Routine immunofluorescent and histochemical analysis of bone marrow involvement of lymphoma/leukaemia: the use of cryostat sections.

Enzyme histochemical and immunohistological (immuno-fluorescence and -peroxidase) techniques have been routinely used for investigating over 70 normal and pathological bone marrow samples. This recently standardized diagnostic procedure is very quick and can be performed in a few hours. In 6 cases the clinical diagnosis of leukaemia/lymphoma has become apparent only after the immunohistological analysis of the bone marrow. In 6 other cases the information about the staging of B cell malignancies was superior in the frozen biopsies to the paraffin embedded preparations. Amongst many other features the monoclonality of B CLL/lymphomas, the special features of B CLL infiltrates (RFA-1+, Leu-1+, HLA-DR+, SmIg+), follicular lymphoma deposits (containing follicular dendritic cells) and non-T, non-B acute lymphoblastic leukaemic blasts (terminal transferase+, HLA-DR+) as well as the sometimes conspicuous presence of infiltrating normal T cells could be clearly and reproducibly demonstrated

Pectolyc Enzymes Produced by Fusarium Sambucinum in vitro and During Colonisation of Potato Tubers

The ability of Fusarium sambucinum to colonise potato tubers when artificially inoculated or in liquid culture, and which pectolytic enzymes were produced and in what amounts during such colonisation were studied. Pectin lyase (PNL) activity, represented by a set of isoenzymes focalising from isoeletric point (Ip) 6.4 to Ip 9.9, was detected in the culture filtrates. The PNL time course in infected tissues was characterised by an increase in enzyme production and a differential induction of the isoenzymes. Polygalacturonase (PG) activity, represented by a single alkaline band, was detected only in the culture filtrates. Two constitutive basic pectin methylesterase (PME) isoenzymes (Ip>10.0) were also found in both the culture filtrates and the inoculated potato tissues. In rotted tissues and culture filtrates, an increase in pH to values to over 7.0 was recorded, which are values optimal for PNL activity. In the potato_F. sambucinum interaction, PNL activity was the principal pectolytic component and appeared to act synergistically with the increase in ambient pH during pathogenesis. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the involvement of pectolytic enzymes during infection with F. sambucinum

Grammatical comprehension in italian children with autism spectrum disorder

Language deficits represent one of the most relevant factors that determine the clinical phenotype of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The main aim of the research was to study the grammatical comprehension of children with ASD. A sample of 70 well-diagnosed children (60 boys and 10 girls; aged 4.9–8 years) were prospectively recruited. The results showed that language comprehension is the most impaired language domain in ASD. These findings have important clinical implications, since the persistence of grammatical receptive deficits may have a negative impact on social, adaptive and learning achievements. As for the grammatical profiles, persistent difficulties were found during the school-age years in morphological and syntactic decoding in children with relatively preserved cognitive and expressive language skills. These data and the lack of a statistically significant correlation between the severity of ASD symptoms and language skills are in line with the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) perspective that considers the socio-communication disorder as a nuclear feature of ASD and the language disorder as a specifier of the diagnosis and not as a secondary symptom anymore. The presence of receptive difficulties in school-age ASD children with relatively preserved non-verbal cognitive abilities provides important hints to establish rehabilitative treatments

Ectopic primary type A thymoma located in two thoracic vertebras: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The thymus arises in the ventral portion of the third and fourth pharyngeal pouch. It descends into the anterior mediastinum at 6^thweek of gestation. Any errors occurring during this process can cause dissemination of aberrant nodules that are responsible for most atypical thymomas.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>The authors report a unusual case of type-A thymoma located in D10 and D11 vertebral bodies.</p> <p>The histology showed a uniform growth of short, spindle shaped, mitotically inactive cells. A few small, normal lymphocytes were seen scattered or in small groups. The immunohistochemical investigation for neuroectodermal, neuroendocrine, vascular and muscular markers were negative. It also confirmed the presence of CD3+, CD5+ T lymphocytes and the absence of immature T-lymphocyte markers.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The case described shows a thymic hystogenesis for spindle cell tumours. To our knowledge no other cases of vertebral thymomas have been described in international literature.</p

Migratory marker expression in fibroblast foci of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

BACKGROUND: Fibroblast foci (FF) are considered a relevant morphologic marker of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis/usual interstitial pneumonia (IPF/UIP), and are recognised as sites where fibrotic responses are initiated and/or perpetuated in this severe disease. Despite their relevance, the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the formation of FF and their role in tissue remodelling are poorly defined. In previous studies we have provided evidence of abnormal activation of the wnt-signaling-pathway in IPF/UIP that is centred on FF and the overlying epithelium. This important morphogenetic pathway is able to trigger epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT), a mechanism involved in developmental and metastatic processes, which is also potentially involved in pulmonary fibrosis. METHODS: Since EMT is characterised by enhancement of migratory potential of cells, we investigated the molecular profile of FF in 30 biopsies of IPF/UIP and a variety of control samples, focussing on the immunohistochemical expression of three molecules involved in cell motility and invasiveness, namely laminin-5-γ2-chain, fascin, and heat-shock-protein-27. RESULTS: We provide evidence that in UIP these three molecules are abnormally expressed in discrete clusters of bronchiolar basal cells precisely localised in FF. These cellular clusters expressed laminin-5-γ2-chain and heat-shock-protein-27 at very high levels, forming characteristic three-layered lesions defined as "sandwich-foci" (SW-FF). Upon quantitative analysis SW-FF were present in 28/30 UIP samples, representing more than 50% of recognisable FF in 21/30, but were exceedingly rare in a wide variety of lung pathologies examined as controls. In UIP, SW-FF were often observed in areas of microscopic honeycombing, and were also found at the interface between normal lung tissue and areas of dense scarring. CONCLUSION: These molecular abnormalities strongly suggest that SW-FF represent the leading edge of pulmonary remodelling, where abnormal migration and re-epithelialisation take place, and that abnormal proliferation and migration of bronchiolar basal cells have a major role in the remodelling process characterising IPF/UIP. Further investigations will assess their possible use as reliable markers for better defining the UIP-pattern in difficult cases

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by inflammatory priming elicits mesenchymal stromal cell-like immune-modulatory properties in cancer cells

Background: Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has a central role in cancer progression and metastatic dissemination and may be induced by local inflammation. We asked whether the inflammation-induced acquisition of mesenchymal phenotype by neoplastic epithelial cells is associated with the onset of mesenchymal stromal cell-like immune-regulatory properties that may enhance tumour immune escape. Methods: Cell lines of lung adenocarcinoma (A549), breast cancer (MCF7) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) were co-cultured with T, B and NK cells before and after EMT induction by either the supernatant of mixed-lymphocyte reactions or inflammatory cytokines. Results: EMT occurrence following inflammatory priming elicited multiple immune-regulatory effects in cancer cells resulting in NK and T-cell apoptosis, inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation and stimulation of regulatory T and B cells. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, but not Fas ligand pathway, was involved at least in part in these effects, as shown by the use of specific inhibitors. Conclusions: EMT induced by inflammatory stimuli confers to cancer cells some mesenchymal stromal cell-like immune-modulatory properties, which could be a cue for cancer progression and metastatic dissemination by favouring immune escape