Recently, we identified an ADP-ribosylating and vacuolating cytotoxin in Mycoplasma pneumoniae designated Community Acquired Respiratory Distress Syndrome (CARDS) toxin. In this study we show that vacuoles induced by recombinant CARDS (rCARDS) toxin are acidic and derive from the endocytic pathway as determined by the uptake of neutral red and the fluid-phase marker, Lucifer yellow, respectivel...

Autophagy, a major catabolic process in eukaryotes, was initially related to cell tolerance to nutrient depletion. In plants autophagy has also been widely related to tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses (through the induction or repression of programmed cell death, PCD) as well as to promotion of developmentally regulated PCD, starch degradation or caloric restriction important for life sp...

VP24, an abundant protein of 24 kD, was found to accumulate in the anthocyanin-containing vacuoles of cells of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) in suspension culture. Light-induced expression of VP24 was analyzed by immunoblotting in three different cell lines that produced anthocyanins at different rates. The expression of VP24 was closely correlated with the accumulation of anthocyanin in these...

Neuroblastoma is the most common cancer in infants and the fourth most common cancer in children. Aggressive cell growth and chemoresistance are notorious obstacles in neuroblastoma therapy. Exposure to the anticancer drug ellipticine inhibits efficiently growth of neuroblastoma cells and induces apoptosis in these cells. However, ellipticine induced resistance in these cells. The upregulation ...

CONTEXT FNAC thyroid is more sensitive as well as specific in segregating neoplastic and non-neoplastic thyroid lesions. Identification of predominant cell pattern, cell morphology and background details in FNAC smears play an important role in categorisation of various thyroid lesions with accuracy. Marginal vacuoles (MVs) have been described as irregular cytoplasmic vacuoles with largely unst...

125I seeds brachytherapy implantation has been extensively performed in unresectable and rerecurrent rectal carcinoma. Many studies on the cancer-killing activity of 125I seeds radiation mainly focused on its ability to trigger apoptosis, which is the most well-known and dominant type of cell death induced by radiation. However our results showed some unique morphological features such as cell ...

Small intestinal mucosa obtained from six fasting patients with cholera by a peroral biopsy technique was studied with the electron microscope. The cultures of their rectal swabs were all positive for Vibrio cholerae. In the absorptive cells, large pseudopod-like cytoplasmic processes with deformed microvilli or without microvilli (blebs) projected into the intestinal lumen from the apical cell...

The present studies detail the cytopathological alterations in uterine epithelial, basal lamina, and stromal endometrial subregions, and associated endocrine parameters that occur during the progressive exacerbation of the diabetes syndrome in this species of mouse. These alterations result in a cellular lipoatrophic condition that compromises uterine tissue integrity and promotes reproductive ...

DdCAD-1 is a 24-kD Ca2+-dependent cell- cell adhesion molecule that is expressed soon after the initiation of development in Dictyostelium cells. DdCAD-1 is present on the cell surface as well as in the cytosol. However, the deduced amino acid sequence of DdCAD-1 lacks a hydrophobic signal peptide or any predicted transmembrane domain, suggesting that it may be presented on the cell surface via...