Search results for " Biologia molecolare"

Specific expression of a TRIM-containing factor in ectoderm cells affects the skeletal morphogenetic program of the sea urchin embryo

2011

In the indirect developing sea urchin embryo, the primary mesenchyme cells (PMCs) acquire most of the positional and temporal information from the overlying ectoderm for skeletal initiation and growth. In this study, we characterize the function of the novel gene strim1, which encodes a tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) protein, that adds to the list of genes constituting the epithelial-mesenchymal signaling network. We report that strim1 is expressed in ectoderm regions adjacent to the bilateral clusters of PMCs and that its misexpression leads to severe skeletal abnormalities. Reciprocally, knock down of strim1 function abrogates PMC positioning and blocks skeletogenesis. Blastomere tran…

Expression of homeobox-containing genes in the sea urchin (Parancentrotus lividus) embryo

1994

Two homeobox-containing genes that belong to different homeodomain classes have been isolated from a sea urchin geonomic library. One, PlHbox11, is the sea urchin homologue of the human and mouse Hox B3 gene, the other, PlHbox12, shows about 55% identity with paired class genes. Expression profile analysis of the two sea urchin Hbox genes suggests that they play different roles during embryogenesis. In fact, PlHbox11 transcripts are rare and are detected only in the pluteus larva and in the Aristotle's lantern and intestine of the adult. The PlHbox12 gene is, on the contrary, transiently expressed in the very early embryo already at the four cell stage; it accumulates at the 64 cell stage a…

Addition of either pioglitazone or a sulfonylurea in type 2 diabetic patients inadequately controlled with metformin alone: impact on cardiovascular …

2012

Abstract Background and aims Metformin is the first-line therapy in type 2 diabetes. In patients inadequately controlled with metformin, the addition of a sulfonylurea or pioglitazone are equally plausible options to improve glycemic control. However, these drugs have profound differences in their mechanism of action, side effects, and impact on cardiovascular risk factors. A formal comparison of these two therapies in terms of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is lacking. The TOSCA.IT study was designed to explore the effects of adding pioglitazone or a sulfonylurea on cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetic patients inadequately controlled with metformin. Methods Multicentre, random…

Effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists on myokine levels and pro-inflammatory cytokines in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

2021

Background and aims: To evaluate the change in circulating serum irisin and interleukin-6 (IL-6), in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) after 6 and 12 months of GLP-1 treatment. Methods and results: Eighty-five patients with T2DM inadequately controlled with insulin or other hypoglycaemic drugs were added to dulaglutide (N° = 44) and liraglutide (N° = 41) treatment. After 6 months of GLP-1 analogues a significant decrease in BMI (p < 0.001), waist circumference (WC) (p < 0.001), fasting blood glucose (p < 0.001), HbA1c (p < 0.001), total cholesterol (p < 0.001), LDL-cholesterol (p = 0.003), triglycerides (p = 0.017), IL-6 (p = 0.045) and a significant increase in s…

The Ambulacraria-specific COMPASS-like protein contributes to sns5 chromatin insulator function in the sea urchin embryo

2013

Effects of cadmium exposition on sea urchin development by SSH and RT-qPCR techniques

2012

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal contaminating coastal environments. It has been suggested that the mechanisms of acute Cd toxicity involve the depletion of glutathione and protein-bound sulfhydryl groups, resulting in enhanced production of ROS. Cd-increased ROS in turn produces lipid peroxidation, and results in DNA damage. However, little is known about direct evidence and mechanism for Cd-generated radicals until recently. In order to study the early defense strategies activated by P. lividus 30 hours embryos, in response to exposition to sub-lethal doses of Cd (100μM), we analyzed the induced transcriptome comparing it to that of control embryos by Suppression Subtractive Hybridizat…

Utility of serum procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in severity assessment of community-acquired pneumonia in children

2015

OBJECTIVES: Although the importance of serum Procalcitonin (PCT) levels at diagnosis is well established in adult Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP), its use remains controversial in pediatric CAP. The aim of our study is to investigate the role of PCT and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) in the assessment of pediatric CAP severity defined by the extent of consolidation on chest X-rays and the presence of pleural effusion. In this particular setting, no clinical severity score is available at present and chest X-ray, although important for diagnosis confirmation, is not recommended as routine test. DESIGN AND METHODS: The study involved 119 children admitted to the Department of Pediatric Infectiou…

R-Roscovitine (Seliciclib) prevents DNA damage-induced cyclin A1 upregulation and hinders non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) DNA repair.

2010

Abstract Background CDK-inhibitors can diminish transcriptional levels of cell cycle-related cyclins through the inhibition of E2F family members and CDK7 and 9. Cyclin A1, an E2F-independent cyclin, is strongly upregulated under genotoxic conditions and functionally was shown to increase NHEJ activity. Cyclin A1 outcompetes with cyclin A2 for CDK2 binding, possibly redirecting its activity towards DNA repair. To see if we could therapeutically block this switch, we analyzed the effects of the CDK-inhibitor R-Roscovitine on the expression levels of cyclin A1 under genotoxic stress and observed subsequent DNA damage and repair mechanisms. Results We found that R-Roscovitine alone was unable …

The Compass-like Locus, Exclusive to the Ambulacrarians, Encodes a Chromatin Insulator Binding Protein in the Sea Urchin Embryo

2013

Chromatin insulators are eukaryotic genome elements that upon binding of specific proteins display barrier and/or enhancer-blocking activity. Although several insulators have been described throughout various metazoans, much less is known about proteins that mediate their functions. This article deals with the identification and functional characterization in Paracentrotus lividus of COMPASS-like (CMPl), a novel echinoderm insulator binding protein. Phylogenetic analysis shows that the CMPl factor, encoded by the alternative spliced Cmp/Cmpl transcript, is the founder of a novel ambulacrarian-specific family of Homeodomain proteins containing the Compass domain. Specific association of CMPl…

Midregion PTHrP regulates Rip1 and caspase expression in MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells.

2007

It was previously reported that the midregion PTHrP domain (38-94)-amide restrains growth and invasion "in vitro", causes striking toxicity and accelerates death of some breast cancer cell lines, the most responsive being MDA-MB231 whose tumorigenesis was also attenuated "in vivo". In addition, we have demonstrated that midregion PTHrP is imported in the nucleoplasm of cultured MDA-MB231 cells, and that "in vitro" it can bind chromatin of metaphase spread preparations and also an isolated 20-mer oligonucleotide, thereby appearing endowed with a putative transcription factor-like DNA-binding ability. Here, we examined whether PTHrP (38-94)-amide was able to modulate the expression of genes e…