• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.183-192
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• 2002

Cells infected With equine herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1) Produced both infectious and non-infectious Virus-related particles. Compared to the whole virion, non-infectious particles termed L-particles were deter-mined to lack 150 kDa protein, commonly known as nucleocapsid protein. The potential of L-particles to induce immune responses was studied in mice and foals. Intranasal immunization with L-particles or whole virions induced poor IgG antibody responses in mice. Interestingly, despite the poor antibody response, the conferred immunity protected the host from challenge infections. This was indicated by a significant reduction in virus titers in line with recovery towards normal body weight. Subsequently, the test on the usefulness of L-particles as immunizing agents was extended to foals. Immunization of specific-pathogen-free (SPF) foals resulted in similar results. As determined by a complement-fixing-antibody test (CFT), foals seroconverted when they were immunized either with inactivated L-particles or whole virions via intramuscular (i.m.) injections. The presence of the antibody correlated with the degree of protection. Beyond day 1 post challenge infection (p.i.), there was no virus shedding in the nasal mucus of foals immunized with whole EHV-1 virions. Virus shedding was observed in foals Immunized with L-particles but limited to days 6 to 8 p.i. only. In contrast, extended vim shedding was observed in non-immunized foals and it was well beyond day 14 p.i. Viremia was not detected for more than four days except in non-immunized foals. Immunization in mice via intranasal (i.n.) conferred good protection. However, compared to the i.n. route, a greater degree of protection was obtained in foals following immunization via i.m. route. Despite variation in the degree of protection due to different routes of immunization in the two animal species, our results have established significant evidence that immunization with L-particles confers protection in the natural host. It is suggested that non-infectious L-particles should be used as immunizing agents for vaccination of horses against EHV-1 infection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.6871-6876
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• 2015

Background: The meningeal hemangiopericytoma (MHPC) is a vascular tumor arising from pericytes. Most intracranial MHPCs resemble meningiomas (MNGs) in their clinical presentation and histological features and may therefore be misdiagnosed, despite important differences in prognosis. Materials and Methods: We report 8 cases of MHPC and 5 cases of MNG collected from 2007 to 2011 from the Neuro-Surgery and Histopathology departments. All 13 samples were re reviewed by two independent pathologists and investigated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using mesenchymal, epithelial and neuro-glial markers. Additionally, we screened all tumors for a large panel of chromosomal alterations using multiplex ligation probe amplification (MLPA). Presence of the NAB2-STAT6 fusion gene was inferred by immunohistochemical staining for STAT6. Results: Compared with MNG, MHPCs showed strong VIM (100% of cases), CD99 (62%), bcl-2 (87%), and p16 (75%) staining but only focal positivity with EMA (33%) and NSE (37%). The p21 antibody was positive in 62% of MHPC and less than 1% in all MNGs. MLPA data did not distinguish HPC from MNG, with PTEN loss and ERBB2 gain found in both. By contrast, STAT6 nuclear staining was observed in 3 MHPC cases and was absent from MNG. Conclusions: MNG and MHPC comprise a spectrum of tumors that cannot be easily differentiated based on histopathology. The presence of STAT6 nuclear positivity may however be a useful diagnostic marker.