Search results for " INDUCTION"

Somatic embryogenesis in Abies nebrodensis, an endangered Sicilian fir

2022

AbstractSomatic embryogenesis, as a promising biotechnological tool for many conifer trees, has never been applied for the Abies nebrodensis species. Although all the encouraging results previously obtained by the EU LIFE (European LIFE program) funded projects in over ten years, the critically endangered Sicilian fir remains alarmingly close to extinction. In this study, we reported the first protocol of somatic embryogenesis obtained from mature zygotic embryos of the Abies nebrodensis. Seeds from Abies adult trees with specific identification numbers (IN) were collected and full seeds were identified by X-ray. Different experiments were carried out for callus initiation, from both zygoti…

Cryopreserved primary hepatocytes as a constantly available in vitro model for the evaluation of human and animal drug metabolism and enzyme inductio…

2000

The use of primary hepatocytes is now well established for both studies of drug metabolism and enzyme induction. Cryopreservation of primary hepatocytes decreases the need for fresh liver tissue. This is especially important for research with human hepatocytes because availability of human liver tissue is limited. In this review, we summarize our research on optimization and validation of cryopreservation techniques. The critical elements for successful cryopreservation of hepatocytes are (1) the freezing protocol, (2) the concentration of the cryoprotectant [10% dimethyl-sulfoxide (DMSO)], (3) slow addition and removal of DMSO, (4) carbogen equilibration during isolation of hepatocytes and…

What is ‘good’ mentoring? Understanding mentoring practices of teacher induction through case studies of Finland and Australia

2015

Mentoring is a practice widely utilised to support new teachers. However, in locally formed systems, the practice of mentoring is conditioned by traditions and arrangements specific to the site. To understand ‘good’ mentoring, these local arrangements cannot be ignored. In this article, the theory of practice architectures is employed to make explicit the prefiguring arrangements of mentoring practices in Finland and NSW Australia. The findings suggest that mentoring practices are shaped by their ontological specificity and this makes reproducing mentoring practices in different sites problematic. Explicating the prefiguring architectures of practices is critical to understanding the contes…

Organotitanium reagents in organic synthesis a simple means to adjust reactivity and selectivity of carbanions

1982

Heme oxygenase-1 inhibits apoptosis in Caco-2 cells via activation of Akt pathway

2005

Heme oxygenase-1 can play a protective role against cellular stress. In colon cancer cells, these effects would be relevant to oncogenesis and resistance to chemotherapy. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of heme oxygenase-1 induction on cell survival in a human colon cancer cell line, Caco-2. Serum deprivation induced apoptosis, reduced Akt and p38 phosphorylation, and increased p21(Cip/WAF1) levels. Heme oxygenase-1 induction by treatment with cobalt protoporphyrin IX resulted in resistance to apoptosis, activation of Akt, reduction in p21(Cip/WAF1) levels and modification of bcl2/bax ratio towards survival. Indomethacin reduced apoptosis but in contrast to heme oxygenase-1,…

Coordinated induction of drug transporters and phase I and II metabolism in human liver slices

2008

Although regulation of phase I drug metabolism in human liver is relatively well studied, the regulation of phase II enzymes and of drug transporters is incompletely characterized. Therefore, we used human liver slices to investigate the PXR, CAR and AhR-mediated induction of drug transporters and phase I and II metabolic enzymes. Precision-cut human liver slices were incubated for 5 or 24 h with prototypical inducers: phenobarbital (PB) (50 mu M) for CAR, beta-naphthoflavone (BNF) (25 mu M) for AhR, and rifampicin (RIF) (10 mu M) for PXR, and gene expression of the phase I enzymes CYP1A1, 1A2, 3A4, 3A5, 2136, 2A6, the phase II enzymes UGT1A1 and 1A6, and the transporters MRP2, MDR1, BSEP, …

Fen1 is induced p53 dependently and involved in the recovery from UV-light-induced replication inhibition.

2005

Mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) that lack p53 are hypersensitive to the cytotoxic and genotoxic effect of ultraviolet (UV-C) light. They also display a defect in the recovery from UV-C-induced DNA replication inhibition. An enzyme involved in processing stalled DNA replication forks is flap endonuclease 1 (Fen1). Gene expression profiling of UV-C-irradiated MEFs revealed fen1 to be upregulated, which was confirmed by RT-PCR and Western blot experiments. Increased Fen1 levels upon UV-C exposure are due to transcriptional activation, as revealed by inhibitor studies. Fen1 induction was dose- and time-dependent; it occurred on protein level already 3 h after irradiation. Induction of Fen1 b…

Resveratrol, a chemopreventive agent, disrupts the cell cycle control of human SW480 colorectal tumor cells

2002

Resveratrol is a natural polyphenolic compound produced by a number of plants and found in high amount in peanuts, seeds, grapes or berries as source of human nutrition. Epidemiological studies strongly suggest that resveratrol may act as a cancer chemopreventive compound. The mechanism by which resveratrol inhibits cell proliferation was studied in human colorectal tumor SW480 cell line. The results show that resveratrol strongly inhibits cell proliferation at the micromolar range in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Resveratrol appears to block the cell cycle at the transition --> G2/M since inhibition of [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation is not observed, while there is an increase of the c…

Photobiology in space: An experiment on Spacelab I

1984

The joint European/US Spacelab Mission I, scheduled for October 1983 for a 9 day lasting Earth-orbiting flight, provides a laboratory system for various disciplines of science, including exobiology. On the pallet, in the experiment ES 029 "Microorganisms and Biomolecules in Space Hard Environment" 316 dry samples of Bacillus subtilis spores will be exposed to space vacuum and/or selected wavelenghs of solar UV radiation. After recovery action spectra of inactivation, mutation induction, reparability and photochemical damage in DNA and protein will be determined. The results will contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of the increased UV sensitivity of bacterial spores in vacuo and…

First trimester biochemical screening for Down's syndrome in singleton pregnancies conceived by assisted reproduction

2005

BACKGROUND: Serum biochemical markers [free betahCG (fbetahCG); pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A)] used in first trimester Down's syndrome screening have not been fully investigated in pregnancies achieved by assisted reproduction techniques. We present data on pregnancies conceived by all types of assisted reproduction techniques, including pregnancies following ovum donation (OD) and a large sample by ICSI. METHODS: First trimester Down's syndrome screening was performed in 1054 normal singleton pregnancies: natural conception (n = 498), ovulation induction (OS, n = 97), IVF (n = 47), ICSI (n = 222) and OD (n = 190). RESULTS: No differences in maternal levels of fbetahCG and …