Confocal analysis of primary cilia structure and colocalization with the Golgi apparatus in chondrocytes and aortic smooth muscle cells.

Detyrosinated and acetylated alpha-tubulins represent a stable pool of tubulin typically associated with microtubules of the centrosome and primary cilium of eukaryotic cells. Although primary cilium-centrosome and centrosome-Golgi relationships have been identified independently, the precise structural relationship between the primary cilium and Golgi has yet to be specifically defined. Confocal immunohistochemistry was used to localize detyrosinated (ID5) and acetylated (6-11B-1) tubulin antibodies in primary cilia of chondrocytes and smooth muscle cells, and to demonstrate their relationship to the Golgi complex identified by complementary lectin staining with wheat germ agglutinin. The results demonstrate the distribution and inherent structural variation of primary cilia tubulins, and the anatomical interrelationship between the primary cilium, the Golgi apparatus and the nucleus. We suggest that these interrelationships may form part of a functional feedback mechanism which could facilitate the directed secretion of newly synthesized connective tissue macromolecules.

Supine flexible cystoscopy.

We attempted cystoscopy with a flexible instrument and ureteral catheter insertion in 152 supine patients. Cystoscopy was successful in 147 patients (97 per cent) and ureteral catheters were inserted in 133 (91 per cent). Examinations with this instrument are tolerated better than those with rigid cystoscopes, which may improve patient compliance with followup examinations. The current drawbacks, namely a smaller field of view, lower visual acuity and, sometimes, inadequate irrigant flow rates, may be reduced or overcome with improvements in instrument design.