Robotic surgery does not affect upstaging of T1 renal masses

Partial nephrectomy is the mainstay of treatment for localized kidney cancer. A proportion of patients are upstaged post-operatively to locally advanced di     

Beyond C4d: Other Complement-Related Diagnostic Approaches to Antibody-Mediated Rejection

Complement is a multifunctional system of receptors and regulators as well as effector molecules. Both the pathogenic and diagnostic power of complement is based on the capacity of the complement system to amplify innate and adaptive immunity. This amplification is accomplished through two strategies: (1) enzymatic reactions in the complement cascade, and (2) stimulation of leukocytes, platelets and parenchymal cells through specific receptors or receptor-independent pore formation. The mechanisms by which complement mediates and modifies nonspecific inflammation, antibody-mediated injury and T-cell responses are of particular significance to the pathogenesis of transplant rejection. Understanding the mechanisms by which complement integrates the interactions of leukocytes, platelets and parenchymal cells offers opportunities to further refine the diagnosis of rejection.     

Intracellular trafficking of fluorescently tagged proteins associated with pathogenesis in Candida albicans.

Proteins that enter the secretory pathway play important roles in virulence and pathogenesis in Candida albicans, but our understanding of the trafficking of these proteins is in its early stages. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, dominant negative alleles of YPT1 and SEC4 interrupt secretory traffic at pre- and post-Golgi steps, respectively. We therefore used a dominant negative genetic approach to examine the intracellular trafficking of several proteins associated with virulence or azole resistance. When the dominant negative ypt1(N121I) allele of C. albicans was overexpressed, yellow-fluorescent protein (YFP) tagged forms of two plasma membrane transporters (Cdrlp and Ftrlp) and the vacuolar membrane ABC transporter Mltlp accumulated in intracellular structures that appeared related to the ER, but localization of Cdc10p and Int1p was unaffected. When the dominant negative sec4(S28N) allele of C. albicans was overexpressed, Cdrlp and Ftrlp accumulated intracellularly, and localization of Mltlp, Cdc10p and Int1p was unaffected. These results imply that (i) Cdrlp and Ftrlp are transported to the plasma membrane by the general secretory pathway, (ii) Mlt1p enters the secretory pathway but is diverted to the vacuole at an early post-Golgi step, and (iii) like Cdc10p, Int1p does not enter the general secretory pathway.     

Combined prostacyclin and thromboxane synthetase inhibitor UK 38485 in flap survival

Thromboxane, a prostanoid derivative, is a central mediator of the progressive dermal ischemia seen in the distal dying flap. Prostacyclin; a vasoactive prostanoid derivative, has been found to enhance ischemic flap survival. This study examines the effects of prostacyclin and UK 38485 (specific thromboxane synthetase inhibitor), separately and combined, in axial flap survival in the pig. Each increased flap survival over control flaps; their combined use demonstrated an even greater flap survival (p less than 0.005).     

Haemophilus influenzae causing conjunctivitis in day-care children

The role of Haemophilus influenzae in acute purulent conjunctivitis was studied during an outbreak among children in day care. Five day-care centers contributed 20 cases and 35 controls. All the children were subjected to culture of the nasopharynx and the eyes. H. influenzae was carried in the nasopharynx of 53% of the children (range between day care centers, 20 to 91%). Of the 20 children with acute conjunctivitis 8 had eye cultures positive for H. influenzae, 2 had Moraxella and the remaining were culture-negative. Ten colonies of H. influenzae were isolated from each positive culture and identified by capsular type, biotype and multi-locus enzyme electrophoresis. All but one of the isolates were nonencapsulated. They belonged to 4 biotypes and 8 electrophoretic types. The same strain was recovered from the eyes and nasopharynx of the symptomatic children, suggesting that the H. influenzae in the eyes originated from the nasopharynx. There was no evidence for spread of the same H. influenzae strains between day-care centers. Even within each center the Haemophilus strains recovered from the eyes varied among the symptomatic children. The in vitro capacity to attach to oropharyngeal epithelial cells was not increased among the H. influenzae recovered from the eyes. The results question if the majority of conjunctivitis cases were caused by H. influenzae and suggested that eyes were colonized with the nasopharyngeal carrier strain rather than infected by an isolate with special virulence for the eye.