Fibroblasts are predominant components of mammary stromal cells and play crucial roles in the development and involution of bovine mammary gland; however, whether these cells contribute to mastitis has not been demonstrated. Thus, we have undertaken biological and molecular characterization of inflammation-associated fibroblasts (INFs) extracted from bovine mammary glands with clinical mastitis...

Although nephroblastoma is the commonest renal tumor of childhood, it is rare in adults. In cases of predominantly epithelial type occurring in adulthood, it might be difficult to distinguish it from papillary renal cell carcinoma and metanephric adenoma. Here, we report three cases of adult epithelial nephroblastoma in 24-, 76-, and 21-year-old females. Histologically, the tumors were composed...

The embryonic programme 'epithelial-mesenchymal transition' (EMT) is thought to promote malignant tumour progression. The transcriptional repressor zinc-finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) is a crucial inducer of EMT in various human tumours, and was recently shown to promote invasion and metastasis of tumour cells. Here, we report that ZEB1 directly suppresses transcription of microRNA-200 ...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have shown that DNA methylation (DNAm) markers in peripheral blood may hold promise as diagnostic or early detection/risk markers for epithelial cancers. However, to date no study has evaluated the diagnostic and predictive potential of such markers in a large case control cohort and on a genome-wide basis. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS By performing genome-wide DNAm profiling ...

PURPOSE To study the expression of S100 A and B family proteins in normal human limbus and to analyze modification of the expression in inflammatory conditions. METHODS The total expression of members of the S100 family and the expression of A4, A8, A9, and B individually were evaluated in nine normal human corneal limbi, collected from cadaver healthy donors, in particular in the limbal epit...

Basement membranes (BMs) are highly specialized extracellular matrices (ECMs) that provide support and polarization cues for epithelial cells. Proper adhesion to the BM is pivotal in epithelial cell function and survival. Type IV collagens are the predominant components of all types of BMs, that form an irregular, polygonal lattice and serve as a scaffold for numerous other BM components and BM...

To cause food-borne botulism, botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) in the gastrointestinal lumen must traverse the intestinal epithelial barrier. However, the mechanism by which BoNT crosses the intestinal epithelial barrier remains unclear. BoNTs are produced along with one or more non-toxic components, with which they form progenitor toxin complexes (PTCs). Here we show that serotype A1 L-PTC, which h...

Antimicrobial human neutrophil peptides (HNPs) play a pivotal role in innate host defense against a broad spectrum of prokaryotic pathogens. In addition, HNPs modulate cellular immune responses by producing the chemokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) in myeloid and epithelial cells and by exerting chemotaxis to T cells, immature dendritic cells, and monocytes. However, the mechanisms by which HNPs modul...

Renal mixed tumor characterized by the absence of nephrogenic blastema and the presence of predominant osteoid-producing osteoblast-like cells occurred in the kidney of a 6-month-old, hybrid, female pig. At the post-mortem examination, the tumor was found as a calcified grayish-white mass at the cranial end of the left kidney. Histologically the tumor consisted of 3 growth areas of poorly diffe...