In bilateria, positioning and looping of visceral organs requires proper left-right (L/R) asymmetry establishment. Recent work in Drosophila has identified a novel situs inversus gene encoding the unconventional type ID myosin (MyoID). In myoID mutant flies, the L/R axis is inverted, causing reversed looping of organs, such as the gut, spermiduct and genitalia. We have previously shown that Myo...

BACKGROUND The results of a recent study demonstrated an association between myoid differentiation and an adverse prognosis in adult patients with pleomorphic sarcoma, as determined by 5-year metastasis-free survival rates. METHODS To confirm the importance of muscle differentiation on prognosis in a well controlled clinical context, 92 samples from patients with pleomorphic sarcoma of the ex...

We report a case of double uterine tumor resembling ovarian sex cord tumor (UTROSCT). The tumor was composed of sex cord-like cords, nests and tubules, and bundles of myoid cells. The lesion was interesting especially in regard to histogenesis of intratumoral myoid cells. It is not known whether these cells are neoplastic or whether they represent preexisting myometrial smooth muscle cells entr...

In the retinas of many species of lower vertebrates, retinal photoreceptors and pigment epithelium pigment granules undergo daily movements in response to both diurnal, and in the case of teleost cone photoreceptors, endogenous circadian signals. Typically, these cone movements take place at dawn and at dusk when teleosts are maintained on a cyclic light (LD) regime, and at expected dawn and ex...

Endovascular papillary angioendothelioma, also known as Dabska tumor, is a rare vascular neoplasm that usually involves the skin or subcutaneous tissue of children. There have been no reported cases of this lesion occurring in bone. We report a Dabska tumor in the distal femur of a 45-year-old woman who, clinically and radiologically, was felt to have an osteoid osteoma. Histologic study of the...

The presence of the HGF/Met system in the testicular myoid cells was first discovered by our group. However, the physiological role of this pathway remains poorly understood. We previously reported that HGF increases uPA secretion and TGF-β activation in cultured tubular fragments and that HGF is maximally expressed at Stages VII-VIII of the seminiferous epithelium cycle, when myoid cell contra...

An electron microscope study of the Harderian gland of the snake, Rhabdophis tigrinus, revealed the occurrence of a myoid cell in the glandular body. The myoid cell, in oval profile, is located in the perivascular space and enveloped by a basement membrane. The plasma membrane of the cell is studded with a number of vesicular caveoli. The myoid cell cytoplasm is largely occupied by myofilaments...

FSH stimulates testicular growth by increasing Sertoli cell proliferation and elongation of seminiferous cords. Little is known about the peritubular myoid cells in testicular development. In order to investigate the role of peritubular myoid cells in early testicular growth in rodents, two traditional models to induce testicular growth were used: FSH treatment and hemicastration. In order to a...