0000000000622938
AUTHOR
M Di Carlo
CONCANAVALIN A AGGREGATION AND TOXICITY ON NEUROBLASTOMA LAN5 CELL CULTURES
The sea urchin embryo: a model to study Alzheimer's beta amyloid induced toxicity.
Abstract Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. The cause of AD is closely related to the accumulation of amyloid beta peptide in the neuritic plaques. The use of animal model systems represents a good strategy to elucidate the molecular mechanism behind the development of this pathology. Here we use the Paracentrotus lividus embryo to identify molecules and pathways that can be involved in the degenerative process. As a first step, we identified the presence of an antigen related to the human APP, called Pl APP. This antigen, after gastrula stage, is processed producing a polypeptide of about 10 kDa. By immunohistochemistry we localized the Pl APP antigen in some ser…
Social closeness,salivary hormones and physical exercise
Introduction: Saliva collection and analysis is quickly becoming a useful and non-invasive tool for the evaluation of sport biomarkers. The aim of this study is to create a multidisciplinary assessment model, which can help to provide psychological and physiological responses, related to sport performances, social closeness and performance anxiety management in team sports. Materials and methods: We enrolled in our research 26 female volleyball players aged 13 ± 1 years old of three different teams (T1: 12 players; T2: 9 players; T3: 5 players). Saliva collection was carried out before and after the match for every team. Then we analyzed cortisol and progesterone concentrations through Elis…
INTEGRATIVE APPROACH BETWEEN GENE VARIANTS, NEUROENDOCRINE EFFECTORS AND ANXIETY RESPONSE: A PILOT STUDY
The aim of this study is to investigate the neurobiology of stress/emotionality, creating a multidisciplinary assessment model, which can help to provide psychological and physiological responses depending on the genetic background related to sport performances, social closeness and performance anxiety management in team sports. We enrolled 20 female volleyball players aged 13 ± 1 years old played in two different teams during a regional championship final. Saliva collection was carried out before and after the match. In order to evaluate the neuroendocrine effectors involved in stress and performance, we analyzed cortisol and progesterone levels through Elisa standard kit as well as HSP70 …
Angiotensin II type II receptors and colonic dysmotility in 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzenesulfonic acid-induced colitis in rats
Background: Angiotensin II (Ang II), the main peptide of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), has been suggested to be involved in inflammatory bowel diseases. Since RAS has emerged as gut motility regulator, and dysmotility is associated with intestinal inflammation, our objective was to investigate in rat 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (DNBS)-induced colitis the functionality of RAS and its contribution to colonic motor alterations. Methods: The effects of Ang II on the longitudinal colonic muscular contractility of control and DNBS-treated rats were characterized in vitro. Transcripts encoding for Ang II receptors were investigated by RT-PCR. Key Results: Inflamed preparations showed a l…
CONJUGATION STRATEGIES OF INSULIN TO NANOGELS AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY TESTS
Neuroprotective effect of a new Insulin-Nanogel system
Nanogels (NGs) have a great potential in the development of “smart” nanocarriers for (bio)molecular drugs and contrast agent for bioimaging. They are formed by physically or chemically crosslinked polymer networks, characterized by a large and flexible surface available for multivalent bioconjugations. NGs can be produced with high yields and through-puts by pulsed electron-beam irradiation of dilute aqueous solutions of water-soluble biocompatible polymers. In this work, a carboxyl functionalized nanogel system (NG), generated by pulsed e-beam irradiation of a semi-dilute poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) aqueous solution in the presence of acrylic acid, with an average diameter in the 60-70…
Curcumin entrapped into lipid nanosystems inhibits neuroblastoma cancer cell growth and activates Hsp70 protein
Curcumin is a natural anti-cancer compound utilized on a wide variety of human cancer cell lines and animal carcinogenesis models. However, its clinical application has been limited for its minimal systemic bioavailability. Nanoparticle-based drug delivery approaches have the potential for rendering hydrophobic molecules such as curcumin dispersible in aqueous media, thus overtaking the limits of its poor solubility. In this paper, we reported the preparation and chemical-physical characterization of Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLC) containing curcumin, based on Imwitor, Compritol or Precirol as lipid matrix. By in vitro experiments, we have demonstrated that these nano-systems are able …
Neurobiology of performance anxiety:A new approach
The aim of this study is to investigate the neurobiology of stress/emotionality, creating a multidisciplinary assessment model, which can help to provide psychological and physiological responses depending on the genetic background related to sport performances, social closeness and performance anxiety management in team sports. We enrolled 20 female volleyball players aged 13 ± 1 years old played in two different teams during a regional championship final. Saliva collection was carried out before and after the match. In order to evaluate the neuroendocrine effectors involved in stress and performance, we analyzed cortisol and progesterone levels through Elisa standard kit as well as HSP70 …
A close connection: Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes
In the recent years a growing body of evidence links insulin resistance and insulin action to neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The importance of insulin in ageing as well as its role in cognition and other aspects of normal brain functions are well established. The hippocampus and cerebral cortex-distributed insulin and insulin receptor (IR) have been shown to be involved in brain cognitive functions. Conversely, deterioration of IR signaling is involved in agingrelated brain degeneration such as in AD and cognitive impairment in type 2 diabetes patients. Insulin administration, while maintaining euglycemia, improves memory in both healthy adults and Alzheime…