Spindle cell variant of medullary thyroid carcinoma: a clinicopathologic study of four cases.

Background: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a malignant tumor derived from C cells. It accounts for about 10% of all thyroid malignancies. More than 14 histological variants have been described.

Chronic intermittent hypoxia alters the dendritic mitochondrial structure and activity in the pre-Bötzinger complex of rats.

Mitochondrial bioenergetics is dynamically coupled with neuronal activities, which are altered by hypoxia-induced respiratory neuroplasticity. Here we report structural features of postsynaptic mitochondria in the pre-Bötzinger complex (pre-BötC) of rats treated with chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) simulating a severe condition of obstructive sleep apnea. The subcellular changes in dendritic mitochondria and histochemistry of cytochrome c oxidase (CO) activity were examined in pre-BötC neurons localized by immunoreactivity of neurokinin 1 receptors.

Primary Osteosarcoma of the Liver: Case Report and Literature Review.

Extraskeletal osteosarcoma is a rare, highly malignant, osteoid formation mesenchymal neoplasm in the absence of bone involvement, associated with exceptionally poor prognosis. It frequently arises in the soft tissues of the extremities or in the retroperitoneum, but rarely in visceral organ. We describe a primary osteosarcoma of the liver in a 70-year-old man who presented with an episode of fever, accompanied by abdominal discomfort, after an accident abdominal strike.

Catecholaminergic neurons in synaptic connections with pre-Bötzinger complex neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla in normoxic and daily acute intermittent hypoxic rats.

The rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) contains cardiovascular-related catecholaminergic neurons and respiratory-related pre-Bötzinger complex (pre-BötC) neurons, which are intermingled and functionally connected for coordinating cardiorespiratory activities. Daily acute intermittent hypoxia (dAIH) is known to elicit respiratory plasticity. However, it is unclear if the catecholaminergic neurons directly synapse onto pre-BötC neurons, and if the local circuitry exhibits plasticity when exposed to dAIH.

Spindle cell rhabdomyosarcoma of the retroperitoneum: an unusual case developed in a pregnant woman but obscured by pregnancy.

Spindle cell rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an uncommon histiologic variant of RMS that has spindle cell morphology. This tumor occurs almost exclusively in childhood and more rarely in adults. Only a few adult cases, including two retroperitoneal cases in male patients, have been documented previously.

Sarcomatoid variant of ALK- anaplastic large cell lymphoma involving multiple lymph nodes and both lungs with production of proinflammatory cytokines: report of a case and review of literature.

Sarcomatoid variant of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is one of the rarest histologic variants of ALCL that consists of large, bizarre, often spindle-shaped, neoplastic cells resembling a soft tissue sarcoma. We report here such a case of ALCL with both pulmonary and multiple nodal involvement in a 47-year-old woman who initially presented with fever, cough, sputum, itching skin, and weight loss. The initial transbronchial lung biopsy showed discohesive pleomorphic malignant cells in a strong inflammatory milieu reminiscent of inflammatory malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH).

Clinicopathological and extensive immunohistochemical study of a type II pleuropulmonary blastoma.

Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is a rare malignant dysontogenetic neoplasm primarily affecting younger children, even in newborns with an unfavorable outcome. PPB is histologically composed of a primitive, variably mixed blastematous and sarcomatous components, and exclusively subclassified as type I (purely cystic), type II (both cystic and solid elements) and type III (completely solid) by increasing histological evidence of malignancy. At present, well-documented cases or cases of truly precise presentation of either pathological or immunohistochemical findings in PPB are rare.

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma of the spleen in an adult: an initial case report.

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is a rare locally aggressive vascular neoplasm characterized by infiltrating nodules and sheets of spindle cells, and unmistakable resemblance to Kaposi's sarcoma. KHE occurs mainly in newborns and infants and presents most commonly in the skin, deep soft tissue, and bone. We report a case of KHE in a 36-year-old female who presented with a spleen mass and underwent splenectomy.

Abnormal expression of NRF-2α in hepatocellular carcinoma identified with a newly prepared monoclonal antibody against human NRF-2α protein.

Human nuclear respiratory factor 2 alpha subunit (NRF-2α) is fundamentally important to cell function and the development. We aimed to establish the monoclonal antibody (MAb) against the human NRF-2α protein and to investigate its distribution in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and tumor-adjacent tissues. The 6× His-NRF-2α fusion protein was successfully induced and purified.

HSP70 induced by Hantavirus infection interacts with viral nucleocapsid protein and its overexpression suppresses virus infection in Vero E6 cells.

Hantavirus (HTV) infection is known to induce innate cellular response, a more specified cellular response in the host cells. However, whether it stimulates synthesis of stress proteins, particularly associations of viral proteins, is entirely unknown. The primary focus of this research is using Vero E6 cells infected with Hantaan 76-118 (HTNV) as an in vitro infection model to examine the individual contribution of HTV infection to heat shock response.

A case of primary histiocytic sarcoma arising from thyroid gland.

Histiocytic sarcoma (HS) is an extremely rare true histiocytic malignancy. We report a case of HS arising from thyroid gland in a 69 year-old man. Following subtotal thyroidectomy, a histopathologic, immunohistologic, and genotypic examination revealed HS.

