Kazuo Kato

Primary Malignant Melanoma Arising from the Base of the Tongue

A rare case of malignant melanoma of the base of the tongue in a 65-year-old Japanese woman is described. The primary and metastatic tumors were treated by surgery, chemohormone and immunotherapy. There was no recurrence for 5 years after the initial diagnosis. Electron microscopy suggested that the melanosomes of the melanoma cells in the cervical lymph nodes were less mature than those in the primary melanoma cells; melanosome immaturity was consistent with a more aggressive quality.

Application of the cell block method, utilizing mount quick mounting medium

Our objective was to determine the applicability of cell transfer and cell block methods using Mount Quick (Daido Sangyo, Saitama, Japan) mounting medium (MQ) for hematoxylin‐eosin (H&E) and immunohistochemical staining of several limited amounts of biological materials in slide preparations.

Comparative intermolecular cross-relaxation studies of human hemoglobin in red blood cells and bovine serum albumin in solution

Intermolecular cross‐relaxation rate (CR) spectra [1/TIS(HDO) or 1/TIS(H2O) vs f2(ppm) profiles] for bovine serum albumin [BSA; molecular weight (MW), 66 kDa] solution, partially hydrolyzed BSA gel (BSA*gel) and packed human red blood cells (RBCs) with normal or unstable hemoglobin (Hb; MW, 65 kDa) were studied using f2 irradiation ranging from – 100 to 100 ppm at γH2/2π of 250 Hz. The CR spectra for BSA*gel (pD 4.01, 0.10 M NaCl, 4.83 and 14.39%) exhibited different features in the off‐resonance region (below – 2.00 and above 12.0 ppm) relative to that for BSA solution (pD 7.14, 0.10 M NaCl, 14.39%), indicating the association of BSA* molecules in the gel state. The CR spectrum for packed RBCs was compared with those for BSA*gel and BSA solution (14.39%) by correcting for differences in protein concentration. The corrected CR spectrum for packed normal RBCs in the off‐resonance region was similar to that for BSA solution, indicating that the physical characteristics of Hb in normal RBCs may be in a solution‐like state. Our results on normal RBCs were approximately consistent with the previously reported thermodynamic and hydrodynamic findings that Hb in RBCs and/or in concentrated solution seems to be in a suspension of hard scaled particles. Copyright