Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Validity Of Frozen Section In The Diagnosis Of Breast Lumps: 5 Years Experience At The Aga Khan University Hospital., Naila Kayani, Nuzhat Sultana

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Abstract

Objective: To determine the accuracy of frozen section in the diagnosis of breast lump. Methods: Frozen section diagnosis given in consecutive breast biopsies performed in 5 years in our laboratory was evaluated against the final pathology report of permanent sections. Results: The Aga Khan University Hospital Lab receives more than 400 cases per year for frozen section. Three hundred and nineteen consecutive frozen sections of breast lumps examined from 1999-2003 were considered for analysis. Age of patients ranged between 22 and 90 years (mean age 49 years). In 316 cases (99%) there was no difference between the frozen section …

Rhamnolipids Modulate Swarming Motility Patterns Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Nicky C. Caiazza, Robert M. Q. Shanks, G. A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is capable of twitching, swimming, and swarming motility. The latter form of translocation occurs on semisolid surfaces, requires functional flagella and biosurfactant production, and results in complex motility patterns. From the point of inoculation, bacteria migrate as defined groups, referred to as tendrils, moving in a coordinated manner capable of sensing and responding to other groups of cells. We were able to show that P. aeruginosa produces extracellular factors capable of modulating tendril movement, and genetic analysis revealed that modulation of these movements was dependent on rhamnolipid biosynthesis. An rhlB mutant (deficient in mono- and dirhamnolipid production) and …

Metanephric Adenoma: A Rare Benign Renal Tumour, Nausheen Yaqoob, Jai Pal Paryani, Naila Kayani, Mohammad Zafar Rafique, Raziuddin Biyabani

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Metanephric adenoma is a rare benign renal tumour. We are reporting one histologically proven such case in a 23 year old male from Afghanistan. He presented with severe right flank pain since 3 weeks. Nephrectomy was done and histopathology was consistent with the diagnosis of metanephric adenoma. This novel renal mass has been reported to have benign clinical course despite its symptomatic presentation and large tumour size. There is no distinguishing radiological feature with can differentiate it from malignant tumours. So far, a uniformly benign clinical course has been associated with Metanephric adenoma, but given its relatively recent identification and …

Heterotopic Glial Tissue In Tonsil: A Case Report, Nausheen Yaqoob, Zubair Ahmed, Akhtar Husain

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

We describe a six month old boy with a mass in the left tonsil. It was present since birth and was enlarging progressively. It was completely excised. Histopathology showed a choristoma of neural origin composed of glial cells--astrocytes in a fibrillary background, and a choroid plexus. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the findings.

16s Rrna Gene Sequence And Phylogenetic Tree Of Lactobacillus Species From The Vagina Of Healthy Nigerian Women, Kingsley Anukam, Emmanuel Osazuwa, Ijeoma Ahonkhai, Gregor Reid

Kingsley C Anukam

Lactobacilli are ubiquitous in nature and in humans they play a very significant role in the general health maintenance of the host. Identification of Lactobacilli has previously been based on cultutre-dependent methods and recently molecular techniques involving gene sequencing are now the ‘gold standard’. Scarce information exists in Africa on the real identity of Lactobacillus species, albeit phylogenetic distances among the species present in the human vagina. 185 vaginal swabs were collected from healthy premenopausal women (18-48 years). Bacterial DNA was extracted, amplified using PCR, with group specific Lactobacillus primers, and processed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). DGGE bands …

Lymphoepithelioma-Like Carcinoma Of Urinary Bladder: (Lelca), Nausheen Yaqoob, Naila Kayani, Jaipal Piryani, Mohammad Nasir Sulaiman, Sheema H. Hasan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the bladder (LELCA) is an uncommon neoplasm of the urinary bladder and up till now only 49 cases have been reported in the English literature. It is imperative to distinguish between lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma and malignant lymphoma as primary bladder lymphoma is extremely rare. We report a case of a 55 year old lady who presented with the complaint of burning micturition and gross hematuria for the past 5 months. There were no other known comorbids. Pelvic ultrasound was normal. Cystoscopy showed a 4x4 cm sessile mass in the bladder. Histopathological examination was consistent with the diagnosis of …

Sara Positively Controls Bap-Dependent Biofilm Formation In Staphylococcus Aureus, María P. Trotonda, Adhar C. Manna, Ambrose L. Cheung, Iñigo Lasa, José R. Penadés

