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showing 10 items of 19159 documents
In vitro bioavailability of iron and calcium in cereals and derivatives: A review
2016
Cereals are a staple food in both developed and developing countries, and are considered to be the best vehicle for iron and calcium fortification, as an important strategy for combating dietary deficits. Inadequate dietary intake of iron and calcium is related to a number of disease conditions such as anemia, osteoporosis, hypertension, and different cancers. From a nutritional point of view, it is interesting to know not only the amount of minerals consumed, but also their bioavailability. The present study reviews the current knowledge on the in vitro bioavailability of iron and calcium in cereals, placing emphasis on the methodologies used and on the influence of dietary factors and foo…
Recombinant factor VIII: past, present and future of treatment of hemophilia A.
2018
The development of recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) was initially driven by the necessity to treat hemophilia A (HA) patients with FVIII concentrates without the risk of transmitting infectious agents. Over the last three decades the safety of rFVIII has been further improved by completely removing animal or human proteins from the manufacturing process, so that patients would not be exposed to known or emerging pathogens. Recent efforts have concentrated on improving the expression of rFVIII, reducing its immunogenicity and enhancing its pharmacokinetic (PK) behavior. These new goals have been possible thanks to the develop-ment of biotechnology and a better knowledge of the function and s…
Urban upbringing and childhood respiratory and allergic conditions: A multi-country holistic study
2018
Objective: We integratively assessed the effect of different indoor and outdoor environmental exposures early in life on respiratory and allergic health conditions among children from (sub-) urban areas. Methods: This study included children participating in four ongoing European birth cohorts located in three different geographical regions: INMA (Spain), LISAplus (Germany), GINIplus (Germany) and BAMSE (Sweden). Wheezing, bronchitis, asthma and allergic rhinitis throughout childhood were assessed using parental-completed questionnaires. We designed “environmental scores” corresponding to different indoor, green- and grey-related exposures (main analysis, a-priori-approach). Cohort-specific…
Injury-activated glial cells promote wound healing of the adult skin in mice
2018
Cutaneous wound healing is a complex process that aims to re-establish the original structure of the skin and its functions. Among other disorders, peripheral neuropathies are known to severely impair wound healing capabilities of the skin, revealing the importance of skin innervation for proper repair. Here, we report that peripheral glia are crucially involved in this process. Using a mouse model of wound healing, combined with in vivo fate mapping, we show that injury activates peripheral glia by promoting de-differentiation, cell-cycle re-entry and dissemination of the cells into the wound bed. Moreover, injury-activated glia upregulate the expression of many secreted factors previously…
NMR Investigation of Structures of G-Protein Coupled Receptor Folding Intermediates
2016
Folding of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) according to the two-stage model (Popot, J. L., and Engelman, D. M. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 4031-4037) is postulated to proceed in 2 steps: partitioning of the polypeptide into the membrane followed by diffusion until native contacts are formed. Herein we investigate conformational preferences of fragments of the yeast Ste2p receptor using NMR. Constructs comprising the first, the first two, and the first three transmembrane (TM) segments, as well as a construct comprising TM1-TM2 covalently linked to TM7 were examined. We observed that the isolated TM1 does not form a stable helix nor does it integrate well into the micelle. TM1 is significant…
Decline in the incidence of colorectal cancer and the associated mortality in young Italian adults
2020
Objective The incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) declines among subjects aged 50 years and above. An opposite trend appears among younger adults. In Europe, data on CRC incidence among younger adults are lacking. We therefore aimed to analyse European trends in CRC incidence and mortality in subjects younger than 50 years. Design Data on age-related CRC incidence and mortality between 1990 and 2016 were retrieved from national and regional cancer registries. Trends were analysed by Joinpoint regression and expressed as annual percent change. Results We retrieved data on 143.7 million people aged 20–49 years from 20 European countries. Of them, 187 918 (0.13%) were diagnosed with CRC. On a…
Indicaxanthin from Opuntia Ficus Indica (L. Mill) impairs melanoma cell proliferation, invasiveness, and tumor progression.
2018
Abstract Background: A strong, reciprocal crosstalk between inflammation and melanoma has rigorously been demonstrated in recent years, showing how crucial is a pro-inflammatory microenvironment to drive therapy resistance and metastasis. Purpose: We investigated on the effects of Indicaxanthin, a novel, anti-inflammatory and bioavailable phytochemical from Opuntia Ficus Indica fruits, against human melanoma both in vitro and in vivo. Study Design and Methods: The effects of indicaxanthin were evaluated against the proliferation of A375 human melanoma cell line and in a mice model of cutaneous melanoma. Cell proliferation was assessed by MTT assay, apoptosis by Annexin V-Fluorescein Isothio…
Functions of histone modifications and histone modifiers in Schwann cells.
2019
Schwann cells (SCs) are the main glial cells present in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Their primary functions are to insulate peripheral axons to protect them from the environment and to enable fast conduction of electric signals along big caliber axons by enwrapping them in a thick myelin sheath rich in lipids. In addition, SCs have the peculiar ability to foster axonal regrowth after a lesion by demyelinating and converting into repair cells that secrete neurotrophic factors and guide axons back to their former target to finally remyelinate regenerated axons. The different steps of SC development and their role in the maintenance of PNS integrity and regeneration after lesion are c…
Downregulation of thioredoxin-1-dependent CD95 S-nitrosation by Sorafenib reduces liver cancer
2020
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents 80% of the primary hepatic neoplasms. It is the sixth most frequent neoplasm, the fourth cause of cancer-related death, and 7% of registered malignancies. Sorafenib is the first line molecular targeted therapy for patients in advanced stage of HCC. The present study shows that Sorafenib exerts free radical scavenging properties associated with the downregulation of nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-regulated thioredoxin 1 (Trx1) expression in liver cancer cells. The experimental downregulation and/or overexpression strategies showed that Trx1 induced activation of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) type 3 (NOS3) and S-nitrosation (SNO) of CD95 rece…
Soluble Platelet Release Factors as Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Disease
2021
Platelets are the main players in thrombotic diseases, where activated platelets not only mediate thrombus formation but also are involved in multiple interactions with vascular cells, inflammatory components, and the coagulation system. Although in vitro reactivity of platelets provides information on the function of circulating platelets, it is not a full reflection of the in vivo activation state, which may be relevant for thrombotic risk assessment in various disease conditions. Therefore, studying release markers of activated platelets in plasma is of interest. While this type of study has been done for decades, there are several new discoveries that highlight the need for a critical a…