A case of a schwannoma in the nasal columella.

Schwannoma is a slow-growing, benign tumor of the nerve sheath. It rarely presents in the nasal cavity or the paranasal sinuses. Although schwannomas in the nasal septum have been reported previously, cases of this tumor in the nasal columella are rare in the literature. Here, we report on a 67-year-old woman with a schwannoma in the nasal columella that was successfully removed using a sublabial approach, along with a review of relevant literature.

Glomangiomyoma of the trachea.

A glomus tumor is an uncommon soft tissue tumor that is most commonly found in the subungual area and a glomus originating in the trachea is extremely rare. Histologically and ultrastructurally, these tumors have been divided into three subtypes: classic glomus tumors, glomangiomas, and glomangiomyomas. Glomangiomyomas account for less than 10% of all glomus tumors and are the least common type. We report a case of a 54-year-old man with glomangiomyoma of the trachea who presented with stridor. We treated the tumor by segmental resection and primary repair via a transcervical approach.

Microarray analysis of exstrophic human bladder smooth muscle.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the genetic profiles of 'healthy' bladder smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and exstrophic SMCs (ESMCs) to identify genes that are over- and under-expressed in ESMCs, thus providing a molecular evaluation of the quality and therapeutic potential of ESMC tissue. PATIENTS, MATERIAL AND METHODS: Classical bladder exstrophy is a rare disorder, occurring in 1 in 30,000 live births. Studies have shown that exstrophic bladders are developmentally immature at birth. After surgical closure, the bladder typically undergoes abnormal remodelling (such as over-expression of collagen III) throughout early development. We hypothesized that the predominant genetic differences between normal SMCs and ESMCs are in the developmental genes. This hypothesis was tested by the use of microarray analysis. Bladder SM biopsies were taken from 'healthy' subjects undergoing bladder surgeries for other conditions (for example, urinary reflux) and patients with bladder exstrophy. Cells were expanded in vitro, and total RNA was isolated and hybridized to the Affymetrix U133A GeneChip (Affymetrix Inc., Santa Clara, CA, USA) by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Affymetrix core facility, using standard protocols. RESULTS: We created a genetic signature consisting of 961 genes that are over-expressed and 432 genes that are under-expressed in ESMCs. Analysis of these signatures identified an over-expression of inflammatory genes and an under-expression of developmental genes. CONCLUSION: Our data is in concordance with previous studies and histological data showing that ESMCs are developmentally immature relative to healthy bladder SM. The clinical implication of the ESMC genetic signature is that it provides a list of targets that can be (i) manipulated ex vivo and/or in vivo to induce differentiation (the completion of development) and (ii) used as biomarkers to explain the variability of the clinical symptoms after surgical closure.

Identification and characterization of bioactive factors in bladder submucosa matrix.

In spite of long term clinical use of decellularized bladder submucosa matrix (BSM), little is known about the active factors within this material. In this paper, we analyzed the biological factors from the decellularized BSM using ELISA, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry for the purpose of effective utilization of this material in the field of regenerative medicine. At least 10 growth factors, including VEGF, BMP4, PDGF-BB, KGF, TGFbeta1, IGF, bFGF, EGF and TGFalpha were found to be preserved in the decellularized BSM. The existence of collagen (type 1, 2, 3, 4), laminin and elastin within the matrix was also demonstrated. The soluble BSM extracts showed a conspicuous effect on cell proliferation when added as a supplement in vitro. These findings demonstrate that growth factors and extracellular matrix in the BSM maintain valuable biological activity even after the decellularization and extraction processes, thus supporting the wide applicability of BSM in tissue regeneration. The identification and characterization of growth factors and extracellular matrix in the BSM is a prerequisite for understanding tissue regeneration using this scaffold.

The role of inducible nitric oxide synthase following spinal cord injury in rat.

Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) is two-step process that first involves the primary mechanical injury and then the secondary injury is induced by various biochemical reactions. Apoptosis is one of secondary SCI mechanisms and it is thought to play an important role for the delayed neuronal injury. The enhanced formation of nitric oxide (NO) via inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of apoptosis in SCI. The level of .iNOS mRNA peaked at 6 hr after SCI and it declined until 72 hr after SCI in a rat model. Double-immunofluorescence staining revealed that iNOS positive cells were stained for ED-1, synaptophysin, GFAP, and oligodendrocyte marker. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUDP-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) positive cell count was higher for the 72 hr post-SCI group than for the 24 hr post-SCI group. This cell count was also higher going in the caudal direction than in the rostral direction from the epicenter, and especially for the 72 hr group. Treatment with a selective iNOS inhibitor resulted in the reduction of TUNEL-positive cells at the lesion site. These findings suggest that nitric oxide generated by the iNOS of macrophages, neurons, oligodentrocytes, and astrocytes plays an important role for the acute secondary SCI that results from apoptotic cell death.