Dartmouth Scholarship

The biofilm-associated protein Bap is a staphylococcal surface protein involved in biofilm formation. We investigated the influence of the global regulatory locus sarA on bap expression and Bap-dependent biofilm formation in three unrelated Staphylococcus aureus strains. The results showed that Bap-dependent biofilm formation was diminished in the sarA mutants by an agr-independent mechanism. Complementation studies using a sarA clone confirmed that the defect in biofilm formation was due to the sarA mutation. As expected, the diminished capacity to form biofilms in the sarA mutants correlated with the decreased presence of Bap in the bacterial surface. Using transcriptional fusion and …

Mannose Binding Lectin Genotypes Influence Recovery From Hepatitis B Virus Infection, Chloe L. Thio, Timothy L. Mosbruger, Jacquie Astemborski, Spencer Greer, Gregory D. Kirk, Stephen J. O'Brien, David L. Thomas

Biology Faculty Articles

Mannose binding lectin (MBL) is a central component of the innate immune response and thus may be important for determining hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistence. Since single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene encoding MBL (mbl2) alter the level of functional MBL, we hypothesized that mbl2 genotypes are a determinant of HBV persistence or recovery from viral infection. We tested this hypothesis by using a nested case control design with 189 persons with HBV persistence matched to 338 individuals who had naturally recovered from HBV infection. We determined genotypes of two promoter and three exon 1 SNPs in mbl2 …

To Compare The Total Cholesterol And Hdl-Cholesterol Before And After Ultra-Centrifugation In Lipemic Samples, Jawaid Jabbar, Imran Siddiqui, Syed Qaiser Raza, Ayaz Baig

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: It is an everyday routine in laboratories to encounter interference in the analysis of lipids. These likely interferences (hemolysis, icterus and lipemia) are countered by asking physicians and patients to send fresh and properly collected samples. At the Aga Khan University (AKU) Laboratory, we receive 2-3 lipemic/turbid samples per day. Previously it was our departmental policy to advise these patients to go for lipoprotein electrophoresis, which though accurate was time consuming and not cost effective. We therefore studied ultra centrifugation/airfuge as an alternate method to clear lipid interference and provide accurate, reliable and cost effective results.
Methods: Daily 2-3 …

Requirements For Vibrio Cholerae Hapr Binding And Transcriptional Repression At The Hapr Promoter Are Distinct From Those At The Apha Promoter, Wei Lin, Gabriela Kovacikova, Karen Skorupski

Dartmouth Scholarship

Virulence gene expression in certain strains of Vibrio cholerae is regulated in response to cell density by a quorum-sensing cascade that influences the levels of the LuxR homolog HapR through small regulatory RNAs that control the stability of its message. At high cell density, HapR represses the expression of the gene encoding the virulence gene activator AphA by binding to a site between −85 and −58 in the aphA promoter. We show here that a second binding site for HapR lies within the hapR promoter from which it functions to repress its own transcription. This site, as determined by gel …

Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (Dcis) In Karachi, Naila Kayani, Yasmin Bhurgri

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective:
To study the frequency of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in a large pathology series. DCIS is a proliferation of non-invasive, malignant epithelial cells within the ductolobular system of the breast. It is a heterogeneous entity with several morphologic variants that differ in gross appearance, growth pattern, cytologic features, mammography, and malignant potential.
Methods:
The data of The Aga Khan University' Pathology Department, diagnosed on the basis of histopathology, during a 6-year period (1st January 1998 to 31st December 2003) was reviewed, all cases of DCIS studied, and data was analyzed with the help of analytical software SPSS.
Results: …

Trefoil Factor 2 (Tff2) Deficiency In Murine Digestive Tract Influences The Immune System, M. Baus- Loncar, J. Schmid, El-Nasir Lalani, I. Rosewell, R. A. Goodlad, H. G.W. Stamp, N. Blin, T. Kayademir

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background & Aims:

The gastrointestinal trefoil factor family (TFF1, TFF2, TFF3) peptides are considered to play an important role in maintaining the integrity of the mucosa. The physiological role of TFF2 in the protection of the GI tract was investigated in TFF2 deficiency.

Methods:

TFF2-/- mice were generated and differential expression of various genes was assessed by using a mouse expression microarray, quantitative real time PCR, Northern blots or immunohistochemistry.

