Search results for "Cell Signaling"
showing 10 items of 228 documents
Hippocampo-cerebellar theta band phase synchrony in rabbits.
2009
Hippocampal functioning, in the form of theta band oscillation, has been shown to modulate and predict cerebellar learning of which rabbit eyeblink conditioning is perhaps the most well-known example. The contribution of hippocampal neural activity to cerebellar learning is only possible if there is a functional connection between the two structures. Here, in the context of trace eyeblink conditioning, we show (1) that, in addition to the hippocampus, prominent theta oscillation also occurs in the cerebellum, and (2) that cerebellar theta oscillation is synchronized with that in the hippocampus. Further, the degree of phase synchrony (PS) increased both as a response to the conditioning sti…
Transcriptional profiling reveals functional links between RasGrf1 and Pttg1 in pancreatic beta cells
2014
This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License .
NOTCH, a new signaling pathway implicated in holoprosencephaly.
2011
International audience; Genetics of Holoprosencephaly (HPE), a congenital malformation of the developing human forebrain, is due to multiple genetic defects. Most genes that have been implicated in HPE belong to the sonic hedgehog signaling pathway. Here we describe a new candidate gene isolated from array comparative genomic hybridization redundant 6qter deletions, DELTA Like 1 (DLL1), which is a ligand of NOTCH. We show that DLL1 is co-expressed in the developing chick forebrain with Fgf8. By treating chick embryos with a pharmacological inhibitor, we demonstrate that DLL1 interacts with FGF signaling pathway. Moreover, a mutation analysis of DLL1 in HPE patients revealed a three-nucleoti…
Immune escape mechanism: defective resting and stimulated leukocyte-endothelium interaction in hepatocellular carcinoma of the rat.
2004
Hepatocellular carcinoma represents an increasing therapeutic challenge due to its high incidence and early metastasis. Numerous studies have demonstrated the influence of the vascular system on tumor growth and development. In addition, the role of leukocyte-endothelium interaction in tumor vessels is of particular significance with regard to immunological tumor therapy. In this study we used an experimental in vivo animal model that allows a quantitative analysis on vessel morphology, microcirculation, and leukocyte-endothelium interaction. The vessel architecture in tumor tissue was found to be extremely heterogeneous, with a consecutively variable blood flow velocity. Following superfus…
Exogenous t-PA Administration Increases Hippocampal Mature BDNF Levels. Plasmin- or NMDA-Dependent Mechanism?
2014
International audience; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through TrkB activation is central for brain functioning. Since the demonstration that plasmin is able to process pro-BDNF to mature BDNF and that these two forms have opposite effects on neuronal survival and plasticity, a particular attention has been paid to the link between tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)/plasmin system and BDNF metabolism. However, t-PA via its action on different N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunits is also considered as a neuromodulator of glutamatergic transmission. In this context, the aim of our study was to investigate the effect of recombinant (r)t-PA administration on brain BDNF metabo…
Citrus limon-derived nanovesicles inhibit cancer cell proliferation and suppress CML xenograft growth by inducing TRAIL-mediated cell death
2015
// Stefania Raimondo 1 , Flores Naselli 1 , Simona Fontana 1 , Francesca Monteleone 1 , Alessia Lo Dico 1 , Laura Saieva 1 , Giovanni Zito 2 , Anna Flugy 1 , Mauro Manno 3 , Maria Antonietta Di Bella 1 , Giacomo De Leo 1 , Riccardo Alessandro 1 1 Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Biotecnologie Mediche, Universita degli Studi di Palermo, sezione di Biologia e Genetica, Palermo, Italy 2 Laboratorio di Ingegneria Tissutale – Piattaforme Innovative per l’Ingegneria Tissutale (PON01–00829), Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Palermo, Italy 3 Istituto di Biofisica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Palermo, Italy Correspondence to: Riccardo Alessandro, e-mail: riccardo.alessandro@unipa.it Keywords: canc…
Glucocorticoid receptor knockdown decreases the antioxidant protection of B16 melanoma cells: an endocrine system-related mechanism that compromises …
2014
We previously reported an interorgan system in which stress-related hormones (corticosterone and noradrenaline), interleukin-6, and glutathione (GSH) coordinately regulate metastatic growth of highly aggressive B16-F10 melanoma cells. Corticosterone, at levels measured in tumor-bearing mice, also induces apoptotic cell death in metastatic cells with low GSH content. In the present study we explored the potential role of glucocorticoids in the regulation of metastatic cell death/survival during the early stages of organ invasion. Glucocorticoid receptor (GCR) knockdown decreased the expression and activity of γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γ-GCS), the rate-limiting step in GSH synthesis, in …
Progastrin Represses the Alternative Activation of Human Macrophages and Modulates Their Influence on Colon Cancer Epithelial Cells
2014
Macrophage infiltration is a negative prognostic factor for most cancers but gastrointestinal tumors seem to be an exception. The effect of macrophages on cancer progression depends on their phenotype, which may vary between M1 (pro-inflammatory, defensive) to M2 (tolerogenic, pro-tumoral). Gastrointestinal cancers often become an ectopic source of gastrins and macrophages present receptors for these peptides. The aim of the present study is to analyze whether gastrins can affect the pattern of macrophage infiltration in colorectal tumors. We have evaluated the relationship between gastrin expression and the pattern of macrophage infiltration in samples from colorectal cancer and the influe…
Tabu search with strategic oscillation for the maximally diverse grouping problem
2013
We propose new heuristic procedures for the maximally diverse grouping problem (MDGP). This NP-hard problem consists of forming maximally diverse groups—of equal or different size—from a given set of elements. The most general formulation, which we address, allows for the size of each group to fall within specified limits. The MDGP has applications in academics, such as creating diverse teams of students, or in training settings where it may be desired to create groups that are as diverse as possible. Search mechanisms, based on the tabu search methodology, are developed for the MDGP, including a strategic oscillation that enables search paths to cross a feasibility boundary. We evaluate co…
In-vitro regulation of odontogenic gene expression in human embryonic tooth cells and SHED cells
2012
The bud-to-cap stage transition during early tooth development is a time when the tooth-inducing potential becomes restricted to the mesenchyme. Several key genes, expressed in the mesenchyme at this stage, are an absolute requirement for the progression of tooth development. These include the transcription factors Msx1 and Pax9. The inductive potential of tooth mesenchyme cells is a key requisite for whole-tooth bioengineering and thus identification of cells that can retain this property following expansion in culture is an important as yet unresolved, goal. We show here that in-vitro culture of embryonic human tooth mesenchyme cells and SHED cells express low levels of PAX9 and MSX1 and …