A course of coordinated sciences: The structure of matter

On a glycoprotein of the sea urchin eggs and its changes following fertilization.

Sbattendo con etere la frazione solubile in acido tricloroacetico di uova vergini diParacentrotus lividus si forma un precipitato all'interfacie tra etere e fase acquosa. L'analisi di questo precipitato ha dimostrato che si tratta di una glicoproteina. Il precipitato non si forma da estratti di uova fecondate.

Proteomic analysis of exosome-like vesicles derived from breast cancer cells.

Background/Aim: The phenomenon of membrane vesicle-release by neoplastic cells is a growing field of interest in cancer research, due to their potential role in carrying a large array of tumor antigens when secreted into the extracellular medium. In particular, experimental evidence show that at least some of the tumor markers detected in the blood circulation of mammary carcinoma patients are carried by membrane-bound vesicles. Thus, biomarker research in breast cancer can gain great benefits from vesicle characterization. Materials and Methods: Conditioned medium was collected from serum starved MDA-MB-231 sub-confluent cell cultures and exosome-like vesicles (ELVs) were isolated by ultra…

Type-II transmembrane prolyl dipeptidases and matrix metalloproteinases in membrane vesicles of active endothelial cells.

Conclusions: Endothelia cells in sparse culture are migratory and increase the production of gelatinases of serine- and metallo-classes in membrane vesicles. Collectively, proteases associated with membrane vesicles degrade extracellular matrix components including type-I and type-IV collagens, laminin and fibronectin. Inhibitor studies suggest the existence of small gelatinases that were derived from these serine- and metallo-proteases. Thus, further studies are warranted to demonstrate the cooperative action of metallo- and serine proteases on cell surfaces and in extracellular vesicles during endothelial cell migration in 3D collagenous matrices, and potential proteolytic activation mech…

Phosphoproteinphosphatase activity in sea urchin embryos

Si e studiata l'attivita fosfoproteinfosfatasica in omogenati totali di uova ed embrioni diParacentrotus lividus e diArbacia lixula. La reazione ha un optimum a pH acido, e stimolata da K+ e Na+ ed e inibita da Ca++ e Mg++. L'attivita enzimatica aumenta tra la fecondazione e lo stadio a 64 blastomeri; in seguito rimane costante fino a blastula con mesenchima; quindi generalmente decresce.