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Morphological Markers (morphological + marker)
Selected AbstractsDilated intercellular space in chronic laryngitis and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: at baseline and post-lansoprazole therapyALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 7 2010M. F. Vaezi Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2010; 32: 916,924 Summary Background, Dilation of intercellular spaces is reported to be an early morphological marker in gastro-oesophageal reflux. It remains unknown if this marker is useful in diagnosing reflux-related chronic laryngitis. Aim, To determine histopathology and electron microscopic changes in oesophageal and laryngeal epithelium in chronic laryngitis. Methods, In this prospective blinded study, we enrolled 53 participants: 15 controls, 20 patients with GERD and 18 patients with chronic laryngitis. The latter two groups were subsequently treated with lansoprazole 30 mg bid for 12-weeks. Baseline and postacid suppressive therapy biopsies were obtained from distal oesophagus and laryngeal postcricoid areas. Biopsy specimens were evaluated for histopathology and dilated intercellular space changes. Results, There was no significant increase in oesophageal or laryngeal epithelium intercellular spaces among GERD or laryngitis patients compared with controls at baseline or postacid suppressive therapy. Only patients with GERD had significantly (P = 0.03) higher proportion of moderate-to-severe oesophageal spongiosis and basal cell hyperplasia, which normalized postacid suppressive therapy. Conclusions, There was no increase in the width of intercellular spaces in the oesophagus or larynx in GERD or chronic laryngitis at baseline or postacid suppressive therapy. Our findings question the uniform presence of dilated intercellular space in patients with GERD. [source] Isolation of mutations with dumpy-like phenotypes and of collagen genes in the nematode Pristionchus pacificusGENESIS: THE JOURNAL OF GENETICS AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2004Charlotte Kenning Abstract The nematode Pristionchus pacificus was developed as a satellite system in evolutionary developmental biology and forward and reverse genetic approaches allow a detailed comparison of various developmental processes between P. pacificus and Caenorhabditis elegans. To facilitate map-based cloning in P. pacificus, a genome map was generated including a genetic linkage map of ,300 molecular markers and a physical map of 10,000 BAC clones. Here, we describe the isolation and characterization of more than 40 morphological mutations that can be used as genetic markers. These mutations fall into 12 Dumpy genes and one Roller gene that represent morphological markers for all six P. pacificus chromosomes. Using an in silico approach, we identified ,150 hits of P. pacificus collagen genes in the available EST, BAC-end, and fosmid-end sequences. However, 1:1 orthologs could only be identified for fewer than 20 collagen genes. genesis 40:176,183, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Hypoxia-induced apoptosis and tube breakdown are regulated by p38 MAPK but not by caspase cascade in an in vitro capillary model composed of human endothelial cellsJOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2007Toshiro Ohta In order to improve medical treatment of ischemic injury such as myocardial infarction, it is important to elucidate hypoxia-induced changes to endothelial cells. An in vitro blood vessel model, in which HUVECs are stimulated to form a network of capillary-like tubes, was used to analyze hypoxia-induced morphological and biochemical changes. When exposed to hypoxia, the network of capillary tubes broke down into small clusters. This tube breakdown was accompanied by chromatin condensation and cell nuclear fragmentation, morphological markers of apoptosis, and activation of two apoptotic signals, caspase-3 and p38. We investigated what roles caspase cascade and p38 play in hypoxia-induced apoptosis and tube breakdown by using zVAD-fmk and SB203580, specific inhibitors of these two apoptotic signals, respectively. Chromatin condensation and cell nuclear fragmentation and tube breakdown were effectively inhibited by SB203580, but not by zVAD-fmk. SB203580 caused dephosphorylation of p38, which indicates that p38 was autophosphorylated. Inhibition by zVAD-fmk caused slight MW increase in p17 and emergence of p19, which indicates that the inhibitor caused partial processing of caspase-3. Inhibition of p38 suppressed activation of caspase-3 but not vice versa. In addition, these two inhibitors were shown to differentially inhibit cleavage of so-called caspase substrates. SB203580 inhibited cleavage of PARP and lamin A/C, while zVAD-fmk inhibited cleavage of lamin A/C but not that of PARP. Taken together, these results show that p38 is located upstream of caspase cascade and that, although caspase-3 is activated, a p38-regulated caspase-independent pathway is crucial for the execution of hypoxia-induced apoptosis and tube breakdown. J. Cell. Physiol. 