Amyloid associated with elastin-staining laminar aggregates in the lungs of patients diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: The heterogeneity of conditions underlying respiratory distress, whether classified clinically as acute lung injury (ALI) or the more severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), has hampered efforts to identify and more successfully treat these patients. Examination of postmortem lungs among cases clinically diagnosed as ARDS identified a cohort that showed a consistent morphology at the light and electron microscope levels, and featured pathognomonic structures which we termed elastin-staining laminar structures (ELS).

Methods: Postmortem tissues were stained using the Verhoeff-Van Gieson procedure for elastic fibers, and with Congo red for examination under a polarizing microscope.

Stress proteins and glycoproteins (Review).

Proteins represent both structural and functional elements of biological organisms, however, their structural and catalytic function is directly linked to the acquisition and maintenance of a complex three-dimensional conformation. A molecular machinery to accomplish protein folding and maintenance in vivo is provided by a variety of molecular chaperones that include both heat shock proteins (Hsps), glucose-regulated proteins (Grps), and a separate class of stress glycoproteins (S-Gps). Different chaperones associate to form functional complexes (chaperone) and work coordinately to accomplish specific functions during the folding of particular proteins.

Partial characterization of a Cisplatin-resistant subline of murine rif-1 tumor-cells.

We have developed a drug-resistant cell line (RIF/Ptr1) (R) from the murine radiation-induced fibrosarcoma (RIF-1) also designated Pts or (S). This subline has been characterized previously by an increased resistance to cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) or CDDP), lowered intracellular CDDP concentrations, and elevated intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels (1.4-2.

Tumor drug-resistance: a challenge to therapists and biologists.

Cancer is the second largest cause of death after cardiovascular disease in the United States. Systemic chemotherapy is the major treatment modality for a number of common cancers, such as lymphomas, leukemias, and for the majority of disseminated tumors. The emergence of drug-resistant tumor cells is the major cause of subsequent cancer treatment failures.

Heat shock glycoprotein GP50: product of the retinoic acid-inducible J6 gene.

High intracellular levels of heat shock proteins and enhanced protein glycosylation are two phenomena closely associated with the cellular stress response. GP50 is the major heat-induced glycoprotein in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells; however, GP50 is not well characterized, and its function is unknown. J6 is a gene originally identified in F9 murine teratocarcinoma cells after exposure to retinoic acid.