The abundance and cytoplasmic organization of keratin filaments enables them to contribute to the maintenance of structural integrity in epithelial tissues. Co-polymers of the type II keratin 8 and type I keratin 18 form the major intermediate filament network in simple epithelia. We investigated the mechanical properties of K8-K18 filament suspensions using rheological assays in conjunction wi...

BACKGROUND Two novel assays quantifying Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) were compared to traditional motility and migration assays. TGF-beta1 treatment of AY-27 rat bladder cancer cells acted as a model of EMT in tumourigenesis. METHODS AY-27 rat bladder cancer cells incubated with 3 ng/ml TGF-beta1 or control media for 24 or 48 h were assessed using novel and traditional assays. T...

BACKGROUND Intracellular components, such as nucleosomal DNA and cytokeratins, are released from cells during apoptosis, which occurs spontaneously in elevated amounts in patients with various tumors, as well as during treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs. PATIENTS AND METHODS Sera of 30 patients with colorectal cancer, stage Dukes' B to D, who received adjuvant (N=15) or palliative (N=15) c...

All or nearly all intragemmal (elongated) cells of rat taste buds were immunopositive for keratins 7, 8, and 19. In contrast, keratin 18 was detected in 19 +/- 5 cells per taste bud (mean +/- sd), or about 25% of the intragemmal cells. During taste bud development keratins 7, 8, and 19 were evident initially in polygonal cells and later in elongated taste cells. Keratin 8 appeared in vallate ta...

The atypical cutaneous tumor of a 9-year-old mixed breed female dog was examined. The tumor was well-demarcated and histologically composed of a trichoblastic area, tricholemmal area and apocrine glandular area. Neoplastic cells in trichoblastic area and tricholemmal area had PAS-positive granules in the cytoplasm and were positive for pan-cytokeratin, cytokeratin 5/6, 14 and 19 and p63. Neopla...