Neuroendocrine tumour arising inside a retro-rectal tailgut cyst: report of two cases and a review of the literature

Tailgut cysts (or retro-rectal cyst-hamartomas (RCHs)) are developmental abnormalities consisting of multiloculated cysts lined by squamous, transitional or glandular epithelium which, albeit rarely, may give rise to malignant transformations. Carcinoid tumours arising in the presacral region are extremely rare and usually benign, and only a few are described in the literature. Case 1: A 63-year-old female diagnosed as having bilateral ovarian cysts underwent surgery to remove a right adnexial mass that was histopathologically diagnosed as a well-differentiated carcinoid tumour. She is currently disease free after 18 months of follow-up. Case 2: A 41-year-old-female diagnosed with hepatic metastases and a solid pelvic mass arising from a moderately differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma is currently alive with disease after having undergone surgical removal of the mass and several medical treatments. We here describe two different clinical histories of well- and moderately differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) arising from tailgut cysts in the prerectal space together with a review of the relevant literature

Iterative focused screening with biological fingerprints identifies selective Asc-1 inhibitors distinct from traditional high throughput screening

N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) mediate glutamatergic signaling that is critical to cognitive processes in the central nervous system, and NMDAR hypofunction is thought to contribute to cognitive impairment observed in both schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease. One approach to enhance the function of NMDAR is to increase the concentration of an NMDAR coagonist, such as glycine or d-serine, in the synaptic cleft. Inhibition of alanine–serine–cysteine transporter-1 (Asc-1), the primary transporter of d-serine, is attractive because the transporter is localized to neurons in brain regions critical to cognitive function, including the hippocampus and cortical layers III and IV, and is colocalized with d-serine and NMDARs. To identify novel Asc-1 inhibitors, two different screening approaches were performed with whole-cell amino acid uptake in heterologous cells stably expressing human Asc-1: (1) a high-throughput screen (HTS) of 3 M compounds measuring 35S l-cysteine uptake into cells attached to scintillation proximity assay beads in a 1536 well format and (2) an iterative focused screen (IFS) of a 45 000 compound diversity set using a 3H d-serine uptake assay with a liquid scintillation plate reader in a 384 well format. Critically important for both screening approaches was the implementation of counter screens to remove nonspecific inhibitors of radioactive amino acid uptake. Furthermore, a 15 000 compound expansion step incorporating both on- and off-target data into chemical and biological fingerprint-based models for selection of additional hits enabled the identification of novel Asc-1-selective chemical matter from the IFS that was not identified in the full-collection HTS

Autologus peripheral stem cell transplantation in a patient with diffuse systemic sclerosis: our experience

n/

Aberrant Expression of Cell Cycle Regulator 14-3-3-σ and E-Cadherin in a Metastatic Cholangiocarcinoma in a Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus).

We present a unique case of metastatic cholangiocarcinoma with concurrent abdominal cestodiasis in an African green monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) that presented with respiratory insufficiency and abdominal discomfort. There were multiple white-grey masses in the liver and colonic serosa alongside intra-abdominal parasitic cysts. Histopathologically, the liver masses were composed of poorly-differentiated epithelial cells that formed densely cellular solid areas and trabeculae. The neoplastic cells were strongly immunopositive for CK7 but negative for Hep-Par1 antigen, which confirmed a diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma. Interestingly, there was strong and diffuse neoexpression in the tumour of the cell cycle regulator 14-3-3σ, which is not constitutively expressed in normal liver. There was aberrantly strong expression of E-cadherin, a key cell-cell adhesion protein, in neoplastic cells with evidence of cytoplasmic internalization. This is the first immunohistochemical analysis of 14-3-3σ and E-cadherin in a liver neoplasm in an animal species and the use of these markers requires further investigation in animal liver neoplasms. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE EFFECTS OF SPLEEN HOMOTRANSPLANTATION ON THE FATE OF SKIN HOMOGRAFTS IN TRITURUS VIRIDESCENS DORSALIS HARLAN

Abstract not availabl

Failure of Fluoroscopy and Success of Intravascular Ultrasound to Locate an Intracoronary Embolized Palmaz-Schatz Stent

We describe a patient in whom one half (disarticulated) Palmaz-Schatz stent was lost during a failed stenting procedure of an ostial left anterior coronary artery (LAD) stenosis. The embolized stent could not be located by fluoroscopy and was found in the left main coronary artery by intravascular ultrasound. The stent could not be removed using a retrieval device and was successfully deployed in the left main coronary artery by high-pressure balloon dilatation. Subsequently, LAD stenosis was successfully treated with deployment of two additional half Palmaz-Schatz stents