Epidermolysis bullosa (EB), characterized by defective adhesion of the epidermis to dermis, is a heterogeneous disease with many subtypes in human patients and domestic animals. We investigated two unrelated cats recurring erosions ulcers on ear pinnae, oral mucosa, paw pads that were suggestive EB. Histopathology confirmed diagnosis EB both cats. Case 1 was severe had be euthanized at 5 months...

Backgrounds: Evidence is accumulating to support disruption of tissue architecture as a powerful event in tumor formation. For the past four decades, intensive cancer research with the premise of “cancer as a cell based-disease” focused on finding oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. However, the role of the tissue architecture was neglected. Three dimensional (3D) cell cultures which can recap...

E-cadherin is the primary cell adhesion molecule within the epithelium, and loss of this protein is associated with a more aggressive tumour phenotype and poorer patient prognosis in many cancers. Loss of E-cadherin is a defining characteristic of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process associated with tumour cell metastasis. We have previously demonstrated an EMT event during embryo...

The cell line KG1 derived from a patient with erythroleukemia in myeloblastic relapse has the composite phenotype and functional repertoire of myeloblasts. In marked contrast, its subline KG1a has lost myeloid features, acquired new karyotypic markers, and has three characteristics associated with immature T cells: low-level expression of the T cell receptor beta mRNA (but not alpha) transcribe...

A human cell line (LB 84-1) has been established from the bone marrow of a patient with Bence-Jones myeloma. Coexpression of plasma cell (Leu[CD38]) and myelomonocytic antigens (Leu MI[CD15], Leu M5 [CD11c], MY7 [CD13] plus butyrate and chloracetate esterase) proved to be an unusual but sustained feature of this cell line. The plasma cell phenotype with multinuclearity was retained. Shared majo...

Recruitment of innate immune cells from the bone marrow (BM) to an injury site is required for effective repair. In diabetes, this process is altered, leading to excessive recruitment and retention of dysfunctional myeloid cells that fail to promote angiogenesis, prolong inflammation, and block healing. The aberrant myeloid phenotype is partially mediated by stable intrinsic changes to developi...

Genome imprinting is the process by which identical alleles at a particular locus may be rendered functionally different depending on the sex of the parent contributing the allele. While several mutations in imprinted genes have been defined, no variants in the regulatory system that gives rise to imprinting have been described. Here we report our genetic analysis of the behavior of the interst...

In the developing Drosophila eye, cell fate determination and pattern formation are directed by cell-cell interactions mediated by signal transduction cascades. Mutations at the rugose locus (rg) result in a rough eye phenotype due to a disorganized retina and aberrant cone cell differentiation, which leads to reduction or complete loss of cone cells. The cone cell phenotype is sensitive to the...

Aberrations in human chromosome copy number and structure are common and extremely deleterious. Their downstream effects on phenotype are caused by aberrant dosage of sequences in the affected regions. However, we know little about why the abnormal gene copy number causes disease or why specific features result from deficits in specific chromosomes. Mice are the organism of choice to help us tr...

Asthma is an airway disease highly prevalent in westernized countries and of unknown etiology. Often, asthma is associated with atopy, but not all atopic individuals have asthma. Some patients with asthma outgrow symptoms, whereas many others acquire asthma later in life. Still other patients suffer from asthma their entire life. How can we explain these different patterns? It may be that asthm...