211: 673,681, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The usefulness of amplified fragment length polymorphism markers for taxon discrimination across graduated fine evolutionary levels in Caribbean Anolis lizardsMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2002R. Ogden Abstract Fine-level taxon discrimination is important in biodiversity assessment and ecogeographical research. Genomic markers are often required for studies on closely related taxa, however, most existing mitochondrial and nuclear markers require prior knowledge of the genome and are impractical for use in small conservation projects. This study describes the application of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) to discriminate at four progressively finer evolutionary levels of Caribbean Anolis lizards from the central Lesser Antilles. AFLP is shown to be a rapid and effective method for discriminating between species. Separation increases with primer pair number and choice of primer combination appears to be noncritical. Initial population-level results show markedly less discriminatory power. A screening technique for the identification of population informative markers combining principal component and principal coordinate analyses is presented and assessed. Subsequent results show selected conspecific AFLP data to be remarkably congruent with those of mitochondrial DNA, microsatellite and morphological markers. The use of AFLP as a low-cost nuclear marker in species-level taxon discrimination is supported, whereas population level application demands further consideration. [source] Comparative Cellular Morphology Suggesting the Existence of Resident Dendritic Cells Within Immune Organs of SalmonidsTHE ANATOMICAL RECORD : ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Jan Lovy Abstract This report is the first morphological description of cells that resemble dendritic cells, which appear to form resident populations within the spleen and anterior kidney of fish. Based on examination of three salmonid species, including, rainbow trout, brook trout, and Atlantic salmon, the cells were most abundant in the spleen, although they were always present in the anterior kidney. The cells appeared diffusely distributed, often near blood vessels of the spleen and kidney of healthy fish and within the epithelium, connective tissue, and blood vessels of rainbow trout gills with experimentally induced microsoporidial gill disease. The dendritic-like cells in this study contained granules that resemble Birbeck granules, which are considered to be morphological markers of Langerhans cells in mammals. The cells were approximately 6 ,m in diameter and contained Birbeck-like (BL) granules localized near centrioles. Although the dendritic-like cells in the three salmonid species shared many similarities, morphological differences were found in the fine structure of the rod portion of the BL granules. Rainbow trout BL granules contained amorphous material, while the other salmonid species contained particulate material arranged in a square-lattice arrangement. The BL granules in the cells of Atlantic salmon had a narrow diameter and contained four layers of particulate material when sectioned longitudinally; two layers enveloped by the granule membrane and two central layers making up a central lamella, which is common in mammalian Birbeck granules. Anat Rec, 291:456,462, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Angiogenesis , recent developments in molecular pathogenesis, morphological markers, and therapeutic applicationsAPMIS, Issue 7-8 2004LARS A. AKSLEN No abstract is available for this article. [source] Primary growth and morphological markers of interannual growth limits in Cupressaceae from PatagoniaBOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 3 2004JAVIER GROSFELD The present study shows experimentally that primary growth of the native Patagonian Cupressaceae Austrocedrus chilensis (D. Don) Pic.-Serm et Bizz., Fitzroya cupressoides (Molina) I. M. Johnst. and Pilgerodendron uviferum (D. Don) Florin is potentially continuous. External morphological markers of interannual growth limits have been identified for the main axes of these species after several years of observation. Such limits correspond with axis portions in which internodes are relatively short and leaves have a small distal free end forming an acute angle with the axis. The causality of these results and their utility for studying the productivity, adaptation to different environments, population management and conservation of these threatened species are discussed. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 146, 285,293. [source] A re-assessment of the taxonomy of Lens Mill. (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae, Vicieae)BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2000MORAG E. FERGUSON Three taxonomic problems exist within the genus Lens. The first is the lark of agreement on classification and rank at the specific and sub-specific levels; the second involves the relationship between the recently distinguished L lamottei and L odemensis or L tomentosus and the third is the unreliability of stipule orientation as the primary character to distinguish between L odemensic and L. nigricans. The objectives of this study were to address these problems by investigating the classification of Lens in the light of evidence relating to crossability and phenetic relations, to idcntify morphological markers for taxon delimitation within the genus Lens., with special reference to L. lamottei, L nigricans and L odemensis, and to determine whether the taxon delimitation is supported by isozyme and RAPD evidence. As a result of these studies two new combinations are proposed, with L odemensis and I tamentosus being reduced to sub-species of L culinaris. A classification, key and descriptions of the accepted taxa within the genus are presented. [source] |