NLM-Gene, a richly annotated gold standard dataset for gene entities that addresses ambiguity and multi-species gene recognition.

The automatic recognition of gene names and their corresponding database identifiers in biomedical text is an important first step for many downstream text-mining applications. While current methods for tagging gene entities have been developed for biomedical literature, their performance on species other than human is substantially lower due to the lack of annotation data. We therefore present the NLM-Gene corpus, a high-quality manually annotated corpus for genes developed at the US National Library of Medicine (NLM), covering ambiguous gene names, with an average of 29 gene mentions (10 unique identifiers) per document, and a broader representation of different species (including Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Drosophila melanogaster, Arabidopsis thaliana, Danio rerio, etc.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha stimulates ICAM-1 expression in human vascular smooth muscle cells.

Human atherosclerotic plaques contain numerous smooth muscle cells (SMCs) that express intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Expression of ICAM-1 in different cells is known to be regulated by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), which has recently been found to be present in the intimal thickening of human arteries. Therefore, we studied the effect of TNF-alpha on ICAM-1 mRNA content and surface expression in cultured human aortic SMCs by using the methods of Northern blotting and immunofluorescence flow cytometry.

[Connective tissue pathology in patients with aneurysms of the cerebral arteries (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome)].

Results of morphological examination of the skin and vessels in patients with large and giant brain artery aneurysms are presented. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (type IV) was diagnosed in half of the cases; very thin skin and vessel walls, the disturbance of the collagen fibril structure in dermis, increased permeability and the tendency to rupture of the inner elastic membrane of brain arteries combined with a severe intimal atrophy. The absence of the III type collagen in the skin biopsies was shown immunohistochemically.

Proliferative response of smooth muscle cells in hypertension.

A significant increase (up to 20% from about 10% in normals) in the number of smooth muscle cells (SMC) with tetraploid DNA content was found in the media and intima of human hypertensive aorta. A similar process was detected during normal human vessel aging. It was found that SMC from normal human aorta and normotensive rat aorta, which were able to incorporate 3H-thymidine, had diminished proliferative potency and a tendency to polyploidization in primary culture.

[Proliferation of smooth muscle cells in hypertension].

The aortic intima and media isolated from hypertensives showed a significantly larger number (up to 20%) of smooth muscle cells (SMC) with tetraploid DNA content. The similar process was shown to be also a part of normal human vessel maturation. Normotensive human and rat aortic SMCs were found to accumulate 3H-thymidine, have a lower proliferative ability and they were apt to polyploidize in the primary culture.

A 90-kd surface antigen from a subpopulation of smooth muscle cells from human atherosclerotic lesions.

A monoclonal antibody, designated 10F3, that reacts with an antigen with a molecular weight of 90,000 daltons has been obtained after immunization of BALB/c mice with long-term cultured smooth muscle cells (SMC) originally isolated from fetal human aorta (fSMC). In adults the antigen is present on venous, arterial and capillary endothelial cells of heart, kidney, liver, spleen, intestine, skin, uterus, placenta, and arteries only, as shown by immunohistochemical investigation using the PAP technique. The antigen 10F3 is also present on the mesenchymal cells of human fetal tissues (7 and 18-week-old fetuses) and on SMC of 7-week-old fetal aorta, and a subpopulation of cells reacting with 10F3 antibody also has been found in atherosclerotic intima.

[T8-positive lymphocytes in inflammatory infiltrates of the vascular wall in nonspecific aortoarteritis].

Artery specimens obtained during surgical manipulations from 11 patients suffering from nonspecific aortoarteritis (NAA) were studied immunohistochemically for T4, T8-positive lymphocytes, LFA-1-positive lymphocytes, basal membrane (BM) proteins: laminin and type IV collagen. T8-positive and LFA-1-positive cells were shown to be predominant in the sites of injury. The results obtained point out to the presence of cytotoxic cells in the affected arteries.

[Heterogeneity of basal membranes in human tissues detected by monoclonal antibodies to laminin and entactin].

The distribution of basal membrane glycoproteins, laminin and entactin, was studied immunohistochemically by peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique in different adult human organs: kidneys, liver, heart, skin, spleen and ileum. Monoclonal antibody against entactin (ELM2) reacted with all basal membranes. Monoclonal antibody against laminin (LT3.

[Morphogenesis of the intimal thickening observed in nonspecific aortoarteritis].

Thickening of blood vessel segment intima (aorta, carotid, femoral and renal arteries) excised from 9 patients during surgery for nonspecific aortoarteritis was studied, using electron microscopic autoradiography. A large number of vessels of capillary and precapillary type were found among cells and in the intracellular substance of thickened intima. Vascular endotheliocytes and pericytes were easily labelled with 3H-uridine.

[Various problems in the morphogenesis of nonspecific aortoarteritis].

Hyperplastic aortic intima in non-specific aorta-arteritis (NAA) was studied histologically and by means of electron-microscopic autoradiography and immunomorphology. Main cell elements of focal intimal growth in NAA were shown to be fibroblast-like cells producing type I collagen and the cells ultrastructurally corresponding to smooth-muscle cells and producing type III collagen. There were many small vessels of capillary and precapillary type located between these cells and in the intercellular substance.

[Long-term culture of the rat medial aorta with preservation of the characteristic properties of differentiated smooth muscle vascular cells].

The authors provide the results of a long-term cultivation (106 passages during 2 years) of smooth muscle cells of rat aorta media, where the cells preserve the signs characteristic for their differentiation: ability to contract, specific ultrastructure (the presence of the caveole series, microfilaments of 4-6 nm, intermediate filaments of 10 nm, dark bodies in the cytoplasm), and ability to synthesize the alpha-form of actin specific for smooth muscle vascular cells.

[Insulin-like substance in the submaxillary glands of mice normally and in alloxan diabetes].

The content of an insulin-like substance, revealed in the submaxillary glands of mice by means of the radioimmunological method proved to decrease in alloxan diabetes, still remaining higher than in the blood serum of the same animals. Cells of the granular portions of the salivary ducts underwent some ultrastructural changes in this disease. The exogenous 125I-insulin was capable of being included into the cells of the salivary ducts.