Search results for "Cellular"
showing 10 items of 6449 documents
Pain-induced alterations in the dynorphinergic system within the mesocorticolimbic pathway: Implication for alcohol addiction.
2020
Latest studies have revealed that pain negatively impacts on reward processing and motivation leading to negative affective states and stress. These states not only reduce quality of life of patients by increasing the appearance of psychiatric comorbidities, but also have an important impact on vulnerability to drug abuse, including alcohol. In fact, clinical, epidemiological but also preclinical studies have revealed that the presence of pain is closely related to alcohol use disorders (AUDs). All this evidence suggests that pain is a factor that increases the risk of suffering AUD, predicting heavy drinking behavior and relapse drinking in those patients with a previous history of AUD. Th…
The protease complex consisting of dipeptidyl peptidase IV and seprase plays a role in the migration and invasion of human endothelial cells in colla…
2006
Abstract Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP4/CD26) and seprase/fibroblast activation protein α are homologous type II transmembrane, homodimeric glycoproteins that exhibit unique prolyl peptidase activities. Human DPP4 is ubiquitously expressed in epithelial and endothelial cells and serves multiple functions in cleaving the penultimate positioned prolyl bonds at the NH2 terminus of a variety of physiologically important peptides in the circulation. Recent studies showed a linkage between DPP4 and down-regulation of certain chemokines and mitogenic growth factors, and degradation of denatured collagens (gelatin), suggesting a role of DPP4 in the cell invasive phenotype. Here, we found the existen…
The Evolving Scenario in the Assessment of Radiological Response for Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the Era of Immunotherapy: Strengths and Weaknesses o…
2022
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a challenging malignancy characterised by clinical and biological heterogeneity, independent of the stage. Despite the application of surveillance programs, a substantial proportion of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages when curative treatments are no longer available. The landscape of systemic therapies has been rapidly growing over the last decade, and the advent of immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has changed the paradigm of systemic treatments. The coexistence of the tumour with underlying cirrhosis exposes patients with HCC to competing events related to tumour progression and/or hepatic decompensation. Therefore, it is relevant to adopt prop…
Extramedullary Expansion of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells in Interleukin (IL)-6–sIL-6R Double Transgenic Mice
1997
Soluble cytokine receptors modulate the activity of their cognate ligands. Interleukin (IL)-6 in association with the soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) can activate cells expressing the gp130 signal transducer lacking the specific IL-6R. To investigate the function of the IL-6–sIL-6R complex in vivo and to discriminate the function of the IL-6–sIL-6R complex from the function of IL-6 alone, we have established a transgenic mouse model. Double-transgenic mice coexpressing IL-6 and sIL-6R were generated and compared with IL-6 and sIL-6R single-transgenic mice. The main phenotype found in IL-6–sIL-6R mice was a dramatic increase of extramedullary hematopoietic progenitor cells in liver and spleen…
A CNN Adaptive Model to Estimate PM10 Monitoring
2006
In this work we introduce a model for studying the distribution and control of atmospheric pollution from PM10. The model is based on the use of a cellular neural network (CNN) and more precisely on the integration of the mass-balance equation; at the same time it simulates the scenario regarding a planar grid describing the whole studied area (the city of Palermo) by means of a CNN and a set of Bayesian networks. The CNN allows us to define a grid system whose dynamic evolution is a redefinition of the diffusion equation that considers contributions coming from near cells for each element of the grid. Dynamics of each cell is influenced by meteorological effects and by parameters related t…
CRISPR-Cas9 screen reveals a MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma dependency on EZH2.
2018
Pharmacologically difficult targets, such as MYC transcription factors, represent a major challenge in cancer therapy. For the childhood cancer neuroblastoma, amplification of the oncogene MYCN is associated with high-risk disease and poor prognosis. Here, we deployed genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 screening of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma and found a preferential dependency on genes encoding the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) components EZH2, EED, and SUZ12. Genetic and pharmacological suppression of EZH2 inhibited neuroblastoma growth in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, compared with neuroblastomas without MYCN amplification, MYCN-amplified neuroblastomas expressed higher levels of EZH2. ChIP…
Tumor-derived lactic acid modulates dendritic cell activation and antigen expression.
2005
The tumor milieu can influence dendritic cell (DC) differentiation. We analyzed DC differentiation in a 3-dimensional tumor model and propose a new mechanism of DC modulation by the tumor environment. Monocytes were cultured in the presence of IL-4 and GM-CSF within multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSs) generated from different tumor cell lines. Monocytes invaded the MCTSs and differentiated into tumor-associated dendritic cells (TADCs). The antigen expression was altered on TADCs independent of the culture conditions (immature/mature DCs, Langerhans cells) and IL-12 secretion was reduced. Supernatants of MCTSs could partially transfer the suppressive effect. Conditioned media from urotheli…
Computed tomographic imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma
2004
The ability of x-ray computed tomography (CT) to detect and characterize liver lesions has been one of the most studied issues in radiology during the past 20 years. Technological advances, combined with increased knowledge about the pathophysiological characteristics of these tumors, have dramatically increased the ability to detect and characterize large hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). Nonetheless, detection and characterization of early and small HCC lesions remains a difficult task. We review the imaging appearances of HCC on CT and discuss the sensitivity and specificity of computed tomographic imaging in screening patients with cirrhosis for HCC.
Glucose-induced alterations of cytosolic free calcium in cultured rat tail artery vascular smooth muscle cells
1995
We have previously suggested that hyperglycemia per se may contribute to diabetic hypertensive and vascular disease by altering cellular ion content. To more directly investigate the potential role of glucose in this process, we measured cytosolic free calcium in primary cultures of vascular smooth muscle cells isolated from Sprague-Dawley rat tail artery before and after incubation with 5 (basal), 10, 15, and 20 mM glucose. Glucose significantly elevated cytosolic free calcium in a dose- and time-dependent manner, from 110.0 +/- 5.4 to 124.5 +/- 9.0, 192.7 +/- 20.4, and 228.4 +/- 21.9 nM at 5, 10, 15, and 20 mM glucose concentrations, respectively. This glucose-induced cytosolic free calci…
PURINE AND PYRIMIDINE NUCLEOTIDES IN THE BRAIN OF NORMAL AND CONVULSANT RATS
1969
— Purine and pyrimidine nucleotides were measured in the brain of normal and electroshocked rats after chromatographic separation on ion-exchange resin of mono-, di- and tri-phosphorylated derivatives. CMP, IMP and NAD did not show any significant quantitative change. Adenine nucleotides showed an abrupt change followed by a rapid return to the control value. GTP was the only purine nucleotide exhibiting a relatively slow return to its starting concentration. The greatest percentage increase after electroshock was observed in UMP, which returned to its control value only after 5 min; UDPCoenzymes (i.e. UDPA plus UDPG) showed a relatively small drop during the development of the seizure and …