Results:

On an mRNA level we found 128 differentially expressed genes. We observed modulation of a number of crucial genes involved in innate and adaptive immunity in the TFF2-/- mice. …

Insertional Polymorphisms Of Endogenous Feline Leukemia Viruses, Alfred L. Roca, William G. Nash, Joan C. Menninger, William J. Murphy, Stephen J. O'Brien

Biology Faculty Articles

The number, chromosomal distribution, and insertional polymorphisms of endogenous feline leukemia viruses (enFeLVs) were determined in four domestic cats (Burmese, Egyptian Mau, Persian, and nonbreed) using fluorescent in situ hybridization and radiation hybrid mapping. Twenty-nine distinct enFeLV loci were detected across 12 of the 18 autosomes. Each cat carried enFeLV at only 9 to 16 of the loci, and many loci were heterozygous for presence of the provirus. Thus, an average of 19 autosomal copies of enFeLV were present per cat diploid genome. Only five of the autosomal enFeLV sites were present in all four cats, and at only one …

Sara Is An Essential Positive Regulator Of Staphylococcus Epidermidis Biofilm Development, Maria A. Tormo, Miguel Marti, Jaione Valle, Adhar C. Manna

Dartmouth Scholarship

Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm formation is associated with the production of the polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA)--poly-N-acetylglucosamine polysaccharide (PNAG) by the products of the icaADBC operon. Recent evidence indicates that SarA, a central regulatory element that controls the production of Staphylococcus aureus virulence factors, is essential for the synthesis of PIA/PNAG and the ensuing biofilm development in this species. Based on the presence of a sarA homolog, we hypothesized that SarA could also be involved in the regulation of the biofilm formation process in S. epidermidis. To investigate this, we constructed nonpolar sarA deletions in two genetically unrelated S. epidermidis clinical strains, …

Identification Of A Tcpc-Tcpq Outer Membrane Complex Involved In The Biogenesis Of The Toxin-Coregulated Pilus Of Vibrio Cholerae, Niranjan Bose, Ronald K. Taylor

Dartmouth Scholarship

The toxin-coregulated pilus (TCP) of Vibrio cholerae and the soluble TcpF protein that is secreted via the TCP biogenesis apparatus are essential for intestinal colonization. The TCP biogenesis apparatus is composed of at least nine proteins but is largely uncharacterized. TcpC is an outer membrane lipoprotein required for TCP biogenesis that is a member of the secretin protein superfamily. In the present study, analysis of TcpC in a series of strains deficient in each of the TCP biogenesis proteins revealed that TcpC was absent specifically in a tcpQ mutant. TcpQ is a predicted periplasmic protein required for TCP biogenesis. Fractionation …

Mechanisms Of Cell Death Initiated In Herpes Simplex Virus Thymidine Kinase Expressing Colon Tumor Cells Treated With Ganciclovir And Ucn-01, Christina Elizabeth Ahn

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Metastatic colon carcinoma is the second leading cause of death from malignancy in the United States, and development of more effective treatments is essential. Heterologous expression of Herpes Simplex Virus Thymidine Kinase (HSVtk) in combination with the prodrug, ganciclovir (GCV), has shown great promise for the genetic therapy of many cancers, but most patients have had only a partial or minimal response to the therapy. After screening a panel of two drug combinations, our laboratory has shown that the combination of GCV and the protein kinase inhibitor UCN-01 (7-hydroxystaurosporine) enhances tumor cell death more effectively than either drug alone. However …

Two Forms Of The Large Tumor Suppressor Gene (Lats1) Protein Expressed In The Vertebrate Retina, Novrouz B. Akhmedov, Clyde K. Yamashita, Dai Tran, Natik I. Piri, Gustavo D. Aguirre, Debora B. Farber

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Psychomotor Skills For The Undergraduate Medical Curriculum In A Developing Country--Pakistan, Rashida Ahmed, Zoon Naqvi, Ineke Wolfhagen

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: To identify essential psychomotor skills for all the medical graduates of an undergraduate programme in Pakistan.
Materials and Methods: Twenty-five physicians practising in a tertiary care centre and ninety primary care physicians used a Likert's scale, ranging from "very essential" to"not required at all", to mark 99 psychomotor skills in the undergraduate medical curriculum in Pakistan.
Results: Overall the opinions of both the groups about the essential skills matched except for a few areas.
Conclusion: This study provides baseline data about psychomotor skills that a medical graduate in developing countries should be able to perform. Further studies will be …

What Communities Should Do Pre-Event To Support Public Health Post-Event Assessments, Surveillance And Monitoring, Thomas Lyons Carr Iii

Thomas Lyons (Thom) Carr III Appl.Sc., CEM

[Abstract written March 2008, TLC] Under worst-case planning assumptions used by some major metropolitan areas, a Neighbor-to-Neighbor self-help program model is the primary link between citizens and the professional response personnel of the responsible government agencies.

