Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Stacey

Publications and source records attributed to M Stacey.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

FISH analysis on spontaneously arising micronuclei in the ICF syndrome.

The ICF syndrome is a rare disorder where patients show undercondensation of the heterochromatic blocks of chromosomes 1, 9, and 16 along with variable immunodeficiency. The undercondensation of the heterochromatic block appears to be restricted to a portion of PHA stimulated T cells. Patients with this syndrome also show an increase in micronuclei formation. We have used dual colour FISH to investigate the chromosomal content of these micronuclei in PHA stimulated peripheral blood cultures, an EBV transformed B cell line, and also micronuclei observed in vivo from peripheral blood smears. Chromosome 1 appears to be present in a higher proportion of micronuclei compared to chromosomes 9 and 16 in both a PHA stimulated culture and an EBV transformed cell line. An 18 centromeric probe, not associated with the ICF syndrome, showed no signal in any of the micronuclei observed. The implications from these observations are that the heterochromatic instability in the ICF syndrome is manifested not only in T but also in B cells and that it is present in vivo.

B-Lymphocytes↗

Green shoots.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Clinical Competence↗

A family showing no evidence of linkage between the ataxia telangiectasia gene and chromosome 11q22-23.

We have studied an inbred family in which two cousins presented with the same clinical features of ataxia telangiectasia (AT). Both patients are still ambulatory at ages 25 and 20. Cellular features of both patients are typical of AT and include increased radiosensitivity and an increased level of spontaneously occurring chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes. Linkage studies and haplotype analysis show no clear evidence that the gene for AT in this family is on chromosome 11q22-23. As previously reported AT families from complementation groups AB, C, and D have all shown linkage to this region of 11q22-23. Our study is of importance in suggesting additional locus heterogeneity.

Adult↗

Epidermal mosaicism and Blaschko's lines.

To test the hypothesis that epidermal rather than dermal mosaicism determines Blaschko's lines in hypomelanosis of Ito (HI), we studied the distribution of chromosomal mosaicism in four patients. In two, mosaicism had not been detected in lymphocytes or dermal fibroblasts, but was clearly shown in epidermal keratinocytes; furthermore, the abnormal cell line was confirmed to the hypopigmented epidermis and the normal epidermis contained only normal cells. Negative findings in the other two patients might be because of mosaicism which was undetected either because it was submicroscopic or because it was present in melanocytes, which have not yet been studied. These preliminary results support the ideas that (1) Blaschko's lines represent single clones of epidermal cells; (2) in patients with HI and severe neurological involvement mosaicism, if detectable, is best shown in keratinocytes; and (3) the cytogenetic defect in epidermal cells may be directly responsible for the failure of pigmentation in HI.

Adolescent↗

For public or profession?--The new GMC performance procedures.

The upheaval in the General Medical Council two decades ago came from doctors not the consumers the council was set up to protect. Since then there have been repeated calls for doctors to improve their self regulation by amending the disciplinary procedures. Private member's bills have failed and the GMC has now proposed performance procedures to deal with doctors who exhibit a "pattern of poor performance." After months of wide consultation in and outside the medical profession the GMC will decide next week whether to endorse the procedures, which unlike the conduct hearings will be inquiries by peers. Professor Margaret Stacey suggests that the procedures lack clarity, smacking of that "trust me" principle whose subtext is "but I'm not telling you what I'm up to."

Clinical Competence↗

Development of T-cell leukaemia in an ataxia telangiectasia patient following clonal selection in t(X;14)-containing lymphocytes.

Ataxia telangiectasia is a rare inherited and progressive neurological disorder in which patients show an unusual predisposition to T-cell leukaemia. We report here observations on a patient with a large cytogenetically abnormal clone showing a single t(X;14)(q28;q11) translocation which conferred a proliferative advantage on the cells. The further evolution of this clone to cytogenetically more complex clones of lymphocytes was seen in the patient. She subsequently developed a rapidly progressing T-cell leukaemia, with a CD4+CD8+ T-cell phenotype, about five years after the first appearance of additional chromosome translocations in the clone cells.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗

Rearrangement of the same chromosome regions in different SV40 transformed human skin keratinocyte lines is associated with tumourigenicity.

Twelve different human keratinocyte strains were transformed with recombinant plasmid pSV6-1 which contained an origin defective SV40 genome. When injected into athymic nude mice lines produced either squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) in all animals, SCC in some animals and epidermal cysts in others, or epidermal cysts only in all the animals. The tumourigenic capacity of the lines could be correlated with the chromosomal changes present initially in the transformed cells. Lines which produced SCC in all the animals within a short period of time all showed simultaneous loss of part of chromosomes 3p, 8p and 11p in one homologue. Lines which were not tumourigenic did not show these simultaneously appearing rearrangements. These specific rearrangements are acquired in vitro and the time taken for a recognisable tumour to appear is related to the proportion of such cells in the line. The rearrangement of the same chromosome regions in different tumourigenic cell lines suggests that genes in these regions are important in the development of squamous cell carcinoma, possibly by loss of heterozygosity, at particular loci.

Animals↗

Cultured skin keratinocytes from both normal individuals and basal cell naevus syndrome patients are more resistant to gamma-rays and UV light compared with cultured skin fibroblasts.

Measurement of colony-forming ability following exposure to gamma-rays was performed on cultured skin keratinocytes and skin fibroblasts obtained from normal individuals, basal cell naevus syndrome patients (BCNS) and ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) patients. The most striking observation was the radiation resistance of 8/8 keratinocyte strains compared with fibroblasts whether from BCNS patients or normals. The single A-T keratinocyte cell strain showed the same radiosensitivity as A-T fibroblast cell strains. The differential survival of keratinocytes and fibroblasts was also observed following exposure to 254 nm UV light. The survival curves of SV40 immortalized keratinocytes and retinoblasts derived from normal individuals or BCNS patients showed large shoulder regions following exposure to gamma-rays or 254 nm UV light. An increased D37 rather than an increased D0 was therefore the feature of such curves. This contrasted with the SV40 immortalized A-T keratinocytes or fibroblasts which showed a minimal shoulder effect and an increased D0. No difference in survival was observed between BCNS and normal cells following exposure to either UV or gamma-rays.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