Anatomy and Physiology of the Peripheral and Central Auditory System

The auditory system is responsible for the hearing sense and it consists of the peripheral auditory system (outer, middle and inner ear) and of the central auditory system (vestibular and cochlear nuclei, auditory and vestibular pathways and vestibular and auditory cortices). The outer ear comprises the auricle and the auditory canal and its function is to guide air pressure waves to the middle ear. The middle ear consists of the tympanic membrane, connected to the inner ear by three ossicles (malleus, incus and stapes), which vibrations allow the transmission of originally airborne sound waves to the perilymph of the inner ear. The middle ear provides a pressure gain as well as enhanced qu…

3D OSCC model: effects following topical 5-FU delivery by drug-loaded tablets

Heat shock protein 60 levels in tissue and circulating exosomes in human large bowel cancer before and after ablative surgery.

BACKGROUND: Heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60) is a chaperonin involved in tumorigenesis, but its participation in tumor development and progression is not well understood and its value as a tumor biomarker has not been fully elucidated. In the current study, the authors presented evidence supporting the theory that Hsp60 has potential as a biomarker as well as a therapeutic target in patients with large bowel cancer. METHODS: The authors studied a population of 97 subjects, including patients and controls. Immunomorphology, Western blot analysis, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were performed on tissue specimens. Exosomes were isolated from blood and characterized by electr…

Protective role of the complement regulatory protein human CD-55 in cardiac xenograft: a descriptive study and a revision of the literature.

The limited and inadequate availability of organs from human donors has resulted in the utilisation of xenografts as an alternative tool. Nevertheless, hyperacute rejection (HAR) following xenograft determines the loss of the transplanted organ. The “primum movens” is the activation of the complement pathway mediated by the binding of natural xenogenic antibodies to the endothelium of the graft, followed by the lysis of the endothelial cells with subsequent oedema, thrombosis and necrosis of the transplanted organ. In this work we describe morphological and biomolecular observations of isolated human-decay accelerating factor (h-DAF, CD55) transgenic pig hearts, after perfusion for four hou…

Anatomy of cochlea and round window

One of the most important functions of the ear is sound recepction, particularly the detection of amplitude and frequency of the sound waves by Corti's organ. The latter is a sensory structure located in the cochlear duct (middle scale), consisting of hair cells lying above the basilar membrane. The cochlear duct is surrounded by two cavities containing perilymph: the scala vestibularis and the scala tympani. The sound reception mechanism involves several other components of the ear such as malleus, incus and stapes, in the tympanic cavity, and the oval and round windows. The movement of the stapes on the oval window, that is adjacent to the scala vestibularis, generates pressure waves in t…

The value of immunohistochemical research on PCNA, p53 and heat shock proteins in prostate cancer management: a review.

This review addresses the significance of the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), p53 and some heat shock proteins (Hsps) in prostate carcinoma (PC). In fact, PCNA and p53 are two widely discussed tools in PC diagno- sis, mainly because of the controversy regarding the signifi- cance of their expression during prostate cancer development and progression. At the same time, only few studies have shown the potential role of Hsps in carcinogenesis and their overexpression in pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the prostate. We briefly describe the physiological roles of Hsps in normal cells, and the significance of their immunohistochem- ical detection in PC as well as…