Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of a case of breast carcinoma with choriocarcinomatous features

Breast disease is of great concern to patients and health care providers alike. Malignancies of the breast and their various presentations can pose tremendous challenges with respect to early diagnosis and effective treatment. Carcinoma of the breast may appear in several forms and produce one or more ectopic substances. Breast carcinomas that display choriocarcinomatous differentiation and produce human chorionic gonadotropin are very rare. Less than a dozen such cases have been described in the medical literature to date. We report a case of breast carcinoma with choriocarcinomatous features, which is the first to show immunohistochemical evidence of the expression of both estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor. We also discuss the cytopathologic aspects observed and conduct a literature review.     

Effect of some novel synthetic analogues of CCK-4 on insulin and glucagon secretion

Summary The biologic activities of three synthetic analogues of CCK-4 (Trp-Met-Asp-Phe-NH₂) in which (i) the C-terminal residue Phe was N-methylated (peptide I); (ii) the C-terminal Phe residue was N-methylated and Ser is substituted for Met in position 2 (peptide II); (iii) Pro was substituted for Trp in position 1 and the C-terminal amino nitrogen was methylated (peptide III), have been described. Peptides I and II have been found to inhibit the release of both insulin and glucagon, while peptide III was found to be a potent releasing agent for insulin and an inhibitor for glucagon. C.D.R.I. Communication n^o 4264. Abbreviations for amino acids and peptide derivatives according to IUPAC-IUB Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature [Biochemistry (Wash.)11, 1726, 1972].     

Effects of fluoride on membrane permeability and brush border enzymes of rat intestine in situ

The effect of different concentrations of sodium fluoride (12, 24, 48 and 96 mM), instilled into the ligated intestine of anaesthetized rats for 30 min, on intestinal permeability and some brush border enzymes was investigated. A concentration-dependent change in permeability was observed; there was an increase in the volume of luminal fluid and altered net transport of Na+ and K K+ ions. The change in permeability was accompanied by increased protein, sialic acid and nucleic acid accumulation in the luminal fluid. A striking loss of brush border alkaline phosphatase (41%) sucrase (59%) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (73%) activities was observed at 96 mM fluoride with a corresponding increase in the activity of these enzymes in luminal fluid, while 12 mM fluoride did not produce any significant effect. This loss was probably not due to an inhibition of the enzymes by fluoride since in vitro experiments did not produce any such effect over a range of NaF concentrations (0-32 mM) except on alkaline phosphatase activity at the 32 mM NaF concentration. The studies, therefore, suggest that the loss of brush-border enzyme activities observed in situ was most probably due to membrane damage caused by the high fluoride concentration.     

Optical optimization of double-side-textured monolithic perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells for improved light management

Tandem configuration-containing perovskite and silicon solar cells are promising candidates for realizing a high power conversion efficiency of 30% at reasonable costs. Silicon solar cells with planar front surfaces used in tandem devices cause high optical losses, which significantly affects their efficiency. Moreover, some studies have explored the fabrication of perovskites on textured silicon cells. However, due to improper texturing, light trapping is not ideal in these devices, which reduces the efficiency. In this work, we optimized the pyramid height of textured silicon cells and efficiently characterized them to achieve enhanced light trapping. Two different kinds of perovskites, namely, Cs_0.17FA_0.6Pb(Br_0.17I_0.7)₃ and Cs_0.25FA_0.6Pb(Br_0.20I_0.7)₃ with wide bandgaps were conformally deposited on textured silicon cells, and the performance of these flat and fully textured tandem devices was numerically analyzed. The thickness of each layer in the tandem cell was optimized in a way to ensure a perfect current match between the top perovskite and bottom silicon subcells. The results indicated that the textured tandem configuration enhances light absorption over a broad spectral range due to the optimized pyramid height compared to flat surfaces. Eventually, the photovoltaic parameters of the proposed tandem cell were compared with the already existing structures, and our design supports large values of open circuit voltage (V_oc) = 1.78 V, short circuit current density (J_sc) = 20.09 mA cm⁻², fill factor (FF) = 79.01%, and efficiency (η) = 28.20% compared to other kinds of tandem solar cells.

