0000000000220068
AUTHOR
Giovanni Morici
Morte cellulare programmata in oociti umani dopo ICSI
Dizionario multimediale di ecologia
Water recycling in leaves of Lithops (Aizoaceae)
Lithops plants consist of a pair of succulent leaves inserted on a short stem; each growing season young leaves develop in a cavity formed between the older pair. Young leaves can take up water from the older pair allowing the plant to maintain growth and leaf expansion even without external supply of water. Recycling water between vegetative organs is one of the possible adaptation strategies of plants under drought stress, but it had never been demonstrated experimentally in Lithops. The methodology used to verify the existence of water redistribution from old leaves to young leaves was fluorescence microscopy, using two dyes to follow the water pathway inside the plant: Sulforhodamine G …
Cadmium effects on sea urchin embryos
Lower apoptosis rate in human cumulus cells, after r-LH administration in ovarian stimulation for IVF procedure
MITOCHONDRIA DURING SEA URCHIN OVOGENESIS
Autophagy is related to apoptosis in sea urchin embryos exposed to cadmium
The sea urchin embryo is a suitable model system that offers an excellent opportunity to investigate different defense strategies activated in stress conditions. We previously showed that cadmium treatment provokes the accumulation of metal in dose-time dependent manner in embryonic cells and the activation of defense systems, such as the synthesis of HSPs and/or the initiation of apoptosis. Analyzing autophagy, by neutral red, acridine orange and LC3-detection, we demonstrated that Cd-exposed embryos adopt this process as an additional stratagem to safeguard the developmental program. We observed that embryos treated with subletal Cd concentration activate massive autophagic response after…
Apoptosi in oociti umani non fecondati dopo ICSI
STUDY OF MICROBIAL COLONIZATION ON MOSAIC TESSERAE BY PHYSICAL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TOOLS
Autophagy is related to apoptosis in Paracentrotus lividus embryos cadmium exposed
P. lividus embryo offers an excellent opportunity to investigate the adaptive response of cells exposed to different stress. We previously demonstrated that cadmium treatment triggers the accumulation of metal in embryonic cells and the activation of defense system depending on concentration and exposure time, through the synthesis of HSPs and/or the initiation of apoptosis. Analysing autophagy, by neutral red, acridine orange and LC3-detection, we demonstrated that Cd-exposed embryos adopt this process as an additional stratagem to safeguard the developmental program. We observed that embryos treated at subletal Cd concentration activate a massive autophagic response after 18h, which decre…
A method for measuring mitochondrial mass and activity
Mitochondria, responsible for the energy-generating process essential for the cell metabolism, differ for the number, localization and activity in animal cells and tissues in relation to the energetic needs. Using fluorescent probes specific for mitochondria, Mitotracker Green (MTG) and Orange (MTO), and Confocal Laser-Scanning Microscope (CLSM), we elaborated a method to measure in vivo the mitochondrial mass and activity, in sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus eggs and embryos. The analysis of captured images, revealed a variation of mitochondrial distribution and an increase of activity after fertilization.
Apoptosis in Human Cumulus Cells
Lower apoptosis rate in human cumulus cells after administration of recombinant luteinizing hormone to women undergoing ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization procedures.
Objective: To investigate the effects of recombinant (r-) LH supplementation in “low responder” patients undergoing ovarian stimulation with r-FSH for an IVF program. The apoptosis rate in cumulus cells was used as an indicator of oocyte quality. Design: Comparison of the rate of DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 activity in cumulus cells in women stimulated with r-LH and r-FSH, versus patients treated with r-FSH alone (control). Setting: In vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory. Patient(s): Forty patients undergoing assisted fertilization programs treated with a GnRH agonist, or r-FSH treatment begun on day 3 of the cycle (control). In the r-LH group, from day 8 of gonadotropin stimulation, 1…
Apoptosis in human unfertilized oocytes after ICSI
Apoptosis rate of human cumulus cells from single oocytes in infertile patients as criteria for the selection of oocytes to be treated by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).
Identification and characterization of PlAlix, the Alix homologue from the Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus.
