BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Spontaneous pneumothorax is common between young, thin people, usually without previous history of any respiratory disease or symptom. Of note, there has been not observed any other characteristics or findings from thorax imaging (Rx and thorax computed tomography-CT) in these people, in exception of blebs or bullae in upper lobes of the lungs. MATERIALS AND METHODS ...

Diffusion of the complex consisting of low density lipoprotein (LDL) bound to its receptor on the surface of human fibroblasts has been measured with the help of an intensely fluorescent, biologically active LDL derivative, dioctadecylindocarbocyanine LDL (dil(3)-LDL). Fluorescence photobleaching recovering and direct video observations of the Brownian motion of individual LDL-receptor complexe...

Blebs are spherical cellular protrusions that occur in many physiological situations. Two distinct phases make up the life of a bleb, each of which have their own biology and physics: expansion, which lasts approximately 30 s, and retraction, which lasts approximately 2 min. We investigate these phases using optical microscopy and simple theoretical concepts, seeking information on blebbing its...

Suprastimulation of pancreatic acinar cells with specific agonists inhibits zymogen secretion and induces the formation of large basolateral blebs. Currently the molecular mechanisms that mediate this dramatic morphologic response are undefined. Further, it is unclear if blebbing represents a terminal or reversible event. Using computer-enhanced video microscopy of living acini we have found th...

Lymphocyte blastogenesis assays and immunoblotting were used to investigate and compare murine B-cell responses to preparations of extracellular membrane blebs (BAg) and spirochetes (Ag) of Borrelia burgdorferi. Immunoblotting BAg, Ag, and medium control preparations with serum from naive and infected C57BL/10 mice revealed that BAg and Ag had similar specific reactivity profiles except that ma...

*Correspondence to: Clifford P. Brangwynne; Email: [email protected] Anomalies in the three-dimensional shape of the nucleus are associated with a number of genetic diseases. These shape distortions include lobulated structures, with localized bulges referred to as nuclear blebs. Blebbing can result from mutations in genes encoding lamin intermediate filaments that form the lamin cortex, a...

OBJECTIVE To characterize histopathologic features of leaking mitomycin C-treated blebs and aberrant wound healing that may lead to persistent conjunctival thinning and leakage. METHODS Forty mitomycin C-treated filtering blebs excised for persistent leaks from 40 patients were examined histopathologically using hematoxylin-eosin, periodic acid-Schiff, Masson trichrome, and Alcian blue histoc...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the application of video-assisted thoracoscopy in the management of recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax in the pediatric population. PATIENTS AND METHODS Between 1995 and 1997, four patients with recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax were treated. Ages varied from 14 to 17 years. There were three males and one female. Two ...

The silent clearance of apoptotic cells is essential for cellular homeostasis in multicellular organisms, and several mediators of apoptotic cell recognition have been identified. However, the distinct mechanisms involved are not fully deciphered yet. We analyzed alterations of the glycocalyx on the surfaces of apoptotic cells and its impact for engulfment. After apoptosis induction of lymphocy...

AIM To determine whether thermography can be used to evaluate bleb function. METHODS The surface temperatures of filtering blebs from 39 eyes of 33 post-trabeculectomy patients were measured using thermography. We introduced a new parameter: the temperature decrease in the filtering bleb (TDB) where TDB = (mean temperature of the temporal and nasal bulbar conjunctiva)-(temperature of the filt...