Search results for "AMA"

2021

Mutations in TSC1 or TSC2 genes are linked to alterations in neuronal function which ultimately lead to the development of a complex neurological phenotype. Here we review current research on the effects that reduction in TSC1 or TSC2 can produce on the developing neural network. A crucial feature of the disease pathophysiology appears to be an early deviation from typical neurodevelopment, in the form of structural abnormalities. Epileptic seizures are one of the primary early manifestation of the disease in the CNS, followed by intellectual deficits and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Research using mouse models suggests that morphological brain alterations might arise from the interacti…

ATR expands embryonic stem cell fate potential in response to replication stress

2020

Fondazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro FIRC 18112 Sina Atashpaz.Fondazione Umberto Veronesi Sina Atashpaz Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro AIRC 5xmille METAMECH program Vincenzo Costanzo Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation Vincenzo Costanzo European Research Council Consolidator grant 614541 Vincenzo Costanzo Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro Fellowship 23961 Negar ArghavanifarDanish Cancer Society KBVU-2014 Andres Joaquin Lopez-Contreras Danish Council for Independent Research Sapere Aude, DFF Starting Grant 2014 Andres Joaquin Lopez-Contreras European Research Council ERC-2015-STG-679068 Andres Joaquin Lopez-Contreras Danish National Research Foundatio…

Prevention of an increase in cortical ligand binding to AMPA receptors may represent a novel mechanism of endogenous brain protection by G-CSF after …

2016

PURPOSE Using G-CSF deficient mice we recently demonstrated neuroprotective properties of endogenous G-CSF after ischemic stroke. The present follow-up study was designed to check, whether specific alterations in ligand binding densities of excitatory glutamate or inhibitory GABAA receptors may participate in this effect. METHODS Three groups of female mice were subjected to 45 minutes of MCAO: wildtype, G-CSF deficient and G-CSF deficient mice substituted with G-CSF. Infarct volumes were determined after 24 hours and quantitative in vitro receptor autoradiography was performed using [3H]MK-801, [3H]AMPA and [3H]muscimol for labeling of NMDA, AMPA and GABAA receptors, respectively. Ligand b…

The fear-defense system, emotions, and oxidative stress

2020

Psychosocial stress has a profound impact on well-being and health. The response to stress is associated mainly with the amygdala, a crucial structure of the fear-defense system, essential for social cognition and emotion regulation. Recent neuroimaging-studies demonstrated how an increased metabolic activity of the amygdala enhances inflammation, and leads to cardiometabolic disease. The development of therapeutic strategies depends on our understanding of both which factors activate the fear-defense system and the subsequent molecular mechanisms that translate emotional stress into cell damage. Fear of emotions as an aftermath of attachment trauma is the most important trigger of the mala…

Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli sequence type 131 H30-R and H30-Rx subclones in retail chicken meat, Italy

2016

Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131), typically fluoroquinolone-resistant (FQ-R) and/or extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing, has emerged globally. Among clinical isolates, ST131, primarily its H30-R and H30-Rx subclones, accounts for most antimicrobial-resistant E. coli and is the dominant E. coli strain worldwide. We assessed its prevalence and characteristics among raw chicken meat samples on sale in Palermo, Italy. A collection of 237 fluoroquinolone resistant and ESBL/AmpC producing E. coli isolates, which had been isolated from processed retail chicken meat in the period May 2013-April 2015, was analyzed. Established polymerase chain reaction…

A specific prelimbic-nucleus accumbens pathway controls resilience versus vulnerability to food addiction

2019

Food addiction is linked to obesity and eating disorders and is characterized by a loss of behavioral control and compulsive food intake. Here, using a food addiction mouse model, we report that the lack of cannabinoid type-1 receptor in dorsal telencephalic glutamatergic neurons prevents the development of food addiction-like behavior, which is associated with enhanced synaptic excitatory transmission in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). In contrast, chemogenetic inhibition of neuronal activity in the mPFC-NAc pathway induces compulsive food seeking. Transcriptomic analysis and genetic manipulation identified that increased dopamine D2 receptor express…

Prooxidative chain transfer activity by thiol groups in biological systems

2020

Cysteine is arguably the best-studied biological amino acid, whose thiol group frequently participates in catalysis or ligand binding by proteins. Still, cysteine's unusual biological distribution has remained mysterious, being strikingly underrepresented in transmembrane domains and on accessible protein surfaces, particularly in aerobic life forms (“cysteine anomaly”). Noting that lipophilic thiols have been used for decades as radical chain transfer agents in polymer chemistry, we speculated that the rapid formation of thiyl radicals in hydrophobic phases might provide a rationale for the cysteine anomaly. Hence, we have investigated the effects of dodecylthiol and related compounds in i…

Anthranilamide-based 2-phenylcyclopropane-1-carboxamides, 1,1'-biphenyl-4-carboxamides and 1,1'-biphenyl-2-carboxamides: Synthesis biological evaluat…

2017

Abstract Several anthranilamide-based 2-phenylcyclopropane-1-carboxamides 13a-f, 1,1’-biphenyl-4-carboxamides 14a-f and 1,1’-biphenyl-2-carboxamides 17a-f were obtained by a multistep procedure starting from the (1S,2S)-2-phenylcyclopropane-1-carbonyl chloride 11, the 1,1'-biphenyl-4-carbonyl chloride 12 or the 1,1'-biphenyl-2-carbonyl chloride 16 with the appropriate anthranilamide derivative 10a-f. Derivatives 13a-f, 14a-f and 17a-f showed antiproliferative activity against human leukemia K562 cells. Among these derivatives 13b, 14b and 17b exerted a particular cytotoxic effect on tumor cells. Derivative 17b showed a better antitumoral effect on K562 cells than 13b and 14b. Analyses perfo…

Taurine as an Essential Neuromodulator during Perinatal Cortical Development

2017

A variety of experimental studies demonstrated that neurotransmitters are an important factor for the development of the central nervous system, affecting neurodevelopmental events like neurogenesis, neuronal migration, programmed cell death, and differentiation. While the role of the classical neurotransmitters glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on neuronal development is well established, the aminosulfonic acid taurine has also been considered as possible neuromodulator during early neuronal development. The purpose of the present review article is to summarize the properties of taurine as neuromodulator in detail, focusing on the direct involvement of taurine on various neurode…

Conjugative ESBL plasmids differ in their potential to rescue susceptible bacteria via horizontal gene transfer in lethal antibiotic concentrations.

2017

Conjugative ESBL plasmids differ in their potential to rescue susceptible bacteria via horizontal gene transfer in lethal antibiotic concentrations