There were investigated 80 patients with superficial urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder (Ta and T1). All cases had a minimum follow-up of 36 months. Patients were selected in order to form two subgroups. The first group (n = 28) had no recurrence during the follow-up, and in the second (n = 52) each patient had a minimum of two recurrences. The pathologic diagnosis was performed on arc...

During development of atherosclerotic lesions, vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) undergo changes both phenotypically and in their cytoskeleton composition. An expression of cytokeratins 8 and 18 in SMCs in plaques of the human superficial femoral artery and of cytokeratin 8 in lesions of the aorta was recently described. Since cytokeratins are epithelial markers generally not found in normal ...

BACKGROUND Transplant rejection is mediated by T-cell activation which is modulated by interleukin-2 (IL-2) binding to IL-2R (CD25). Monoclonal anti-IL-2 receptor antibody is used in renal transplantation to reduce rejection. Interestingly, proximal tubular epithelial cells (TEC) express CD25, similar to T cells. We have demonstrated that IL-2 induces murine TEC apoptosis through down-regulatio...

Plantar epidermis of the bovine heel pad as well as human plantar and palmar epidermis contain large amounts of an acidic (type I) keratin polypeptide (No. 9) of Mr 64,000 which so far has not been found in epidermis of other sites of the body. We present evidence for the keratinous nature of this protein, including its ability to form cytokeratin complexes and intermediate-sized filaments in v...

Cells cultured from second trimester human amniotic fluid were characterized in indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) microscopy using specific antibodies against the subunit proteins of different types of cytoskeletal intermediate filaments. Most of the amniotic fluid cell cultures contained only epithelial cells as indicated by the positive keratin-fluorescence in IIF. Five distinct types of kera...

Extracellular calcium concentration has been shown to control the stratification of cultured keratinocytes, presumably by regulation of formation of desmosomes. Previous studies have shown that keratinocytes cultured in medium containing 0.1 mM Ca++ form loose colonies without desmosomes. If the Ca++ is raised to 1 mM, desmosomes are assembled and the distribution of keratin filaments is altere...

The characterization and distribution of cells containing the serum thymic factor (FTS) in the thymus of young mice was studied by immunofluorescence using monoclonal anti-FTS antibodies. FTS+ cells were distributed throughout the thymic parenchyma but were more frequent in the medullary region than in the cortex. FTS-containing cells presented a stellate or globular aspect, and some of them ex...

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is considered one of the most aggressive cancers with poor prognosis. The high molecular weight cytokeratin 34βE12 (CK34βE12) is recognized by the antibody, that is expressed in the cytoplasm of epithelial basal cells, and has been considered as a potential marker for prostate cancer, breast cancer, and basaloid carcinoma of the lung. However, there are...

Rapid immunostaining of frozen sections within a tolerable time span would be very helpful for intraoperative diagnosis. A protocol was therefore established using the enhanced polymer one-step staining (EPOS) system (Dako) with antibodies against leucocyte common antigen (LCA), cytokeratin (CK), and anti-melanoma (MEL). Best results with reliable and specific immunostaining and a labelling int...