Search results for "Multidisciplinary"
showing 10 items of 4640 documents
Synaptic tetraspan vesicle membrane proteins are conserved but not needed for synaptogenesis and neuronal function in Caenorhabditis elegans
2006
Tetraspan vesicle membrane proteins (TVPs) comprise a major portion of synaptic vesicle proteins, yet their contribution to the synaptic vesicle cycle is poorly understood. TVPs are grouped in three mammalian gene families: physins, gyrins, and secretory carrier-associated membrane proteins (SCAMPs). In Caenorhabditis elegans , only a single member of each of these families exists. These three nematode TVPs colocalize to the same vesicular compartment when expressed in mammalian cells, suggesting that they could serve overlapping functions. To examine their function, C. elegans null mutants were isolated for each gene, and a triple mutant was generated. Surprisingly, these animals develop …
2-Hydroxyoleic Acid Induces ER Stress and Autophagy in Various Human Glioma Cell Lines
2012
Background: 2-Hydroxyoleic acid is a synthetic fatty acid with potent anti-cancer activity which does not induce undesired side effects. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which this compound selectively kills human glioma cancer cells without killing normal cells is not fully understood. The present study was designed to determine the molecular bases underlying the potency against 1321N1, SF-767 and U118 human glioma cell lines growth without affecting non cancer MRC-5 cells. Methodology/Principal Findings: The cellular levels of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, unfolded protein response (UPR) and autophagy markers were determined by quantitative RT-PCR and immunoblotting …
Graph-based exploration and clustering analysis of semantic spaces
2019
Abstract The goal of this study is to demonstrate how network science and graph theory tools and concepts can be effectively used for exploring and comparing semantic spaces of word embeddings and lexical databases. Specifically, we construct semantic networks based on word2vec representation of words, which is “learnt” from large text corpora (Google news, Amazon reviews), and “human built” word networks derived from the well-known lexical databases: WordNet and Moby Thesaurus. We compare “global” (e.g., degrees, distances, clustering coefficients) and “local” (e.g., most central nodes and community-type dense clusters) characteristics of considered networks. Our observations suggest that …
Accuracy and Completeness of Drug Information in Wikipedia: A Comparison with Standard Textbooks of Pharmacology
2014
The online resource Wikipedia is increasingly used by students for knowledge acquisition and learning. However, the lack of a formal editorial review and the heterogeneous expertise of contributors often results in skepticism by educators whether Wikipedia should be recommended to students as an information source. In this study we systematically analyzed the accuracy and completeness of drug information in the German and English language versions of Wikipedia in comparison to standard textbooks of pharmacology. In addition, references, revision history and readability were evaluated. Analysis of readability was performed using the Amstad readability index and the Erste Wiener Sachtextforme…
Statistically validated networks in bipartite complex systems.
2011
Many complex systems present an intrinsic bipartite nature and are often described and modeled in terms of networks [1-5]. Examples include movies and actors [1, 2, 4], authors and scientific papers [6-9], email accounts and emails [10], plants and animals that pollinate them [11, 12]. Bipartite networks are often very heterogeneous in the number of relationships that the elements of one set establish with the elements of the other set. When one constructs a projected network with nodes from only one set, the system heterogeneity makes it very difficult to identify preferential links between the elements. Here we introduce an unsupervised method to statistically validate each link of the pr…
Carbon nanotubes-based nanohybrids for multifunctional nanocomposites
2017
In the present work, nano-hybrids based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) bearing immobilized, either through covalent linkage and physical absorption, commercial anti-oxidant molecules have been formulated and used as nanofillers in Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE), aiming at preparing multifunctional nanocomposites. The effective immobilization of the anti-oxidant molecules has been probed by spectroscopic and thermogravimetric analyses. The study of the morphology and the rheological behaviour of the nanocomposites show that the immobilization of anti-oxidant molecules onto the CNTs surface is beneficial for the state of the polymer/nanoparticles interfacial region. Additionall…
Assessment of the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of different olive processing wastewaters.
2017
Olive processing wastewaters (OPW), namely olive mill wastewater (OMW) and table-olive wastewaters (TOW) were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against five Gram-positive and two Gram-negative bacteria using the standard disc diffusion and thin layer chromatography (TLC)-bioautography assays. Disc diffusion screening and bioautography of OMW were compared to the phenolic extracts of table-olive brines. Positive activity against S. aureus was demonstrated. The optimization of chromatographic separation revealed that hexane/acetone in the ratio of 4:6 was the most effective for phenolic compounds separation. A HPLC-MS analysis was performed showing that only two compounds, hydroxytyr…
Glucosylation of Rho proteins by Clostridium difficile toxin B.
1995
TOXIN A and B, the major virulence factors of Clostridium difficile, are the causative agents of antibiotic-associated pseudomembran-ous colitis. In cultured cell lines their potent cytotoxicity results from their ability to induce disaggregation of the microfilament cytoskeleton1,2. Toxin B acts on the low-molecular-mass GTPase Rho A3,4, which is involved in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. We report here that toxin B catalyses the incorporation of up to one mole of glucose per mole of RhoA at the amino acid thre-onine at position 37. The modification was identified and localized by tandem electrospray mass spectrometry. UDP-glucose selectively serves as cosubstrate for the monogl…
Discovery and validation of small-molecule heat-shock protein 90 inhibitors through multimodality molecular imaging in living subjects.
2012
Up-regulation of the folding machinery of the heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) chaperone protein is crucial for cancer progression. The two Hsp90 isoforms (α and β) play different roles in response to chemotherapy. To identify isoform-selective inhibitors of Hsp90(α/β)/cochaperone p23 interactions, we developed a dual-luciferase (Renilla and Firefly) reporter system for high-throughput screening (HTS) and monitoring the efficacy of Hsp90 inhibitors in cell culture and live mice. HTS of a 30,176 small-molecule chemical library in cell culture identified a compound, N -(5-methylisoxazol-3-yl)-2-[4-(thiophen-2-yl)-6-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidin-2-ylthio]acetamide (CP9), that binds to Hsp90(α/β) an…
Follicular Adenomas Exhibit a Unique Metabolic Profile. 1H NMR Studies of Thyroid Lesions
2013
Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. However, more than 90% of thyroid nodules are benign. It remains unclear whether thyroid carcinoma arises from preexisting benign nodules. Metabolomics can provide valuable and comprehensive information about low molecular weight compounds present in living systems and further our understanding of the biology regulating pathological processes. Herein, we applied 1H NMR-based metabolic profiling to identify the metabolites present in aqueous tissue extracts of healthy thyroid tissue (H), non-neoplastic nodules (NN), follicular adenomas (FA) and malignant thyroid cancer (TC) as an alternative way of investigating cancer lesions. Multivar…