In the Neighbor-to-Neighbor self-help program model or a Community Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) calls on the citizens in neighborhoods to identify and establish cluster emergency preparedness committees, Cluster Emergency Coordination Centers (CECC) and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). Missing from these plans or what is not articulated is how constant Public Health Post-Event Surveillance, Monitoring and Assessments will be done. Given the worst-case planning …

A Three-Component Regulatory System Regulates Biofilm Maturation And Type Iii Secretion In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Sherry L. Kuchma, John P. Connolly, George A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Biofilms are structured communities found associated with a wide range of surfaces. Here we report the identification of a three-component regulatory system required for biofilm maturation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PA14. A transposon mutation that altered biofilm formation in a 96-well dish assay originally defined this locus, which is comprised of genes for a putative sensor histidine kinase and two response regulators and has been designated sadARS. Nonpolar mutations in any of the sadARS genes result in biofilms with an altered mature structure but do not confer defects in growth or early biofilm formation, swimming, or twitching motility. After …

Ovarian Primary Neuroendocrine Carcinoma Of Non-Small Cell Type: Report Of An Extremely Rare Neoplasm, Zubair Ahmed, Kanwal Aftab, Naila Kayani

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Paraffin block sections of a uterus and ovarian mass from a 31 year old female were sent for second opinion to the Pathology Laboratory of Aga Khan University. Histologic examination and immunohistochemical features gave a diagnosis of primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of non-small cell type admixed with benign mucinous cystadenoma. This is a rare tumour with only eight being reported in literature.

Lack Of Antigen-Specific Tissue Remodeling In Mice Deficient In The Macrophage Galactose-Type Calcium-Type Lectin 1/Cd301a., Thandi M. Onami, K. Sato, Y. Imai, N. Higashi, Y. Kumamoto, S. M. Hedrick, T. Irimura

Microbiology Publications and Other Works

Macrophage galactose-type C-type lectins (MGLs), which were recently named CD301, have 2 homologues in mice: MGL1 and MGL2. MGLs are expressed on macrophages and immature dendritic cells. The persistent presence of granulation tissue induced by a protein antigen was observed in wild-type mice but not in mice lacking an endogenous, macrophage-specific, galactose-type calcium-type lectin 1 (MGL1) in an air pouch model. The anti-MGL1 antibody suppressed the granulation tissue formation in wild-type mice. A large number of cells, present only in the pouch of MGL1-deficient mice, were not myeloid or lymphoid lineage cells and the number significantly declined after administration of …

Lack Of Antigen-Specific Tissue Remodeling In Mice Deficient In The Macrophage Galactose-Type Calcium-Type Lectin 1/Cd301a., Thandi M. Onami, K. Sato, Y. Imai, N. Higashi, Y. Kumamoto, S. M. Hedrick, T. Irimura

Thandi M. Onami

Macrophage galactose-type C-type lectins (MGLs), which were recently named CD301, have 2 homologues in mice: MGL1 and MGL2. MGLs are expressed on macrophages and immature dendritic cells. The persistent presence of granulation tissue induced by a protein antigen was observed in wild-type mice but not in mice lacking an endogenous, macrophage-specific, galactose-type calcium-type lectin 1 (MGL1) in an air pouch model. The anti-MGL1 antibody suppressed the granulation tissue formation in wild-type mice. A large number of cells, present only in the pouch of MGL1-deficient mice, were not myeloid or lymphoid lineage cells and the number significantly declined after administration of …

Expression Of Hepatitis C Viral Non-Structural 3 Antigen In Transgenic Chloroplasts, Anubhuti Bhati

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hepatitis C viral infection is the major cause of acute hepatitis and chronic liver disease and remains the leading cause of liver transplants (NIH). An estimated 180 million people are infected globally (WHO). There is no vaccine available to prevent hepatitis C. The treatment with antiviral drugs is expensive, accompanied with various side effects and is limited only to those at risk of developing advanced liver disease. The treatment is also effective in only about 30% to 50% of treated patients and still a high percentage of patients are resistant to therapy. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the …

