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Biomedical subjects

K P Cracknell

Publications and source records attributed to K P Cracknell.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

The iris after prostanoid treatment.

Morphologic studies to date show that prostanoid-induced iris color change is not associated with any major pathologic process in the tissue. There is no evidence of melanocyte proliferation. The most likely mechanism for iris color darkening is increased melanogenesis, but this is not so marked as to cause any extensive release of melanin granules that might cause iris inflammation or even a pigmentary-type of glaucoma. Some patients, but not all, with color darkening have an apparent thickening of the anterior border zone; it remains to be established whether this is true thickening or merely if the anterior border is emphasized because of increased pigmentation.

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Preparation of cultured airway smooth muscle for study of intracellular element concentrations by X-ray microanalysis: comparison of whole cells with cryosections.

Methods for growing and preparing smooth muscle cells, isolated from rabbit trachealis, for X-ray microanalysis studies are presented. The cells are grown on Pioloform-covered gold grids supported on Thermanox coverslips. This provides a growth-compatible substrate which is easy to handle and is easily incorporated into routine cell culture studies. The cells are analysed as whole mounts after removal of growth medium by washing, followed by cryofixation and freeze drying. The effects of different washing media (0.3 M sucrose, 0.15 M ammonium acetate and distilled water) on cytoplasmic elemental content are discussed. A method for growing the cells as monolayers and mounting the cryofixed monolayers for cryosectioning is also given. Comparison of elemental concentrations in the cytoplasm of distilled-water washed cells with those of the cytoplasm of cryosectioned cells obtained from the same animal showed good agreement between values obtained from the two preparative procedures. These methods are therefore easily applied to the study of changes in intracellular element concentrations which may be important in understanding the mechanisms of proliferation which lead to increased airway smooth muscle mass in persistent severe asthma.

Animals↗