Giant cervicothoracic extradural arachnoid cyst: case report

The pathogenesis, etiology, and treatment of the spinal arachnoid cyst have not been well established because of its rarity. A 57-year-old male was presented with spastic quadriparesis predominantly on the left side. His radiological examination showed widening of the cervical spinal canal and left neural foramina due to a cerebrospinal fluid - filled extradural cyst that extended from C2 to T2 level. The cyst was located left anterolaterally, compressing the spinal cord. Through a C4–T2 laminotomy, the cyst was excised totally and the dural defect was repaired. Several features of the reported case, such as cyst size, location, and clinical features make it extremely unusual. The case is discussed in light of the relevant literature

Textiloma: a case of foreign body mimicking a spinal mass

Items such as cotton or gauze pads can be mistakenly left behind during operations. Such foreign materials (called textilomas or gossypibomas) cause foreign body reaction in the surrounding tissue. The complications caused by these foreign bodies are well known, but cases are rarely published because of medico-legal implications. Some textilomas cause infection or abscess formation in the early stage, whereas others remain clinically silent for many years. Here, we describe a case of textiloma in which the patient presented with low-back pain 4 years after lumbar discectomy. Imaging revealed an abcess-like mass in the lumbar epidural space

The RNA binding protein HuR differentially regulates unique subsets of mRNAs in estrogen receptor negative and estrogen receptor positive breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The discordance between steady-state levels of mRNAs and protein has been attributed to posttranscriptional control mechanisms affecting mRNA stability and translation. Traditional methods of genome wide microarray analysis, profiling steady-state levels of mRNA, may miss important mRNA targets owing to significant posttranscriptional gene regulation by RNA binding proteins (RBPs).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The ribonomic approach, utilizing RNA immunoprecipitation hybridized to microarray (RIP-Chip), provides global identification of putative endogenous mRNA targets of different RBPs. HuR is an RBP that binds to the AU-rich elements (ARE) of labile mRNAs, such as proto-oncogenes, facilitating their translation into protein. HuR has been shown to play a role in cancer progression and elevated levels of cytoplasmic HuR directly correlate with increased invasiveness and poor prognosis for many cancers, including those of the breast. HuR has been described to control genes in several of the acquired capabilities of cancer and has been hypothesized to be a tumor-maintenance gene, allowing for cancers to proliferate once they are established.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used HuR RIP-Chip as a comprehensive and systematic method to survey breast cancer target genes in both MCF-7 (estrogen receptor positive, ER+) and MDA-MB-231 (estrogen receptor negative, ER-) breast cancer cell lines. We identified unique subsets of HuR-associated mRNAs found individually or in both cell types. Two novel HuR targets, <it>CD9 </it>and <it>CALM2 </it>mRNAs, were identified and validated by quantitative RT-PCR and biotin pull-down analysis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first report of a side-by-side genome-wide comparison of HuR-associated targets in wild type ER+ and ER- breast cancer. We found distinct, differentially expressed subsets of cancer related genes in ER+ and ER- breast cancer cell lines, and noted that the differential regulation of two cancer-related genes by HuR was contingent upon the cellular environment.</p