[The role of diagnostic neuropathology in familial tumour syndromes]. / Die Rolle der Neuropathologie bei familiären Tumorerkrankungen.

Inherited cancer syndromes often involve the central and peripheral nervous system. For the surgical neuropathologist the possibility in individual patients of a familial tumour syndrome needs to be considered in the case of special tumours such as malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour (MPNST), medulloblastoma with extensive nodularity (MBEN) or even atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour (AT/RT) of the brain. Furthermore, tumour location and patient age may point to a familial tumour syndrome as in the case of neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) with typical bilateral vestibular schwannoma in young age. This short review discusses some of the diagnostic aspects in this field relating to neurofibromatosis type 1 and 2 (NF1, NF2), as well as the two rare tumors MBEN in Gorlin-Goltz syndrome and AT/RT in particular.

[WHO classification of tumours of the CNS: revised edition of 2007 with critical comments on the typing und grading of common-type diffuse gliomas]. / WHO-Klassifikation der ZNS-Tumoren: Revidierte Fassung von 2007 mit kritischen Anmerkungen zum "Typing" und "Grading" diffuser Gliome.

The fourth edition of the WHO classification of tumours of the CNS was published in 2007. Six new entities were codified: angiocentric glioma (AG); papillary glioneuronal tumour (PGNT); rosette-forming glioneuronal tumour of the fourth ventricle (RGNT); papillary tumour of the pineal region (PTPR); spindle cell oncocytoma of the adenohypophysis (SCO); and pituicytoma. Furthermore, six histological variants of well-known brain tumours have been added, partially because they show different biological behaviour and/or prognosis: pilomyxoid astrocytoma; atypical choroid plexus papilloma; medulloblastoma with extensive nodularity; anaplastic medulloblastoma; extraventricular neurocytoma; non-specific variant of dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumour (DNT). The new entities and variants are discussed in this review. Moreover, the typing und grading of common-type diffuse gliomas, as well as the WHO grading system, are critically reviewed, particularly with regard to the prognostically important differential diagnosis of diffuse astrocytomas und oligodendrogliomas.

Regulatory properties of 6-phosphofructokinase and control of glycolysis in boar spermatozoa.

Glycolysis is crucial for sperm functions (motility and fertilization), but how this pathway is regulated in spermatozoa is not clear. This prompted to study the location and the regulatory properties of 6-phosphofructokinase (PFK, EC 2.7.1.11), the most important element for control of glycolytic flux. Unlike some other glycolytic enzymes, PFK showed no tight binding to sperm structures. It could readily be extracted from ejaculated boar spermatozoa by sonication and was then chromatographically purified. At physiological pH, the enzyme was allosterically inhibited by near-physiological concentrations of its co-substrate ATP, which induced co-operativity, i.e. reduced the affinity for the substrate fructose 6-phosphate. Inhibition by ATP was reinforced by citrate and H+. Above pH 8, PFK lost all its regulatory properties and showed maximum activity. However, in the physiological pH range, PFK activity was very sensitive to small changes in effectors. At near-physiological substrate concentrations, PFK activity requires activators (de-inhibitors) of which the combination of AMP and fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (F2,6P2) was most efficient as a result of synergistic effects. The kinetics of PFK suggest AMP, F2,6P2, H+, and citrate as allosteric effectors controlling PFK activity in boar spermatozoa. Using immunogold labeling, PFK was localized in the mid-piece and principal piece of the flagellum as well as in the acrosomal area at the top of the head and in the cytoplasmic droplets released from the mid-piece after ejaculation.

[Histopathology of space-occupying lesions of the spine]. / Histopathologie spinaler Raumforderungen.

The first step in diagnosing spinal lesions is to define the anatomical location, especially via magnetic resonance tomography, which is also helpful for histopathologists. However, definite diagnosis is based on histologic and cytologic examinations especially in the case of fine-needle biopsies. In this short review the principal histopathologic diagnoses of primary and secondary tumors and tumor-like lesions of the spine itself, the epidural space, the spinal meninges and nerve roots, and the spinal cord are addressed. The significance of immunohistochemistry for differential diagnosis or, in cases of spinal metastasis, for determination of the primary is discussed.