So-called sclerosing hemangioma of the lung is a rare benign neoplasm which usually presents with a coin lesion detected through routine chest X-ray. We report two cases showing characteristic cytologic appearances which have been rarely reported. Both cases were young females with coin lesions in the lung. Fine needle aspiration of each case revealed unique but some different cytologic features. Case 1 showed bland-looking polygonal epithelial cells resembling bronchioloalveolar cells having pre- dominantly papillary configurations with loosely arranged solid sheets or isolated cells. Cytoplasms were plump, cyanophilic, and finely granular, with eccentric nuclei, The nuclei were usually monotonous, round-to-ovoid, and vesicular with a small but conspicuous nucleolus. In comparison to case 1, case 2 revealed largely loose pavement-like solid sheets or clusters rather than papillary patterns in the hemorrhagic background. The size of tumor cells were a little smaller than that of case 1. Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma and papillary adenocarcinoma of metastatic origin were considered to be one of the important differential diagnoses with these cytologic features. Histologically, both cases exhibited findings compatible with so-called sclerosing hemangioma of the lung.
Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar ; Adenocarcinoma, Papillary ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Cytoplasm ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Epithelial Cells ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney* ; Lung ; Numismatics ; Pulmonary Sclerosing Hemangioma ; Renal Insufficiency* ; Thorax

Endodermal sinus tumor of the mediastinum is a very rare malignant tumor, usually affecting young adolescents, and its histologic findings are characteristic as that of gonadal germ cell origin. We describe the cytologic finding of fine needle aspiration of mediastinal endodermal sinus tumor in a 19-year-old male patient, comparing with tissue section. The tumor cells in smears were usually in tight clusters with large overlapping cells, which were arranged in a papillary or microacinar pattern, suggesting carcinoma. The tumor cells were large, round or oval with a small amount of cytoplasm which was occasionally vacuolated and had indistinct border. The nuclei were large, pleomorphic, and vesicular with large promi- nent nucleoli. The tissue sections showed typical findings of endodermal sinus tumor. Careful correlation of cytological findings and the serum alpha-fetoprotein level would be helpful to confirm the diagnosis.
Adolescent ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Biopsy, Needle ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Child* ; Clonorchiasis ; Cytoplasm ; Diagnosis ; Dietary Proteins* ; Endodermal Sinus Tumor ; Female ; Germ Cells ; Giant Cells ; Gonads ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Male ; Mediastinum ; Middle Aged ; Thyroid Gland ; Urinary Tract Infections* ; Urinary Tract* ; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux* ; Young Adult

A case of invasive cribriform carcinoma of the breast is presented with fine need- le aspiration cytologic features. The aspiration was performed from a papable 2.0cm mass in the upper outer quadrant of the right breast in a 53 year-old woman. The aspirate showed cellular smear composed of larger three dimensional tight clusters, smaller monolayered loose clusters, and many individual cells on the clean background. In the clusters, the tumor cells were bordering central lumina, quite similar to the cribriform in histology. The tumor cells in the clusters and individual tumor cells had uniform, small and round nuclei. The chromatin was finely granular, and nuclear membrane was smooth. No discernible nucleoli were present (nuclear grade 1-2). Unless the abundance of individual cells and the cribriform growth pattern are recognized in the smear, the cytologic diagnosis of invasive cribriform carcinoma is difficult.
Female ; Humans ; Biopsy

The cyclic AMP (cAMP) pathway plays a major role in growth, sexual differentiation, and virulence factor synthesis of pathogenic fungi. In Cryptococcus neoformans, perturbation of the cAMP pathway, such as a deletion in the gene encoding adenylyl cyclase (CAC1), causes defects in the production of virulence factors, including capsule and melanin production, as well as mating. Previously, we performed a comparative transcriptome analysis of the Ras- and cAMP- pathway mutants, which revealed 163 potential cAMP-regulated genes (38 genes at a 2-fold cutoff). The present study characterized the role of one of the cAMP pathway-dependent genes (serotype A identification number CNAG_ 06576.2). The expression patterns were confirmed by Northern blot analysis and the gene was designated cAMP-regulated gene 1 (CAR1). Interestingly, deletion of CAR1 did not affect biosynthesis of any virulence factors and the mating process, unlike the cAMP-signaling deficient cac1Delta mutant. Furthermore, the cac1Delta mutant exhibited wild-type levels of the stress-response phenotype against diverse environmental cues, indicating that Car1, albeit regulated by the cAMP-pathway, is not essential to confer a cAMP-dependent phenotype in C. neoformans.
Adenylyl Cyclases ; Blotting, Northern ; Cryptococcus ; Cryptococcus neoformans ; Cues ; Cyclic AMP ; Fungi ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Melanins ; Phenotype ; Sex Differentiation ; Virulence Factors

