A microfabricated cantilever with an internal piezoresistive component has been sensitized with thiol tethered ss-DNA strands and utilized for an in situ, label-free, highly specific, and rapid DNA detection assay. The generation of a differential surface stress onto the functionalized cantilever surface upon target recognition has allowed nanomechanical identification of 12-nucleotide complementary DNA probes with single base mismatch discrimination (sensitivity of 0.2 microM). Interestingly, utilization of an overhang extension distal to the surface enhanced the sensitivity to the 0.01 microM level. The cantilever was functionalized by inkjet printing technology. Replacing the capture probe with locked nucleic acid (LNA) resulted in a faster target probe capture kinetics compared to DNA-DNA hybridization. The capabilities of the piezoresistive cantilever indicate future ergonomic convenience via miniaturization alternative to the conventional laser-based detection method for portable on-site applications.

A fast, label-free, and multiplexed method based on piezoresistive cantilevers is reported for the detection of specific protein conformations at the nanoscale level. The ligand-binding domain of the human oestrogen receptor (ERalpha-LBD) is used as the experimental model system, and ERalpha-LBD with or without oestradiol (E2) is detected using the conformation-specific peptides alpha/betaI (Ser-Ser-Asn-His-Gln-Ser-Ser-Arg-Leu-Ile-Glu-Leu-Leu-Ser-Arg, which recognizes E2-bound ER) and alpha/betaII (Ser-Ala-Pro-Arg-Ala-Thr-Ile-Ser-His-Tyr-Leu-Met-Gly-Gly, which recognizes E2-free ER). Target-specific signals are obtained in situ at protein concentrations of 2.5-20 nM. The in-build electrical readout of the piezoresistive cantilevers provides a convenient alternative to the conventional optical detection, and the presented method offers the possibility of detecting protein conformational changes using miniaturized microarrays.

Metastases to the breast from extramammary carcinomas. Acta path. microbiol. scand. Sect. A, 89: 251-256, 1981. Metastases to the breast from extramammary carcinomas are rare. Only about 200 cases are reported in the literature. Fifteen additional cases are presented here and the literature is reviewed. Two of the patients had primary thyroid carcinoma, two adenocarcinoma of the colon, three bronchogenic carcinoma, four malignant melanoma, one a squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus, one an adenocarcinoma of the stomach, one a renal cell carcinoma and one a carcinoid of the terminal ileum. In three cases the breast lesion was the first manifestation of an extramammary cancer. Six of the patients died of disseminated cancer shortly after the breast metastasis was diagnosed. Although breast metastasis may be suspected clinically, exact histological diagnosis is important in order to avoid unnecessary surgical treatment and to guide further therapy.

We describe three cases of xanthogranulomatous inflammation in the female genital tract—one affecting endometrium, tube and ovary, one affecting tube, ovary and parametrium and one confined to the endometrium. To date, xanthogranulomatous inflammation in the female genital tract has been reported in a total of 19 cases including the present three. The inflammation most often affects the endometrium but involvement of the vagina, cervix, fallopian tube and ovary may also occur.

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