Histological and Histochemical Studies on the Seminal Vesicles of Donkey (Equus asinus): with Special Reference to their Seasonal Variations

The objective of this study was to describe the histological and histochemical structure of the seminal vesicles during different seasons of the year. The specimens were collected from the seminal vesicles of 24 sexually mature apparently healthy male donkeys (5 to 7 years of age) during different seasons of the year. The seminal vesicles (Vesiculae seminales) of the donkey were paired pear-shaped sacs. The wall of the seminal vesicles of the donkey was consisted of tunica mucosa, tunica muscularis and tunica serosa or adventitia. The tunica mucosa of the seminal vesicle was highly folded, surrounding a large irregular oval central lumen. These folds carried many lateral secondary branches with numerous tubular invaginations into the underlying connective tissue. The lamina epithelialis of the seminal vesicles consisted of principal and basal cells. The activity of seminal vesicles of donkey varied during different seasons of the year. It reached maximal activity during spring which was manifested by increasing in the epithelial height of the glandular epithelium, decreasing the nuclear/ cell ratio and the interstitial/ glandular tissue ratio and increasing the secretory activity. This activity of the seminal vesicles decreased gradually during summer and autumn to reach its minimal during winter. In conclusion, the seminal vesicles of donkey have more pronounced activity in spring than in other season of the year

Pelvic Urethra and its Associated Glands in Donkey (Equus asinus): Histological and Histochemical Findings with Special Reference to their Seasonal Variations

The reproductive ability of male animal is dependent to a great extent on the effective functions of the genital glands. The present study was carried on the pelvic urethra of 32 sexually mature male donkeys. 5µm sections were prepared from the samples and stained with different stains to show the different structures of the pelvic urethra. Scanning electron microscopic studies were performed on the lumen of the pelvic urethra to show the different shape of the urethral gland opening on the surface layer of the lamina epithelialis of the pelvic urethra. The pelvic urethra of donkey is formed of prostatic and membranous parts. The lamina epithelialis of the pelvic urethra varied at its different regions. The urethral glands were observed along the entire length of the pelvic urethra within the lamina propria-submucosa. They were mostly of the branched tubulo-alveolar glands lined by high cuboidal or pyramidal-shaped epithelial cells. The activity of the urethral glands in donkey varied throughout the year. It was more pronounced during spring, which was manifested by increased epithelial height, decreased nuclear/cell ratio, decreasing interstitial connective tissue/glandular tissue ratio and increased cellular secretory activity. This activity decreased gradually during the summer and autumn to reach its minimal level during winter

Histological and Histochemical Studies on the Ampulla of the Deferent Duct of Donkey (Equus asinus)

The present study was performed on the ampulla of the deferent duct of 24 sexually mature apparently healthy male donkeys (5 to 7 years) distributed over the four seasons of the year. The ampullary glands were branched tubulo-alveolar in type which they were opened in a central lumen. The luminal and the glandular epithelium were formed of principal and basal cells. Singly scattered rod- shaped cells were observed among the principal cells. PAS positive reactivity was observed in the surface and the glandular epithelium of the ampulla ductus deferentis. Only the luminal contents and the secretory materials attached to the apical border of the principal cells, showed positive reactivity for alcian blue. The present study presents the first description of the ampulla ductus deferentis of donkey. In addition to, it acts as a reservoir for sperms it had a secretory function for neutral and acid mucopolysaccharid

Histological and Morphometrical Studies on the Ampulla of the Deferent Duct of Donkey (Equus Asinus) in Different Seasons

The objective of this study is to describe the histological and histochemical structure of the ampulla ductus defrentis during different seasons of the year. The experiment was carried out on the ampulla of the deferent duct of 24 sexually mature apparently healthy male donkeys (5 to 7 years) distributed over the four seasons of the year. Both the lamina epithelialis and the epithelium lining the ampullary glands of the donkey showed highly significant (P < 0.01) seasonal variations. The interstitial tissue/ glandular tissue ratio of the ampullary glands showed as seasonal variations. The glandular epithelium of the ampullary glands of donkey had strong PAS positive reaction. This reaction decreased gradually during summer and autumn to reach its minimal amount during winter. In conclusions, the ampullary glands of donkey appeared more active during spring and this activity decreased gradually during the summer and autumn to reach it lowest activity during winter

Klhl31 attenuates β-catenin dependent Wnt signaling and regulates embryo myogenesis

Klhl31 is a member of the Kelch-like family in vertebrates, which are characterized by an amino-terminal broad complex tram-track, bric-a-brac/poxvirus and zinc finger (BTB/POZ) domain, carboxy-terminal Kelch repeats and a central linker region (Back domain). In developing somites Klhl31 is highly expressed in the myotome downstream of myogenic regulators (MRF), and it remains expressed in differentiated skeletal muscle. In vivo gain- and loss-of-function approaches in chick embryos reveal a role of Klhl31 in skeletal myogenesis. Targeted mis-expression of Klhl31 led to a reduced size of dermomyotome and myotome as indicated by detection of relevant myogenic markers, Pax3, Myf5, myogenin and myosin heavy chain (MF20). The knock-down of Klhl31 in developing somites, using antisense morpholinos (MO), led to an expansion of Pax3, Myf5, MyoD and myogenin expression domains and an increase in the number of mitotic cells in the dermomyotome and myotome. The mechanism underlying this phenotype was examined using complementary approaches, which show that Klhl31 interferes with β-catenin dependent Wnt signaling. Klhl31 reduced the Wnt-mediated activation of a luciferase reporter in cultured cells. Furthermore, Klhl31 attenuated secondary axis formation in Xenopus embryos in response to Wnt1 or β-catenin. Klhl31 mis-expression in the developing neural tube affected its dorso-ventral patterning and led to reduced dermomyotome and myotome size. Co-transfection of a Wnt3a expression vector with Klhl31 in somites or in the neural tube rescued the phenotype and restored the size of dermomyotome and myotome. Thus, Klhl31 is a novel modulator of canonical Wnt signaling, important for vertebrate myogenesis. We propose that Klhl31 acts in the myotome to support cell cycle withdrawal and differentiation

