A 49-year-old woman presented to our hospital with right lower back pain and epigastric pressure. A computed tomographic scan showed a 12×7×20 cm retroperitoneal mass comprising fatty components and contrast areas around the right kidney. Based on the results, a right retroperitoneal liposarcoma was suspected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe thymoproteasome subunit β5t is specifically expressed in cortical thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and generates unique peptides to support positive selection. In this study, using a mouse model ubiquitously expressing β5t, we showed that aberrant expression of self-peptides generated by β5t affects CD8 T cell homeostasis, including thymic selection and maintenance of the peripheral naive pool of CD8 T cells. In mice in which β5t was expressed both in cortical and medullary TECs, the abundance of CD8 lineage thymocytes was reduced, and extra-thymic expression of β5t caused accumulation of CD8 T cells with the memory or exhausted phenotype and induced autoreactive T cell responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe uncommon mutations in the EGFR (the epithelial growth factor receptor) gene include a heterogeneous group of genomic alterations within exons 18-21. The clinical response of patients with such mutations to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) treatment, however, remains unclear. We herein report a case of advanced lung adenocarcinoma harboring complex exon 18 G719X (Gly719Xaa) and exon 20 S768I (Ser768Ile) mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCathepsins are a group of proteolytic enzymes of the endosomal/lysosomal pathway involved in the thymic development of T cells restricted by major histocompatibility complex class II molecules. In the normal thymus, cathepsin V (CTV) and cathepsin S (CTS) are expressed in cortical and medullary epithelial cells, respectively. To investigate whether cathepsins could serve as a diagnostic marker, we performed immunohistochemical analysis for CTV and CTS in 77 cases of thymic epithelial tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report an extremely rare case of branchial cleft-like cysts in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The patient was a 77-year-old man with a growing mass in the anterior neck. Ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed a cystic lesion with septum in the left thyroid and multiple small cystic lesions in the right thyroid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: The majority of patients with Down syndrome (DS), trisomy 21, have morphologically abnormal thymuses and present with intrinsic immunological abnormalities affecting mainly the cellular immune response. The aim of this study was to examine whether the expression of functionally important molecules is altered in thymic stromal cells in patients with DS.
Methods And Results: We analysed thymic tissues from patients with trisomy 13 (n = 4), trisomy 18 (n = 14) and trisomy 21 (n = 13) for histological alterations, and for the expression of functionally important molecules such as β5t, a thymoproteasome subunit, and cathepsins L and S.