Endometriosis is the abnormal growth of endometrial cells outside the uterus, causing pelvic pain and infertility. Furthermore, adhesion of endometrial tissue fragments to pelvic mesothelium is required for the initial step of endometriosis formation outside uterus. TGF-β1 and adhesion molecules importantly function for adhesion of endometrial tissue fragments to mesothelium outside uterus. How...

We hypothesized that manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), known to be induced in rat mesothelial cells by asbestos fibers, cytokines, and hyperoxia, may also be induced in asbestos-related pleural diseases such as mesothelioma. MnSOD was assessed in healthy human pleural mesothelium (n = 6), in biopsy samples of human pleural mesothelioma (n = 7), in transformed nonmalignant human mesothelia...

The cytological dilemma of distinguishing malignant cells from proliferating mesothelium has generated volumes of research but no clear consensus regarding an optimal staining panel. nm23 has been frequently described in malignant cells as a metastasis suppressor, but its mechanism of action and the relationship between nm23 expression, metastases, and prognosis is controversial. This is the fi...

Pleura consists of visceral and parietal cell layers, producing a fluid, which is necessary for lubrication of the pleural space. Function of both mesothelial cell layers is necessary for the regulation of a constant pleural fluid volume and composition to facilitate lung movement during breathing. Recent studies have demonstrated that pleural mesothelial cells show a distinct expression patter...

D tumor viruses have evolved to replicate, not to cause tumors. Their carcinogenic effect depends on the blocking of the lytic cycle and the ability of latently infected, potentially proliferative cells to escape immune surveillance. These conditions can be satisfied by accidental ‘‘experiments of nature’’ or by the artifices of laboratory experimentation. Potentially tumorigenic papovaviruses ...

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos fibers, which accumulate in the pleural space, damage tissue and stimulate regeneration. Hedgehog signaling is a pathway important during embryonic mesothelium development and is inactivated in adult mesothelium. The pathway is reactivated in some MPM patients with poor clinical outcome, mainly mediated by the...

Mesothelial cells, which have diverse roles in physiology and pathology, constitute the mesothelium along with connective tissue and the basement membrane; the mesothelium serves to shield the somatic cavities. After mesothelial injury, mesothelial cells undergo tissue recovery. However, the mechanism of mesothelial regeneration remains poorly understood. In this study, we used confocal time-la...

Rat mesothelial cells co-express vimentin and the simple epithelial cytokeratins. While cytokeratins predominate in situ, under most culture conditions vimentin is the major intermediate filament protein of the cells. This loss of cytokeratin production upon culture can be partly prevented by growing mesothelial cells on a basement membrane matrix. However, the basement membrane-promoted persis...