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showing 10 items of 806 documents
Non-Linear Hysteretic Instability in Rotating Machinery
2013
L'ecomuseo del grano e del pane: un percorso progettuale centrato sul design
2018
La festa di S. Giuseppe, oltre che un’importante e sentita ricorrenza religiosa, è a Salemi soprattutto la “festa dei pani”; bellissime realizzazioni di alto artigianato artistico, la cui sapienza si tramanda nelle famiglie e nelle associazioni di donne che per mesi lavorano alla produzione dell’enorme quantità delle piccole e grandi forme di pane, per rivestire le costruzioni votive che accolgono il rito della cena. Nasce quindi l’idea di proporre un “Ecomuseo del grano e del pane” nel Collegio dei Gesuiti, valorizzando e riaprendo al pubblico uno spazio di grande interesse storico-architettonico. Nell’ambito della consolidata collaborazione del Comune di Salemi con il Dipartimento di Arch…
DECORIN EFFECTS ON PROTEOMIC PROFILING OF BREAST CANCER CELLS: AN UPDATED STUDY
2015
The malignant carcinomas are characterized by several capabilities acquired by the neoplastic cells, among which the ability to invade the extracellular matrix (ECM) and to establish a crosstalk with several ECM components. Under this respect, the extracellular microenvironment is an entity extraordinarily rich of information with opposite signals. Our group has long undertaken the study of the effects of ECM molecules on the behavior of cancer cells in vitro. Among the studied molecules, the decorin was found to exert a non-permissive effect on the growth and motility of the transfected tumor cells. The decorin, belongs to the family of small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRP) and is involv…
Profilin1 regulates sternum development and endochondral bone formation.
2012
Bone development is a dynamic process that requires cell motility and morphological adaptation under the control of actin cytoskeleton. This actin cytoskeleton system is regulated by critical modulators including actin-binding proteins. Among them, profilin1 (Pfn1) is a key player to control actin fiber structure, and it is involved in a number of cellular activities such as migration. During the early phase of body development, skeletal stem cells and osteoblastic progenitor cells migrate to form initial rudiments for future skeletons. During this migration, these cells extend their process based on actin cytoskeletal rearrangement to locate themselves in an appropriate location within mic…
Role of SIRT1 and FOXO factors in eNOS transcriptional activation by resveratrol.
2013
Many of the cardiovascular protective effects of resveratrol are attributable to an enhanced production of nitric oxide (NO) by the endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). Resveratrol has been shown to enhance eNOS gene expression as well as eNOS enzymatic activity. The aim of the present study was to analyze the molecular mechanisms of eNOS transcriptional activation by resveratrol. Treatment of human EA.hy 926 endothelial cells with resveratrol led to a concentration-dependent upregulation of eNOS expression. In luciferase reporter gene assay, resveratrol enhanced the activity of human eNOS promoter fragments (3500, 1600, 633 and 263bp in length, respectively), indicating that the proximal promot…
Melatonin induces transcriptional regulation of Bim by FoxO3a in HepG2 cells
2012
Background: Melatonin induces apoptosis in many different cancer cell lines, including hepatocellular carcinoma cells. However, the responsible pathways have not been clearly elucidated. A member of the forkhead transcription factors' family, FoxO3a, has been implicated in the expression of the proapoptotic protein Bim (a Bcl-2-interacting mediator of cell death). In this study, we used human HepG2 liver cancer cells as an in vitro model to investigate whether melatonin treatment induces Bim through regulation by the transcription factor FoxO3a. Methods: Cytotoxicity of melatonin was compared in HepG2 hepatoblastoma cells and primary human hepatocytes. Proapoptotic Bim expression was analys…
Epigenetic activation of a cryptic TBC1D16 transcript enhances melanoma progression by targeting EGFR
2015
Metastasis is respoMetastasis is responsible for most cancer-related deaths, and, among common tumor types, melanoma is one with great potential to metastasize. Here we study the contribution of epigenetic changes to the dissemination process by analyzing the changes that occur at the DNA methylation level between primary cancer cells and metastases. We found a hypomethylation event that reactivates a cryptic transcript of the Rab GTPase activating protein TBC1D16 (TBC1D16-47 kDa; referred to hereafter as TBC1D16-47KD) to be a characteristic feature of the metastatic cascade. This short isoform of TBC1D16 exacerbates melanoma growth and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. By combining imm…
Role of reactive oxygen species in the regulation of HIF-1 by prolyl hydroxylase 2 under mild hypoxia
2012
The function and survival of eukaryotic cells depends on a constant and sufficient oxygen supply. Cells recognize and respond to hypoxia by accumulation of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), composed of an oxygen-sensitive HIF-1α and a constitutive HIF-1β subunit. Besides physiology, HIF-1 induction is involved in major pathological processes such as cardiovascular disease, inflammation and cancer, which are associated with the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS have been reported to affect HIF-1 activity but the role for ROS in regulating HIF-1 has not been definitely settled. In order to shed light on the redox-regulation of HIF-1 by ROS, we studied …
Protease-mediated processing of Argonaute proteins controls small RNA association
2020
SummarySmall RNA pathways defend the germlines of animals against selfish genetic elements and help to maintain genomic integrity. At the same time, their activity needs to be well-controlled to prevent silencing of ‘self’ genes. Here, we reveal a proteolytic mechanism that controls endogenous small interfering (22G) RNA activity in the Caenorhabditis elegans germline to protect genome integrity and maintain fertility. We find that WAGO-1 and WAGO-3 Argonaute (Ago) proteins are matured through proteolytic processing of their unusually proline-rich N-termini. In the absence of DPF-3, a P-granule-localized N-terminal dipeptidase orthologous to mammalian DPP8/9, processing fails, causing a cha…
piRNAclusterDB 2.0: update and expansion of the piRNA cluster database.
2021
Abstract PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and their partnering PIWI proteins defend the animal germline against transposable elements and play a crucial role in fertility. Numerous studies in the past have uncovered many additional functions of the piRNA pathway, including gene regulation, anti-viral defense, and somatic transposon repression. Further, comparative analyses across phylogenetic groups showed that the PIWI/piRNA system evolves rapidly and exhibits great evolutionary plasticity. However, the presence of so-called piRNA clusters as the major source of piRNAs is common to nearly all metazoan species. These genomic piRNA-producing loci are highly divergent across taxa and critically…