Search results for "FACTOR"

Rescue of ovarian function: stem cells and regenerative factors

2022

El envejecimiento y otras condiciones de daño adquiridas, como los tratamientos oncológicos, conducen a un deterioro de la función ovárica. Sin embargo, incluso cuando los ovarios dañados pierden su capacidad de ovular, permanece un conjunto residual de folículos quiescentes que podrían ser rescatados y desarrollados en un nicho ovárico adecuado, dando lugar a ovocitos maduros. Los factores solubles secretados por las células madre podrían proporcionar un entorno ovárico adecuado para mantener y promover el crecimiento folicular. Por lo tanto, la presente tesis doctoral tuvo como objetivo evaluar los efectos regenerativos de diferentes fuentes de factores secretados por células madre en mod…

Parental perception of childhood overweight in an inner-city area of Palermo, Italy

2008

PARENTAL PERCEPTION OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN AN INNER-CITY AREA OF PALERMO, ITALY

2008

Introduction: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Sicilian schoolchildren is one of the highest ever reported: indeed, prevalence of overweight and obesity appears to be nearly 40% at age 11 and over 25% at age 15. Excessive weight during childhood stems fromseveral interacting factors, including poor diet and exercise habits. The objective of this study was to evaluate in a sample of parents living in an inner-city area of Palermo, Italy, the perception of weight excess as a problem in childhood and the awareness about the role of physical activity, beliefs about contributors and parties having responsibility in counteracting the obesity crisis. Methods: A cross-sectional survey wa…

Oxymetazoline modulates proinflammatory cytokines and the T‐cell stimulatory capacity of dendritic cells

2007

The nasal decongestant oxymetazoline (OMZ) is frequently used in the topical treatment of rhinitis/sinusitis. As proinflammatory cytokines play a critical role in the development and maintenance of local inflammation, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of OMZ on immune cells in order to diminish the mucosal infiltration of the nose. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from buffy coats of healthy volunteers were isolated and stimulated in the presence or absence of OMZ. In addition, monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) were generated and different concentrations of OMZ were added. DC phenotype and their T-cell stimulatory properties were analysed. The vasoactive su…

UV filters: From sunscreens to human body and the environment

2007

Recognition of the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the skin has triggered development of organic chemicals (commonly referred as UV filters) that can absorb UV radiation and attenuate the negative effects of sunlight exposure. Depending on the properties and the intended degree of protection, a wide array of combinations is being marketed as delivering protection against most kinds of UV-induced skin damage. However, some UV filters have dermatological implications, so maximum applicable concentrations have been established. To monitor to what extent commercial products comply with the mandatory limits, several analytical methods have been used for their determination in co…

Increased dosage of Ink4/Arf protects against glucose intolerance and insulin resistance associated with aging

2013

Recent genome-wide association studies have linked type-2 diabetes mellitus to a genomic region in chromosome 9p21 near the Ink4/Arf locus, which encodes tumor suppressors that are up-regulated in a variety of mammalian organs during aging. However, it is unclear whether the susceptibility to type-2 diabetes is associated with altered expression of the Ink4/Arf locus. In the present study, we investigated the role of Ink4/Arf in age-dependent alterations of insulin and glucose homeostasis using Super-Ink4/Arf mice which bear an extra copy of the entire Ink4/Arf locus. We find that, in contrast to age-matched wild-type controls, Super-Ink4/Arf mice do not develop glucose intolerance with agi…

Activation of the p38MAPK cascade is associated with upregulation of TNF alpha receptors in the spinal motor neurons of mouse models of familial ALS.

2005

Phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK), but not activated c-jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK), increases in the motor neurons of transgenic mice overexpressing ALS-linked SOD1 mutants at different stages of the disease. This effect is associated with a selective increase of phosphorylated MKK3-6, MKK4 and ASK1 and a concomitant upregulation of the TNFalpha receptors (TNFR1 and TNFR2), but not IL1beta and Fas receptors. Activation of both p38 MAPK and JNK occurs in the activated microglial cells of SOD1 mutant mice at the advanced stage of the disease; however, this effect is not accompanied by the concomitant activation of the upstream kinases ASK1 and MKK3,4,6, while both …

Intron variants of the p53 gene are associated with increased risk for ovarian cancer but not in carriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutations

1999

Two biallelic polymorphisms in introns 3 and 6 of the p53 gene were analysed for a possible risk-modifying effect for ovarian cancer. Germline DNA was genotyped from 310 German Caucasian ovarian cancer patients and 364 healthy controls. We also typed 124 affected and 276 unaffected female carriers with known deleterious BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation from high-risk breast-ovarian cancer families. Genotyping was based on PCR and high-resolution gel electrophoresis. German ovarian cancer patients who carried the rare allele of the MspI restriction fragment length polymorphism (RELP) in intron 6 were found to have an overall 1.93-fold increased risk (95% confidence internal (CI) 1.27–2.91) w…

Endoderm development requires centrioles to restrain p53-mediated apoptosis in the absence of ERK activity

2021

Centrioles comprise the heart of centrosomes, microtubule-organizing centers. To study the function of centrioles in lung and gut development, we genetically disrupted centrioles throughout the mouse endoderm. Surprisingly, removing centrioles from the endoderm did not disrupt intestinal growth or development but blocked lung branching. In the lung, acentriolar SOX2-expressing airway epithelial cells apoptosed. Loss of centrioles activated p53, and removing p53 restored survival of SOX2-expressing cells, lung branching, and mouse viability. To investigate how endodermal p53 activation specifically killed acentriolar SOX2-expressing cells, we assessed ERK, a prosurvival cue. ERK was active t…

Digital control circuitry for the p53 dynamics in cancer cell and apoptosis

2010

Abstract Experimental work and theoretical models deduce a “digital” response of the p53 transcription factor when genomic integrity is damaged. The mutual influence of p53 and its antagonist, the Mdm2 oncogene, is closed in a feedback. This paper proposes an aerospace-based architecture for translating the p53/Mdm2/DNA damage network into a digital circuitry in which the optimal control theory is applied for obtaining the requested dynamic evolutions of some considered cell species for repairing a DNA damage. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of such digital circuitry design to detect and predict the cell species dynamics for shedding light on their inner and mutua…