Search results for "Glycans"
showing 10 items of 146 documents
Dystroglycan in Skin and Cutaneous Cells: β-Subunit Is Shed from the Cell Surface
2004
In skin, hemidesmosomal protein complexes attach the epidermis to the dermis and are critical for stable connection of the basal epithelial cell cytoskeleton with the basement membrane (BM). In muscle, a similar supramolecular aggregate, the dystrophin glycoprotein complex links the inside of muscle cells with the BM. A component of the muscle complex, dystroglycan (DG), also occurs in epithelia. In this study, we characterized the expression and biochemical properties of authentic and recombinant DG in human skin and cutaneous cells in vitro. We show that DG is present at the epidermal BM zone, and it is produced by both keratinocytes and fibroblasts in vitro. The biosynthetic precursor is…
Medium-term Culture of Normal Human Oral Mucosa: A Novel Three-dimensional Model to Study the Effectiveness of Drugs Administration
2012
Tissue-engineered oral mucosal equivalents have been developed for in vitro studies for a few years now. However, the usefulness of currently available models is still limited by many factors, mainly the lack of a physiological extracellular matrix (ECM) and the use of cell populations that do not reflect the properly differentiated cytotypes of the mucosa of the oral cavity. For this reason, we have developed a novel three-dimensional culture model reflecting the normal architecture of the human oral mucosa, with the main aim of creating a better in vitro model where to test cellular responses to drugs administration. This novel 3D cell culture model (3D outgrowth) was set up using an arti…
In Vitro Expression of the Endothelial Phenotype: Comparative Study of Primary Isolated Cells and Cell Lines, Including the Novel Cell Line HPMEC-ST1…
2002
Endothelial cell lines are commonly used in in vitro studies to avoid problems associated with the use of primary endothelial cells such as the presence of contaminating cells, the difficulty in obtaining larger numbers of cells, as well as the progressive loss of cell viability and expression of endothelial markers in the course of in vitro propagation. We have analyzed the characteristics defining distinctive endothelial phenotypes in the cell lines EA.hy926, ECV304, EVLC2, HAEND, HMEC-1, ISO-HAS-1 and a cell line recently generated in our laboratory, HPMEC-ST1.6R, and have compared these phenotypes with those found in primary human endothelial cells isolated from umbilical vein (HUVEC), …
Myristic acid is associated to low plasma HDL cholesterol levels in a Mediterranean population and increases HDL catabolism by enhancing HDL particle…
2016
Background: HDL-C plasma levels are modulated by dietary fatty acid (FA), but studies investigating dietary supplementation in FA gave contrasting results. Saturated FA increased HDL-C levels only in some studies. Mono-unsaturated FA exerted a slight effect while poly-unsaturated FA mostly increased plasma HDL-C. Aims: This study presents two aims: i) to investigate the relationship between HDL-C levels and plasma FA composition in a Sicilian population following a "Mediterranean diet", ii) to investigate if FA that resulted correlated with plasma HDL-C levels in the population study and/or very abundant in the plasma were able to affect HDL catabolism in an "in vitro" model of cultured hep…
Methodological Approach to Use Fresh and Cryopreserved Vessels as Tools to Analyze Pharmacological Modulation of the Angiogenic Growth
2016
The sprouting of new vessels is greatly influenced by the procedure chosen. We sought to optimize the experimental conditions of the angiogenic growth of fresh and cryopreserved vessels cultured in Matrigel with the aim to use this system to analyze the pharmacological modulation of the process. Segments of second-order branches of rat mesenteric resistance arteries, thoracic aorta of rat or mouse, and cryopreserved rat aorta and human femoral arteries were cultured in Matrigel for 7-21 days in different mediums, as well as in the absence of endothelial or adventitia layer. Quantification of the angiogenic growth was performed by either direct measurement of the mean length of the neovessel…
SPOC1, a novel PHD-finger protein: association with residual disease and survival in ovarian cancer.
2005
We report the identification of a novel human gene (SPOC1) which encodes a protein with a PHD-finger domain. The gene is located in chromosomal region 1p36.23, a region implicated in tumor development and progression. RNA in situ hybridization experiments showed strong SPOC1 expression in some rapidly proliferating cell types, such as spermatogonia, but not in nonproliferating mature spermatocytes. In addition, high SPOC1 mRNA expression was observed in several ovarian cancer cell lines. This prompted us to systematically examine SPOC1 expression in ovarian cancer in relation to prognosis. SPOC1 mRNA expression was quantified in tumor tissue of 103 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. I…
Glia talk back.
2014
This study shows that the activity of neurons can trigger shedding of a protein, NG2, from the surface of oligodendrocyte precursor cells; this protein in turn modulates synaptic transmission, revealing a two-way conversation between neurons and glia.
Metachromatic staining and electron dense reaction of glycosaminoglycans by means of Cuprolinic Blue
1987
The cationic phthalocyanin-like dye Cuprolinic Blue, unlike phthalocyanin dyes such as Alcian Blue or Astra Blue, can definitely exhibit a clear metachromatic reaction with appropriate substrates. The application of Cuprolinic Blue to epoxy-embedded semithin sections revealed that mast cell cytoplasmic granules, goblet cell mucin and cartilage matrix stained in violet shades (metachromatic), whereas nuclear chromatin presented a bright blue coloration (orthochromatic). The metachromatic structures showed a high degree of contrast when ultrathin sections treated with Cuprolinic Blue were examined by electron microscopy. Cytophotometric measurements of stained components from the large intest…
A barium method for the cytochemical detection of sulfated glycosaminoglycans in mast cells and basophilic leukocytes.
1999
Barium ions precipitate inorganic as well as organic sulfate compounds and they can be detected by a reaction with sodium rhodizonate. In this work, we describe the use of a barium method for the selective demonstration of sulfated glycosaminoglycans in cytoplasmic granules of mast cells and basophilic leukocytes. Methanol-fixed smears of mouse peritoneal mast cells and rat bone marrow basophils were treated with 5% BaCl2 for 10 min, followed by staining with either 0.2% sodium rhodizonate in 50% ethanol for 2 h at 60 degrees C, or 0.01% brilliant green in distilled water for 1 min. Light microscopic observation revealed a strong staining reaction of the cytoplasmic granules of these cell t…
Ruthenium red staining of polyanion containing structures in sections from epoxy-resin embedded tissues
1984
Summary Staining by ruthenium red (0.5 mg/ml in borate buffer at pH = 9.2) has been used for light and electron microscopic visualization of polyanion containing structures in sections from glutaraldehyde-fixed, epoxy-embedded tissues. This staining technique can be applied in a simple and rapid way, showing the reactive cell components with suitable resolution and contrast. Preliminary spectrophotometric studies show the correspondence in absorption characteristics of the dye which is bound to polyanions in situ or in vitro .