PURPOSE Scarring of the filtering bleb site is the main cause of failure in glaucoma filtration surgery. In the present study, the role of tissue transglutaminase (tTgase) in the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in these scars was investigated. Transglutaminases are enzymes capable of cross-linking ECM proteins to proteolysis-resistant complexes. METHODS Expression of tTgas...

The effect of differentiation induction by a tumor-promoting phorbol diester. 1 2-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-1 3-acetate (TPA) on a clonal human megakaryoblastic cell line. MEG01 s. was investigated. and a prominent response was demonstrated. The cells became weakly adherent, developed conspicuous cytoplasmic blebs. and displayed mature megakaryocytic characteristics by light microscopy such as the...

AIMS To report remodelling of enlarged dysmorphic filtration blebs with conjunctival compression sutures and autologous blood injection. METHODS A retrospective analysis of consecutively recruited patients with enlarged and dysmorphic filtration blebs who were managed with conjunctival compression sutures and subconjunctival autologous blood injections. Under topical anaesthesia, conjunctival...

Blebs are spherical membrane protrusions often observed during cell migration, cell spreading, cytokinesis, and apoptosis, both in cultured cells and in vivo. Bleb expansion is thought to be driven by the contractile actomyosin cortex, which generates hydrostatic pressure in the cytoplasm and can thus drive herniations of the plasma membrane. However, the role of cortical tension in bleb format...

Studies of three selected sulfide-silicate assemblages from ore samples from the Sar Cheshmeh porphyry copper deposit led to some ore genetic conclusions. The presence of chalcopyrite blebs in the groundmass orthoclase and quartz from the stock suggests liquid immiscibility in a cooling late-magmatic melt. This is in favor of the orthomagmatic model proposed for porphyry copper deposits. Th...

The cellular effects of trypsinization, a commonly used method for separating epithelial from mesenchymal tissues, were examined with the electron microscope. Specimens were fixed after each step of the trypsinization process in 1 % OsO4 in double strength Tyrode solution and after 1-7 days of culture following reapposition of the epithelium to its own mesenchyme or collagen-rich 12-day embryon...

This study shows that specialized contractile endothelial cells exist in rat liver sinusoids which may be involved in the local control of hemodynamics and which are sensitive to vasoactive agents, including the vasorelaxant hormone relaxin. Male rats were treated with 10 microg relaxin for 4 days; phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-treated rats were the controls. For comparison, rats treated with...

Purpose We determine the effects of bevacizumab on collagen production in a mouse model of conjunctival scarring. Methods Experimental surgery was performed as described for the mouse model of conjunctival scarring, and bevacizumab was introduced by conjunctival injection. The capacity of bevacizumab to recognize conjunctival VEGF-A was determined by ELISA. Col1a1 was measured by real-time PC...

Glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS, is also an excitatory neurotransmitter in the enteric nervous system (ENS). We tested the hypothesis that excessive exposure to glutamate, or related agonists, produces neurotoxicity in enteric neurons. Prolonged stimulation of enteric ganglia by glutamate caused necrosis and apoptosis in enteric neurons. Acute and delayed cell deaths...

The technique of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching was used to measure the lateral diffusion of fluorescent lipid analogues in the surface membrane of Schistosoma mansoni. Our data reveal that although some lipids could diffuse freely others exhibited restricted lateral diffusion. Quenching of lipid fluorescence by a non-permeant quencher, trypan blue, showed that there was an asymmetr...