Search results for " secondary"
showing 10 items of 692 documents
Comparative analysis of variation and selection in the HCV genome
2016
AbstractGenotype 1 of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most prevalent of the variants of this virus. Its two main subtypes, HCV-1a and HCV-1b, are associated to differences in epidemic features and risk groups, despite sharing similar features in most biological properties. We have analyzed the impact of positive selection on the evolution of these variants using complete genome coding regions, and compared the levels of genetic variability and the distribution of positively selected sites. We have also compared the distributions of positively selected and conserved sites considering different factors such as RNA secondary structure, the presence of different epitopes (antibody, CD4 and C…
Mage-3 and influenza-matrix peptide-specific cytotoxic T cells are inducible in terminal stage HLA-A2.1+ melanoma patients by mature monocyte-derived…
2000
Abstract Dendritic cell (DC) vaccination, albeit still in an early stage, is a promising strategy to induce immunity to cancer. We explored whether DC can expand Ag-specific CD8+ T cells even in far-advanced stage IV melanoma patients. We found that three to five biweekly vaccinations of mature, monocyte-derived DC (three vaccinations of 6 × 106 s.c. followed by two i.v. ones of 6 and 12 × 106, respectively) pulsed with Mage-3A2.1 tumor and influenza matrix A2.1-positive control peptides as well as the recall Ag tetanus toxoid (in three of eight patients) generated in all eight patients Ag-specific effector CD8+ T cells that were detectable in blood directly ex vivo. This is the first time …
Stronger proprioceptive BOLD-responses in the somatosensory cortices reflect worse sensorimotor function in adolescents with and without cerebral pal…
2020
Graphical abstract
Educare alla sostenibilità. Percezioni e rappresentazioni del cambiamento climatico nella scuola secondaria di II grado: i casi di Palermo e Catanzar…
2021
Questo contributo propone uno studio sulle modalità di percezione del cambiamento climatico da parte dei giovani di età compresa tra i 16 e i 20 anni che vivono nei capoluoghi di due città del Sud Italia, Palermo, capoluogo della Sicilia e Catanzaro, capoluogo della Calabria. Attraverso interviste etnografiche, basate sull’utilizzo di un questionario aperto e sull’osservazione partecipante condotta in due scuole secondarie di secondo grado (una per ogni regione succitata), si è cercato di ricostruire il grado di consapevolezza degli studenti intervistati rispetto al cambiamento climatico in atto, chiedendo loro di indicare quali siano le forme di conoscenza implicate, le possibili cause del…
A bioactive designer cytokine for human hematopoietic progenitor cell expansion
1997
Efficient expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells requires, at least, the simultaneous stimulation of the receptors c-kit and gp130. While c-kit is activated by SCF; gp130, in cells which do not express sufficient amounts of IL-6R, can be activated by the complex of soluble IL-6R (sIL-6R) and IL-6. The therapeutic use of IL-6/sIL-6R, however, has been hampered by the high concentrations of the sIL-6R protein required. We have designed a fusion protein of sIL-6R and IL-6, linked by a flexible peptide chain, that was expressed to high levels. On gp130 expressing cells the fusion protein turned out to be fully active at 100 to 1,000-fold lower concentration than the combination of unlinked…
A novel moniliformin derivative as pan-inhibitor of histone deacetylases triggering apoptosis of leukemia cells
2021
New and potent agents that evade multidrug resistance (MDR) and inhibit epigenetic modifications are of great interest in cancer drug development. Here, we describe that a moniliformin derivative (IUPAC name: 3-(naphthalen-2-ylsulfanyl)-4-{[(2Z)-1,3,3-trimethyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-indol-2-ylidene]methyl}cyclobut-3-ene-1,2-dione; code: MCC1381) bypasses P-gp-mediated MDR. Using transcriptomics, we identified a large number of genes significantly regulated in response to MCC1381, which affected the cell cycle and disturbed cellular death and survival. The potential targets of MCC1381 might be histone deacetylases (HDACs) as predicted by SwissTargetPrediction. In silico studies confirmed that MCC13…
Membrane protein oxidation determines neuronal degeneration
2015
Oxidative stress is an early hallmark in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. However, the critical biochemical effector mechanisms of oxidative neurotoxicity have remained surprisingly elusive. In screening various peroxides and potential substrates of oxidation for their effect on neuronal survival, we observed that intramembrane compounds were significantly more active than aqueous or amphiphilic compounds. To better understand this result, we synthesized a series of competitive and site-specific membrane protein oxidation inhibitors termed aminoacyllipids, whose structures were designed on the basis of amino acids frequently found at the protein-lipi…
Identification of new P-glycoprotein inhibitors derived from cardiotonic steroids
2014
P-glycoprotein (ABCB1, MDR1) is capable of extruding chemotherapeutics outside the cell and its overexpression in certain cancer cells may cause failure of chemotherapy. Many attempts were carried out to identify potent inhibitors of this transporter and numerous compounds were shown to exert inhibitory effects in vitro, but so far none were able to make their way to the clinic due to serious complications. Natural compounds represent a great source of therapeutics, which are believed to be safe and effective. Therefore, we have screened a large library of naturally occurring cardiotonic steroids and their derivatives using high throughput flow cytometry. We were able to identify six compou…
The Functional Role of the Second NPXY Motif of the LRP1 β-Chain in Tissue-type Plasminogen Activator-mediated Activation of N-Methyl-D-aspartate Rec…
2008
The low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) emerges to play fundamental roles in cellular signaling pathways in the brain. One of its prominent ligands is the serine proteinase tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), which has been shown to act as a key activator of neuronal mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways via the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. However, here we set out to examine whether LRP1 and the NMDA receptor might eventually act in a combined fashion to mediate tPA downstream signaling. By blocking tPA from binding to LRP1 using the receptor-associated protein, we were able to completely inhibit NMDA receptor activation. Additionally, inhibition of …
The Process-inducing Activity of Transmembrane Agrin Requires Follistatin-like Domains
2009
Clustering or overexpression of the transmembrane form of the extracellular matrix proteoglycan agrin in neurons results in the formation of numerous highly motile filopodia-like processes extending from axons and dendrites. Here we show that similar processes can be induced by overexpression of transmembrane-agrin in several non-neuronal cell lines. Mapping of the process-inducing activity in neurons and non-neuronal cells demonstrates that the cytoplasmic part of transmembrane agrin is dispensable and that the extracellular region is necessary for process formation. Site-directed mutagenesis reveals an essential role for the loop between beta-sheets 3 and 4 within the Kazal subdomain of t…