Acquired hemoglobin variants and exposure to glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficient red blood cell units during exchange transfusion for sickle cell disease in a patient requiring antigen-matched blood.

Red blood cell exchange (RBCEx) is frequently used in the management of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and acute chest syndrome or stroke, or to maintain target hemoglobin S (HbS) levels. In these settings, RBCEx is a category I or II recommendation according to guidelines on the use of therapeutic apheresis published by the American Society for Apheresis. Matching donor red blood cells (RBCs) to recipient phenotypes (e.

Engineering bone tissue from human embryonic stem cells.

In extensive bone defects, tissue damage and hypoxia lead to cell death, resulting in slow and incomplete healing. Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) can give rise to all specialized lineages found in healthy bone and are therefore uniquely suited to aid regeneration of damaged bone. We show that the cultivation of hESC-derived mesenchymal progenitors on 3D osteoconductive scaffolds in bioreactors with medium perfusion leads to the formation of large and compact bone constructs.

Two third-year medical student-level laboratory shock exercises without large animals.

Background: Historically, medical schools have taught principles of hemodynamic shock using large animal models. Such exercises are infrequent today due to the increasing aversion of students and the wider community to the use of large animals in teaching. Herein, we describe two alternative exercises that communicated basic science and clinical principles of shock effectively.

De novo thrombotic microangiopathy in renal transplant recipients: a comparison of hemolytic uremic syndrome with localized renal thrombotic microangiopathy.

Background: Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a well-recognized and serious complication of renal transplantation, affecting 3% to 14% of patients administered calcineurin-inhibitor-based immunosuppression.

Methods: We reviewed 1,219 biopsy reports of 742 kidney and kidney-pancreas transplants performed during 15 years at our center and found 21 biopsy-confirmed cases of TMA.

Results: On presentation, the majority (62%) had systemic TMA with manifest hemolysis and thrombocytopenia, whereas a subset had TMA localized only to the graft (38%).

Characterization of galactosyl glycerolipids in the HT29 human colon carcinoma cell line.

Glycoglycerolipids constitute a family of glycolipids with apparently very restricted expression in human tissues. They have previously been detected only in the testis and the nervous system. In the present study, two glycoglycerolipids were isolated from the HT29 human colon carcinoma cell line.

Construction of bacteriophage expressing mouse monoclonal Fab fragments directed against the human MN glycophorin blood group antigens.

Background: The MN human blood group antigens are complex glycopeptide antigens at the amino terminus of glycophorin A. Many different mouse monoclonal antibodies to these antigens have been produced and characterized. The construction of combinatorial immunoglobulin libraries displaying antibody Fab fragments on the surface of bacteriophage (Fab-phage) represents a novel approach for developing monoclonal reagents, for exploring the diversity of the immune response to specific antigens, and for understanding the molecular basis of the interaction of an antibody with its antigen.

Biochemical characterization of the feline AB blood group system.

The biochemical nature of the feline AB blood group system was characterized by analysing red blood cells from homozygous (genotype A/A) and heterozygous (A/B) type A, type B (B/B), and type AB cats. High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) of red cell glycolipids revealed that specific neuraminic acids (NA) on gangliosides, containing ceramide dihexoside (CDH) as a backbone, correlated with the feline AB blood group antigens. Although disialogangliosides predominated, mono- and trisialogangliosides were also isolated.

The glycosphingolipid composition of the human hepatoma cell line,Hep-G2.

The origin of plasma glycosphingolipids in normal individuals and the mechanisms by which tumor-associated glycosphingolipid antigens enter the plasma in patients with cancer are largely unknown. The Hep-G2 human hepatoma cell line retains many of the characteristics of differentiated hepatocytes including the ability to synthesize and secrete lipoproteins. Preliminary results indicated that newly synthesized Hep-G2 cell glycosphingolipids are coupled to the secreted lipoproteins.

Carbohydrate-specific monoclonal antibodies bind to human granulocytes and stimulate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity.

Mouse monoclonal antibodies which specifically recognize human granulocytes are used to study the classification, differentiation, and function of these cells. Mouse monoclonal antibody WEM-G1 specifically binds to human neutrophils and eosinophils. It also affects granulocyte function by stimulating granulocyte-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity.

Glycolipid antigen expression in human lung cancer.

Several mouse monoclonal antibodies which recognize carbohydrate sequences distinguish between different types of human lung cancer immunohistologically. These antibodies bind to glycolipid antigens produced by the cancer cells. When these glycolipids are separated by thin-layer chromatography, immunostaining of the chromatograms yields complex patterns of antigen-positive bands.

Sialylated glycolipid antigens on human leukemic cell lines.

Many granulocyte-specific mouse monoclonal antibodies recognize the carbohydrate sequence 3-fucosyllactosamine, Ga 1 beta 1-4[Fuc alpha 1-3]GlcNAc, which occurs in cell-surface glycolipids and glycoproteins. In general, these antibodies bind to blast cells from most patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia, but not to those with acute lymphocytic leukemia. Neuraminidase treatment, however, increases exposure of this antigen on both myeloid and lymphoid cells.

Anti-My-28, an antigranulocyte mouse monoclonal antibody, binds to a sugar sequence in lacto-N-neotetraose.

Anti-My-28 is an IgM kappa monoclonal antibody produced by a hybridoma prepared from spleen cells of a mouse immunized with normal human granulocytes. By immunofluorescence it binds to human granulocytes but not to monocytes and lymphocytes. However, after treating cells with neuraminidase, the antibody also binds to lymphocytes and monocytes and to many leukemic cell lines and patient leukemic blast cells.

Patterns of human thyroid parenchymal reaction following low-dose childhood irradiation.

Microscopic changes in the thyroids of 68 patients who had received low-dose childhood irradiation to the head and neck and who presented with palpable thyroid abnormalities culminating in surgery are compared to 34 control thyroids obtained from age- and sex-matched autopsy cases. Eighty-eight percent of irradiated thyroids showed moderate to severe focal hyperplasia, 51% contained single or multiple adenomas or adenomatous hyperplastic nodules, 68% exhibited chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, 51% revealed colloid nodules, 42% presented with oxyphile change, 25% had mild fibrosis and 59% contained well-differentiated papillary, follicular or mixed thyroid carcinoma averaging 1.6 cm in diameter.