Search results for "49"
showing 10 items of 1208 documents
Mitochondrial dynamics in type 2 diabetes: Pathophysiological implications
2017
Mitochondria play a key role in maintaining cellular metabolic homeostasis. These organelles have a high plasticity and are involved in dynamic processes such as mitochondrial fusion and fission, mitophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis. Type 2 diabetes is characterised by mitochondrial dysfunction, high production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and low levels of ATP. Mitochondrial fusion is modulated by different proteins, including mitofusin-1 (MFN1), mitofusin-2 (MFN2) and optic atrophy (OPA-1), while fission is controlled by mitochondrial fission 1 (FIS1), dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1) and mitochondrial fission factor (MFF). PARKIN and (PTEN)-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) partici…
Le varianti d’autore in "Asterusher" di Michele Mari
2021
Nel 2019 Michele Mari pubblica una seconda edizione del fototesto Asterusher. Autobiografia per feticci, con l’aggiunta di sedici pagine. La riscrittura diventa innanzitutto una ricomposizione grafica e una nuova disposizione delle pagine, la cui sequenza si dimostra un ampliamento, grazie ad alcune necessarie integrazioni, oppure un’intensificazione di nuclei tematici, sviluppati soprattutto a partire dalle relazioni genitoriali che erano state al centro di Leggenda privata. Il contributo propone lo studio di alcune varianti d’autore e delle loro funzioni nell’archivio fototestuale autobiografico degli oggetti pregnanti di Michele Mari. In 2019 Michele Mari publishes a second edition of th…
Asymmetric allelic introgression across a hybrid zone of the coal tit (Periparus ater) in the central Himalayas*
2021
Abstract In the Himalayas, a number of secondary contact zones have been described for vicariant vertebrate taxa. However, analyses of genetic divergence and admixture are missing for most of these examples. In this study, we provide a population genetic analysis for the coal tit (Periparus ater) hybrid zone in Nepal. Intermediate phenotypes between the distinctive western “spot‐winged tit” (P. a. melanolophus) and Eastern Himalayan coal tits (P. a. aemodius) occur across a narrow range of <100 km in western Nepal. As a peculiarity, another distinctive cinnamon‐bellied form is known from a single population so far. Genetic admixture of western and eastern mitochondrial lineages was restrict…
Steroidal glycosides from Ornithogalum dubium Houtt
2018
The phytochemical study of Ornithogalum dubium Houtt. (Asparagaceae) led to the isolation of five undescribed steroidal glycosides together with two known ones. Their structures were established by using NMR analysis and mass spectrometry as (25R)-3β-hydroxyspirost-5-en-1β-yl O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, (25S)-3β-hydroxyspirost-5-en-1β-yl O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β-D-glucopyranoside, (22S)-16β-[(α-L-rhamnopyranosyl)oxy]-22-hydroxycholest-5-en-3β-yl O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-β-D-glucopyranoside, (22S,23S)-1β,3β,11α,16β,23-pentahydroxy-5α-cholest-24-en-22β-yl β-D-glucopyranoside, (22S,23S)-3β-[(β-D-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-22,23-dihydroxy-5α-cholest-24-en-16β-yl O-α-…
Molecular mechanism of α2β1 integrin interaction with human echovirus 1
2009
Conformational activation increases the affinity of integrins to their ligands. On ligand binding, further changes in integrin conformation elicit cellular signalling. Unlike any of the natural ligands of alpha2beta1 integrin, human echovirus 1 (EV1) seemed to bind more avidly a 'closed' than an activated 'open' form of the alpha2I domain. Furthermore, a mutation E336A in the alpha2 subunit, which inactivated alpha2beta1 as a collagen receptor, enhanced alpha2beta1 binding to EV1. Thus, EV1 seems to recognize an inactive integrin, and not even the virus binding could trigger the conformational activation of alpha2beta1. This was supported by the fact that the integrin clustering by EV1 did …
The regulation mechanism for the auto-inhibition of binding of human filamin A to integrin.
2009
The ability of adhesion receptors to transmit biochemical signals and mechanical force across cell membranes depends on interactions with the actin cytoskeleton. Human filamins are large actin cross-linking proteins that connect integrins to the cytoskeleton. Filamin binding to the cytoplasmic tail of beta integrins has been shown to prevent integrin activation in cells, which is important for controlling cell adhesion and migration. The molecular-level mechanism for filamin binding to integrin has been unclear, however, as it was recently demonstrated that filamin undergoes intramolecular auto-inhibition of integrin binding. In this study, using steered molecular dynamics simulations, we f…
Identification of 2-(thiophen-2-yl)acetic Acid-Based Lead Compound for mPGES-1 Inhibition.
2021
We report the implementation of our in silico/synthesis pipeline by targeting the glutathione-dependent enzyme mPGES-1, a valuable macromolecular target in both cancer therapy and inflammation therapy. Specifically, by using a virtual fragment screening approach of aromatic bromides, straightforwardly modifiable by the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction, we identified 3-phenylpropanoic acid and 2-(thiophen-2-yl)acetic acid to be suitable chemical platforms to develop tighter mPGES-1 inhibitors. Among these, compounds 1c and 2c showed selective inhibitory activity against mPGES-1 in the low micromolar range in accordance with molecular modeling calculations. Moreover, 1c and 2c exhibited interesting IC…
Morphology, mechanical properties and thermal degradation kinetics of PMMA-zirconia nanocomposites prepared by melt compounding
2012
Zirconia nanoparticles were synthesized by means of a sol-gel method and embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) by melt compounding. The zirconia was well dispersed in the PMMA matrix, with only a few clusters, especially for the highest investigated zirconia content. NMR results showed heteronuclear dipolar interactions involving the carbons and the surrounding hydrogen nuclei. The effect of the amount of zirconia, in the range of 1–5!wt%, on the thermomechanical properties and thermal degradation kinetics of PMMA was also investigated by means of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermogravimetric analyses (TGA), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The presenc…
Small genomes and the difficulty to define minimal translation and metabolic machineries
2015
The notion of minimal life has sparked the interest of scientists in different fields, ranging from the origin-of-life research to biotechnology-oriented synthetic biology. Whether the interest is focused on the emergence of protocells out of prebiotic systems or the design of a cell chassis ready to incorporate new devices and functions, proposing minimal combinations of genes for life is not a trivial task. Using comparative genomics and biochemistry of endosymbionts (i.e., intracellular mutualistic symbionts) and intracellular parasites, a decade ago we proposed the core of a minimal gene set for a simple heterotrophic cell adapted to a chemically complex environment. In this work, we di…
On deterministic solutions for multi-marginal optimal transport with Coulomb cost
2022
In this paper we study the three-marginal optimal mass transportation problem for the Coulomb cost on the plane $\R^2$. The key question is the optimality of the so-called Seidl map, first disproved by Colombo and Stra. We generalize the partial positive result obtained by Colombo and Stra and give a necessary and sufficient condition for the radial Coulomb cost to coincide with a much simpler cost that corresponds to the situation where all three particles are aligned. Moreover, we produce an infinite class of regular counterexamples to the optimality of this family of maps.