Proximity Mapping of Desmosomes Reveals a Striking Shift in Their Molecular Neighborhood Associated With Maturation.

Desmosomes are multiprotein adhesion complexes that link intermediate filaments to the plasma membrane, ensuring the mechanical integrity of cells across tissues, but how they participate in the wider signaling network to exert their full function is unclear. To investigate this, we carried out protein proximity mapping using biotinylation (BioID). The combined interactomes of the essential desmosomal proteins desmocollin 2a, plakoglobin, and plakophilin 2a (Pkp2a) in Madin-Darby canine kidney epithelial cells were mapped and their differences and commonalities characterized as desmosome matured from Ca dependence to the mature, Ca-independent, hyper-adhesive state, which predominates in tissues.

The Interplay between Cell-Extracellular Matrix Interaction and Mitochondria Dynamics in Cancer.

The tumor microenvironment, in particular the extracellular matrix (ECM), plays a pivotal role in controlling tumor initiation and progression. In particular, the interaction between cancer cells and the ECM promotes cancer cell growth and invasion, leading to the formation of distant metastasis. Alterations in cancer cell metabolism is a key hallmark of cancer, which is often associated with alterations in mitochondrial dynamics.

Desmosome dualism - most of the junction is stable, but a plakophilin moiety is persistently dynamic.

Desmosomes, strong cell-cell junctions of epithelia and cardiac muscle, link intermediate filaments to cell membranes and mechanically integrate cells across tissues, dissipating mechanical stress. They comprise five major protein classes - desmocollins and desmogleins (the desmosomal cadherins), plakoglobin, plakophilins and desmoplakin - whose individual contribution to the structure and turnover of desmosomes is poorly understood. Using live-cell imaging together with fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and fluorescence loss and localisation after photobleaching (FLAP), we show that desmosomes consist of two contrasting protein moieties or modules: a very stable moiety of desmosomal cadherins, desmoplakin and plakoglobin, and a highly mobile plakophilin (Pkp2a).

Repeat Endoscopy Affects Patient Management in Gastrointestinal Graft--Host Disease.

Graft host disease (GVHD) of the gut is associated with significant morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT). No guidelines exist regarding repeat endoscopy after failure of first-line treatment with steroids. We aimed to study if repeat endoscopic biopsy can be helpful in these patients to guide treatment decisions.

Autologous transplantation for diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in patients never achieving remission: a report from the Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry.

Purpose: To evaluate the results of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (autotransplants) in patients with diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) who never achieve a complete remission with conventional chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Detailed records from the Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry (ABMTR) on 184 patients with diffuse aggressive NHL who never achieved a complete remission with conventional chemotherapy and subsequently received an autotransplant were evaluated. Transplants were performed between 1989 and 1995 and were reported to the ABMTR by 48 centers in North and South America.

Palliative treatment with low-dose continuous infusion 5-fluorouracil in recurrent and/or metastatic undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma type.

Background: Low-dose protracted continuous infusion (CI) 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), as proposed by Lokich et al, has been reported to be active and well tolerated in colorectal and breast cancers. We initiated a phase II trial with CI 5-FU in heavily pretreated undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharyngeal type (UCNT) patients in February 1989.

Methods: Twenty-one UCNT patients with recurrent and/or metastatic disease were treated with CI 5-FU (300 mg/m2) for 6 consecutive weeks.

[Undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx: epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic aspects].

Undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx (UCNT) is a particular head and neck epidermoïd lineage tumor related to the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). It has geographically selective endemic epidemiologic features, without relation to external carcinogens. Its systemic agressiveness is the source of most disease related demises, since radiotherapy achieves excellent local control and a significant percentage of cure in patients with exclusive locoregional disease.

The influence of guided imagery on chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the addition of guided imagery to a standard antiemetic regimen decreased nausea, vomiting, and retching occurrence and distress in patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy. A convenience sample of patients (N = 28) was selected from an oncologist's patient population and randomized into two groups. Both groups received the same standard antiemetic regimen, while the experimental group additionally used a chemotherapy-specific guided-imagery audiotape.

The complementary roles of surface-immunoglobulin clonality and fluorescence intensity, mouse rosettes, and cd5 in the diagnosis of B-chronic lymphocytic-leukemia.

Peripheral blood from 77 cases of B-CLL was analyzed to evaluate the diagnostic value of SIg clonality and fluorescence intensity, mouse rosettes (MR), and CD5. Monoclonal SIg (L-chain restriction or H-chain restriction or both) was detected in 69 cases (89.61%), with weak fluorescence (mean channel number on flow cytometry <200) in 65 (94.

Necrobiotic xanthogranuloma with paraproteinemia. Case report and a pathogenetic theory.

Necrobiotic xanthogranuloma with paraproteinemia is a clinical and histopathological entity characterized by xanthelasma-like lesions in the periorbital region and elsewhere, paraproteinemia, leukopenia, and an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Multiple myeloma has been reported as an accompanying feature in several cases. We examined a patient with necrobiotic xanthogranuloma and multiple myeloma in whom an IgG kappa monoclonal protein was identified in serum, urine, bone marrow, and bilateral periorbital lesions.

Acute myelogenous leukemia in pregnancy.

The experience with acute myelogenous leukemia treated with newer chemotherapeutic agents during pregnancy is limited. We have reported the case of a mother treated during the 24th week of pregnancy, and her infant delivered in the 29th week. At 14 months the infant is of low height and weight, but has a normal head circumference and developmental parameters.

Non-frozen preservation of committed hematopoietic stem cells from normal human bone marrow.

We examined the optimal conditions for maintaining normal human hematopoietic stem cells without cryopreservation. The effects of serum, HEPES, CPD and storage temperature were studied. Stem cell integrity (CFU-c, CFU-e, and BFU-e) was optimally maintained when the bone marrow cells were suspended in a medium containing 40% fetal calf serum, 25 mM HEPES, and 12.

Metastatic tumors of the orbit.

A wide variety of metastatic tumors can invade the orbit. The incidence of orbital metastases varies in different studies and may be increasing. The most common tumors in children and adults are enumerated.

Ophthalmic manifestations of metastatic breast cancer.

Metastatic breast cancer is the most common primary tumor metastasizing to the ocular structures. An analysis of 30 patients demonstrated a wide spectrum of ophthalmic manifestations including cranial nerve involvement, brain involvement with papilledema, Horner's syndrome, and choroidal and orbital tumors. The mean age of patients presenting with an ophthalmic sign was 54 years and the mean interval from the diagnosis of breast cancer to the development of the ophthalmic sign was 4.

Immune function of successfully treated lymphoma patients.

Immunologic function was evaluated in 12 patients with Hodgkin's disease and 5 patients with lymphocytic lymphoma who had been successfully treated with either chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or both of these modalities 3-42 mo previously. Only two of the patients were found to have total anergy to a battery of six recall skin test antigens and all were responsive to skin testing with phytohemagglutinin. However, 10 of 16 patients were unable to develop delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity to either of the neoantigens dinitrochlorobenzene or keyhole limpet hemocyanin.