Hydatidiform mole (HM) is an abnormal gestation characterized by trophoblast hyperplasia and overgrowth of placental villi. The genetic basis in the vast majority of cases is an excess of paternal to maternal genomes, suggesting that global misexpression of imprinted genes is the common molecular mechanism underlying the genesis of this condition. Although most complete HM are...
Placental function in multifetal pregnancies before and after embryo reduction was investigated by measuring maternal serum concentrations of pregnancy associated placental protein-A (PAPP-A) and pregnancy specific β-1-glycoprotein (SP-1). Three groups of pregnant women were studied following assisted reproduction; groups 1 and 2, were 12 singleton and 12 twin pregnancies...
Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), characterized by circulating antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies, is a major cause of early pregnancy failure and placental insufficiency. In this study, we examined whether impaired endometrial differentiation before conception contributes to the high incidence of pregnancy complications in APS. Timed secretory endometrial biopsies were obtained...
Background Minimally invasive autopsy by post mortem magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has been suggested as an alternative for conventional autopsy in view of the declining consented autopsy rates. However, large prospective studies rigorously evaluating the accuracy of such an approach are lacking. We intend to compare the accuracy of a minimally invasive autopsy approach using...
Objectives To compare the diagnostic accuracy of post-mortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMR) specifically for non-cardiac thoracic pathology in fetuses and children, compared with conventional autopsy. Methods Institutional ethics approval and parental consent was obtained. A total of 400 unselected fetuses and children underwent PMMR before conventional autopsy, reported...
Minimally invasive autopsy by post mortem magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has been suggested as an alternative for conventional autopsy in view of the declining consented autopsy rates. However, large prospective studies rigorously evaluating the accuracy of such an approach are lacking. We intend to compare the accuracy of a minimally invasive autopsy approach using post mortem...
Currently there are no effective treatments for many neurodegenerative diseases. Reliable biomarkers for identifying and stratifying these diseases will be important in the development of future novel therapies. Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) is considered an under diagnosed form of dementia for which markers are needed to discriminate LBD from other forms of dementia such as Alzheimer...
Hepatic tissue engineering using decellularized scaffolds is a potential therapeutic alternative to conventional transplantation. However, scaffolds are usually obtained using decellularization protocols that destroy the extracellular matrix (ECM) and hamper clinical translation. We aim to develop a decellularization technique that reliably maintains hepatic microarchitecture and...
Purpose The presence of diffuse anaplasia in Wilms tumours (DAWT) is associated with TP53 mutations and poor outcome. As patients receive intensified treatment, we sought to identify whether TP53 mutational status confers additional prognostic information. Patients and Methods We studied 40 patients with DAWT with anaplasia in the tissue from which DNA was extracted and analysed...
Wilms tumours (WTs) are characterised by several hallmarks that suggest epimutations such as aberrant DNA methylation are involved in tumour progression: loss of imprinting at 11p15, lack of recurrent mutations and formation of nephrogenic rests (NRs), which are lesions of retained undifferentiated embryonic tissue that can give rise to WTs. To identify such epimutations, we...
Background Wilms tumor is the most common pediatric renal malignancy and there is a clinical need for a molecular biomarker to assess treatment response and predict relapse. The known mutated genes in this tumor type show low mutation frequencies, whereas aberrant methylation at 11p15 is by far the most common aberration. We therefore analyzed the epigenome, rather than the...
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Background Wilms tumours (WTs) are characterised by several hallmarks that suggest epimutations such as aberrant DNA methylation are involved in tumour progression: loss of imprinting at 11p15, lack of recurrent mutations and formation of nephrogenic rests (NRs), which are lesions of retained undifferentiated embryonic tissue that can give rise to WTs. Methods To identify such...
Background. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is upregulated and it recruits and activates inflammatory cells in murine lupus nephritis (LN). Methods. Clinical outcomes of children with LN were examined in relation to glomerular expression of MCP-1 and macrophage infiltration, as determined by immunohistochemical staining of renal biopsy sections with MCP-1 and CD68...
Objectives The recent decline in autopsy rates and lack of human anatomical material donated for research and training has resulted in issues for medical training in the United Kingdom. This study aims to examine the feasibility of making accurate three-dimensional (3D) models of the human body and visceral organs using post-mortem magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and rapid...
Imaging is a crucial part of the evaluation of children with primary liver malignancies. In addition to staging the intrahepatic extent of the tumour, the 2005 revision of the PRETEXT system specifies certain criteria for assessment of extrahepatic disease. This article reviews the imaging findings of two of these criteria: direct extrahepatic extension of the tumour (E1, E1a, E2...
Tissue invasion and infiltration by brain tumours poses a clinical challenge, with destruction of structures leading to morbidity. We assessed whether micro-CT could be used to map tumour invasion in adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (ACP), and whether it could delineate ACPs and their intrinsic components from surrounding tissue. Three anonymised archival frozen ACP samples...