To investigate the frequency of bcl-2 oncogene protein expression in small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), immunohistochemical staining with a mouse-anti-human monoclonal antibody, bcl-2/124, was carried out on 60 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded SCLC samples obtained from surgical biopsy, and autopsy cases. bcl-2 protein was detected in 54 out of the 60 SCLCs. In 47 cases, more than half of the tumour cells stained positively. The staining intensity of the tumour cells was comparable to that of infiltrating lymphocytes in 37 cases, but varied from area to area and even from cell to cell. Negative data in six cases were found to be due to unsuitable fixation or embedding procedures rather than the absence of the antigen. bcl-2 oncogene protein may thus be expressed in most if not all SCLCs. bcl-2 may have potential diagnostic and therapeutic importance in SCLCs and non-SCLCs. Previous cytogenetic and molecular genetic analyses indicate that SCLCs carry a number of chromosomal abnormalities and it would follow from the present results that the abnormal expression of bcl-2 may also play a role in the pathogenesis of SCLC, by increasing tumour mass through inhibition of apoptosis as previously proposed. The diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic implications of these findings should be studied in greater detail.

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Asymmetrische Bewegung: Werte für dipolare Kopplungstensoren aus Festkörper‐NMR‐Messungen geben Einblick in die Dynamik von Proteinen. Auch die bislang unbeachtete Asymmetrie des dipolaren Kopplungstensors liefert wertvolle Informationen über die Asymmetrie einer Bewegung, mit deren Hilfe solche Tensoren erstmals direkt und ortsaufgelöst gemessen werden konnten. Wichtige Bewegungen wie Rotamersprünge lassen sich nun im Festkörper direkt detektieren.

One report has attributed troglitazone-induced liver damage in less severe cases to idiosyncratic reactions. However, the present case indicates that troglitazone can induce hypersensitivity resulting in fulminant hepatitis. Careful monitoring of serum liver enzymes during troglitazone therapy is therefore essential.

BACKGROUND: Antigen retrieval, a crucial technique for immunostaining, is often carried out on formalin-fixed, paraffinembedded (FFPE) tissue sections. The role of antigen retrieval in immunostaining of ethanol-fixed smears remains unclear.The authors evaluated the effects of 2 common antigen retrieval procedures, heat-induced antigen retrieval and proteaseinduced antigen retrieval, for immunostaining using a broad panel of antibodies. METHODS: Papanicolaou-stained ethanol-fixed smears from 36 surgical specimens were immunostained with 43 antibodies. Three widely used heat-induced antigen retrieval solutions, namely, citrate buffer (pH 6.0 and pH 7.0) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid solution (pH 8.0) for heat-induced antigen retrieval, and pronase were used. The staining results were compared between the ethanolfixed smears and the corresponding FFPE tissue sections. RESULTS: Heat-induced antigen retrieval was essential for all the 9 antibodies examined against nuclear antigens, and for 7 of 26 antibodies against cytoplasmic and cell membrane antigens. Superior results were obtained using lower-pH heat-induced antigen retrieval solutions for ethanol-fixed smears than was the case for FFPE tissue sections; use of citrate buffer (pH 6.0) was optimal for most antibodies. For 17 antibodies against cytoplasmic/cell membrane antigens, satisfactory results were obtained even without antigen retrieval on the ethanol-fixed smears, whereas antigen retrieval was necessary for detection on the FFPE tissue sections. Proteaseinduced antigen retrieval frequently exerted deleterious effects on ethanol-fixed smears. Despite antigen retrieval, detection of 2 lymphocytic markers failed on ethanol-fixed smears. This limitation was overcome by heat-induced antigen retrieval on formalin vapor-fixed smears. CONCLUSIONS: In ethanol-fixed smears, most of the antibodies can be immunostained successfully without antigen retrieval treatment or mild heat-induced antigen retrieval using citrate buffer (pH 6.0). The optimal antigen retrieval condition for each antibody must be individually determined. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2012;120:167À76. V C 2012 American Cancer Society.KEY WORDS: ethanol-fixed smear, formalin vapor-fixed smear, immunocytochemistry, heat-induced antigen retrieval, protease-induced antigen retrieval.