Microscopic Detection (microscopic + detection)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Microscopic detection of IgY-Fc binding signal in the inner layers of ovarian follicular tissue in quail

ANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 5 2010
Kohji KITAGUCHI
ABSTRACT In avian species, it has been assumed that an Fc receptor in the ovarian follicles mediates immunoglobulin Y (IgY) transport into the yolk. However, no such receptor responsible for IgY has been identified to date. To examine potential IgY binding activity in the entire ovarian follicle, whole-mount sections of quail ovarian follicle were incubated with the Fc fragment of chicken IgY (cIgY). Whole-mount frozen sections of the second largest ovarian follicle were prepared, and then the sections were incubated with digoxigenin-labeled Fc or Fab fragments of cIgY. Microscopic observation revealed that incubation with the cIgY-Fc fragment produced a binding signal in the inner layer of the ovarian follicular tissues, most likely in the granulosa cell layer. However, no such signal was detected when the sections were incubated with cIgY-Fab. Coincubation of the ovarian sections with Alexa488-labeled cIgY-Fc and antiserum raised against ZP1, an envelope protein specifically localized in the perivitelline layer, demonstrated that the source of the Fc binding signals partly coincided with the perivitelline layer. In conclusion, our data suggest that potential IgY binding substances interacting with the Fc domain are present in the inner layers of ovarian follicular tissues, most likely in the granulosa cell layer and/or in the perivitelline layer. [source]


Acute urethritis caused by Neisseria meningitidis

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF UROLOGY, Issue 6 2003
NORIYUKI KANEMITSU
Abstract A 48-year-old heterosexual Japanese man visited the outpatient clinic of Nagoya Urology Hospital, complaining of burning pain at voiding and pus discharge from the urethral orifice. These symptoms appeared the day following oral-genital contact (fellatio) with a commercial sex worker. On the basis of the presumptive clinical diagnosis of gonorrhea because of the microscopic detection of diplococci in the urethral discharge, he was treated with levofloxacin (300 mg per day) for 7 days. His symptoms responded quickly and urinalysis taken 7 days later was normal. Microbiological examinations isolated Neisseria meningitidis in the urethral discharge by culture with the use of enzymatic profiles. Further prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) through oral-genital contact would lead to an increase in meningococcal urethritis. [source]


Electron microscopic detection of statherin in secretory granules of human major salivary glands

JOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 5 2008
M. Isola
Abstract In order to increase current knowledge regarding statherin secretion into the oral cavity, ultrastructural localization of this peptide was investigated in human salivary glands by using a post-embedding immunogold staining technique. Statherin reactivity was found inside the granules of serous cells of parotid and submandibular glands. In parotid granules immunostaining was preferentially present in the less electron-dense region, whereas in submandibular serous granules the reactivity was uniform and the dense core always stained. By contrast, none or weak reactivity was observed in serous cells of major sublingual glands. These findings reveal for the first time the subcellular localization of statherin by electron transmission microscopy and confirm that of the three major types of salivary glands, the parotid and submandibular glands are the greatest source of salivary statherin. Moreover, they suggest that more than one packaging mechanism may be involved in the storage of statherin within serous granules of salivary glands. [source]


A mycobacterial virulence gene cluster extending RD1 is required for cytolysis, bacterial spreading and ESAT-6 secretion

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2004
Lian-Yong Gao
Summary Initiation and maintenance of infection by mycobacteria in susceptible hosts are not well understood. A screen of Mycobacterium marinum transposon mutant library led to isolation of eight mutants that failed to cause haemolysis, all of which had transposon insertions in genes homologous to a region between Rv3866 and Rv3881c in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which encompasses RD1 (Rv3871,Rv3879c), a known virulence gene cluster. The M. marinum mutants showed decreased virulence in vivo and failed to secrete ESAT-6, like M. tuberculosis RD1 mutants. M. marinum mutants in genes homologous to Rv3866-Rv3868 also failed to accumulate intracellular ESAT-6, suggesting a possible role for those genes in synthesis or stability of the protein. These transposon mutants and an ESAT-6/CFP-10 deletion mutant all showed reduced cytolysis and cytotoxicity to macrophages and significantly decreased intracellular growth at late stages of the infection only when the cells were infected at low multiplicity of infection, suggesting a defect in spreading. Direct evidence for cell-to-cell spread by wild-type M. marinum was obtained by microscopic detection in macrophage and epithelial monolayers, but the mutants all were defective in this assay. Expression of M. tuberculosis homologues complemented the corresponding M. marinum mutants, emphasizing the functional similarities between M. tuberculosis and M. marinum genes in this region that we designate extRD1 (extended RD1). We suggest that diminished membranolytic activity and defective spreading is a mechanism for the attenuation of the extRD1 mutants. These results extend recent findings on the genomic boundaries and functions of M. tuberculosis RD1 and establish a molecular cellular basis for the role that extRD1 plays in mycobacterial virulence. Disruption of the M. marinum homologue of Rv3881c, not previously implicated in virulence, led to a much more attenuated phenotype in macrophages and in vivo, suggesting that this gene plays additional roles in M. marinum survival in the host. [source]