Cellular antigens in nephroblastoma: identification with monoclonal antibodies which recognize hemopoietic cells

Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan Metabolism and the Fate of Grafted Tissues

Tissue and organ transplants between genetically distinct individuals are always or nearly always rejected. The universality and speed of transplant rejection distinguishes this immune response from all others. Although this distinction is incompletely understood, some efforts to shed light on transplant rejection have revealed broader insights, including a relationship between activation of complement in grafted tissues, the metabolism of heparan sulfate proteoglycan and the nature of immune and inflammatory responses that ensue. Complement activation on cell surfaces, especially on endothelial cell surfaces, causes the shedding heparan sulfate, an acidic saccharide, from the cell surface and neighboring extracellular matrix. Solubilized in this way, heparan sulfate can activate leukocytes via toll like receptor-4, triggering inflammatory responses and activating dendritic cells, which migrate to regional lymphoid organs where they spark and to some extent govern cellular immune responses. In this way local ischemia, tissue injury and infection, exert systemic impact on immunity. Whether or in what circumstances this series of events explains the distinct characteristics of the immune response to transplants is still unclear but the events offer insight into the inception of immunity under the sub-optimal conditions accompanying infection and mechanisms by which infection and tissue injury engender systemic inflammation.

Panlobar nephroblastomatosis with cystic dysplasia: an unusual case with diffuse renal involvement studied by immunohistochemistry

A unilateral cystic renal process discovered prenatally was removed in a neonate. Dysplastic cysts were associated with diffuse (both intra- and perilobar) nephroblastomatosis. We describe a comprehensive immunohistological study confirming the transition observed on simple histology between the different structures: nephrogenic rests (CD9+, CD24+/-, CD56+/-), glomeruloid bodies (CD10++, CD35++), ducts lined by columnar epithelium (CD9+, CD24+, CD56++), cysts lined by cuboidal or thin epithelium (some cells CD10+, CD26+, others EMA+, CD24+). Although no typical S-shaped bodies are seen, small cysts and ducts with a columnar epithelium are considered similar. The dysplastic primitive ducts are KL1++, vimentin+/-, CD9+, CD24+. With a view to assessing dysplastic preneoplastic potential, the value of CD56 and Ki67 as activation antigens with possible prognostic significance is discussed.

Congenital sarcoma in the terminal ileum histologically resembling clear cell sarcoma of the kidney: a case report with an immunohistochemical study

We report a case of a newborn female with a rare tumor, a congenital sarcoma, presenting as an abdominal mass. Laparotomy demonstrated the tumor arising from the wall of the terminal ileum. Histologically, the tumor tissue was indistinguishable from clear cell sarcoma of the kidney and was composed of proliferating cells with poorly stained cytoplasm divided into nests or cords by arborizing vasculature. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that the neoplastic cells had a phenotype similar to metanephric blastemal cells of fetal kidney, ie, positive for vimentin and CD24 but negative for cytokeratin and CD9. The results suggest that this congenital tumor may originate from primitive mesenchymal cells phenotypically related to cells present in the fetal kidney.

Deduction from Wilms' tumour that glomerular podocytes produce the basement membrane material bearing Goodpasture determinants

Using an indirect immunoperoxidase technique, we tested frozen specimens from one Wilms' tumour composed of numerous glomeruloid bodies devoid of blood vessels, with monoclonal antibodies directed against vimentin, cytokeratin, CALLA/CD10, CD24, CR1/CD35, endothelium factor VIII, class I and II MHC molecules, laminin, fibronectin, and non-collagenic domain NC1 of type IV collagen. Two reagents against Goodpasture determinants were used: P1 monoclonal antibody and serum IgG (GP antibodies) from a biopsy-proven Goodpasture patient. Glomeruloid bodies comprised two cell types: a peripheral layer of parietal epithelial cells (cytokeratin and CD24-positive) and central cell clumps of podocytes (vimentin and CALLA-positive). The basal lamina surrounding the glomeruloid bodies contained laminin and NC1 domain of type IV collagen, while that present between the podocytes reacted strongly with laminin, and P1 and GP antibodies. Endothelium factor VIII was not detected within the glomeruloid bodies and CR1 molecules bound to the basement membrane material within them. These data favour the hypothesis that podocytes produce the basement membrane material which bears Goodpasture determinants recently identified as a novel chain, named the alpha 3 chain, of type IV collagen.