The sea urchin provides a relatively simple and tractable system for analyzing the early stages of embryo development. Here, we use the sea urchin species, Paracentrotus lividus, to investigate the role of Alix in key stages of embryogenesis, namely the egg fertilization and the first cleavage division. Alix is a multifunctional protein involved in different cellular processes including endocytic membrane trafficking, filamentous (F)-actin remodeling, and cytokinesis. Alix homologues have been identified in different metazoans; in these organisms, Alix is involved in oogenesis and in determination/differentiation events during embryo development. Herein, we describe the identification of th…
L'embrione di riccio di mare come modello di studio dell'autofagia indotta da stress
Gli embrioni di riccio di mare, Paracentrotus lividus, sono in grado di attivare differenti strategie di difesa come risposta a stress chimico/fisici. Recentemente abbiamo dimostrato che il cadmio, metallo pesante altamente embriotossico, induce la sintesi di specifiche hsps e/o l’innesco di processi apoptotici, via via che si accumula nelle cellule embrionali. Nel presente lavoro, mostriamo che gli embrioni di P. lividus sono in grado di attivare l’autofagia come un aggiuntivo meccanismo atto a salvaguardare il programma di sviluppo, in seguito a esposizione a dosi citotossiche di CdCl2. L’autofagia è un meccanismo molecolare che può stimolare la sopravvivenza, attraverso la degradazione e…
Cadmium induces autophagy during development of Paracentrotus lividus embryos.
Mitochondria during sea urchin oogenesis.
SummarySea urchin represents an ideal model for studies on fertilization and early development, but the achievement of egg competence and mitochondrial behaviour during oogenesis remain to be enlightened. Oocytes of echinoid, such as sea urchin, unlike other echinoderms and other systems, complete meiotic maturation before fertilization. Mitochondria, the powerhouse of eukaryotic cells, contain a multi-copy of the maternally inherited genome, and are involved directly at several levels in the reproductive processes, as their functional status influences the quality of oocytes and contributes to fertilization and embryogenesis. In the present paper, we report our latest data on mitochondrial…
Apoptosis in human unfertilized oocytes after intracytoplasmic sperm injection
Objective To investigate the presence of programmed cell death in unfertilized oocytes after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), assuming that previous apoptotic events could be correlated with the fertilization failure. Design Comparison of the rate of DNA fragmentation in human oocytes at different stages of maturation soon after pick-up (control) and in unfertilized oocytes after ICSI treatment. Setting In vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory with extensive ICSI experience. Patient(s) Sixty-three patients undergoing assisted fertilization by ICSI. Intervention(s) Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated digoxigenin-dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay and anticaspase-3 cleaved…
Characterization of microbial biofilm into mosaic tesserae by physical and molecular biology techniques
Confocal microscopy study of the distribution, content and activity of mitochondria during Paracentrotus lividus development
Summary In the present paper we applied confocal microscopy andfluorescence technologies for studying the distribution andthe oxidative activity of sea urchin ( Paracentrotus lividus )mitochondria during development, by in vivo incubating eggsand embryos with cell-permeant MitoTracker probes. Wecalculated, by a mathematical model, the intensity values, the variations of intensity, and the variation index of incorporatedfluorochromes. Data demonstrate that mitochondrial massdoes not change during development, whereas mitochondrialrespirationincreases.Inaddition,startingfrom16blastomeresstage, some regions of the embryo contain organelles moreactive in oxygen consumption. Introduction The con…
r-lh administration in multiple follicular stimolation for ivf: effects of apoptosis in cumulus cells, oocytes quality and clinical outcome
Relationship between autophagy and apoptosis in Paracentrotus lividus embryos cadmium exposed
Cadmium is a strong toxicant for living organism since it does not have biological roles and can cause several cellular damages comprising genotoxicity, oxidative stress, and other biochemical dysfunctions. Marine invertebrate embryos represent a suitable model system where to investigate the effects of many stressors on development and cell viability. Here we investigated the toxic effect of cadmium on sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus embryos focusing our attention on metal-inducead autophagy and the possible temporal and functional relationship with apoptosis. Using several techniques to detect autophagy (neutral red, acridine orange and LC3-detection) we demonstrated that Cd-exposed P. l…