We advocate aggressive surgical resection when possible. Surgical removal of metastatic lesions prolongs survival but radical lymph node dissection is not mandatory. We also recommend careful long-term followup of patients with a history of renal cell carcinoma.

Summary. Data on the cell biology of pineal transducers (chief cells: typical and modified photoreceptors, pinealocytes) which belong to the paraneuron family, are reviewed in the vertebrate series. In spite of major changes throughout phylogeny, it is proposed that pineal chief cells share a common feature: they somehow transform the information derived from the light/ dark cycle into daily rhythms of neural (an excitatory neurotransmitter) and/or hormonal (melatoninergic) output and appear invariably involved in the temporal organization of physiological and behavioral processes.

Experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis was induced in rats after one injection of purified retinal S antigen mixed with adjuvants. Lewis and PVG/c rat strains were highly sensitive. S antigens isolated from bovine, human, swine and guinea pig retinas had a high pathogenicity in Lewis rats, whereas allogenic S antigen did not induce the disease. Mycobacterial adjuvant was effect in both disease and antibody production but H. pertussis adjuvant strongly increased the severity of the ocular reaction, giving a hyperacute Arthus-type inflammation, even with low doses of antigen. No disease was found after immunization without bacteria (incomplete Freund's adjuvant or alum). With any bacterial adjuvant, the histological pattern was in agreement with the hypothesis of early reagin-mediated phenomena acting on the blood-retinal barrier, as suggested by previous experiments.

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We studied the presence of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MCR) in the eye with the aid of a number of immunochemical techniques. Immunoblotting with a polyclonal antibody, directed against the rat renal MCR, revealed a single band of about 102 kD in extracts prepared from whole bovine or rat retina similar to that observed in cytosol from the kidney and myocardium from these species. Isolated cells of the bovine retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) similarly exhibited a 98- to 102-kD band in Western blots developed with the aid of anti-MCR antiserum. The 98- to 102-kD band was also obtained following autoradiography of RPE cytosol irradiated in the presence of ³H-R 5020. This fluorographic pattern was abolished when RU 26752, an antagonist specific to the MCR, was allowed to compete with radiolabelled promegestone. The MCR-³H-RU 26752 complex in RPE cytosol underwent heat activation, as judged by binding to DNA cellusose, and could also be precipitated by anti-MCR IgG. In primary cultures, the proliferation of the RPE cells was inhibited by the two MCR-specific antagonists RU 26752 and ZK 91587. The loss of the MCR-specific immunofluorescence in RPE cells after only 3 passages in culture was associated with refractoriness to the inhibitory effect of both of these spironolactones. Immunohistochemistry, using MCR-specific antiserum, revealed strong fluorescence in specific areas of the rat eye. In the retina, immunopositivity was observed in Müller cells, external and internal limiting membranes, the vitreous base lining and in the pigment epithelium. Epithelial cells of the ciliary body, iris and cornea also exhibited strong MCR-specific immunofluorescence. Thus, both the epithelial and the nonepithelial compartments of the ocular tissues form interesting new targets to delineate the mechanism of action of mineralotropic hormones.