Search results for " Biochemistry"
showing 10 items of 5648 documents
2019
Abstract Tyrosine nitration is a post-translational protein modification relevant to various pathophysiological processes. Chemical nitration procedures have been used to generate and study nitrated proteins, but these methods regularly lead to modifications at other amino acid residues. A novel strategy employs a genetic code modification that allows incorporation of 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) during ribosomal protein synthesis to generate a recombinant protein with defined 3-NT-sites, in the absence of other post-translational modifications. This approach was applied to study the generation and stability of the 3-NT moiety in recombinant proteins produced in E.coli. Nitrated alpha-synuclein (…
Direct Sensing of Nutrients via a LAT1-like Transporter in Drosophila Insulin-Producing Cells
2016
Summary Dietary leucine has been suspected to play an important role in insulin release, a hormone that controls satiety and metabolism. The mechanism by which insulin-producing cells (IPCs) sense leucine and regulate insulin secretion is still poorly understood. In Drosophila, insulin-like peptides (DILP2 and DILP5) are produced by brain IPCs and are released in the hemolymph after leucine ingestion. Using Ca2+-imaging and ex vivo cultured larval brains, we demonstrate that IPCs can directly sense extracellular leucine levels via minidiscs (MND), a leucine transporter. MND knockdown in IPCs abolished leucine-dependent changes, including loss of DILP2 and DILP5 in IPC bodies, consistent wit…
Middle Pleistocene protein sequences from the rhinoceros genus Stephanorhinus and the phylogeny of extant and extinct Middle/Late Pleistocene Rhinoce…
2017
BackgroundAncient protein sequences are increasingly used to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships between extinct and extant mammalian taxa. Here, we apply these recent developments to Middle Pleistocene bone specimens of the rhinoceros genusStephanorhinus. No biomolecular sequence data is currently available for this genus, leaving phylogenetic hypotheses on its evolutionary relationships to extant and extinct rhinoceroses untested. Furthermore, recent phylogenies based on Rhinocerotidae (partial or complete) mitochondrial DNA sequences differ in the placement of the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis). Therefore, studies utilising ancient protein sequences from Middle Pleis…
Effects of oleuropein on tumor cell growth and bone remodelling: Potential clinical implications for the prevention and treatment of malignant bone d…
2020
Oleuropein (Ole) is the main bioactive phenolic compound present in olive leaves, fruits and olive oil. This molecule has been shown to exert beneficial effects on several human pathological conditions. In particular, recent preclinical and observational studies have provided evidence that Ole exhibits chemo-preventive effects on different types of human tumors. Studies undertaken to elucidate the specific mechanisms underlying these effects have shown that this molecule may thwart several key steps of malignant progression, including tumor cell proliferation, survival, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis, by modulating the expression and activity of several growth factors, cytokines, adh…
Cellular and Molecular Heterogeneity Associated with Vessel Formation Processes
2018
The microvasculature heterogeneity is a complex subject in vascular biology. The difficulty of building a dynamic and interactive view among the microenvironments, the cellular and molecular heterogeneities, and the basic aspects of the vessel formation processes make the available knowledge largely fragmented. The neovascularisation processes, termed vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, arteriogenesis, and lymphangiogenesis, are important to the formation and proper functioning of organs and tissues both in the embryo and the postnatal period. These processes are intrinsically related to microvascular cells, such as endothelial and mural cells. These cells are able to adjust their activities in r…
Lyophilized Maqui (Aristotelia chilensis) Berry Induces Browning in the Subcutaneous White Adipose Tissue and Ameliorates the Insulin Resistance in H…
2019
Maqui (Aristotelia Chilensis) berry features a unique profile of anthocyanidins that includes high amounts of delphinidin-3-O-sambubioside-5-O-glucoside and delphinidin-3-O-sambubioside and has shown positive effects on fasting glucose and insulin levels in humans and murine models of type 2 diabetes and obesity. The molecular mechanisms underlying the impact of maqui on the onset and development of the obese phenotype and insulin resistance was investigated in high fat diet-induced obese mice supplemented with a lyophilized maqui berry. Maqui-dietary supplemented animals showed better insulin response and decreased weight gain but also a differential expression of genes involved in de novo…
Pharmacogenetics of Metabolic Genes of Anthracyclines in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
2018
Background Anthracyclines in combination with cytarabine have been the standard therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) for decades with high efficacy. However, the majority of patients will show initial resistance or will relapse after initial complete remission. Genetic variability in genes involved in anthracyclines metabolic pathway could be one of the causes of the interindividual differences in clinical outcomes. Methods A systematic review of published studies in AML cohorts was carried out in order to analyze the influence of polymorphisms in genes of anthracycline metabolism on efficacy and toxicity. Results Polymorphisms in the main enzymes of anthracyclines metabolism (CBR, AKR,…
Harnessing Tumor Mutations for Truly Individualized Cancer Vaccines
2019
T cells are key effectors of anticancer immunity. They are capable of distinguishing tumor cells from normal ones by recognizing major histocompatibility complex–bound cancer-specific peptides. Accumulating evidence suggests that peptides associated with T cell–mediated tumor rejection arise predominantly from somatically mutated proteins and are unique to every patient's tumor. Knowledge of an individual's cancer mutanome (the entirety of cancer mutations) allows harnessing this enormous tumor cell–specific repertoire of highly immunogenic antigens for individualized cancer vaccines. This review outlines the preclinical and clinical state of individualized cancer vaccine development and t…
Genotyping and Antifungal Susceptibility of Dipodascus capitatus Isolated in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a Sicilian Hospital
2017
In August 2015, Dipodascus capitatus was isolated from two patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Nosocomial acquisition of the fungus was suspected and epidemiological studies were undertaken. The patients were simultaneously hospitalized, and the comparison of the two isolates by two independent molecular typing methods have confirmed clonal dissemination of a single strain of D. capitatus. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was useful for identifying the appropriated antifungal therapy in micafungin. To our knowledge these are the first described cases of neonatal D. capitatus infection and also the first report of successful treatment by micafungin.
Ferric-bipyridine assay: A novel spectrophotometric method for measurement of antioxidant capacity
2020
Measurement of the antioxidant potential using in vitro assays is paramount in the assessment of various food products and nutraceuticals. Researchers always attempt to develop more accurate assays which can be performed in unsophisticated conditions. This novel method, Ferric-Bipyridine reducing capacity of total antioxidants (FBRC) is a very simple, accurate assay performed based on the reduction of Fe (III) to Fe (II) by antioxidants with the formation of a colored complex with bipyridine (Bp) i.e, Fe(II)-Bp. The FBRC method thus developed was assessed under carefully adjusted parameters of oxidant concentration, pH, temperature, solvent, light and time in order to fix the optimum condit…