distal junctional kyphosis (djk) is a radiographic finding in patients that undergo spinal instrumentation and fusion, since there is an abrupt transition between fixed and mobile spinal segments.the true incidence of djk is variable in literature and seems that has a multifactorial etiology. a consecutive series of 130 patients (mean age 15.6 years) with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who und...

Cbfa1 (core binding factor alpha 1) is a transcription factor that is a key determinant of the osteoblastic lineage. Recent data showed that Cbfa1 is also highly expressed in early stages of tooth development and is involved in crown morphogenesis and cytodifferentiation of odontoblasts. Here we report the mRNA expression and protein localization of Cbfa1 in the mouse dentition in (later) stage...

PURPOSE The authors aimed to establish an in vitro model of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) suitable for studies of neural retina-epithelium interactions. METHODS Sheets of RPE were obtained from Xenopus laevis eyes by Dispase treatment of intact globes. After dispersal in trypsin-EDTA solution, cells were plated onto Matrigel-coated microporous membrane filters and grown in a serum-free...

Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is defined as columnar metaplasia of esophageal squamous epithelium, of any length, that can be recognized at endoscopy, and is confirmed to have intestinal metaplasia (goblet cells) by mucosal biopsy analysis of the tubular esophagus (1). By definition, this disease does not include intestinal metaplasia of the cardia. Thus, the current definition of BE includes indivi...

Individual cell types are defined by architecturally and functionally specialized cortical domains. The Ezrin, Radixin, and Moesin (ERM) proteins play a major role in organizing cortical domains by assembling membrane protein complexes and linking them to the cortical actin cytoskeleton. Many studies have focused on the individual roles of the ERM proteins in stabilizing the membrane-cytoskelet...

Although polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN's) can migrate through every epithelium in the body regardless of its permeability, very little is known about the effect of epithelial permeability on PMN migration and the effect of emigrating PMN's on the permeability of the epithelium. In an in vitro model system of transepithelial migration, human PMN's were stimulated by 0.1 micrometer fMet-Leu-P...

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a biocompatible, transparent hydrogel with physical strength that makes it promising as a material for an artificial cornea. In our previous study, type I collagen was immobilized onto PVA (PVA-COL) as a possible artificial cornea scaffold that can sustain a functional corneal epithelium. The cellular adhesiveness of PVA in vitro was improved by collagen immobilizatio...