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Biomedical subjects

A Burford-Mason

Publications and source records attributed to A Burford-Mason.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Diagnostic criteria for neoplastic myoepithelial cells in pleomorphic adenomas and myoepitheliomas. Immunocytochemical detection of muscle-specific actin, cytokeratin 14, vimentin, and glial fibrillary acidic protein.

OBJECTIVE: Markers for normal salivary gland myoepithelium were used to determine the extent of their expression in the neoplastic myoepithelial (nonluminal) cells of pleomorphic adenomas and then in the tumor cells in myoepitheliomas and to gather information necessary to establish diagnostic criteria, especially muscle actin expression, for myoepitheliomas. STUDY DESIGN: Methanol/acetic acid-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue was used to immunohistochemically study expression of intermediate and smooth-muscle actin filaments in nonluminal cells in 14 pleomorphic adenomas and to compare this to their expression in five myoepitheliomas. RESULTS: In routine histologic sections, the morphologic variants of nonluminal tumor cells--spindle, stellate, polygonal, angular, and plasmacytoid--in pleomorphic adenoma mirror the spectrum of tumor cells in myoepitheliomas. Immunocytochemical similarities are also apparent. Two specific markers for myoepithelial cells in the normal salivary gland, muscle-specific actin and cytokeratin 14, were both variably, independently, and never uniformly expressed in nonluminal cells of pleomorphic adenoma and tumor cells in myoepitheliomas regardless of their morphology. Cytokeratin 14 in addition labels basal cells of excretory ducts. Both muscle-specific actin and cytokeratin 14 preferentially localized to single layers of periductal cells in pleomorphic adenomas, angular, polygonal, and plasmacytoid cells preferentially expressed cytokeratin 14. Similar patterns were noted in the three myoepitheliomas with reasonable expression of the two markers. Only isolated single cells or small groups of plasmacytoid cells in four pleomorphic adenomas with a significant component of these cells and the two plasmacytoid myoepitheliomas immunostained for muscle-specific actin and cytokeratin 14. In both tumor types, vimentin was nearly uniformly expressed in nonluminal tumor cells of all morphologic types, including plasmacytoid cells. CONCLUSIONS: The range and transition of morphology of nonluminal cells in pleomorphic adenomas is reflected in myoepitheliomas. Incomplete or absent expression of the myoepithelial/basal cell markers, muscle-specific actin, and cytokeratin 14, and the general expression of vimentin is common to both tumors. Because these findings apply to the majority of plasmacytoid cells in pleomorphic adenomas, tumor cells with a similar morphology and immunoprofile are to be expected in myoepitheliomas; the term plasmacytoid myoepitheliomas is thus appropriate regardless of the presence or absence of muscle-specific actin.

Actins

Obstructive sialadenitis: a rat model.

Obstructive adenitis of major salivary glands is a common entity. Although the pathologic features are well recognized, the various cell types involved in the atrophy and subsequent regeneration of the obstructed salivary gland have been controversial. For this reason, an animal model of obstructive sialadenitis that induced atrophy in the rat parotid gland was developed. A clamp was devised that would occlude the main excretory duct of the gland inducing atrophy, but that, following removal, left the duct patent and allowed regeneration to occur. Both atrophy and regeneration were studied, and the results presented. The number and location of cycling acinar, intercalated, striated, and excretory duct cells were identified, using an antibody to proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). All cell types were induced to cycle during both the atrophy and regeneration phase, but the degree of cycling was more pronounced during regeneration. Three days after release of the duct obstruction, cycling acinar cells had increased 40-fold, while striated and intercalated ducts increased 6.5- and 5.0-fold, respectively. More importantly, peak cycling of acinar cells preceded, but paralleled, the increase in acinar cell composition of the gland. This model of obstructive sialadenitis indicates that all cell types are responsible for regeneration in the obstructed rat parotid gland.

Animals

The pathobiology of salivary gland. I. Growth and development of rat submandibular gland organoids cultured in a collagen gel matrix.

Fragments of rat submandibular gland (organoids) which maintained the topological organization of the parent tissue were cultured in a three-dimensional collagen gel matrix for up to 30 days. At 48 h, vigorous peripheral outgrowth had occurred around each organoid. This was accompanied by central necrosis and the bridging of adjacent organoids. By day 5, large cyst-like spaces occupied the centre of many organoids. Bromodeoxyuridine labelling indicated that a considerable proportion of the lining cells were proliferating. Organoid growth peaked at between 5 and 10 days. Thereafter, the number of viable colonies and proliferating cells declined. Addition of isoproterenol after 24 h culture resulted in marked morphological alterations, with earlier and more prolific outgrowth and a greater tendency for organoids to flatten and grow out over the surface of the gel with squamous differentiation. Ultrastructurally, nuclear and cytoplasmic features of isoproterenol-treated and untreated cultures were similar. The secretory granules and extensive rough endoplasmic reticulum of terminal tubule cells, evident in organoids immediately after isolation, were infrequent after 24 h and absent by 48 h. Similar alterations occurred in the few acinar cells, so by 5 days the cultures were composed entirely of a uniform population of primitive, dedifferentiated cells. Further uses of this culture systems will include the study of diseases and disorders of the salivary glands as well as normal growth and differentiation pathways.

