Punch biopsies of human skin were obtained 1 day after irradiation with two minimal-erythema doses (MED) from either a UVB light source or a Solar Simulator and incubated in organ culture for 72 h. Organ culture fluids obtained at 24, 48 and 72 h were analyzed for collagenolytic activity and for reactivity with antibodies to matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1; interstitial collagenase) and MMP-1...

Background: This study was set up to evaluate the effect of ovarian tissue slow freezing on in vitro growth and pattern of maturation genes expression in mouse preantral follicles encapsulated within alginate hydrogel. Materials and Methods: Ovaries of 12-14 days old female NMRI mice were randomly allocated into control and slow freezing groups. In slow freezing group, ovaries were equilibrated...

Ovarian carcinomas are thought to arise in the ovarian surface epithelium (OSE). Although this tissue forms a simple epithelial covering on the ovarian surface, OSE cells exhibit some mesenchymal characteristics and contain little or no E-cadherin. However, E-cadherin is present in metaplastic OSE cells that resemble the more complex epithelia of the oviduct, endometrium and endocervix, and in ...

An early full-term pregnancy significantly reduces the risk of getting breast cancer in women. In animals, this protection can be mimicked by a short-term exposure to physiologic doses of estrogen plus progesterone. Sensitization of p53 and up-regulation of transforming growth factor beta are believed to be important aspects of the mechanism by which protection is imparted. Little is known, how...

In vitro growth of follicles is a promising technology to generate large quantities of competent oocytes from immature follicles and could expand the potential of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Isolated follicle culture is currently the primary method used to develop and mature follicles in vitro. However, this procedure typically requires complicated, time-consuming procedures, as w...

UNLABELLED Peritoneal disseminated cancer is highly treatment resistant. We here report the efficacy of intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R in a nude mouse model of disseminated human ovarian cancer. The mouse model was established by intraperitoneal injection of the human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3-GFP. Seven days after implantation, mice we...

The 42K method of Sapirstein has been modified to estimate the effect of gonadotropins on ovarian fractional blood flow. Microgram doses of luteinizing hormone (LH) cause a rapid increase in the proportion of the cardiac output delivered to the ovaries; the maximum increase obtainable, about 75 %, is present about 20 min after the injection of the hormone. An effect similar to that of LH is pro...

In the postgenomic era, it is now possible to investigate the function of all human genes to provide an integrated view of physiology and pathophysiology. An organ-based approach has been used to set up a database integrating existing text-based literature on individual ovarian genes and their sequence-based data in the GenBank. The Ovarian Kaleidoscope database (OKdb) has accumulated nearly on...

Tumor cells often appear in a deviant differentiated stage, and dedifferentiation is a hallmark of malignancy; however, the causative mechanism of the global changes in dedifferentiation is not understood. The GATA transcription factors function in cell lineage specification during embryonic development and organ formation. The transcriptional targets of the GATA factors in early embryonic deve...

Background: With all the recent advances in cancer treatments, many young cancer patients find themselves facing the prospect of losing their fertility after aggressive chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Cryopreservation of ovarian cortical tissue has emerged as a potential option to restore fertility in these young women. Materials and Methods: Because autotransplantation of cryopreserved ovarian c...