Remodeling of epithelial tissues requires coordinated cell migration. Most of the mechanisms regulating desmosome assembly and stability in migrating epithelial cells are still unknown. The actin cytoskeleton is a significant component of desmosome assembly and maturation. The association of the actin cytoskeleton with adherens junctions requires additional ultrastructural investigations. A transmission electron microscopic study was performed on

BACKGROUND: To investigate the length and three-dimensional orientation and to detail the morphological variations of the styloid process. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four patients undergoing temporal bone evaluation for different reasons were randomly selected and included in the present study. The length, angulation in the coronal and sagittal planes, as well as morphological variations of the styloid processes were assessed using conebeam computer

A leptomeningeal mass was encountered during microdissection of a 63-year-old male cadaver, located dorsal to the left side of the medulla oblongata. The structure was compressing the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) and was composed of cerebellar-like tissue. Immunohistochemistry for S100 protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein and neurofilaments (NF, the triplet proteins and the 200 kD antibody) on paraffin-embedded samples confirmed

AIM: To investigate whether the apoptotic cascade is activated through the extrinsic pathway in epithelial lining and connective tissue of radicular cysts. METHODOLOGY: Fifteen radicular cysts were fixed in formalin, embedded in paraffin wax and processed for immunohistochemistry to evaluate the expression of polyclonal antibodies against Tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), DR5 and caspase-3. Immunocomplexes were treated

Neurofilaments usually associated with neural tissues are the type IV family of intermediate filaments. Nestin, which is a type VI intermediate filament, is a well known marker of endothelial cells in newly formed blood vessels and is developmentally and structurally related to type IV intermediate filaments. We aimed to determine whether or not cardiac endothelial cells (ECs) label with antibodies for neurofilaments (200 kDa, Novocastra-Leica, clone

Telocytes (TCs) are actually defined as being stromal cells with specific long and thin prolongations, called telopodes (Tp). They were positively identified in various tissues up to now. We report here for the first time the presence of TCs in the structure of esophagus. Such cells were identified under transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in esophageal samples of Wistar rats (N=5) and were found beneath the basal epithelial layer, in submucosa,

Dental trauma is very frequent in clinical legal medicine practice and, even if it usually has a low severity it often posses difficult problems for the legal medicine specialist. It is the case of evaluating the severity of the injuries in order to asses the judicial implications. In 2002 we have published a grading methodology for evaluating the severity of trauma lesions in oro-maxillo-facial, OMF, pathology. However, due to recent advances in

Botulinum neurotoxin B (BoNT-B) is a well known lethal agent in humans. In the last years botulinum neurotoxins have been used as therapeutic agents in pain management; their intimate effects on the peripheral nervous ganglia were however not thoroughly described. We present here a rare case of a BoNT-B serologically positive human adult in which trigeminal ganglia were found immunopositive for caspases 3 and 9. Thus the intrinsic apoptotic pathway

The anatomy of the pterygopalatine fossa keeps a traditional level and is viewed as constant, even though a series of structures neighboring the fossa are known to present individual variations. We aimed to evaluate on 3D volume renderizations (VR) the anatomical variables of the pterygopalatine fossa, as related to the variable pneumatization patterns of the bones surrounding the fossa. The study was performed retrospectively on Cone Beam Computed

Sprouting angiogenesis is led by specialized cell - the endothelial tip cells (ETCs) which can be targeted by pro- or anti-angiogenic therapies. We aimed to perform a qualitative study in order to assess the guidance by tip cells of the endothelial sprouts in the repairing mucosa of the edentulous mandibular crest. Mucosa of the mandibular edentulous ridge was collected from six adult patients, prior to healing abutment placement (second surgery).