Several urine markers have been and are currently being investigated for the diagnosis and prognostication of bladder malignancies. While cystoscopy and urine cytology remain the gold standard in the detection of bladder cancer, cystoscopy is invasive and cytology yields low sensitivities in low-grade disease. The availability of a non-invasive, accurate, office-based test would be ideal. In th...

IL-4 plays an essential role in the activation of mature B cells, but less is known about the role of IL-4 in B cell maturation and tolerance checkpoints. In this study, we analyzed the effect of IL-4 on in vitro B cell maturation, from immature to transitional stages, and its influence on BCR-mediated negative selection. Starting either from purified CD19(+)IgM(-) B cell precursors, or sorted ...

Background. Previous studies have shown that class Ic antiarrhythmic agents are effective in suppressing ectopic atrial rhythms and accessory pathway conduction. Methods and Results. To explore the potential mechanisms for their effectiveness, we investigated the concentration-dependent effects of the Ic agent flecainide acetate (0.5 to 10 utg/mL) on atrial ectopic automaticity and exit conduct...

Purpose: There is a need for improved subclassification of urothelial carcinoma (UC) at diagnosis. A major aim of this study was to search for novel genomic subgroups. Experimental design:We assessed 160 tumors for genome-wide copy number alterations andmutation in genes implicated inUC. These comprised all tumor grades and stages and included 49 high-grade stage T1

This perspective on Seager et al. (beginning on p. 1008) considers an important advance in the effort to control bladder cancer. Frontline therapy for superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder involves instillation of the crude immunomodulatory bacterial extract Bacillus Calmette-Guérin directly into the organ. Seager et al. now show that local administration of a chemical inhibito...

Functional peripheral mature follicular B (FoB) lymphocytes are thought to develop from immature transitional cells in a BCR-dependent manner. We have previously shown that BCR cross-linking in vitro results in death of early transitional (T1) B cells, whereas late transitional (T2) B cells survive and display phenotypic characteristics of mature FoB cells. We now demonstrate that diacylglycero...