Constitutive activity of an atypical chemokine receptor revealed by inverse agonistic nanobodies.

Chemokine stimulation of atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3) does not activate G proteins but recruits arrestins. It is a chemokine scavenger that indirectly influences responses by restricting the availability of CXCL12, an agonist shared with the canonical receptor CXCR4. ACKR3 is upregulated in numerous disorders.

Long-term bone marrow cultured stromal cells regulate myeloma tumour growth in vitro: studies with primary tumour cells and LTBMC-dependent cell lines.

Long-term bone marrow cultured stromal cells (LTBMC) produce IL-6 after contact with tumour cells from multiple myeloma patients. We found that LTBMC could substitute for exogenous IL-6 in the stimulation of bone marrow plasma cells from myeloma patients with active disease in short-term cultures. In addition, tumour cells of some patients with inactive disease, which were unresponsive to exogenous IL-6, were induced to IL-6-dependent growth after LTBMC co-culture.

Primary tumor cells of myeloma patients induce interleukin-6 secretion in long-term bone marrow cultures.

Long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMC) from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and normal donors were analyzed for immunophenotype and cytokine production. Both LTBMC adherent cells from myeloma and normal donor origin expressed CD10, CD13, the adhesion molecules CD44, CD54, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, very late antigen 2 (VLA-2), and VLA-5, and were positive for extracellular matrix components fibronectin, laminin, and collagen types 3 and 4. LTBMC from myeloma patients and normal donors spontaneously secreted interleukin-6 (IL-6).

Polyarteritis nodosa in a patient with AIDS.

A 33-year-old male homosexual with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) presented with pain, blue colouring and ulceration of fingers and toes. Angiography of the superior mesenteric artery and renal arteries showed vessel wall irregularities and aneurysms, characteristic of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN). We describe this patient because of the possible association between systemic vasculitis and AIDS.

Value of the lateral radiologic view of the chest in children with acute pulmonary illness.

Although expert committees have questioned the usefulness of lateral radiologic views of the chest without specific indications, many physicians commonly order both posteroanterior and lateral views in assessing pediatric patients who have signs and symptoms of acute chest disease. To investigate the usefulness of lateral view in children, three experienced physicians independently reviewed and interpreted the posteroanterior view alone and the posteroanterior and lateral views for 179 children 1 to 10 years of age. The films were made between 1980 and 1982 at McMaster University Medical Centre, Hamilton, Ont.