Multiple cell wall blebs were observed on the surface of three strains of N. meningitidis taken from log phase cultures. The blebs originated as evaginations of the outer layer of the cell wall. Bleb production was noted on both defined or complex media either as broth or a solid medium. The addition of 10% normal bovine serum to the various media did not affect the production and release of th...

In addition to pseudopods, somewhat pleomorphic blebs were consistently found protruding from the apical surfaces of hyperplastic rat thyroid epithelial cells into the follicular lumens in vivo. Many blebs were knobby, roughly hemispherical protrusions, with a diameter of 2-3 mum. Such blebs had a densely packed microfilamentous core and contained numerous apparent ribosomes. They were morpholo...

BACKGROUND Increased risk of spontaneous pneumothorax has been described in patients with Marfan syndrome and has been attributed, in part, to the presence of apical blebs and bullae. OBJECTIVES We assess the risk of pneumothorax and its relationship to the presence of apical blebs and bullae in patients with Marfan syndrome in the era of CT imaging. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was...

Much of the structural stability of the nucleus comes from meshworks of intermediate filament proteins known as lamins forming the inner layer of the nuclear envelope called the nuclear lamina. These lamin meshworks additionally play a role in gene expression. Abnormalities in nuclear shape are associated with a variety of pathologies, including some forms of cancer and Hutchinson-Gilford Proge...

PURPOSE To study the ocular surface in filtering blebs using impression cytology, comparing the bleb side and areas outside the bleb edges. METHODS Twelve filtering blebs of 8 patients were included: 4 cases of trabeculectomy without mitomycin C (MMC), 6 cases of trabeculectomy with MMC, and 2 cases of non-penetrating glaucoma surgery. Impression cytology specimens were taken from filtering b...

Cells migrate by extending pseudopods such as lamellipodia and blebs. Although the signals leading to lamellipodia extension have been extensively investigated, those for bleb extension remain unclear. Here, we investigated signals for blebbing in Dictyostelium cells using a newly developed assay to induce blebbing. When cells were cut into two pieces with a microneedle, the anucleate fragments...

Complement protein C1q is required to maintain immune tolerance. The molecular mechanism responsible for this link has not been determined. We have previously demonstrated that C1q binds directly and specifically to surface blebs of apoptotic human keratinocytes, suggesting that it may participate in clearance of self Ags generated during programmed cell death. Here, we demonstrate that C1q als...

Immune context is an essential determinant of the host response to potential autoantigens. The clustering of the autoantigens targeted in systemic lupus erythematosus within surface blebs of apoptotic cells generates high concentrations of autoantigen within discrete subcellular packages. We demonstrate here that when apoptosis is induced by Sindbis virus infection, viral antigens and autoantig...

The bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) is thought to play an important role in killing and clearance of Gram-negative bacteria and the neutralization of endotoxin. A possible role for BPI in clearance of cell-free endotoxin has also been suggested based on studies with purified endotoxin aggregates and blood monocytes. Because the interaction of BPI with cell-free endotoxin, dur...

We investigate whether blebs in cerebral aneurysms form in regions of low or high wall shear stress (WSS), and how the intraaneurysmal hemodynamic pattern changes after bleb formation. Seven intracranial aneurysms harboring well defined blebs were selected from our database and subject-specific computational models were constructed from 3D rotational angiography. For each patient, a second anat...