DNA ploidy and cell cycle protein expression in oral squamous cell carcinomas with and without lymph node metastases

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most frequently occurring malignant tumour in the oral cavity. OSCC arises because of multiple genetic alterations. Cell cycle aberrations and aneuploidy are reportedly among the main characteristics of cancer cells and are associated with aggressive growth and poor prognosis. Methods: The study sample included 47 non-metastasised (NM) and 39 metastasised (M) primary OSCC, with matched positive cervical lymph nodes (LN) and 17 normal oral mucosa (NOM) samples. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) were prepared with a minimum of three cores from each case. TMA sections were cut and immunostained with MCM2, Ki-67, geminin and cyclin D1 antibodies. DNA image analysis was performed on the whole tissue section before TMAs were created. Results: The results revealed that there were no differences in cell cycle protein expression in different areas of the tumours or between the metastatic and non-metastatic carcinomas. None of the cell cycle proteins showed significant differences between the lymph node metastasis and the primary OSCC, except for Ki-67. Geminin/Ki-67 ratio showed significant difference between metastatic and non-metastatic tumours. Aneuploidy was detected in all (100%) cases of OSCC. Similarly, all lymph node samples (39 cases) were aneuploid. Conclusion: The results suggest that although there was dysregulation of cell cycle regulatory proteins, only Ki-67 and the MCM2/Ki-67 and geminin/Ki-67 ratios may have prognostic significance in oral cancer. DNA ploidy alone was not specific and may not be a good tool to evaluate prognosis or metastatic progression in oral cavity carcinomas

Expression analysis of chick Frizzled receptors during spinal cord development

Frizzleds (Fzds) are transmembrane receptors that can transduce signals dependent upon binding of Wnts, a large family of secreted glycoproteins homologous to the Drosophila wingless gene. FZDs are critical for a wide variety of normal and pathological developmental processes. In the nervous system, Wnts and Frizzleds play an important role in anterior-posterior patterning, cell fate decisions, proliferation, and synaptogenesis. Here, we preformed a comprehensive expression profile of Wnt receptors (FZD) by using situ hybridization to identify FZDs that are expressed in dorsal-ventral regions of the neural tube development. Our data show specific expression for FZD1,2,3,7,9 and 10 in the chick developing spinal cord. This expression profile of cFZD receptors offers the basis for functional studies in the future to determine roles for the different FZD receptors and their interactions with Wnts during dorsal-ventral neural tube development in vivo. Furthermore, we also show that co-overexpression of Wnt1/3a by in vivo electroporation affects FZD7/10 expression in the neural tube. This illustrates an example of Wnts-FZDs interactions during spinal cord neurogenesis

Gene expression during normal and FSHD myogenesis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a dominant disease linked to contraction of an array of tandem 3.3-kb repeats (D4Z4) at 4q35. Within each repeat unit is a gene, <it>DUX4</it>, that can encode a protein containing two homeodomains. A <it>DUX4 </it>transcript derived from the last repeat unit in a contracted array is associated with pathogenesis but it is unclear how.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using exon-based microarrays, the expression profiles of myogenic precursor cells were determined. Both undifferentiated myoblasts and myoblasts differentiated to myotubes derived from FSHD patients and controls were studied after immunocytochemical verification of the quality of the cultures. To further our understanding of FSHD and normal myogenesis, the expression profiles obtained were compared to those of 19 non-muscle cell types analyzed by identical methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Many of the ~17,000 examined genes were differentially expressed (> 2-fold, <it>p </it>< 0.01) in control myoblasts or myotubes vs. non-muscle cells (2185 and 3006, respectively) or in FSHD vs. control myoblasts or myotubes (295 and 797, respectively). Surprisingly, despite the morphologically normal differentiation of FSHD myoblasts to myotubes, most of the disease-related dysregulation was seen as dampening of normal myogenesis-specific expression changes, including in genes for muscle structure, mitochondrial function, stress responses, and signal transduction. Other classes of genes, including those encoding extracellular matrix or pro-inflammatory proteins, were upregulated in FSHD myogenic cells independent of an inverse myogenesis association. Importantly, the disease-linked <it>DUX4 </it>RNA isoform was detected by RT-PCR in FSHD myoblast and myotube preparations only at extremely low levels. Unique insights into myogenesis-specific gene expression were also obtained. For example, all four Argonaute genes involved in RNA-silencing were significantly upregulated during normal (but not FSHD) myogenesis relative to non-muscle cell types.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>DUX4</it>'s pathogenic effect in FSHD may occur transiently at or before the stage of myoblast formation to establish a cascade of gene dysregulation. This contrasts with the current emphasis on toxic effects of experimentally upregulated <it>DUX4 </it>expression at the myoblast or myotube stages. Our model could explain why <it>DUX4</it>'s inappropriate expression was barely detectable in myoblasts and myotubes but nonetheless linked to FSHD.</p