Tandem configuration-containing perovskite and silicon solar cells are promising candidates for realizing a high power conversion efficiency of 30% at reasonable costs.     

Potential of endogenous estrogen receptor beta to influence the selective ER modulator ERbeta complex

The ratio of estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) to ERalpha can alter the estrogen-like properties of tamoxifen. Transient transfection of ERbeta cDNA into cells can decrease the estrogen-like properties of the ERalpha:tamoxifen complex, whereas an increase in the amount of ERbeta is associated with tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer. We have addressed each of these hypotheses by examining well characterized laboratory models. We determined whether changes in endogenous ERbeta are responsible for the estrogen-like or antiestrogenic properties of tamoxifen or raloxifene in MDA-MB-231 cells transfected with cDNAs for ERalpha or mutants D351G, D351Y. We found that the amount of ERbeta mRNA in separate, stable transfectants of mutant ERalpha cDNA was always < 2% of ERalpha. Since at least a 50:50 mixture of ERalpha:ERbeta is needed to silence the tamoxifen:ERalpha complex, we conclude that insufficient ERbeta mRNA is available for selective ER modulation in stable transfectants of D351G and D351Y ERalpha. Similarly, to test the hypothesis that ERbeta is up-regulated and plays an important role during the development of tamoxifen-stimulated tumor growth, we quantitatively analyzed ERbeta and ERalpha mRNA in tamoxifen-na?ve (MCF-7:E2, ECC1:E2) and tamoxifen-stimulated tumors (MCF-7:TAM, EnCa 101:TAM). We found that ERbeta mRNA levels were not significantly elevated in tamoxifen-stimulated tumors and the ERalpha mRNA remained over 99% out of all ER species for all the tumors tested. The same results were also obtained when mRNA levels of ERbeta and ERalpha in a series of tamoxifen-na?ve and tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer was analyzed. We conclude that endogenous ERbeta may not play a dominant role in the modulation of the tamoxifen ERalpha complex, or in the development of tamoxifen-stimulated resistant tumor growth.     

Diagnostic value of integrin alpha3, beta4, and beta5 gene expression levels for the clinical outcome of tongue squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The objective of the current study was to identify biomarkers that reflect the clinical course of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue (TSCC). METHODS: TSCC tissue samples from 66 patients were subjected to gene expression analysis by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Eleven integrin family genes and 14 genes used for normalization, including housekeeping genes and genes that encode desmosomal, cytoskeletal, and extracellular matrix molecules, were considered. Multivariate statistical analysis was performed on 154 expression ratios of integrin genes with clinical parameters. RESULTS: In principal-component analysis, the first principal component was related to the outcome of death, and the second principal component mainly reflected the tendency for cervical lymph node (LN) metastasis. The former axis consisted of the variance of the integrin beta4 gene (ITGB4) and ITGB5 expression levels, and the latter axis agreed with the expression level of the integrin alpha3 gene (ITGA3). Multivariate logistic regression analysis with cervical LN metastasis as the response variable concordantly identified ITGA3/junction plakoglobin gene (JUP) expression (P=.02) and ITGB5/paxillin gene (PXN) expression (P=.04) as significant factors. Only ITGB4/JUP expression was identified as a significant factor in terms of the outcome of death (P<.00049) by a Cox proportional hazards model. The group with high ITGB4/JUP levels exhibited a significantly high death rate on a Kaplan-Meier curve (P<.0001; Wilcoxon and log-rank tests). CONCLUSIONS: The expression levels of ITGA3, ITGB4, and ITGB5 with functional normalization by desmosomal or cytoskeletal molecule genes were selected as candidate biomarkers for cervical LN metastasis or for the outcome of death in TSCC.