Keratins as the main component for the mechanical integrity of keratinocytes.

Keratins are major components of the epithelial cytoskeleton and are believed to play a vital role for mechanical integrity at the cellular and tissue level. Keratinocytes as the main cell type of the epidermis express a differentiation-specific set of type I and type II keratins forming a stable network and are major contributors of keratinocyte mechanical properties. However, owing to compensatory keratin expression, the overall contribution of keratins to cell mechanics was difficult to examine in vivo on deletion of single keratin genes.

Helicobacter pullorum outbreak in C57BL/6NTac and C3H/HeNTac barrier-maintained mice.

Helicobacter pullorum is a bacterial pathogen in humans. By using microaerobic culture techniques, H. pullorum was isolated from the feces of barrier-maintained mice and identified, on the basis of biochemical, restriction fragment length polymorphism, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses.

MMTV-EGF receptor transgene promotes preneoplastic conversion of multiple steroid hormone-responsive tissues.

Correlative analyses of tumors and patient-derived cell lines of the human reproductive system suggest that overexpression of EGF contributes to the oncogenic phenotype. However, it is unclear at what stage in disease overexpression of the EGFR is most critical. To assess its role as an initiator of reproductive tissue tumor development, transgenic mice were derived with mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-regulated overexpression of the human EGFR.

Impact of family structure on long-term survivors of osteosarcoma.

Goals Of Work: Long-term outcomes of osteosarcoma have dramatically improved with the use of modern combination therapies. Such aggressive treatments, however, entail chronic complications. In the present study, we assessed the functional, psychological, and familial status of long-term survivors of osteosarcoma treated at our institution.

Influence of organ at risk definition on rectal dose-volume histograms in patients with prostate cancer undergoing external-beam radiotherapy.

Purpose: To evaluate rectal dose-volume relations during three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy of patients with prostate cancer by means of different rectal volume contours.

Patients And Methods: 55 patients with prostate cancer underwent three-dimensional conformal external-beam radiotherapy. Rectal dose-volume histograms were calculated for four separately contoured rectal volumes in all patients resulting in four groups.