Search results for " function"

Adult Neurogenesis Is Sustained by Symmetric Self-Renewal and Differentiation

2018

Somatic stem cells have been identified in multiple adult tissues. Whether self-renewal occurs symmetrically or asymmetrically is key to understanding long-term stem cell maintenance and generation of progeny for cell replacement. In the adult mouse brain, neural stem cells (NSCs) (B1 cells) are retained in the walls of the lateral ventricles (ventricular-subventricular zone [V-SVZ]). The mechanism of B1 cell retention into adulthood for lifelong neurogenesis is unknown. Using multiple clonal labeling techniques, we show that the vast majority of B1 cells divide symmetrically. Whereas 20%-30% symmetrically self-renew and can remain in the niche for several months before generating neurons, …

A Single-sensor High-resolution Panoramic Optical Mapping Configuration for Simultaneous Non-overlapped Complete Atrial and Ventricular Parametric Im…

2017

Nowadays optical mapping (OM) is the primary method for imaging electrophysiologically relevant parameters from the outer surface of Langendorff-perfused hearts. This technique has become essential for comprehensively understanding mechanisms of cardiac propagation during physiological activation, arrhythmia, and therapeutic antiarrhythmic interventions in translational hearts. Panoramic whole heart optical mapping systems, using either multiple cameras, plane mirrors or a combination of both, have been developed to overcome intrinsic visualization limitations to traditional single-sensor designs. However current panoramic OM systems are financially challenging for physiology and engineerin…

Vitamin D and Cardiovascular Health

2021

The principal source of vitamin D in humans is its biosynthesis in the skin through a chemical reaction dependent on sun exposure. In lesser amounts, the vitamin can be obtained from the diet, mostly from fatty fish, fish liver oil and mushrooms. Individuals with vitamin D deficiency, defined as a serum level of 25 hydroxyvitamin D < 20 ng/dl, should be supplemented. Vitamin D deficiency is a prevalent global problem caused mainly by low exposure to sunlight. The main role of 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D is the maintenance of calcium and phosphorus homeostasis. However, vitamin D receptors are found in most human cells and tissues, indicating many extra-skeletal effects of the vitamin, particula…

Clinical Correlates of Functional Motor Disorders: An Italian Multicenter Study

2020

Background\ud Functional motor disorders (FMDs) are abnormal movements that are significantly altered by distractive maneuvers and are incongruent with movement disorders seen in typical neurological diseases.\ud \ud Objective\ud The objectives of this article are to (1) describe the clinical manifestations of FMDs, including nonmotor symptoms and occurrence of other functional neurological disorders (FND); and (2) to report the frequency of isolated and combined FMDs and their relationship with demographic and clinical variables.\ud \ud Methods\ud For this multicenter, observational study, we enrolled consecutive outpatients with a definite diagnosis of FMDs attending 25 tertiary movement …

Strategic Syntheses of Vine and Wine Resveratrol Derivatives to Explore their Effects on Cell Functions and Dysfunctions

2018

Trans-resveratrol, the most well-known polyphenolic stilbenoid, is found in grapes and accordingly in wine and it is considered to be beneficial for human health, especially towards the aging-linked cell alterations by providing numerous biological activities, such as anti-oxidant, antitumoral, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and platelet anti-aggregation properties. Although trans-resveratrol is a promising molecule, it cannot be considered as a drug, due to its weak bio-availability and fast metabolism. To overcome these weaknesses, several research teams have undertaken the synthesis of innovative trans-resveratrol derivatives, with the aim to increase its solubility in wa…

Effects of muscular dystrophy, exercise and blocking activin receptor IIB ligands on the unfolded protein response and oxidative stress

2016

Protein homeostasis in cells, proteostasis, is maintained through several integrated processes and pathways and its dysregulation may mediate pathology in many diseases including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Oxidative stress, heat shock proteins, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and its response, i.e. unfolded protein response (UPR), play key roles in proteostasis but their involvement in the pathology of DMD are largely unknown. Moreover, exercise and activin receptor IIB blocking are two strategies that may be beneficial to DMD muscle, but studies to examine their effects on these proteostasis pathways are lacking. Therefore, these pathways were examined in the muscle of mdx mice, …

Human-based evidence for the therapeutic potential of arginase inhibitors in cardiovascular diseases

2020

Arginase is a ubiquitous enzyme that regulates polyamine- and nitric-oxide-requiring vascular functions. It is well-established that, in mammals, arginase overactivation contributes to endothelial dysfunction, a hallmark of cardiovascular diseases. The pharmacological potential of arginase inhibition for improving vascular function is largely supported by a wide range of data from animal studies. However, caution is required before extrapolating animal data to humans because interspecies differences in arginase expression and localization have been observed. For this reason, this review presents the existing arguments from human data in favor of a role of arginase in cardiovascular diseases…

Neuronal Cytoskeleton in Intellectual Disability: From Systems Biology and Modeling to Therapeutic Opportunities

2021

Intellectual disability (ID) is a pathological condition characterized by limited intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviors. It affects 1–3% of the worldwide population, and no pharmacological therapies are currently available. More than 1000 genes have been found mutated in ID patients pointing out that, despite the common phenotype, the genetic bases are highly heterogeneous and apparently unrelated. Bibliomic analysis reveals that ID genes converge onto a few biological modules, including cytoskeleton dynamics, whose regulation depends on Rho GTPases transduction. Genetic variants exert their effects at different levels in a hierarchical arrangement, starting from the molecular lev…

Cytotoxic Potential of the Coelomic Fluid Extracted from the Sea Cucumber Holothuria tubulosa against Triple-Negative MDA-MB231 Breast Cancer Cells

2019

Growing evidence has demonstrated that the extracts of different holothurian species exert beneficial effects on human health. Triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) are highly malignant tumors that present a poor prognosis due to the lack of effective targeted therapies. In the attempt to identify novel compounds that might counteract TNBC cell growth, we studied the effect of the exposure of the TNBC cell line MDA-MB231 to total and filtered aqueous extracts of the coelomic fluid obtained from the sea cucumber Holoturia tubulosa, a widespread species in the Mediterranean Sea. In particular, we examined cell viability and proliferative behaviour, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, autophag…

2020

Cuticle barrier efficiency in insects depends largely on cuticular lipids. To learn about the evolution of cuticle barrier function, we compared the basic properties of the cuticle inward and outward barrier function in adults of the fruit flies Drosophila suzukii and Drosophila melanogaster that live on fruits sharing a similar habitat. At low air humidity, D. suzukii flies desiccate faster than D. melanogaster flies. We observed a general trend indicating that in this respect males are less robust than females in both species. Xenobiotics penetration occurs at lower temperatures in D. suzukii than in D. melanogaster. Likewise, D. suzukii flies are more susceptible to contact insecticides …