Increased activity of guanosine 3'-5'-cyclic monophosphate phosphodiesterase in the renal tissue of cirrhotic rats with ascites.

A possible defect of guanosine 3'-5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) content in the renal tissue caused by an increased activity of cGMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) has, so far, not been evaluated in the pathogenesis of renal resistance to endogenous natriuretic peptides (ENP) in cirrhosis with ascites. To test this hypothesis the activity of cGMP-PDE and the concentration of cGMP were evaluated in vitro in the renal tissue of 10 control rats and 10 cirrhotic rats with ascites before and after the intravenous (IV) administration of Zaprinast (Sigma, St. Louis, MO), a specific cGMP-PDE inhibitor (30 microgram/kg/min).

Study of the expression and function of the tumour-associated antigen CaMBr1 in small cell lung carcinomas.

The expression of the epithelial antigen recognised by the MBr1 monoclonal antibody (CaMBr1) was studied on 161 small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) biopsies. A correlation between the marker expression and the overall survival of the patients was found. To investigate the possible role of CaMBr1 in tumour aggressiveness, the in vivo and in vitro growth capabilities of different SCLC cell lines, in relation to the antigen expression, were analysed.

Immunohistochemical reactivity of a monoclonal antibody prepared against human ovarian carcinoma on normal and pathological female genital tissues.

The reactivity profile of the monoclonal antibody (MAb) MOv18, raised against a poorly differentiated ovarian carcinoma specimen, was studied on normal tissues and tumors from the female reproductive system and on the kidney, which like the oviducts, vagina and uterus, also derives from the intermediate mesoderm. The obtained results indicate that MOv18 recognizes an epitope present on the normal epithelium of the oviducts, on 14-week old fetal kidney and, focally, on proximal and distal tubules of normal adult kidney. A strong reactivity was found on ovarian carcinomas, on invasive squamous carcinomas of the cervix and on endometrial carcinomas and hyperplasias.

Hormonal and basement membrane markers for immunoidentification of cultured human trophoblast cells.

Improvement of human chorionic villi cells in vitro culture has been obtained by supplementing the medium with 30% human fetal cord serum, instead of fetal calf serum. Expression of human chorionic gonadotropin, estrogen and progesterone receptors, laminin, laminin receptors, and type IV collagen has been studied on first subculture passages (4-7 weeks) by immunoperoxidase method. A minority of the cultured cells were positive for estrogen receptors, the majority were positive for progesterone receptors, while all cells were negative for human chorionic gonadotropin.