Animals

Comparative histogenesis and morphogenesis of mucoepidermoid carcinoma and pleomorphic adenoma. An ultrastructural study.

Current classifications of salivary gland tumors separate mucoepidermoid carcinoma from other neoplasms on the basis of a number of histological features, in particular the lack of participation of neoplastic myoepithelial cells. However, ultrastructural examination of low- and intermediate-grade mucoepidermoid carcinomas and pleomorphic adenomas reveals many common organizational and cellular features. Of prime importance is the relationship of intermediate cells to the luminal cells in mucoepidermoid carcinomas, which is remarkably similar to that seen between modified myoepithelial cells and luminal cells in pleomorphic adenomas. The results suggest that intermediate cells of mucoepidermoid carcinoma are the counterpart of the modified myoepithelial cells of pleomorphic adenoma. The generally accepted hypothesis that the former tumor develops from an excretory duct reserve cell, while the latter originates from an intercalated duct stem cell does not seem to be valid; pleomorphic adenoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma appear to be closely related morphologically.

Adenoma, Pleomorphic

Ultrastructural study of acinar and intercalated duct organization of submandibular and parotid salivary gland.

According to some current hypotheses, the morphology and organization of the intercalated duct/acinar interface of salivary gland have implications for the induction of tumors in this organ. However, this region has received limited detailed investigation. To study the organization of the terminal ductal segments of salivary gland, conventional transmission electron microscopy of human parotid and submandibular glands and canine submandibular gland was combined with 3-dimensional observations of polymer casts of the canine submandibular ductal system; the latter were prepared by retrograde injection of acrylic resin via the main excretory duct with subsequent digestion of the gland tissue. The division of intercalated ducts, into first- and second-order branches, and acinar arrangement is more complex than previously suggested. The entire surface of each elongated second-order intercalated duct is covered with acini projecting in all directions. In the human gland, some acini abut directly on the intercalated duct surface, whereas others are connected by a short stalk of intercalated duct cells; in comparison with canine submandibular gland, the latter may be a modification producing a third-order of the intercalated duct unit. All of these features combine to produce a highly efficient secretory apparatus with a large proportion of acinar cells to each intercalated duct.

Animals

Phytohaemagglutinin responsiveness of peripheral lymphocytes and survival in patients with primary breast cancer.

The response of peripheral blood lymphocytes from 153 breast cancer patients to the T-cell mitogen phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) was measured prior to surgery and patients assigned to either high (Hi/PHA) or low (Lo/PHA) PHA response groups. Patients were followed up for between 8 and 12 years, or until death. Clinical characteristics were similar in Hi/PHA and Lo/PHA groups. In the 96 patients who received no postoperative adjuvant therapy, overall and relapse-free survival was significantly longer in Hi/PHA than in Lo/PHA patients (p less than 0.005, and p less than 0.025 respectively); relative risk of death within 12 years was 0.52 and of relapse was 0.64. In 47 patients who were treated with radiotherapy postoperatively, there was no correlation between the PHA response and overall or relapse-free survival. The implications of these findings for the selection of breast cancer patients for adjuvant treatment following surgery are discussed.

Adult

Myofilament localization and immunoelectron microscopic detection of muscle-specific actin in neoplastic myoepithelial cells in pleomorphic adenomas and myoepitheliomas.

Elucidating the cellular characteristics of the nonluminal or myoepithelial cells of pleomorphic adenomas is one approach to establishing the diagnostic criteria for myoepitheliomas. Ultrastructural features of nonluminal tumor cells in 22 pleomorphic adenomas and of tumor cells in 9 myoepitheliomas were assessed from micrographs of routinely fixed and epoxy resin-embedded samples. Recognizable myofilaments were only moderately prominent in 1 myoepithelioma. In the rest of the cases, irrespective of whether nonluminal cells of pleomorphic adenomas or tumor cells of myoepitheliomas were spindle, angular, round, or plasmacytoid in form, myofilaments were noted only in one third of the cases and were present even in these in a small proportion of the tumor cells. Intermediate filament accumulations and basal lamina were more frequent findings associated with nonluminal tumor cells. Six pleomorphic adenomas and 2 myoepitheliomas had been fixed in half-strength glutaraldehyde and embedded in LR White resin for immunoelectron microscopic detection of muscle-specific actin. In 3 (2 pleomorphic adenomas and myoepitheliomas) of these 8 cases, readily visualized bands of filaments in many tumor cells were strongly labeled by the colloidal gold probe detecting muscle-specific actin even when myofilaments were minimal and infrequent in 2 cases and undetectable in the third by routine transmission electron microscopy. Lack of myofilament detection by immunocytochemistry or routine electron microscopy does not exclude a diagnosis of pleomorphic adenoma or myoepithelioma when growth patterns and cytology indicate such diagnoses. Immunoelectron microscopy, in fact, shows that muscle-specific actin can be detected even when myofilaments or muscle actin are apparently absent or minimal by routine electron microscopy or immunohistochemistry, respectively. Because examples of pleomorphic adenoma and myoepithelioma each with similar histologic and cytologic features of the myoepitheliomatous cells can have variable degrees or complete absence of expression of myofilaments or muscle-specific actin, the time-honored term myoepithelial for the nonluminal cells of pleomorphic adenomas and the term myoepithelioma are legitimate even in the absence of those markers that are specific for normal myoepithelial cells.

Actins