Results: The six quadruple immunostainings reveal specific staining patterns in normal BM, which allow the recognition of various subpopulations of the respective lineages. These staining patterns can be used as a frame of reference for recognition of normal and abnormal BM development. Examples of normal (age-related) variations in these otherwise stable staining patterns are presented together with several abnormal differentiation patterns.Conclusions: Although alternative immunostainings can be used (e.g., including NK-and T-cell markers), we feel that the selected six stainings represent a comprehensive and easy screening phase for quick identification of shifts in the composition of the studied differentiation lineages, reflecting age-related changes or disease-induced BM abnormalities.

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Objective. Fcy receptors of class IIa (FcyRIIa) occur in 2 allelic forms, with either a low (IIa-R131) or a high (IIa-H131) affinity for complexed IgG2 and IgG3. This polymorphism might have implications for the handling of immune complexes. Therefore, we determined the distribution of the Fc yRIIa allotypes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), with or without a history of lupus nephritis.Methods. We studied 95 unrelated white European patients with SLE, as defined by the American College of Rheumatology criteria, 50 of whom had a history of lupus nephritis, and 69 healthy white European control subjects. Fc yRIIa allotypes were determined by immunophenotyping of blood monocytes.Results. It was found that lupus nephritis was significantly associated with the "low affinity" FcyRIIa WR131 allotype and with the R131 allele, compared with healthy controls. No significant association was found upon comparison of groups with and without nephritis.Conclusion. SLE patients with a history of lupus nephritis have an abnormal distribution of FcyRIIa allotypes. FcyRIIa may well play a role in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis, since IIa-R/R131 SLE pa-

Polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) phagocytic function has been shown to be impaired in some patients with periodontitis. PMN constitutively express members of two immunoglobulin G receptor (Fc␥R) classes: Fc␥RIIa (CD32) and Fc␥RIIIb (CD16). Both receptors exhibit genetically determined structural and functional biallelic polymorphisms, which have been shown to influence PMN phagocytic function. In this study, we assessed the relevance of these Fc␥R polymorphisms to susceptibility to adult periodontitis and recurrence rate. The distribution of Fc␥RIIa and Fc␥RIIIb genotypes of 100 Japanese patients with adult periodontitis during follow-up was compared to the distribution of genotypes in 105 race-matched healthy controls. No significant skewing of distributions of Fc␥RIIa and Fc␥RIIIb genotypes was observed between patients and controls. Notably, however, a significant overrepresentation of the Fc␥RIIIb-NA2 allotype was found in patients with disease recurrence (P < 0.05; odds ratio, 4.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.19 to 16.24). Moreover, the annual rate of recurrence was significantly higher in patients with the Fc␥RIIIb-NA2/NA2 and Fc␥RIIIb-NA1/NA2 genotypes than in Fc␥RIIIb-NA1/NA1 individuals (P < 0.05). Fc␥RIIa-R/R131 individuals also exhibited higher recurrence rates, though the difference was not statistically significant (P ‫؍‬ 0.06). These results suggest that the Fc␥RIIIb-NA2 allotype represents a risk factor for recurrence of adult periodontitis.

Lung cancer (LC) with its different subtypes is generally known as a therapy resistant cancer with the highest morbidity rate worldwide. Therapy resistance of a tumor is thought to be related to cancer stem cells (CSCs) within the tumors. There have been indications that the lung cancer is propagated and maintained by a small population of CSCs. To study this question we established a panel of 15 primary lung cancer cell lines (PLCCLs) from 20 fresh primary tumors using a robust serum-free culture system. We subsequently focused on identification of lung CSCs by studying these cell lines derived from 4 representative lung cancer subtypes such as small cell lung cancer (SCLC), large cell carcinoma (LCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC). We identified a small population of cells strongly positive for CD44 (CD44high) and a main population which was either weakly positive or negative for CD44 (CD44low/−). Co-expression of CD90 further narrowed down the putative stem cell population in PLCCLs from SCLC and LCC as spheroid-forming cells were mainly found within the CD44highCD90+ sub-population. Moreover, these CD44highCD90+ cells revealed mesenchymal morphology, increased expression of mesenchymal markers N-Cadherin and Vimentin, increased mRNA levels of the embryonic stem cell related genes Nanog and Oct4 and increased resistance to irradiation compared to other sub-populations studied, suggesting the CD44highCD90+ population a good candidate for the lung CSCs. Both CD44highCD90+ and CD44highCD90− cells in the PLCCL derived from SCC formed spheroids, whereas the CD44low/− cells were lacking this potential. These results indicate that CD44highCD90+ sub-population may represent CSCs in SCLC and LCC, whereas in SCC lung cancer subtype, CSC potentials were found within the CD44high sub-population.