Expression Of Cholera Toxin B Subunit-Rotavirus Nsp4 Enterotoxin Fusion Protein In Transgenic Chloroplasts, Anila Kalluri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rotavirus, the major cause of life-threatening infantile gastroenteritis, is a member of the Reoviridae family and is considered to be the single most important cause of virus-based severe diarrheal illness in infants and young children particularly 6 months to 2 years of age in industrialized and developing countries. Infection in infants and young children is often accompanied by severe life threatening diarrhea, most commonly following primary infection. Diarrhea is the major cause of death among children around the world. Responsible for 4 to 6 million deaths per year according to the World Health Organization (WHO), diarrhea is especially dangerous for …

Replication And Encapsidation Of Papillomaviruses In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Peter C. Angeletti

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Improvements in methodologies to recapitulate and study particular biological functions of the

papillomavirus life cycle have led to great advances in our knowledge of these viruses. Described in

this chapter are techniques that allow low-copy and high-copy replication of full-length human

papillomavirus (HPV) genomes, as well as assembly of virus-like particles, in Saccharomyces

cerevisiae (yeast). This system has several distinct advantages that make it an attractive complement

to the well-established raft-culturing system. First, yeast are inexpensive, rapid, and simple to culture

in the lab. Second, they provide an ever-widening array of genetic tools to analyze HPV functions

—most recently notable, …

Antigenicity And Immunogenicity Of A Synthetic Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Group M Consensus Envelope Glycoprotein, Feng Gao, Eric A. Weaver, Zhongjing Lu, Yingying Li, Hua-Xin Liao, Benjiang Ma, S. Munir Alam, Richard M. Scearce, Laura L. Sutherland, Jae-Sung Yu, Julie M. Decker, George M. Shaw, David C. Montefiori, Bette T. Korber, Beatrice H. Hahn, Barton F. Haynes

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Genetic variation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) represents a major obstacle for AIDS vaccine development. To decrease the genetic distances between candidate immunogens and field virus strains, we have designed and synthesized an artificial group M consensus env gene (CON6 gene) to be equidistant from contemporary HIV-1 subtypes and recombinants. This novel envelope gene expresses a glycoprotein that binds soluble CD4, utilizes CCR5 but not CXCR4 as a coreceptor, and mediates HIV-1 entry. Key linear, conformational, and glycan-dependent monoclonal antibody epitopes are preserved in CON6, and the glycoprotein is recognized equally well by sera from individuals infected with different HIV-1 …

Antigenicity And Immunogenicity Of A Synthetic Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Group M Consensus Envelope Glycoprotein, Feng Gao, Eric A. Weaver, Zhongjing Lu, Yingying Li, Hua-Xin Liao, Benjiang Ma, S. Munir Alam, Richard M. Scearce, Laura L. Sutherland, Jae-Sung Yu, Julie M. Decker, George M. Shaw, David C. Montefiori, Bette T. Korber, Beatrice H. Hahn, Barton F. Haynes

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Genetic variation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) represents a major obstacle for AIDS vaccine development. To decrease the genetic distances between candidate immunogens and field virus strains, we have designed and synthesized an artificial group M consensus env gene (CON6 gene) to be equidistant from contemporary HIV-1 subtypes and recombinants. This novel envelope gene expresses a glycoprotein that binds soluble CD4, utilizes CCR5 but not CXCR4 as a coreceptor, and mediates HIV-1 entry. Key linear, conformational, and glycan-dependent monoclonal antibody epitopes are preserved in CON6, and the glycoprotein is recognized equally well by sera from individuals infected with different HIV-1 …

Validation Of An Immunomagnetic-Electrochemiluminescence Detection System For The Detection Of Escherichia Coli 0157 In Food And Comparison With An Iso Standard Method, Eimear Carney

Theses

Rapid and sensitive methods for detecting Escherichia coli 0157 in contaminated food, water and other biological samples are important in limiting and preventing the spread of this pathogen. Traditional culture based methods for bacterial identification and detection can be time consuming and labour intensive. Modem alternative methods should be faster whilst maintaining sensitivity. Immunomagnetic separation (IMS) methodology has been investigated and appears promising for rapid bacterial detection in unrelated food and environmental samples. In this study, a commercial sensor which combined IMS with electrochemiluminescence (ECL) was evaluated for the detection of E. coli 0157 in unrelated food matrices. Emitted signals …