Confronting cisternae and ciliated cells in malignant pleural mesothelioma: an ultrastructural study

Our plain-English summary of Confronting cisternae and ciliated cells in malignant pleural mesothelioma: an ultrastructural study, by C. Torikata, T. Kawai, M. Nakayama (Ultrastructural Pathology, 1991).

The study

• Authors: C. Torikata, T. Kawai, M. Nakayama
• Journal: Ultrastructural Pathology
• Published: 1991;15(3):249-56
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The incidence of malignant mesothelioma of the pleura has recently increased in Japan, and ultrastructural and immunohistochemical studies can help in the histopathologic diagnosis. Confronting cisternae consist of dense laminae between the cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticula. Cylindric confronting cisternae have recently been found in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The pathologic significance of this unusual structure is still obscure, but it has been proposed that trapped ribosomes on the confronting unit membranes of rough endoplasmic reticula produce the dense laminae. In this study, prominent confronting cisternae were found in more than half the tumor cells, and accumulation of an electrondense fine granular substance surrounded by Golgi vesicles (so-called vesicular rosettes) were noted and found to be continuous with the dense laminae. The nature and origin of the vesicular rosettes are important with regard to the formation and significance of confronting cisternae. Oligocilia have been found in various metaplastic and neoplastic cells and are thought to be nonspecific. There has been only one report of ciliated cells and confronting cisternae in a malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, however, indicating that these unusual cytoplasmic structures might be related to some epithelial-type mesotheliomas.

In plain English

This was a case report of a 36-year-old woman in Japan, a housewife with no history of occupational exposure to asbestos fibers. A tumor about 8 x 7 x 6 cm, attached to the visceral pleura, was removed and diagnosed as epithelial-type mesothelioma. She then received anti-tumor drugs, but 3 months after the operation a recurrent mass was found in the mediastinum; once removed, it proved to be a metastasis in regional lymph nodes. The authors examined the tumor under light and electron microscopes. Unusual structures called confronting cisternae were found in more than half the tumor cells. These connected to clumps of dense material surrounded by small Golgi vesicles (vesicular rosettes). Electron microscopy found definite cilia in four tumor cells; light microscopy had not detected ciliated cells. The authors proposed that the dense layers of the cisternae relate to the material in the vesicular rosettes rather than to ribosomes. They also proposed that mesothelial cells might change into ciliated cells as the tumor develops. They said further study is needed. The report describes one tumor, not how often these features occur.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Case report (ultrastructural study of a single patient's tumor)
• Who was studied: One 36-year-old woman in Japan, a housewife, with an abnormal mediastinal shadow on chest radiograph. The tumor was an epithelial-type mesothelioma about 8 x 7 x 6 cm, closely attached to the anteromedial visceral pleura.
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure was studied. The patient had no history of occupational exposure to asbestos fibers, and no fiber analysis was reported.
• Main results:
  • Histology showed an epithelial-type mesothelioma with lymphatic permeation and direct subpleural invasion.
  • Three months after the first resection, a recurrent mass was noted in the mediastinum. It was resected again, and it was a metastatic lesion in the regional lymph nodes. The article does not give the date of the second resection.
  • Tumor cells stained positive for keratin and negative for carcinoembryonic antigen. They contained glycogen but no epithelial mucin.
  • By electron microscopy, confronting cisternae were found in more than half the tumor cells, and these cells were not dividing.
  • The dense laminae had a three-layer structure between two parallel membranes about 40 nm apart.
  • Masses of electron-dense material, surrounded by numerous Golgi vesicles (vesicular rosettes), were often found between confronting cisternae and were connected to the dense laminae.
  • Ciliated cells were not seen by light microscopy. By electron microscopy, four tumor cells contained definite cilia, and one cell had more than 10 cilia and basal bodies.
  • No microtubuloreticular structures were seen in the cisternae.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the dense lamina is presumably related to the fine granular matrix of the vesicular rosettes rather than to ribosomes. They also concluded that the case presents the possibility that mesothelial cells can be changed into ciliated cells during tumor development.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that the nature and origin of the electron-dense material remain unclear and that further cytochemical study is needed to clarify how confronting cisternae form.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Malignant Mesothelioma, Pleura, Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• The immediate effects of silicon carbide whiskers upon ciliated tracheal epithelium — G.L. Vaughan, J.R. Kennedy, et al. (1991)
• Asbestos body formation and iron accumulation in mouse peritoneal granulomas after the introduction of crocidolite asbestos fibers — H.K. Koerten, J. Hazekamp, et al. (1990)
• Multilocular peritoneal inclusion cyst (multicystic mesothelioma) with hyaline globules — J. Lamovec, J. Sinkovec (1996)
• On the mechanism of cell internalization of chrysotile fibers: an immunocytochemical and ultrastructural study — W. Malorni, F. Iosi, et al. (1990)
• Ultrastructural studies of malignant cells in fluids — G.A. Herrera, J.A. Wilkerson (1985)
• An ultrastructural comparison of mesotheliomas with adenocarcinomas of the lung and breast — M.J. Warhol, J.M. Corson (1985)

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