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Biomedical subjects

M Ling

Publications and source records attributed to M Ling.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Lymphoma models for B cell activation and tolerance. I. Conditions for the anti-mu-dependent stimulation of growth in NBL, a nude B cell lymphoma.

NBL is a spontaneous B cell lymphoma that originated in NIH Swiss nude mouse, and has been maintained as an in vitro line for 4 yr in our laboratory. It is surface IgM positive and expresses several B cell markers including Fc receptors, as well as Ly-1. Although clones of NBL will grow in serum-containing medium, this cell line enters a quiescent state in serum-free culture. However, in the presence of affinity-purified or monoclonal anti-mu reagents, NBL increases its rate of proliferation as measured by thymidine incorporation or in absolute cell numbers. This stimulation is specific for mu-chain, because it does not occur with anti-beta 2 microglobulin, irrelevant nonbinding antibodies, or with monoclonal anti-B cell lineage markers. Bivalent anti-mu is required, and no consistent Fc-mediated inhibition of growth has been detected. Stimulation of NBL occurs optimally at critical cell densities (greater than 3 X 10(3)/well) in the absence of serum. Therefore, we reasoned that NBL either produced or was receptive to known B cell growth factors. Although no classic IL 1 was detected in NBL supernatants, some BCGF-I-like activity was found. Finally, in the presence of LPS, both spontaneous and anti-mu-stimulated NBL growth was inhibited, a result suggesting maturation of this lymphoma. These results suggest that NBL represents an excellent model to study the growth and differentiation of B cell subsets.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Preventive and therapeutic vaccines for human papillomavirus-associated cervical cancers.

'High risk' genotypes of the human papillomavirus (HPV), particularly HPV type 16, are the primary etiologic agent of cervical cancer. Thus, HPV-associated cervical malignancies might be prevented or treated by induction of the appropriate virus-specific immune responses in patients. Sexual transmission of HPV may be prevented by the generation of neutralizing antibodies that are specific for the virus capsid. In ongoing clinical trials, HPV virus-like particles (VLPs) show great promise as prophylactic HPV vaccines. Since the capsid proteins are not expressed at detectable levels by basal keratinocytes, therapeutic vaccines generally target other nonstructural viral antigens. Two HPV oncogenic proteins, E6 and E7, are important in the induction and maintenance of cellular transformation and are coexpressed in the majority of HPV-containing carcinomas. Therefore, therapeutic vaccines targeting these proteins may provide an opportunity to control HPV-associated malignancies. Various candidate therapeutic HPV vaccines are currently being tested whereby E6 and/or E7 are administered in live vectors, in peptides or protein, in nucleic acid form, as components of chimeric VLPs, or in cell-based vaccines. Encouraging results from experimental vaccination systems in animal models have led to several prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine clinical trials. Should they fulfill their promise, these vaccines may prevent HPV infection or control its potentially life-threatening consequences in humans.

Dendritic Cells↗
PubMedDate not supplied

General practitioners' perceptions of the illness behaviour and health needs of South Asian women with menorrhagia.

OBJECTIVES: A study of general practitioners' (GPs) perceptions of the health needs of women of South Asian descent who suffer from menorrhagia. METHOD: A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 50 GPs in two British towns. FINDINGS: This study suggest that some women of South Asian descent may not consult their GPs even though suffering severe menorrhagia. Moreover, some GPs perceive that women may suffer from anaemia as the result of such illness behaviour. One reason for this reluctance to consult for menorrhagia may be the fact that some women of South Asian descent prefer to be examined by female doctors, yet may attend practices that lack a female partner. The study also shows that South Asian women, who consult male GPs for menorrhagia, are sometimes referred to hospital outpatients without internal examinations, and that women may be reluctant to keep their hospital appointments because of the lack of female gynaecologists. The study also indicates that a shortage of female interpreters may make communication difficult between some health care professionals and their patients, particularly when a complex and sensitive subject such as menorrhagia needs to be discussed. CONCLUSION: Women of South Asian descent may suffer serious problems such as iron deficiency anaemia, partly due to untreated menorrhagia. Since this was a study of GPs' perceptions of the health needs of South Asian women, it is now important to interview women themselves, to learn more about their perceptions of menorrhagia, and their perceptions of any subsequent contact with health care professionals.

Anemia, Iron-Deficiency↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An in vitro study of an intraarticular and extraarticular reconstruction in the anterior cruciate ligament deficient knee.

The biomechanical effectiveness of an extraarticular ACL reconstruction, an intraarticular ACL reconstruction, and the combination of these on both anterior stability and internal rotational stability of the ACL deficient knee was investigated in six cadaver knees. The extraarticular reconstruction consisted of the Müller anterolateral femorotibial ligament iliotibial band tenodesis, and the intraarticular reconstruction used the middle third of the patellar tendon in the manner of Clancy. The extraarticular reconstruction was found to overconstrain internal tibial rotation of the ACL excised knee between 30 degrees and 90 degrees (P less than 0.05). While the isolated extraarticular reconstruction did not return normal anterior stability to the ACL deficient knee (P less than 0.05), it did significantly reduce the anterior laxity of the ACL deficient knee between 30 degrees and 90 degrees of knee flexion (P less than 0.05). For the combined reconstruction, the intraarticular procedure was performed and then only enough tension was applied to the extraarticular reconstruction to take up slack in the tenodesis without shifting the rotatory position of the tibia from that produced by the intraarticular procedure alone. Neither the intraarticular reconstruction nor the combined procedure resulted in any significant shifts from normal (P less than 0.05) in the rotatory position of the unloaded tibia; during loading neither resulted in rotational displacements significantly different from normal; and both of these procedures reduced the increased anterior laxity of the ACL deficient knee to a level not statistically different from normal. Because the extraarticular reconstruction shared the load when performed with the intraarticular reconstruction as part of a combined procedure, we concluded that it would be useful as an adjunctive procedure in appropriate clinical situations.

Adult↗