Search results for "Multidisciplinary"

Efficacy of interleukin 10 gene hydrofection in pig liver vascular isolated ‘in vivo’ by surgical procedure with interest in liver transplantation

2019

AIM Liver transplantation is the only curative strategy for final stage liver diseases. Despite the great advances achieved during the last 20 years, the recipient immune response after transplantation is not entirely controlled. This results in high rates of acute cell rejection and, approximately, 10% of early mortality. Therapeutic treatment could be improved by efficiently transfecting genes that encode natural immunosuppressant proteins, employing safe procedures that could be transferred to clinical setting. In this sense, interleukin 10 plays a central role in immune tolerance response by acting at different levels. METHODS hIL10 gene was hydrofected by retrograde hydrodynamic inject…

Green solvents and Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of bioactive orange (Citrus sinensis) peel compounds.

2019

AbstractByproducts such as orange peel have potential uses because of their bioactive compounds, which are important for their potential to reduce the risk factors of diseases caused by aging. The lack of effective techniques and the high levels of pollution produced by the conventional extraction of bioactive compounds using organic solvents have highlighted the need to enhance the ‘green chemistry’ trend. This study evaluates the use of ultrasound to extract bioactive compounds from orange peel. The antioxidant capacity, phenolic content, ascorbic acid, total carotenoids, and HPLC profile of phenolic compounds from orange peel extracts were obtained by a physicochemical evaluation. The re…

Cardiac regenerative capacity is age- and disease-dependent in childhood heart disease

2018

Objective We sought to define the intrinsic stem cell capacity in pediatric heart lesions, and the effects of diagnosis and of age, in order to inform evidence-based use of potential autologous stem cell sources for regenerative medicine therapy. Methods Ventricular explants derived from patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), tetralogy of Fallot (TF), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and ventricular septal defect (VSD) were analyzed following standard in vitro culture conditions, which yielded cardiospheres (C-spheres), indicative of endogenous stem cell capacity. C-sphere counts generated per 5 mm3 tissue explant and the presence of cardiac progenitor cells were correlated to pa…

APOBEC3-mediated restriction of RNA virus replication

2018

AbstractAPOBEC3 family members are cytidine deaminases with roles in intrinsic responses to infection by retroviruses and retrotransposons, and in the control of other DNA viruses, such as herpesviruses, parvoviruses and hepatitis B virus. Although effects of APOBEC3 members on viral DNA have been demonstrated, it is not known whether they edit RNA genomes through cytidine deamination. Here, we investigated APOBEC3-mediated restriction of Coronaviridae. In experiments in vitro, three human APOBEC3 proteins (A3C, A3F and A3H) inhibited HCoV-NL63 infection and limited production of progeny virus, but did not cause hypermutation of the coronaviral genome. APOBEC3-mediated restriction was parti…

Conserved Organisation of 45S rDNA Sites and rDNA Gene Copy Number among Major Clades of Early Land Plants

2016

Genes encoding ribosomal RNA (rDNA) are universal key constituents of eukaryotic genomes, and the nuclear genome harbours hundreds to several thousand copies of each species. Knowledge about the number of rDNA loci and gene copy number provides information for comparative studies of organismal and molecular evolution at various phylogenetic levels. With the exception of seed plants, the range of 45S rDNA locus (encoding 18S, 5.8S and 26S rRNA) and gene copy number variation within key evolutionary plant groups is largely unknown. This is especially true for the three earliest land plant lineages Marchantiophyta (liverworts), Bryophyta (mosses), and Anthocerotophyta (hornworts). In this work…

Linear biocompatible glyco-polyamidoamines as dual action mode virus infection inhibitors with potential as broad-spectrum microbicides for sexually …

2016

AbstractThe initial steps of viral infections are mediated by interactions between viral proteins and cellular receptors. Blocking the latter with high-affinity ligands may inhibit infection. DC-SIGN, a C-type lectin receptor expressed by immature dendritic cells and macrophages, mediates human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection by recognizing mannose clusters on the HIV-1 gp120 envelope glycoprotein. Mannosylated glycodendrimers act as HIV entry inhibitors thanks to their ability to block this receptor. Previously, an amphoteric, but prevailingly cationic polyamidoamine named AGMA1 proved effective as infection inhibitor for several heparan sulfate proteoglycan-dependent viruses, such …

The impact of physical activity on psychological health during Covid-19 pandemic in Italy

2020

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has upset the normality of Italian daily life, forcing population to social distancing and self-isolation. Since the containment precautions also concern sport-related activities, home workout remained the only possibility to play sports and stay active during the pandemic. The present study aimed to examine changes in the physical activity levels during self-quarantine in Italy, and the impact of exercise on psychological health. A total of 2974 Italian subjects has completed an online survey, but only 2524 subjects resulted eligible for this study. The questionnaire measured the total weekly physical activity energy expenditure before and during quarantine…

Population genomic analysis of elongated skulls reveals extensive female-biased immigration in Early Medieval Bavaria

2018

Significance Many modern European states trace their roots back to a period known as the Migration Period that spans from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages. We have conducted the first population-level analysis of people from this era, generating genomic data from 41 graves from archaeological sites in present-day Bavaria in southern Germany mostly dating to around 500 AD. While they are predominantly of northern/central European ancestry, we also find significant evidence for a nonlocal genetic provenance that is highly enriched among resident Early Medieval women, demonstrating artificial skull deformation. We infer that the most likely origin of the majority of these women was sout…

2017

Human Cytomegalovirus (CMV) can lead to primary infection or reactivation in CMV-seronegative or -seropositive kidney transplant recipients, respectively. Complications comprise severe end-organ diseases and acute or chronic transplant rejection. Risk for CMV manifestation is stratified according to the CMV-IgG-serostatus, with donor+/recipient- (D+/R-) patients carrying the highest risk for CMV-replication. However, risk factors predisposing for primary infection in CMV-seronegative recipients are still not fully elucidated. Therefore, we monitored D+/R- high-risk patients undergoing kidney transplantation in combination with antiviral prophylaxis for the incidence of CMV-viremia for a med…

Cultivation trials of hop (Humulus lupulus L.) in semi-arid environments

2020

Abstract The recent developments in the market and craft beer industry in Italy have led to an increasing demand for local raw materials, such as barley malt and hops. Few works have been addressed to evaluate suitability and productivity of hop in semi-arid Italian environments. With this purpose, two experiments were carried out in 2018 and 2019, testing the suitability to cultivation of three commonly used hop varieties (Cascade, Chinook and Nuggett) in two typical semi-arid environments in Sicily. Phenological stages were also evaluated, and GDDs accumulated in vegetative and reproductive stages were calculated according to 9 different methods, dealing with three Tbase temperatures (0 °…