Primary follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the thyroid gland coexisting with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Follicular dendritic cell (FDC) sarcoma, especially of extranodal origin, is an extremely rare malignancy of FDC origin, with only 1 case previously documented in the thyroid. The authors report the case of a 58-year-old female who presented with a painless mass in her neck. The neoplastic cells expressed monocyte/macrophage-specific marker CD68 (KP-1) and lysozymes and the dendritic cell-associated antigens CD35 and Fascin but was negative for CD1a, CD21, and CD23, most consistent with a diagnosis of FDC sarcoma.

[The colocalized relationship between p53 mutants 249M, 273H and hsp70 in HepG2 cells].

Aim: To synthesize p53 mutants 249M, 273H with site-directed mutagenesis and construct the relative GFP expression vectors, transfect HepG2 cells and then detect the co-localization of p53 and hsp70.

Methods: Two sets of primers were designed according to the gene sequence of p53, and mismatches were introduced into primers. Mutagenesis was performed in a two-step PCR.

[Significant increase of glucose transport activity in breast cancer].

Objective: To study the expression level and significance of glucose transporter 1 (Glut-1) in normal breast tissue, adenosis, adenoma and breast carcinoma.

Methods: A total of 147 cases of female breast tissue samples, including 92 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma, 26 cases of breast fibroadenoma, 24 cases of breast adenosis and 5 cases of normal breast tissues, were collected for quantitative detection of the expression of Glut-1 protein by immunohistochemistry (EnVision method) and Western blot, and its mRNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Results: In normal breast tissue and benign lesions of the breast, Glut-1 was undetectable or only weakly detectable in cytoplasm of ductal and acinar epithelia.

Heat shock protein 70 fused to or complexed with hantavirus nucleocapsid protein significantly enhances specific humoral and cellular immune responses in C57BL/6 mice.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are known to act as an effective molecular adjuvant to enhance the induction of antigen peptide-specific cellular immunity, when coupled with the antigen or peptide. Hantaan virus (HTNV) nucleocapsid protein (NP) is relatively conserved among hantaviruses and highly immunogenic in both animals and humans. To analyze the influence of HSP70 on NP vaccine potency, and evaluate the possibility of developing a novel effective vaccine against hantaviruses, we constructed prokaryotic expression plasmids, and expressed three recombinant proteins, namely, HTNV NP, HSP70 and HSP70-NP fusion protein.

[Expression of Hsp70 Grp94 and IgG in human lung carcinoma].

Aim: To explore the expression and significance of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), glucose regulated protein 94 (Grp94) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) in human lung carcinoma.

Methods: The expression of Hsp70, Grp94 and IgG in 40 human lung carcinomas was studied using immunohistochemical technique and image analysis. The localization among Hsp70, Grp94 and IgG was analyzed by double labeling immunofluorescent staining and laser scanning confocal microscopy.

HSP70 gene fused with Hantavirus S segment DNA significantly enhances the DNA vaccine potency against hantaviral nucleocapsid protein in vivo.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) have been shown to act as adjuvants when coadministered with peptide antigens or given as fusion proteins and enhance the vaccination efficiency. To evaluate the enhancement of the potency of Hantaan virus (HTNV) nucleocapsid protein (NP) immunogenicity by heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), we developed a novel chimeric HTNV S-HSP70 DNA vaccine plasmid by genetically linking HSP70 gene to the full-length HTNV S segment DNA (HTNV S DNA). C57BL/6 mice were immunized with this plasmid followed by a subsequent boost with homologous recombinant protein.

Quantitative immuno-electron microscopic analysis of nuclear respiratory factor 2 alpha and beta subunits: Normal distribution and activity-dependent regulation in mammalian visual cortex.

The macaque visual cortex is exquisitely organized into columns, modules, and streams, much of which can be correlated with its metabolic organization revealed by cytochrome oxidase (CO). Plasticity in the adult primate visual system has also been documented by changes in CO activity. Yet, the molecular mechanism of regulating this enzyme remains not well understood.

[Expression of HSP70 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells induced by Hantavirus].

Aim: To study stress response in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) infected with Hantavirus (HTV).

Methods: The expression of HSP70 was detected by immunocytochemical staining, in situ nucleic acid hybridization and RT-PCR.

Results: After being infected with HTV, the expression of HSP70 in HUVEC increased.

Primary targeting of recombinant Fv-immunotoxin hscFv(25)-mTNFalpha against hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To obtain human recombinant Fv-immunotoxin hscFv(25)-mTNFalpha (mutant human TNFalpha fused to human scFv(25)) against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Two relevant sites of enzymatic digestion were added to mTNFalpha by PCR. MTNFalpha was linked to the 3' end of hscFv(25) in pGEX4T-1 vector.

[Interaction between p53 and HSP70 in human hepatocellular carcinoma tissues].

Aim: To investigate the interaction between p53 and heat shock protein70 (HSP70) in human hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.

Methods: HSP70 and p53-double positive samples were screened by imunohistochemical staining from twelve human hepatocellular carcinoma tissues, and the tissue homogenate was prepared. Coimmunoprecipitation was performed by using either anti-HSP70 mAb or anti-p53 mAb.

[Construction, expression and targeting therapeutic of single-chain immunotoxin against hepatocellular carcinoma].

Objectives: To obtain high therapeutic effect and low toxicity single-chain immunotoxin against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Human mutant tumor necrosis factor-alpha (mTNFalpha) was linked with the 3' end of humanized single-chain Fv against HCC (hscFv25) in pGEX4T-1 vector. The anti-HCC immunotoxin was expressed in Escherichia coli and identified by western blot.