Cell cycle variants during Drosophila male accessory gland development.

The Drosophila melanogaster male accessory gland (AG) is a functional analog of the mammalian prostate and seminal vesicles containing two secretory epithelial cell types, termed main and secondary cells. This tissue is responsible for making and secreting seminal fluid proteins and other molecules that contribute to successful reproduction. The cells of this tissue are binucleate and polyploid, due to variant cell cycles that include endomitosis and endocycling during metamorphosis. Here, we provide evidence of additional cell cycle variants in this tissue. We show that main cells of the gland are connected by ring canals that form after the penultimate mitosis, and we describe an additional post-eclosion endocycle required for gland maturation that is dependent on juvenile hormone signaling. We present evidence that the main cells of the D. melanogaster AG undergo a unique cell cycle reprogramming throughout organ development that results in step-wise cell cycle truncations culminating in cells containing two octoploid nuclei with under-replicated heterochromatin in the mature gland. We propose this tissue as a model to study developmental and hormonal temporal control of cell cycle variants in terminally differentiating tissues.

Preoperative Embolization Facilitates Segmental Resection of Pulmonary Sequestration in an Infant.

The most common congenital lung malformations are congenital pulmonary airway malformations and pulmonary sequestrations. Many surgeons advocate resection to prevent complications of infection, malignancy, and pneumothorax. The standard of care is lobectomy, but segmentectomy and embolization alone have been reported. These methods avoid the complications of lobectomy but are not widely practiced due to concerns about incomplete resection or involution of the lesion. We present a novel approach to the treatment of a pulmonary sequestration in a 7-month-old male using preoperative embolization followed by a sublobar pulmonary resection. The embolization clearly demarcated the affected lung intraoperatively, thereby facilitating complete removal of the lesion with a segmental lung resection rather than complete lobectomy.