Msi1-like (MSIL) proteins, which are eukaryote-specific and contain a series of WD40 repeats, have pleiotropic roles in chromatin assembly, DNA damage repair, and regulation of nutrient/stress-sensing signaling pathways. In the fungal kingdom, the functions of MSIL proteins have been studied most intensively in the budding yeast model Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an ascomycete. Yet their functions are largely unknown in other fungi. Recently, an MSIL protein, Msl1, was discovered and functionally characterized in the pathogenic yeast Cryptococcus neoformans, a basidiomycete. Interestingly, MSIL proteins appear to have redundant and unique roles in both fungi, suggesting that MSIL proteins may have evolutionarily divergent roles in different parts of the fungal kingdom. In this review, we will describe the current findings regarding the role of MSIL proteins in fungi and discuss future directions for research on this topic.
Ascomycota ; Basidiomycota ; Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly ; Cryptococcus neoformans ; DNA Damage ; Fungi ; Histones ; Proteins ; Retinoblastoma ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; Saccharomycetales ; Yeasts

Hypoglycemia is caused by poor oral intake, excessive exercise, alcohol abuse and inaccurate use of a hypoglycemic agent or insulin in patients that have history of diabetes mellitus (DM), especially in the elderly. Severe hypoglycemia has a variety of different symptoms or signs from focal neurologic deficits to severe coma, or death. It can be difficult to differentiate hypoglycemia-induced symptoms or signs, and stroke or cardiovascular disease in acute setting. Transient hypoglycemic hemiparesis is an infrequent case in the emergency department (ED), which is frequently misdiagnosed for stroke. When patients with decreased mental status or hemiparesis are admitted to the ED, a routine blood sugar test is essential. Hypoglycemic hemiparesis if unrecognized can result in permanent neurological damage. Therefore, it is important to detect hypoglycemia early and treat it appropriately.
Aged ; Alcoholism ; Blood Glucose ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Coma ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Hypoglycemia ; Insulin ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Paresis ; Stroke

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differential expression of junctional proteins in the normal and preeclamptic human placenta and the effect of ginsenoside Rk1 in junctional proteins. METHODS: Placental tissues from 10 women with severe preeclampsia and 5 normal women were collected at the time of their cesarean section. Five of 10 preeclamptic women were complicated with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting was employed to localize junctional proteins (zo-1, occludin and plakoglobin) positive cells. The placental explant culture was performed to investigate if Rk1 can attenuate the expression of junctional proteins (zo-1, occluding and plakoglobin) induced by deferoxamine-induced hypoxia. Rk1 was treated at the day 3 and Western blot analysis was performed for protein quantification. RESULTS: There was no different expression of zo-1 and plakoglobin among all the study groups. Occludin showed negative at the endothelial cells of the terminal villi in both normal and preeclampsia groups. At the endothelial cells of the stem villi, occludin was detected in both normal and severe preeclamptic placenta with normal fetal growth. However, severe preeclampsia with IUGR were decreased expression of occludin at the endothelial cells of the stem villi. When we administered Rk1 to the placenta treated with DFO, expression of occludin was not different. CONCLUSION: The placental expression of zo-1 and plakoglobin were not different among the study groups, while that of occludin was significantly decreased at the endothelium of stem villi in severe preeclampsia with IUGR. Rk-1 showed no effect on the placental junctional proteins. These results suggest that occludin may play a role in pathophysiology of fetal growth restriction in utero.
Anoxia ; Blotting, Western ; Cesarean Section ; Endothelial Cells ; Endothelium ; Female ; Fetal Development ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; gamma Catenin ; Ginsenosides ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Occludin ; Placenta ; Pre-Eclampsia ; Pregnancy ; Proteins

