Search results for "Medicine and health"
showing 10 items of 1430 documents
Circulating exosomes deliver free fatty acids from the bloodstream to cardiac cells: Possible role of CD36
2019
Regulation of circulating free fatty acid (FFA) levels and delivery is crucial to maintain tissue homeostasis. Exosomes are nanomembranous vesicles that are released from diverse cell types and mediate intercellular communication by delivering bioactive molecules. Here, we sought to investigate the uptake of FFAs by circulating exosomes, the delivery of FFA-loaded exosomes to cardiac cells and the possible role of the FFA transporter CD36 in these processes. Circulating exosomes were purified from the serum of healthy donors after an overnight fast (F) or 20 minutes after a high caloric breakfast (postprandial, PP). Western blotting, Immunogold Electron Microscopy and FACS analysis of circu…
Prediabetes is associated with the modulation of antigen-specific Th1/Tc1 and Th17/Tc17 responses in latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.
2017
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with the down modulation of Th1, Th2 and Th17 responses in latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection but the role of prediabetes (PDM) in this setting is not well understood. To examine the role of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell cytokines in latent tuberculosis (LTB) with coincident PDM, we studied the baseline, mycobacterial, control antigen and mitogen-stimulated T cell cytokine responses in LTB individuals with (LTB-PDM; n = 20) or without (LTB-NDM; n = 20) concomitant prediabetes. LTB-PDM is characterized by diminished frequencies of mono-and dual-functional CD4+ Th1 and Th17 cells and mono-functional Th2 cells at baseline and/or following mycobacteri…
Stage 4S neuroblastoma tumors show a characteristic DNA methylation portrait
2016
Stage 4S neuroblastoma (NB) is a special type of NB found in infants with metastases at diagnosis and is associated with an excellent outcome due to its remarkable capacity to undergo spontaneous regression. As genomics have not been able to explain this intriguing clinical presentation, we here aimed at profiling the DNA methylome of stage 4S NB to better understand this phenomenon. To this purpose, differential methylation analyses between International Neuroblastoma Staging System (INSS) stage 4S, stage 4 and stage 1/2 were performed, using methyl-CpG-binding domain (MBD) sequencing data of 14 stage 4S, 14 stage 4, and 13 stage 1/2 primary NB tumors (all MYCN non-amplified in order not t…
Frequency and prognostic impact of ALK amplifications and mutations in the European Neuroblastoma Study Group (SIOPEN) high-risk neuroblastoma trial …
2021
Purpose: In neuroblastoma (NB), the ALK receptor tyrosine kinase can be constitutively activated through activating point mutations or genomic amplification. We studied ALK genetic alterations in high-risk (HR) patients on the HR-NBL1/SIOPEN trial to determine their frequency, correlation with clinical parameters, and prognostic impact. Materials and methods: Diagnostic tumor samples were available from 1,092 HR-NBL1/SIOPEN patients to determine ALK amplification status (n = 330), ALK mutational profile (n = 191), or both (n = 571). Results: Genomic ALK amplification (ALKa) was detected in 4.5% of cases (41 out of 901), all except one with MYCN amplification (MNA). ALKa was associated with …
Yeast Cth2 protein represses the translation of ARE-containing mRNAs in response to iron deficiency
2018
In response to iron deficiency, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergoes a metabolic remodeling in order to optimize iron utilization. The tandem zinc finger (TZF)-containing protein Cth2 plays a critical role in this adaptation by binding and promoting the degradation of multiple mRNAs that contain AU-rich elements (AREs). Here, we demonstrate that Cth2 also functions as a translational repressor of its target mRNAs. By complementary approaches, we demonstrate that Cth2 protein inhibits the translation of SDH4, which encodes a subunit of succinate dehydrogenase, and CTH2 mRNAs in response to iron depletion. Both the AREs within SDH4 and CTH2 transcripts, and the Cth2 TZF are es…
A g316a polymorphism in the ornithine decarboxylase gene promoter modulates mycn‐driven childhood neuroblastoma
2021
Simple Summary Neuroblastoma is a devasting childhood cancer in which multiple copies (amplification) of the cancer-causing gene MYCN strongly predict poor outcome. Neuroblastomas are reliant on high levels of cellular components called polyamines for their growth and malignant behavior, and the gene regulating polyamine synthesis is called ODC1. ODC1 is often coamplified with MYCN, and in fact is regulated by MYCN, and like MYCN is prognostic of poor outcome. Here we studied a naturally occurring genetic variant or polymorphism that occurs in the ODC1 gene, and used gene editing to demonstrate the functional importance of this variant in terms of ODC1 levels and growth of neuroblastoma cel…
Genetic susceptibility to angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitor induced angioedema: A systematic review and evaluation of methodological approaches.
2019
Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II which causes vasoconstriction. ACE inhibitors reduce blood pressure by inhibiting ACE. A well-known adverse drug reaction to ACE inhibitors is ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema (ACEi-AE). Angioedema is a swelling of skin and mucosa, which can be fatal if the airway is compromised. We have performed a systematic review of the evidence suggesting that genetic polymorphisms are associated with ACEi-AE and evaluated the methodological approaches of the included studies. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Google Scholar, and PubMed were searched. Studies investigating the association between genetic markers and…
Ginkgo biloba induces different gene expression signatures and oncogenic pathways in malignant and non-malignant cells of the liver
2018
Ginkgo biloba (EGb761) is a widely used botanical drug. Several reports indicate that EGb761 confers preventive as well as anti-tumorigenic properties in a variety of tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We here evaluate functional effects and molecular alterations induced by EGb761 in hepatoma cells and non-malignant hepatocytes. Hepatoma cell lines, primary human HCC cells and immortalized human hepatocytes (IH) were exposed to various concentrations (0-1000 μg/ml) of EGb761. Apoptosis and proliferation were evaluated after 72h of EGb761 exposure. Response to oxidative stress, tumorigenic properties and molecular changes were further investigated. While anti-oxidant effects w…
Cyclic pentapeptide cRGDfK enhances the inhibitory effect of sunitinib on TGF-β1-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in human non-small cell…
2020
AbstractIn human lung cancer progression, the EMT process is characterized by the transformation of cancer cells into invasive forms that migrate to other organs. Targeting to EMT-related molecules is emerging as a novel therapeutic approach for the prevention of lung cancer cell migration and invasion. Traf2- and Nck-interacting kinase (TNIK) has recently been considered as an anti-proliferative target molecule to regulate the Wnt signaling pathway in several types of cancer cells. In the present study, we evaluated the inhibitory effect of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib and the integrin-αVβ3targeted cyclic peptide (cRGDfK) on EMT in human lung cancer cells. Sunitinib strongly inhib…
Direct estrogen receptor (ER) / HER family crosstalk mediating sensitivity to lumretuzumab and pertuzumab in ER+ breast cancer.
2017
Bidirectional cross talk between members of the human epidermal growth factor family of receptors (HER) and the estrogen receptor (ER) is believed to underlie resistance mechanisms that develop in response to treatment with anti-HER agents and endocrine therapy. We investigated the interaction between HER2, HER3 and the ER in vitro using human embryonic kidney cells transfected with human HER2, HER3, and ERα. We also investigated the additive efficacy of combination regimens consisting of anti-HER3 (lumretuzumab), anti-HER2 (pertuzumab), and endocrine (fulvestrant) therapy in vivo. Our data show that both HER2 and HER3 can directly complex with the ER and can mediate phosphorylation of the …