Search results for " biologia"
showing 10 items of 700 documents
Tomato trichomes are deadly hurdles limiting the establishment of Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot (Acari: Phytoseiidae)
2021
[EN] Amblyseius swirskii is a predatory mite widely used for the control of very important pest species, such as whiteflies and thrips, in organic farming and conventional agriculture. However, this species cannot establish on tomato crops, probably due to the toxic effects of plant trichomes and their exudates. We evaluated tomato plants for effects on: a) A. swirskii preference mediated by plant volatiles, b) A. swirskii development, predation capacity and reproductive performance, c) the dispersal and survival of mites as affected by stem trichomes, and d) mite survival as a function of secondary metabolites secreted by tomato trichomes. The results showed that A. swirskii mites which ga…
Native-Invasive Plants vs. Halophytes in Mediterranean Salt Marshes: Stress Tolerance Mechanisms in Two Related Species
2016
Dittrichia viscosa is a Mediterranean ruderal species that over the last decades has expanded into new habitats, including coastal salt marshes, ecosystems that are per se fragile and threatened by human activities. To assess the potential risk that this native-invasive species represents for the genuine salt marsh vegetation, we compared its distribution with that of Inula crithmoides, a taxonomically related halophyte, in three salt marshes located in “La Albufera” Natural Park, near the city of Valencia (East Spain). The presence of D. viscosa was restricted to areas of low and moderate salinity, while I. crithmoides was also present in the most saline zones of the salt marshes. Analyses…
Honeybees prefer novel insect-pollinated flower shapes over bird-pollinated flower shapes
2019
AbstractPlant–pollinator interactions have a fundamental influence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far less is known about whether flower shape influences the choices of pollinators. We tested European honeybee Apis mellifera preferences using novel achromatic (gray-scale) images of 12 insect-pollinated and 12 bird-pollinated native Australian flowers in Germany; thus, avoiding influences of color, odor, or prior experience. Independent bees were tested with a number of parameterized images specifically designed to assess preferences for size, shape, brightness, or the number…
Retinoic Acid affects Lung Adenocarcinoma growth by inducing differentiation via GATA6 activation and EGFR and Wnt inhibition
2016
AbstractA fundamental task in cancer research aims at the identification of new pharmacological therapies that can affect tumor growth. Differentiation therapy might exploit this function not only for hematological diseases, such as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APML) but also for epithelial tumors, including lung cancer. Here we show that Retinoic Acid (RA) arrests in vitro and in vivo the growth of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) resistant Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). In particular, we found that RA induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in TKI resistant NSCLC cells and activates terminal differentiation programs by modulating the expression of GATA6, a key transcription factor involved …
Vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and 25-hydroxyvitamin D in a group of Sicilian multiple sclerosis patients
2016
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an auto-immune disease whose etiology remains controversial. Both genetic and environmental factors are thought to be involved in the risk of developing the disease. The purpose of our study was to assess the association of Vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms with MS and to investigate the interaction of these polymorphisms with vitamin D levels. A total of 179 Sicilian subjects, including 104 MS patients and 75 healthy controls, were studied. The most common VDR polymorphisms (Fok-I, Bsm-I, Taq-I and Apa-I) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses in both groups and serum 25-hydroxyv…
Molecular and clinical studies in five index cases with novel mutations in the GLA gene
2016
Fabry disease is a metabolic and lysosomal storage disorder caused by the functional defect of the α-galactosidase A enzyme; this defect is due to mutations in the GLA gene, that is composed of seven exons and is located on the long arm of the X-chromosome (Xq21–22). The enzymatic deficit is responsible for the accumulation of glycosphingolipids in lysosomes of different cellular types, mainly in those ones of vascular endothelium. It consequently causes a cellular and microvascular dysfunction. In this paper, we described five novel mutations in the GLA gene, related to absent enzymatic activity and typical manifestations of Fabry disease. We identified three mutations (c.846_847delTC, p.E…
Relevance of 3d culture systems to study osteosarcoma environment
2018
Abstract Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant tumor of bone, which preferentially develops lung metastasis. Although standard chemotherapy has significantly improved long-term survival over the past few decades, the outcome for patients with metastatic or recurrent OS remains dramatically poor. Novel therapies are therefore required to slow progression and eradicate the disease. Furthermore, to better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for OS onset and progression, the development of novel predictive culture systems resembling the native three-dimensional (3D) tumor microenvironment are mandatory. ‘Tumor engineering’ approaches radically changed t…
Extracellular vesicles as miRNA nano-shuttles : dual role in tumor progression
2018
[EN] Tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have a pleiotropic role in cancer, interacting with target cells of the tumor microenvironment, such as fibroblasts, immune and endothelial cells. EVs can modulate tumor progression, angiogenic switch, metastasis, and immune escape. These vesicles are nano-shuttles containing a wide spectrum of miRNAs that contribute to tumor progression. MiRNAs contained in extracellular vesicles (EV-miRNAs) are disseminated in the extracellular space and are able to influence the expression of target genes with either tumor suppressor or oncogenic functions, depending on both parental and target cells. Metastatic cancer cells can balance their oncogenic pote…
Multiple Myeloma-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Induce Osteoclastogenesis through the Activation of the XBP1/IRE1α Axis
2020
Bone disease severely affects the quality of life of over 70% of multiple myeloma (MM) patients, which daily experience pain, pathological fractures, mobility issues and an increased mortality. Recent data have highlighted the crucial role of the endoplasmic reticulum-associated unfolded protein response (UPR) in malignant transformation and tumor progression
Intraspinal stem cell transplantation for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Ready for efficacy clinical trials?
2016
Intraspinal stem cell (SC) transplantation represents a new therapeutic approach for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) clinical trials. There are considerable difficulties in designing future efficacy trials, some related to the field of ALS and some that are specific to SCs or the mode of delivery. In October 2015, the most controversial points on SC transplantation were addressed during an international workshop intended to bring together international SC and ALS researchers in a public discussion on a topic for which expertise is limited. During the meeting, a discussion was started on the basic structure of the ideal clinical trial testing the efficacy and safety of SC transplantation…