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There is an ongoing debate on the relationship between gastric fundic gland polyps and increased incidence of colorectal neoplasia in Caucasians. However, there was no report on the relationship between gastric fundic gland polyp and colorectal neoplasia in Korea. The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of gastric fundic gland polyps and whether a relationship exists between fundic gland polyps and colorectal neoplasia in Korean population. METHODS: Persons who underwent an esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy from 1992 to 2007 at the Health Promotion Center of Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea were reviewed retrospectively. The relationship between gastric fundic gland polyps and colorectal neoplasia were analyzed. RESULTS: Among 22,451 subjects, fundic gland polyps were found in 328 subjects (1.5%). Fundic gland polyps were more common in women than in men (odds ratio of 6.25; 95% CI of 4.68-8.34). The odds ratios for colorectal neoplasia in all subjects with gastric fundic gland polyps were 0.56 (95% CI of 0.33-0.95) and men who were 50 years of age or older had an odds ratio of 2.81 (95% CI of 1.03-7.66) as compared to the control group. However, age and sex-adjusted odds ratios for all gastric fundic gland polyps were 0.73 (95% CI of 0.42-1.26), for men 1.78 (95% CI of 0.80-3.98), and for women 0.37 (95% CI of 0.16-0.87). CONCLUSIONS: Surveillance colonoscopy in patients with fundic gland polyps can be performed in the same manner as general population in Korea.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Colorectal Neoplasms/*epidemiology/pathology ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Female ; Gastric Fundus/pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Polyps/*epidemiology/pathology ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Factors

Protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) nuclear targeting subunit (PNUTS), also called PP1R10, p99, or CAT 53 was originally isolated as a mammalian nuclear PP1-binding protein. In this study, we performed yeast two-hybrid screens to identify PNUTS-interacting proteins. Here, we report that LCP1 (epidermal Langerhans cell protein 1), a novel member of the HMG-box protein family, binds tightly to PNUTS. Co-immunoprecipitation of deletion constructs revealed that the C-terminus of LCP1 is sufficient for the interaction with an N-terminal region of PNUTS that is distinct from its PP1-binding domain. Furthermore, immunofluorescence studies showed that a subpopulation of LCP1 co-localizes with PNUTS in nuclear speckles. Importantly, we found that the N-terminus of LCP1 has a strong trans-activation activity in a GAL4-based heterologous transcription assay. The transcriptional activity of LCP1 is markedly suppressed by its interaction with PNUTS, in a PP1-independent manner. These findings suggest that the coordinated spatial and temporal regulation of LCP1 and PNUTS may be a novel mechanism to control the expression of genes that are critical for certain physiological and pathological processes.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Cell Line ; Cell Nucleus/*metabolism ; DNA-Binding Proteins/*metabolism ; HMGB Proteins/*metabolism ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Nuclear Proteins/*metabolism ; Protein Binding ; Protein Interaction Mapping ; RNA-Binding Proteins/*metabolism ; Transcriptional Activation ; Two-Hybrid System Techniques

PURPOSE: To evaluate the relationship between F-18 FDG uptake of tumor in PET/CT scan and pathological or immunohistochemial parameters of colorectal cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 147 colorectal cancer patients who underwent both pre-operative F-18 FDG PET/CT scan and surgery were included. In cases with perceptible FDG uptake in primary tumor, the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was calculated. The pathologic results such as site, size, depth of invasion (T stage), growth pattern, differentiation of primary tumor, lymph node metastasis and Dukes-Astler & Coller stage and immunohistochemical markers such as expression of EGFR, MLH1, MSH2 and Ki-67 index were reviewed. RESULTS: 146 out of 147 PET/CT scans with colorectal cancer showed perceptible focal FDG uptake. SUVmax showed mild positive linear correlation with size of primary tumor (r=0.277, p=0.001) and Ki-67 index (r=0.226, p=0.019). No significant difference in F-18 FDG uptake was found according to site, depth of invasion (T stage), growth pattern, differentiation of primary tumor, presence of lymph node metastasis, Dukes-Astler & Coller stage and expression of EGFR. CONCLUSION: The degree of F-18 FDG uptake in colorectal cancer was associated with the size and the degree of Ki-67 index of primary tumor. It could be thought that FDG uptake of primary tumor has a correlation with macroscopic and microscopic tumor growth.
Colorectal Neoplasms ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis