Mitotic histiocytes and intranuclear Langerhans cell granules in histiocytosis X

Pulmonary dendritic cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) are leukocytes that are emerging as chief orchestrators of immune responses. The crucial task of DCs is the continuous surveillance of antigen-exposed sites throughout the body, and their unique responsibility is to decide whether to present sampled antigen in an immunogenic or tolerogenic way. Any misstep can either lead to a flawed immune defense or to allergy, even autoimmunity. It comes as no surprise that the lungs become increasingly the subject of DC-related investigations, as they represent a vast interface between the body and the outer world. This constitutes an enormous challenge for the immune system: "firing up" immune responses inappropriately could have devastating results for the fragile gas exchange structures. Evidence accumulates that DCs play a pivotal role in maintaining the delicate balance between tolerance and active immune response in our respiratory system. The exponentially growing body of DC-related publications is a big challenge. This article aims to provide researchers and clinicians with an up-to-date view on DC biology and its relevance to pulmonary medicine. A developing trend in the field of DCs is the shift from fundamental immunologic research toward exciting clinical insights and applications. For the pulmonary clinician, this heralds the dawn of promising therapies in various domains such as infections, allergy, and cancer.

The ultrastructure of congenital nevocytic nevi. II. Nevus cell morphology and contacts with nerve fibers

As only few previous investigations considered size-dependent differences in the histology of congenital nevocytic nevi (CNN) or focused on their ultrastructure, a light- and electron-microscopic study of six giant and six medium-sized CNN was performed. Histologically, giant CNN showed minimal junctional nevus elements and a pandermal, diffuse nevus cell extension including the subcutaneous tissue, while medium-sized CNN exhibited more abundant junctional nests and a rather focal pattern of nevus cell extension into the reticular dermis. Ultrastructurally, giant CNN often showed nevus cells with irregular and indented nuclei and also nevus cells with highly complicated dendrites. Nuclear inclusions, multiple cilia and centrioles, and collagen phagocytosis in nevus cells were found in both groups of CNN. Direct contacts between nevus cells and nerve fibers were observed in medium-sized CNN only. The findings provided no clear morphological indication why giant CNN have a higher risk for malignant degeneration than medium-sized CNN or acquired nevocytic nevi (ANN). On the other hand, the histological differences speak in favor of a different ontogenesis of the various size classes of CNN and ANN.

Intranuclear cytoplasmic organelles in hematopoietic diseases

Mitochondria, rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and other cytoplasmic organelles were found within the nuclei, not in 'nuclear pseudo-inclusions', of some cells in several hematopoietic disorders. Mitoses were fairly often observed in the atypical cells of these cases. We suggest that these intranuclear cytoplasmic organelles may be trapped in the nucleus during an abnormal mitosis.