Production of an egg yolk antibody against Parietaria judaica 2 allergen.

Specific antibodies are essential tools for studying proteins as well as for diagnostic research in biomedicine. The egg yolk of immunized chicken is an inexpensive source of high-quality polyclonal antibodies. The 12-kDa Parietaria judaica 2 allergen was expressed as a fusion protein and was used to immunize Leghorn chickens. In this paper, we show, using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting, that chicken antibodies raised against a recombinant allergen can be used to recognize similar proteins from a pollen raw extract. Allergen identity was confirmed by nanoLC-nanospray-tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Our data demonstrate for the first time that a synergistic combination of molecular biology, 2-dimensional PAGE, and use of nonmammalian antibodies represents a powerful tool for reliable identification of allergens.

Zymographic analysis of circulating and tissue forms of colon carcinoma gelatinase A (MMP-2) and B (MMP-9) separated by mono- and two-dimensional electrophoresis.

Gelatinase A (MMP-2) and gelatinase B (MMP-9) play a key role in the proteolytic cascade leading to ECM degradation during invasion and metastasis. The enzyme activity is regulated both at the intra- and extra-cellular level. Extracellular regulation is achieved mainly through the balance between proenzyme activation and inhibition, which appears to be altered in cancer patients. One of the mechanisms of MMP inhibition is the binding of the enzymes to appropriate tissue inhibitors (TIMP). In the recent literature, it has been suggested that MMP-2 and/or MMP-9 are indeed over-produced in many carcinomas, while the identity of the various enzymatic forms (latent, activated and enzyme/inhibitor complexes) remains to be elucidated. In this study we have analyzed the circulating forms of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in serum samples of patients with colon carcinoma, as well as the enzymatic activities present in tissue extracts from surgical fragments (primary tumor and its paired healthy tissue). Proteins were separated by means of mono-dimensional or bidimensional electrophoresis, and the enzymes detected by gelatin zymography and immunological assays. The results of densitometric analyses demonstrate that proMMP-9, but not proMMP-2, is significantly higher in the oncologic sera vs. the normal sera. In addition, several oligomeric circulating and tissue forms of MMP-9 are preferentially found in the oncologic samples, both in mono- and second-dimension zymograms. The activated forms of MMP-2 and MMP-9 are uniquely present in the primary tumor extracts, thus confirming the involvement of the tissue microenvironment in gelatinase activation and function.

Ofuji papuloerythroderma evolving to cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

Ofuji papuloerythroderma is an uncommon entity of unknown aetiology, characterized by a pruritic eruption of widespread, red-brown, flat papules that leads to spare skin folds. A number of cases have been described associated with tumour pathology, mainly cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. We report a new case of Ofuji papuloerythroderma evolving to cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in an 85-year-old woman who had been previously diagnosed with papuloerythroderma 7 years previously.

Carcinoma cutáneo linfoepitelial primario / Lymphoepithelioma-like Carcinoma of the Skin

El carcinoma cutáneo linfoepitelial es un tumor infrecuente de reciente descripción. Presentamos un nuevo caso localizado en el mentón de una mujer de 85 años. Destacamos la importancia del estudio histológico e inmunohistoquímico para llegar al diagnóstico definitivo, así como la necesidad de realizar pruebas de imagen y exploración otorrinolaringológica para descartar una enfermedad metastásica (AU)