Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMSs) are frequently characterized by bone marrow involvement. Recently, we reported that human RMS cells express the CXC chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) and postulated a role for the CXCR4 stromal-derived factor (SDF)-1 axis in the metastasis of RMS cells to bone marrow. Because RMS cells also express the tyrosine kinase receptor c-MET, the specific ligand hepatocyte growth fac...

The objective of this study was to investigate whether stressful experience during early postnatal period may influence morphological characteristics of the rat neurogenic pathway--the rostral migratory stream (RMS) and proliferation of neuronal precursors in three successive areas of the RMS: in the vertical arm, the elbow and the horizontal arm. To induce stress, the pups were subjected to re...

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive family of soft tissue tumors that most commonly manifests in children. RMS variants express several skeletal muscle markers, suggesting myogenic stem or progenitor cell origin of RMS. In this review, the roles of both recently identified and well-established microRNAs in RMS are discussed and summarized in a succinct, tabulated format. Additionally, the s...

The prognosis of advanced stage rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is still sobering. In recent years, outcome has not been further improved by conventional therapy. Therefore, novel treatment options such as macrophage-directed immunotherapy have to be investigated. The aim of this study was to analyze the phagocytosis of RMS cells by macrophages and to modulate the susceptibility using monoclonal antibod...

Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) bear a morphological resemblance to developing striated muscle. It has been reported that two histologically distinct subtypes of RMS, embryonal and alveolar, behave differently in many clinical aspects, such as age distribution, primary site, and prog nosis. We have investigated the expression of various genes, which are preferentially expressed in normal muscle tissue ...

There have been concerns among Jamaican scholars that students‟ role models (RMs) contribute to gender differences in academic functioning in Jamaica. The current study empirically investigated gender differences in the RMs of 269 fifth form traditional high school students in Jamaica and relations between RM choice and academic attitudes, goals and achievement. Using mixed qualitative/quantita...

Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) in children and adolescents are heterogeneous sarcomas broadly defined by skeletal muscle features and the presence/absence of PAX3/7-FOXO1 fusion genes. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression in a cell context specific manner. Sequencing analyses of microRNAs in 64 RMS revealed expression patterns separating skeletal muscle, fusion gene positi...

The insulin-like growth factor II (IGF2) gene is exclusively silent at the maternal allele in the mouse as well as in normal human tissues and is expressed at a high level in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). We report here that the normally imprinted allele of the IGF2 gene is activated in RMS tumors as well as in one RMS cell line. Since overexpression of IGF2 has been shown to be important in the path...