular underpinnings of the rare aggressive prostate cancer variants adenosquamous carcinoma, pleomorphic giant-cell carcinoma, and sarcomatoid carcinoma.

Methods And Results: We retrieved 19 tumours with one or more variant(s), and performed ERG immunohistochemistry, a next-generation sequencing assay targeting recurrent gene fusions, and fluorescence in-situ hybridisation (FISH) for ERG and BRAF. Divergent differentiation included: sarcomatoid carcinoma (n = 10), adenosquamous carcinoma (n = 7), and pleomorphic giant-cell carcinoma (n = 7).

Epigenetics and genome stability.

Maintaining genome stability is essential to an organism's health and survival. Breakdown of the mechanisms protecting the genome and the resulting genome instability are an important aspect of the aging process and have been linked to diseases such as cancer. Thus, a large network of interconnected pathways is responsible for ensuring genome integrity in the face of the continuous challenges that induce DNA damage.