The study of misplaced endometrial cells, which abnormally implant and grow outside the uterine cavity, is of considerable interest for the understanding of the pathophysiology of endometriosis. However, endometriotic cells, particularly ep…
This study describes the novel localization of the antimicrobial peptide human intestinal defensin-5 (HD-5) in female genital tract epithelia. Using a 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) protocol, HD-5 was cloned from a vaginal epith…
Telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein complex that includes the telomerase RNA component (hTR) and the telomerase catalytic subunit gene (hTERT) product, has been shown to be activated in the majority of cancer tissues and immortalized cells. To …
Disseminated peritoneal leiomyomatosis (DPL, leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata) is a rare condition in which multiple histologically benign smooth muscle tumorlets diffusely stud peritoneal and omental surfaces in females, predominant…
Ovarian endometrial cysts, one of the typical manifestations of endometriosis, are generated by the retention of cyclic hemorrhages and are classified as tumor-like lesions rather than neoplasms. Clonality analysis provides important inform…
The pathogenesis of endometriosis, a disease widely believed to arise from an aberrant growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterus, is still unclear. We have previously observed that cytokine-stimulated endometrial cells of women with e…
Endometriosis is one of the most frequent diseases in gynecology. It is a histologically defined nonmalignant disease in which endometrium-like tissue is found outside the uterus (for example, peritoneum, gut, or lung). The pathogenesis of …
Glycodelin is a glycoprotein with potent immunosuppressive and contraceptive activities. It reacts with antibodies against placental protein 14, or progesterone-associated endometrial protein, and has a unique carbohydrate structure. Previo…
Integrins are ubiquitous cell adhesion molecules that are involved in maintaining normal tissue morphology and have been implicated in the behavior of certain malignancies. We examined the expression of nine integrin subunits in 38 endometr…
Vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) is a cytokine that is overexpressed in many tumors, in healing wounds, and in rheumatoid arthritis. VPF/VEGF is thought to induce angiogenesis and accompanying conne…
A variety of sexually transmitted diseases frequently accompany infection with human papillomavirus and stimulate inflammation of the cervical mucosa. Inflammation and cell injury cause release of proinflammatory cytokines, which in turn mi…
A subset of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is associated with the majority of cervical cancers; however, cofactors appear to be required for carcinogenic progression of HPV-induced neoplasia. As human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) was recently shown…
Acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) belong to a family of mitogenic polypeptides that are involved in cellular proliferation and differentiation. In this study we investigated the potential role …
The marker profile of 18 samples of normal human ovarian tissues and 138 samples of their derived tumors was established using 51 monoclonal antibodies directed against intermediate filaments, ovarian carcinoma-specific antigens, general tu…
The pathogenesis of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is influenced by the host's immune response. This response depends upon secretion of specific lymphokines to recruit and activate immune cells at the site of infection. To ex…
Gastrointestinal dysfunction and wasting are frequent complications of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Nutrient malabsorption, decreased digestive enzymes and HIV transcripts have been documented in jejunal mucosa of HIV-infec…
Tenascin is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein that is widely expressed during embryogenesis. In adults, it is restricted to select sites, including certain epithelial-stromal interfaces, but is notably enhanced in active inflammatory-rea…
Using a panel of 21 monoclonal and 2 polyclonal keratin antibodies, capable of detecting separately 11 subtypes of their epithelial intermediate filament proteins at the single cell level, we investigated keratin expression in 16 squamous c…
The neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) is a group of cell surface glycoproteins involved in direct cell--cell adhesion. N-CAM expression in normal and neoplastic tissues was examined with specific antibodies and oligonucleotide probes by…
To explore the role of mutational activation of members of the ras family of cellular protooncogenes in the development of human ovarian neoplasms, a series of 37 ovarian tumors from Japanese patients was studied. These included 30 common e…