Search results for "Context"
showing 10 items of 6304 documents
Developmental effects of the protein kinase inhibitor kenpaullone on the sea urchin embryo
2017
The selection and validation of bioactive compounds require multiple approaches, including in-depth analyses of their biological activity in a whole-animal context. We exploited the sea urchin embryo in a rapid, medium-scale range screening to test the effects of the small synthetic kinase inhibitor kenpaullone. We show that sea urchin embryos specifically respond to this molecule depending on both dose and timing of administration. Phenotypic effects of kenpaullone are not immediately visible, since this molecule affects neither the fertilization nor the spatial arrangement of blastomeres at early developmental stages. Nevertheless, kenpaullone exposure from the beginning of embryogenesis …
Chemotherapy accelerates immune-senescence and functional impairments of Vδ2pos T cells in elderly patients affected by liver metastatic colorectal c…
2019
Abstract Human (gamma delta) γδ T cells are unconventional innate-like lymphocytes displaying a broad array of anti-tumor activities with promising perspectives in cancer immunotherapy. In this context, Vδ2pos T cells represent the preferential target of several immunotherapy protocols against solid tumors. However, the impact of both aging and chemotherapy (CHT) on Vδ2pos T cells is still unknown. The present study evaluates with multi-parametric flow cytometry the frequencies, terminal differentiation, senescence and effector-functions of peripheral blood and tumor infiltrating Vδ2pos T cells purified from liver metastases (CLM) of patients affected by colorectal cancer (CRC) compared to …
Pneumococcal Colonization in the Familial Context and Implications for Anti-Pneumococcal Immunization in Adults: Results from the BINOCOLO Project in…
2017
The spread of Streptococcus pneumoniae within families has been scarcely investigated so far. This feasibility study aimed to estimate the prevalence of pneumococcal carriage in school-aged children and co-habiting relatives and to explore the potential link between the family environment and the sharing of pneumococcal serotypes covered by the vaccine. Oropharyngeal samples of 146 subjects belonging to 36 different family groups were molecularly tested for pneumococcal detection and serotyping. The overall prevalence of pneumococcal carriage was 65.8% (n = 96/146), whereas it was higher among schoolchildren (77.8%, n = 28/36); subjects of seven years of age had the highest odds of being co…
Canalicular adenoma with unicystic morphology. A rare entity
2021
Background Canalicular adenoma (CA) is a benign salivary gland tumor (SGT) almost exclusively affecting the minor salivary glands, predominantly of the upper lip, and exhibiting characteristic histopathologic features. As observed in several other SGTs, a commonly encountered finding is the presence of prominent cystic morphology. Even though a multicystic appearance is usually noticed, solitary cystic CAs may rarely occur. Case report Two female patients (74 and 78 years old respectively) presented for the evaluation of submucosal asymptomatic masses of the oral cavity. In the 1st case a solitary nodule was noticed in the upper lip, while the 2nd patient exhibited two symmetrical lesions o…
MetaCache: context-aware classification of metagenomic reads using minhashing.
2017
Abstract Motivation Metagenomic shotgun sequencing studies are becoming increasingly popular with prominent examples including the sequencing of human microbiomes and diverse environments. A fundamental computational problem in this context is read classification, i.e. the assignment of each read to a taxonomic label. Due to the large number of reads produced by modern high-throughput sequencing technologies and the rapidly increasing number of available reference genomes corresponding software tools suffer from either long runtimes, large memory requirements or low accuracy. Results We introduce MetaCache—a novel software for read classification using the big data technique minhashing. Our…
The latent geometry of the human protein interaction network
2017
Abstract Motivation A series of recently introduced algorithms and models advocates for the existence of a hyperbolic geometry underlying the network representation of complex systems. Since the human protein interaction network (hPIN) has a complex architecture, we hypothesized that uncovering its latent geometry could ease challenging problems in systems biology, translating them into measuring distances between proteins. Results We embedded the hPIN to hyperbolic space and found that the inferred coordinates of nodes capture biologically relevant features, like protein age, function and cellular localization. This means that the representation of the hPIN in the two-dimensional hyperboli…
Structure and Synaptic Function of Metal Binding to the Amyloid Precursor Protein and its Proteolytic Fragments
2017
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is ultimately linked to the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP). However, current research reveals an important synaptic function of APP and APP-like proteins (APLP1 and 2). In this context various neurotrophic and neuroprotective functions have been reported for the APP proteolytic fragments sAPPα, sAPPβ, and the monomeric amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ). APP is a metalloprotein and binds copper and zinc ions. Synaptic activity correlates with a release of these ions into the synaptic cleft and dysregulation of their homeostasis is linked to different neurodegenerative diseases. Metal binding to APP or its fragments affects its structure and its proteolytic cleavage and ther…
Lymph node - an organ for T-cell activation and pathogen defense.
2016
The immune system is a multicentered organ that is characterized by intimate interactions between its cellular components to efficiently ward off invading pathogens. A key constituent of this organ system is the distinct migratory activity of its cellular elements. The lymph node represents a pivotal meeting point of immune cells where adaptive immunity is induced and regulated. Additionally, besides barrier tissues, the lymph node is a critical organ where invading pathogens need to be eliminated in order to prevent systemic distribution of virulent microbes. Here, we explain how the lymph node is structurally and functionally organized to fulfill these two critical functions - pathogen de…
Parallels and differences between innate and adaptive lymphocytes.
2016
Lymphocytes are essential in innate and adaptive immunity. Recent insights suggest that some innate lymphocytes execute functions with adaptive characteristics, while adaptive lymphocytes can operate in ways reminiscent of innate cells. Rather than partitioning lymphocytes according to the type of effector function they execute, we propose that a relevant discrimination relates to the existence of conventional T cells in a naive state. The naive state can be seen as an actively repressed condition that supports T cell diversity and enables the flexible differentiation of effector cells in a manner that best addresses the antigenic challenge. We discuss these considerations in the context of…
Accelerating metagenomic read classification on CUDA-enabled GPUs.
2016
Metagenomic sequencing studies are becoming increasingly popular with prominent examples including the sequencing of human microbiomes and diverse environments. A fundamental computational problem in this context is read classification; i.e. the assignment of each read to a taxonomic label. Due to the large number of reads produced by modern high-throughput sequencing technologies and the rapidly increasing number of available reference genomes software tools for fast and accurate metagenomic read classification are urgently needed. We present cuCLARK, a read-level classifier for CUDA-enabled GPUs, based on the fast and accurate classification of metagenomic sequences using reduced k-mers (…