Cellular and molecular bases of biomineralization in sea urchin embryos

Sea urchin embryos construct their skeleton following a precise gene-regulated time- and space-dependent programme, in concert with factors promoting cell adhesion and differentiation. The biomineral is deposited in a privileged extracellular space produced by the fused filopodia processes of the primary mesenchyme cells, the only cells producing a set of necessary matrix proteins. More than ten years ago we showed for the first time that signals from ectoderm cells promoted the expression of one of the major skeleton matrix genes by the primary mesenchyme cells. Since then, many of the crucial steps of this complex activation cascade, from ectoderm cells to embryonic spicules, have been el…

Complexes of amphiphilic cyclodextrins and tributiltin(IV) porphyrin derivatives as potential nanotherapeutics against melanoma.

Genome wide survey of the Toll-like receptor family in the Mediterranean sea urchin

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) represent a conserved family of proteins widely expressed in eukaryotes. They play crucial roles in the innate immune system recognizing different pathogen-associated molecular patterns. In mammals the TLR family comprises 10-13 members, while a huge number of TLR-like genes were recovered in S.purpuratus[1-3]. The Paracentrotus lividus genome project recently generated a new highquality assembly of the genome that represents a valuable resource also for clarifying the evolutionary origin of immune system. In order to identify TLR genes in P.lividus, a genome wide survey was carried out and BLAT searches retrieved 119 TLR genes (PlivTLRs). Ab initio gene predictio…