With the advent of the relatively safe water-soluble contrast medium metrizamide, cervical myelography followed by metrizamide computed tomography (CT) can be performed easily. Sixteen patients with cervical disk protrusions (eight central and eight posterolateral) were studied by both procedures to evaluate the diagnostic value of each. In 75% of the posterolateral disk protrusions, myelograph...

The apical (juxtaluminal) ends of the neural epithelial cells of rat embryos were examined using light and electron microscopy during varying stages of neural tube formation. At the neural-plate stage the apical surfaces exhibit numerous microvilli. At the presomite neurula stage the microvilli are longer and more irregular. Filaments of approximately 40-60 A diameter appear in the apical cytop...

Pancreatic cancers are aggressive because they are highly invasive and highly metastatic; moreover, effective treatments for aggressive pancreatic cancers are lacking. Here, we report that the motor kinesin protein KIF20A promoted the motility and invasiveness of pancreatic cancer cells through transporting the RNA-binding protein IGF2BP3 and IGF2BP3-bound transcripts toward cell protrusions al...

The ordering of water molecules near model linear atomistic protrusions is studied using classical molecular dynamics simulations. The protrusions are made up of Lennard-Jones particles of hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks. Simulations are performed at a range of temperatures and pressures, keeping the position of the protrusions fixed. At different temperatures and pressures, the ordering and...

Starch granules in mature wheat endosperm show a bimodal size distribution. The formation of small starch granules in wheat endosperm cells was studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) after expression and targeting of fluorescent protein into amyloplasts. Both techniques demonstrated the presence of protrusions emanating from A-type granul...

Long-range intercellular communication is essential for the regulation of embryonic development. Apart from simple diffusion, various modes of signal transfer have been described in the literature. Here, we describe a novel type of cellular extensions found in epithelial cells of the somites in chicken embryos. These filopodia-like protrusions span the subectodermal space overlying the dorsal s...

The multi-scale microstructure of a lotus leaf is rendered non-wetting by micro-protrusions and nano-hairs present on its surface. The mechanical properties of the surface become important since the water droplet has to be supported on the micro-protrusions without wetting the surface. Current work correlates the non-wetting behavior of the lotus leaf with its mechanical properties (Young's mod...

Bin-Amphiphysin-Rvs (BAR) domain proteins play essential roles in diverse cellular processes by inducing membrane invaginations or membrane protrusions. Among the BAR superfamily, the `classical' BAR and Fes/CIP4 homology BAR (F-BAR) subfamilies of proteins usually promote membrane invaginations, whereas the inverse BAR (I-BAR) subfamily generally incur membrane protrusions. Despite possessing ...

Protrusions are deformations that form at the surface of living cells during biological activities such as cell migration. Using combined optical tweezers and fluorescent microscopy, we quantified the mechanical properties of protrusions in adherent human embryonic kidney cells in response to application of an external force at the cell surface. The mechanical properties of protrusions were ana...