Search results for " ES"
showing 10 items of 9789 documents
MicroRNA as crucial regulators of gene expression in estradiol-treated human endothelial cells.
2018
Background/Aims: Estrogen signalling plays an important role in vascular biology as it modulates vasoactive and metabolic pathways in endothelial cells. Growing evidence has also established microRNA (miRNA) as key regulators of endothelial function. Nonetheless, the role of estrogen regulation on miRNA profile in endothelial cells is poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to determine how estrogen modulates miRNA profile in human endothelial cells and to explore the role of the different estrogen receptors (ERα, ERβ and GPER) in the regulation of miRNA expression by estrogen. Methods: We used miRNA microarrays to determine global miRNA expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cel…
Prognostic use of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 and placental growth factor in patients with coronary artery disease.
2015
Background: Intention of the study is to assess the cardiovascular mortality of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) with the biomarkers of angiogenesis PlGF and its endogenous inhibitor sFlt-1. Methods: The cohort included n = 1848 patients with CAD and 282 subjects without CAD. In 85 patients cardiovascular mortality, as combination of fatal myocardial infarction or any cardiac death, during a median follow-up duration of 3.9 years was reported. Results: In Kaplan–Meier curve analysis PlGF in rising thirds was not predictive regarding outcome (p = 0.54), the same was shown for sFlt-1 (p = 0.44). Cox regression for the fully adjusted model provided a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.8 (p = 0…
MycoKey Round Table Discussions of Future Directions in Research on Chemical Detection Methods, Genetics and Biodiversity of Mycotoxins
2018
MycoKey, an EU-funded Horizon 2020 project, includes a series of “Roundtable Discussions” to gather information on trending research areas in the field of mycotoxicology. This paper includes summaries of the Roundtable Discussions on Chemical Detection and Monitoring of mycotoxins and on the role of genetics and biodiversity in mycotoxin production. Discussions were managed by using the nominal group discussion technique, which generates numerous ideas and provides a ranking for those identified as the most important. Four questions were posed for each research area, as well as two questions that were common to both discussions. Test kits, usually antibody based, were one major focus of the…
Mandarin essential oils inhibit quorum sensing and virulence factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
2016
Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces biofilm and several virulence factors coordinated by quorum sensing (QS) in food. The interruption of QS is a target to control the bacterial virulence. Chemical preservatives used to control biofilm give rise to several food safety problems. For this reason, essential oils (EOs), generally recognized as safe products, are a hopeful alternative. The aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of mandarin EOs obtained by cold-pressing (EOP) and cold-pressing followed by steam distillation (EOPD) and their antipathogenic properties against P. aeruginosa. Both EOs contained the highest quantities of monoterpene hydrocarbons, mainly limonene, follo…
Transcription factor NRF2 as a therapeutic target for chronic diseases: a systems medicine approach
2018
Systems medicine has a mechanism-based rather than a symptom- or organ-based approach to disease and identifies therapeutic targets in a nonhypothesis-driven manner. In this work, we apply this to transcription factor nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2) by cross-validating its position in a protein-protein interaction network (the NRF2 interactome) functionally linked to cytoprotection in low-grade stress, chronic inflammation, metabolic alterations, and reactive oxygen species formation. Multiscale network analysis of these molecular profiles suggests alterations of NRF2 expression and activity as a common mechanism in a subnetwork of diseases (the NRF2 diseasome). This netw…
Towards more sustainable food systems. Addressing food waste at school canteens
2018
Food Waste is a global significant issue for ethical, environmental and economic reasons, while its management is difficult due to its frequent low visibility. Individual choices and preferences are closely related to the generation of food waste although likely to be modified through education and awareness campaigns. In particular, school canteens are big generators of food waste and, at the same time, provide a great opportunity to improve habits regarding nutrition and education on sustainability, thus impacting the future of the food system. The end purpose of this research is identifying the causes of food waste and unveiling best practices towards its reduction. To achieve this goal,…
Extracellular matrix composition defines an ultra-high-risk group of neuroblastoma within the high-risk patient cohort
2016
Background: Although survival for neuroblastoma patients has dramatically improved in recent years, a substantial number of children in the high-risk subgroup still die. Methods: We aimed to define a subgroup of ultra-high-risk patients from within the high-risk cohort. We used advanced morphometric approaches to quantify and characterise blood vessels, reticulin fibre networks, collagen type I bundles, elastic fibres and glycosaminoglycans in 102 high-risk neuroblastomas specimens. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to correlate the analysed elements with survival. Results: The organisation of blood vessels and reticulin fibres in neuroblastic tumours defined an ultra-high-risk patient subgr…
Extracellular Assembly of the Elastin Cable Line Element in the Developing Lung
2017
In the normal lung, a dominant structural element is an elastic "line element" that originates in the central bronchi and inserts into the distal airspaces. Despite its structural importance, the process that leads to development of the cable line element is unknown. To investigate the morphologic events contributing to its development, we used optical clearing methods to examine the postnatal rat lung. An unexpected finding was numerous spheres, with a median diameter of 1-2 µm, within the primary septa of the rat lung. The spheres demonstrated green autofluorescence, selective fluorescent eosin staining, reactivity with carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester, and specific labeling with ant…
Viral replication modes in single-peak fitness landscapes: A dynamical systems analysis
2017
Positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses are important pathogens infecting almost all types of organisms. Experimental evidence from distributions of mutations and from viral RNA amplification suggest that these pathogens may follow different RNA replication modes, ranging from the stamping machine replication (SMR) to the geometric replication (GR) mode. Although previous theoretical work has focused on the evolutionary dynamics of RNA viruses amplifying their genomes with different strategies, little is known in terms of the bifurcations and transitions involving the so-called error threshold (mutation-induced dominance of mutants) and lethal mutagenesis (extinction of all sequences du…
Interactions of human P-glycoprotein transport substrates and inhibitors at the drug binding domain: Functional and molecular docking analyses
2015
Rhodamine 123 (R123) transport substrate sensitizes P-glycoprotein (P-gp) to inhibition by compound 2c (cis-cis) N,N-bis(cyclohexanolamine)aryl ester isomer in a concentration-dependent manner in human MDR1-gene transfected mouse T-lymphoma L5178 cells as shown previously. By contrast, epirubicin (EPI) concentration changes left unaltered 2c IC50 values of EPI efflux. To clarify this discrepancy, defined molecular docking (DMD) analyses of 12 N,N-bis(cyclohexanolamine)aryl esters, the highly flexible aryl ester analog 4, and several P-gp substrate/non-substrate inhibitors were performed on human P-gp drug- or nucleotide-binding domains (DBD or NBD). DMD measurements yielded lowest binding e…