Several inherited human syndromes have combined platelet, auditory, and/or pigment abnormalities. In the mouse the pallid pigment mutant has abnormalities of the otoliths of the inner ear together with a bleeding abnormality caused by platelet storage pool deficiency (SPD). To determine if this association is common, two other mouse pigment mutants, muted and mocha, which are known to have inne...

Although intracellular transport is a fascinating and vital function shared by diverse cell systems, our understanding of the processes involved remains incomplete, despite the enormous amount of attention it has received over the past 40 years (46). Recent work on pigment granule transport in chromatophores (e .g ., erythrophores, melanophores, and xanthophores), however, has begun to yield ne...

Haemoproteus ( Parahaemoproteus ) cyanomitrae n. sp. (Haemosporida: Haemoproteidae) was found in the olive sunbird, Cyanomitra olivacea (Nectariniidae), in rain forests of tropical Africa. It is described based on the morphology of its blood stages and a segment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (GenBank accession FJ404696), which can be used for molecular identification and diagnosis of t...

Encystation in Azospirillum brasilense ATCC 29145 was observed by using routine laboratory staining and phase-contrast and electron microscopy. Encystment occurred in liquid and in solid or semisolid media containing fructose (8 mM) and KNO3 (0.5 mM). The encysted forms consisted of a central body filled with poly-beta-hydroxybutyric acid granules, an electron-transparent intinelike region, and...

A 3-year-old boy presented with recurrent infections. Physical examination revealed hepatosplenomegaly, bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy, silvery gray hair, and bilateral nystagmus. Giant granules in lymphocytes, monocytes, and granulocytes were seen on blood smear (Figure A). Bone marrow aspirate exhibited erythrophagocytosis and numerous giant granules of predominantly myeloid lineage (Figu...

Adult human retinal pigment epithelium has been enzymatically isolated and established In tissue culture. Primary cultures survived three to six months. Occasionally, cell lines spontaneously evolved from primary cultures. Melanin granules decreased with the age of the culture, became less pigmented but retained some characterstics of melanin-producing cells. Lipofuscin granules are present, bu...

The results are presented of fluorescein angiography of the iris in 11 patients with anterior segment pigment dispersal syndrome. These show a general hypovascularity of the iris with fine neovascularisation at the pupil margin and the peripupillary area. Hypoplasia of the iris stroma was also present in many cases. When the condition was virtually unilateral, the vascular changes were present ...

When fish pigment cells (melanophores, erythrophores) are lysed by a modified Kleinschmidt method on a buffer-air interface and examined by electron microscopy, large numbers of intermediate filaments are observed. The intermediate filament networks are distinct from actin and tubulin, and entrap the pigment as determined by stereo viewing of freeze-dried rotary-shadowed specimens. During lysis...

PURPOSE To record the distribution and spectrum of human retinal pigment epithelial cell lipofuscin (LF) by two-photon-excited fluorescence (TPEF) and confocal laser scanning microscopy. METHODS Ex vivo TPEF imaging of the human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of human donor eyes was conducted with a multiphoton laser scanning microscope that employs a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser as an exc...

Lysosomes are membrane-bound cytoplasmic organelles involved in intracellular protein degradation. They contain an assortment of soluble acid-dependent hydrolases and a set of highly glycosylated integral membrane proteins. Most of the properties of lysosomes are shared with a group of cell type-specific compartments referred to as 'lysosome-related organelles', which include melanosomes, lytic...