0000000001247473
AUTHOR
Elisa Ferruggia
showing 12 related works from this author
Effects of cadmium chloride on some mitochondria-related activity and gene expression of human MDA-MB231 breast tumor cells.
2007
It was reported that cadmium is able to exert a cytotoxic effect on tumor MDA-MB231 cells, which shows signs of "non-classical" apoptosis and is characterized by drastic changes in gene expression pattern. In this study, we have extended our knowledge of metal-breast cancer cell interactions by analyzing some mitochondria-related aspects of the stress response to CdCl(2) at either 5 or 50 microM 24- or 96-h exposure, by cytochemical, conventional PCR and Northern/Western blot techniques. We demonstrated that (i) no modification of the mitochondrial mass was detectable due to CdCl(2) exposure; (ii) the respiration activity appeared to be increased after 96-h exposures, while the production o…
Mitochondrial compartment: a possible target of cadmium effects on breast epithelial cells.
2009
Cadmium–breast epithelial cell interactions were studied by analyzing some mitochondria-related aspects of stress response. We treated immortalized non-tumor breast cells with 5 or 50 μM CdCl2 for 24 or 96 h demonstrating that the exposure did not cause a significant mitochondrial proliferation, while it induced a significant increase in the respiratory activity and mitochondrial polarization. In addition, we found that hsp60 was up-regulated while hsp70 and COXII and COXIV were down-regulated. The mRNA for hsp70 remained constant and only the inducible form of the 70-kDa heat shock protein was over expressed. The mRNAs for COXII and COXIV remained constant after 24 h and increased after lo…
Cadmium and mitochondria
2009
The heavy metal cadmium (Cd) a pollutant associated with several modern industrial processes, is absorbed in significant quantities from cigarette smoke, water, food and air contaminations. It is known to have numerous undesirable effects on health in both experimental animals and humans, targeting kidney, liver and vascular system. The molecular mechanism accounting for most of the biological effects of Cd are not well-understood and the toxicity targets are largely unidentified. The present review focuses on important recent advances about the effects of cadmium on mitochondria of mammalian cells. Mitochondria are the proverbial powerhouses of the cell, running the fundamental biochemical…
Proteins participating to the post-transcriptional regulation of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit IV via elements located in the 3′UTR
2009
Abstract In developing rat brain cytochrome c oxidase subunit IV (COXIV) expression is also regulated at post-transcriptional level and two 3′UTR-COXIV RNA-binding factors have been identified. Here, we report the enrichment and identification of the factors from just born rat brains by affinity chromatography of biotinylated 3′UTR-COXIV RNA–protein complexes on streptavidin-conjugated paramagnetic particles. We successfully isolated two main proteins of about 86 and 42 kDa, whose sequences were highly attributable to Hsp90 and Actin. The purified proteins maintain RNA-binding ability and specificity for COXIV messenger and, interacting with the 3′UTR, then could negatively modulate mRNA tr…