Immunostaining Techniques (immunostaining + techniques)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Current Progress of Immunostains in Mohs Micrographic Surgery: A Review

DERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 12 2008
MAYA K. THOSANI MD
Mohs micrographic surgery is often considered the treatment of choice for a variety of skin malignancies. In recent years, the application of immunostaining techniques has facilitated the successful removal of a number of common and less common cutaneous malignancies, including basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, microcystic adnexal carcinoma, sebaceous carcinoma, atypical fibroxanthoma, extramammary Paget's disease, and even sarcomas. Immunostains highlight the tumor cells and allow the Mohs surgeons to pinpoint and eliminate the residual tumor at the surgical margin. It is especially helpful when a tumor presents with subtle or nonspecific histologic features or when a tumor is masked in a pocket of dense inflammation. However, the cost, the labor, and the time consumption are of concern to many of our peers, as are the diversity of antigens, which may overwhelm some. This article serves as a review of the literature on current uses of immunostaining in Mohs micrographic surgery and as a summary of their realistic applications in the dermatologic surgeon's practice. We conclude that immunohistochemical technique has played an important role in Mohs surgery advancement. With greater use and more cost-effective staining methods, we believe that the use of immunostains in a Mohs practice will become routine. [source]


Pathogen-Mimicking MnO Nanoparticles for Selective Activation of the TLR9 Pathway and Imaging of Cancer Cells,

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 23 2009
Mohammed Ibrahim Shukoor
Abstract Here, design of the first pathogen-mimicking metal oxide nanoparticles with the ability to enter cancer cells and to selectively target and activate the TLR9 pathway, and with optical and MR imaging capabilities, is reported. The immobilization of ssDNA (CpG ODN 2006) on MnO nanoparticles is performed via the phosphoramidite route using a multifunctional polymer. The multifunctional polymer used for the nanoparticle surface modification not only affords a protective organic biocompatible shell but also provides an efficient and convenient means for loading immunostimulatory oligonucleotides. Since fluorescent molecules are amenable to photodetection, a chromophore (Rhodamine) is introduced into the polymer chain to trace the nanoparticles in Caki-1 (human kidney cancer) cells. The ssDNA coupled nanoparticles are used to target Toll-like receptors 9 (TLR9) receptors inside the cells and to activate the classical TLR cascade. The presence of TLR9 is demonstrated independently in the Caki-1 cell line by western blotting and immunostaining techniques. The magnetic properties of the MnO core make functionalized MnO nanoparticles potential diagnostic agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) thereby enabling multimodal detection by a combination of MR and optical imaging methods. The trimodal nanoparticles allow the imaging of cellular trafficking by different means and simultaneously are an effective drug carrier system. [source]


Changes in retinoblastoma gene expression during cervical cancer progression

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PATHOLOGY, Issue 6 2002
Mauricio Salcedo
Summary. The role of tumour suppressor genes in the development of human cancers has been studied extensively. In viral carcinogenesis, the inactivation of suppressor proteins such as retinoblastoma (pRb) and p53, and cellular oncogenes overexpression, such as c-myc, has been the subject of a number of investigations. In uterine-cervix carcinomas, where high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) plays an important role, pRb and p53 are inactivated by E7 and E6 viral oncoproteins, respectively. However, little is known about the in situ expression of some of these proteins in pre-malignant and malignant cervical tissues. On the other hand, it has also been demonstrated that c-myc is involved in cervical carcinogenesis, and that pRb participates in the control of c-myc gene expression. By using immunostaining techniques, we investigated pRb immunodetection pattern in normal tissues, squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs) and invasive carcinomas from the uterine cervix. Our data show low pRb detection in both normal cervical tissue and invasive lesions, but a higher expression in SILs. C-Myc protein was observed in most of the cellular nuclei of the invasive lesions, while in SILs was low. These findings indicate a heterogeneous pRb immunostaining during the different stages of cervical carcinogenesis, and suggest that this staining pattern could be a common feature implicated in the pathogenesis of uterine-cervix carcinoma. [source]


The fate of transplanted xenogeneic bone marrow-derived stem cells in rat intervertebral discs

JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009
Aiqun Wei
Abstract Intervertebral disc degeneration is a major cause and a risk factor for chronic low back pain. The potential of using stem cells to treat disc degeneration has been raised. The aims of our study were to assess whether xenogeneic bone-marrow derived stem cells could survive in a rat disc degeneration model and to determine which cell types, if any, survived and differentiated into disc-like cells. Human bone-marrow derived CD34+ (hematopoietic progenitor cells) and CD34, (nonhematopoietic progenitor cells, including mesenchymal stem cells) cells were isolated, fluorescent-labeled, and injected into rat coccygeal discs. The rats were sacrificed at day 1, 10, 21, and 42. Treated discs were examined by histological and immunostaining techniques and compared to control discs. The survival of transplanted cells was further confirmed with a human nuclear specific marker. Fluorescent labeled CD34, cells were detected until day 42 in the nucleus pulposus of the injected discs. After 3 weeks these cells had differentiated into cells expressing chondrocytic phenotype (Collagen II and Sox-9). In contrast, the fluorescent labeled CD34+ cells could not be detected after day 21. No fluorescence-positive cells were detected in the noninjected control discs. Further, no inflammatory cells infiltrated the nucleus pulposus, even though these animals had not received immunosuppressive treatment. Our data provide evidence that transplanted human BM CD34, cells survived and differentiated within the relative immune privileged nucleus pulposus of intervertebral disc degeneration. © 2008 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 27:374,379, 2009 [source]