The normal parathyroids of six humans and a Virginia deer were studied by light and electron microscopy. The parenchyma of the deer parathyroid is composed of uniform chief cells, which contained 100 to 400 mmicro electron-opaque, membrane-limited granules, presumed to be secretory granules, in addition to the usual cytoplasmic organelles. Desmosomes are present between adjacent cells, and rare...

Cytoplasmic RNA granules in germ cells (polar and germinal granules), somatic cells (stress granules and processing bodies), and neurons (neuronal granules) have emerged as important players in the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression. RNA granules contain various ribosomal subunits, translation factors, decay enzymes, helicases, scaffold proteins, and RNA-binding proteins, and the...

Objective: The role of growth factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor of activated omentum on mitosis is clearly known, though not on all the aspects of in vitro oocyte maturation. This study was designed to assess the effect of activated-omental extract (AOE) on in vitro maturation (IVM) of rat cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs). Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, th...

Lactoferrin is contained in cytoplasmic granules of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Upon centrifugation, it sediments in a band of granules that also contain 50% of the lysozyme activity. This granule class is distinct from others associated with alkaline phosphatase and peroxidase. The granules are latent for lactoferrin as only lysed granules have the capacity specifically to inhibit anti...

Stress granules are a type of cytoplasmic messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) granule formed in response to the inhibition of translation initiation, which typically occurs when cells are exposed to stress. Stress granules are conserved in eukaryotes; however, in filamentous fungi, including Aspergillus oryzae, stress granules have not yet been defined. For this reason, here we investigated the ...

Absence of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), an RNA-binding protein, is responsible for the Fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited mental retardation. FMRP is a cytoplasmic protein associated with mRNP complexes containing poly(A)+mRNA. As a step towards understanding FMRP function(s), we have established the immortal STEK Fmr1 KO cell line and showed by transfection a...