Different organization of intermediate filaments in columnar cells of rat large intestinal mucosa as revealed by confocal laser scanning microscopy and quick-freezing and deep-etching method

Intermediate Filaments and Polarization in the Intestinal Epithelium

The cytoplasmic intermediate filament cytoskeleton provides a tissue-specific three-dimensional scaffolding with unique context-dependent organizational features. This is particularly apparent in the intestinal epithelium, in which the intermediate filament network is localized below the apical terminal web region and is anchored to the apical junction complex. This arrangement is conserved from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to humans. The review summarizes compositional, morphological and functional features of the polarized intermediate filament cytoskeleton in intestinal cells of nematodes and mammals. We emphasize the cross talk of intermediate filaments with the actin- and tubulin-based cytoskeleton. Possible links of the intermediate filament system to the distribution of apical membrane proteins and the cell polarity complex are highlighted. Finally, we discuss how these properties relate to the establishment and maintenance of polarity in the intestine.

Dissection of keratin network formation, turnover and reorganization in living murine embryos

Epithelial functions are fundamentally determined by cytoskeletal keratin network organization. However, our understanding of keratin network plasticity is only based on analyses of cultured cells overexpressing fluorescently tagged keratins. In order to learn how keratin network organization is affected by various signals in functional epithelial tissues in vivo, we generated a knock-in mouse that produces fluorescence-tagged keratin 8. Homozygous keratin 8-YFP knock-in mice develop normally and show the expected expression of the fluorescent keratin network both in fixed and in vital tissues. In developing embryos, we observe for the first time de novo keratin network biogenesis in close proximity to desmosomal adhesion sites, keratin turnover in interphase cells and keratin rearrangements in dividing cells at subcellular resolution during formation of the first epithelial tissue. This mouse model will help to further dissect keratin network dynamics in its native tissue context during physiological and also pathological events.

Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma: a study using a quick-freezing and deep-etching method

A case of extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma (ESMC), which developed in the right thigh of a middle-aged Japanese woman, was studied using immunohistochemistry, conventional electron microscopy, and the quick-freezing and deep-etching (QF-DE) method. In addition to typical light microscopic findings of ESMC, conventional electron microscopy indicated that the tumor cells had features of chondrocytes. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells showed a positive immunoreaction for S100 protein. A diagnosis of ESMC was made. An interesting observation was the ultrastructural features of collagen fibrils in the myxoid matrix highlighted by the QF-DE method. These collagen fibrils consisted of relatively thin collagen (20-35 nm) with pleated surface structures. The surface striation at 65 nm was obscure. We consider that such a finding of collagen fibrils identified by the QF-DE method is one of the characteristics of the myxoid matrix of ESMC, and this is useful for the differential diagnosis of myxoid soft tissue tumors.

Chondrosarcoma with myxoid change: a study using a quick-freezing and deep-etching method

A middle-aged Japanese woman visited the Orthopedics Department of Nihon University Nerima Hikarigaoka Hospital complaining of pain in the left hip joint that had started approximately 8 months earlier. Following several examinations, including imaging diagnoses, an incisional biopsy demonstrated a malignant acetabular bone tumor, which was removed and examined by a quick-freezing and deep-etching (QF-DE) method, conventional electron microscopy, and light microscopy. Histologically, the tumor was a chondrosarcoma with marked myxoid changes. An interesting extracellular matrix was observed by the QF-DE method. The myxoid area consisted of a fine meshwork of proteoglycans (PG) without obvious aggrecans, which resembled that of PG usually present in the pericellular matrix of normal cartilage. Thin collagen fibrils with pleated surface structures of regular periodicity were also seen, which were sparsely distributed in wide areas except for the pericellular matrix. These collagen fibrils were of the type that are mainly located in the pericellular side of the territorial matrix in normal cartilage. A myxoid matrix consisting of thin collagen fibrils on the background of pericellular type PG suggested that the myxoid matrix in the chondrosarcoma resembled those of the pericellular and pericellular sides of the territorial matrices in normal cartilage.