Search results for "NSC"
showing 10 items of 5810 documents
SARS-CoV-2 infection risk assessment in the endometrium: viral infection-related gene expression across the menstrual cycle
2020
Objective To determine the susceptibility of the endometrium to infection by—and thereby potential damage from—SARS-CoV-2. Design Analysis of SARS-Cov-2 infection-related gene expression from endometrial transcriptomic data sets. Setting Infertility research department affiliated with a public hospital. Patient(s) Gene expression data from five studies in 112 patients with normal endometrium collected throughout the menstrual cycle. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Gene expression and correlation between viral infectivity genes and age throughout the menstrual cycle. Result(s) Gene expression was high for TMPRSS4, CTSL, CTSB, FURIN, MX1, and BSG; medium for TMPRSS2; and low for…
An essential role for the IL-2 receptor in Treg cell function
2016
Regulatory T cells (Treg cells), which have abundant expression of the interleukin 2 receptor (IL-2R), are reliant on IL-2 produced by activated T cells. This feature indicates a key role for a simple network based on the consumption of IL-2 by Treg cells in their suppressor function. However, congenital deficiency in IL-2R results in reduced expression of the Treg cell lineage-specification factor Foxp3, which has confounded experimental efforts to understand the role of IL-2R expression and signaling in the suppressor function of Treg cells. Using genetic gain- and loss-of-function approaches, we found that capture of IL-2 was dispensable for the control of CD4+ T cells but was important …
The Role of JAK/STAT Molecular Pathway in Vascular Remodeling Associated with Pulmonary Hypertension
2021
Pulmonary hypertension is defined as a group of diseases characterized by a progressive increase in pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), which leads to right ventricular failure and premature death. There are multiple clinical manifestations that can be grouped into five different types. Pulmonary artery remodeling is a common feature in pulmonary hypertension (PH) characterized by endothelial dysfunction and smooth muscle pulmonary artery cell proliferation. The current treatments for PH are limited to vasodilatory agents that do not stop the progression of the disease. Therefore, there is a need for new agents that inhibit pulmonary artery remodeling targeting the main genetic, molecular,…
Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor in Keratinocytes Is Essential for Murine Skin Barrier Integrity.
2016
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor involved in adaptive cell functions, and it is highly active in the epidermis. AhR ligands can accelerate keratinocyte differentiation, but the precise role of AhR in the skin barrier is unknown. Our study showed that transepidermal water loss, a parameter of skin barrier integrity, is high in AhR-deficient mice. Experiments with conditionally AhR-deficient mouse lines identified keratinocytes as the primary cell population responsible for high transepidermal water loss. Electron microscopy showed weaker intercellular connectivity in the epidermis of keratinocytes in AhR-knockout mice, and gene expression analysi…
Selective AhR knockout in langerin-expressing cells abates Langerhans cells and polarizes Th2/Tr1 in epicutaneous protein sensitization
2020
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) represents an environmental sensor regulating immune responses. In the skin, AhR is expressed in several cell types, including keratinocytes, epidermal Langerhans cells (LC), and dermal dendritic cells (DC). The mechanisms how AhR activates or inhibits cutaneous immune responses remain controversial, owing to differences in the cell-specific functions of AhR and the different activating ligands. Therefore, we sought to investigate the role of AhR in LC and langerin(+) and negative DC in the skin. To this aim, we generated Langerin-specific and CD11c-specific knockout ((−/−)) mice lacking AhR, respectively, in LC and Langerin(+) dermal DC and in all CD11c(…
Development of the GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons of the lateral hypothalamus.
2021
In the last few years we assist to an unexpected deluge of genomic data on hypothalamic development and structure. Perhaps most surprisingly, the Lateral Zone has received much attention too. The new information focuses first of all on transcriptional heterogeneity. Many already known and a number of hitherto unknown lateral hypothalamic neurons have been described to an enormous degree of detail. Maybe the most surprising novel discoveries are two: First, some restricted regions of the embryonic forebrain neuroepithelium generate specific LHA neurons, either GABAergic or glutamatergic. Second, evidence is mounting that supports the existence of numerous kinds of "bilingual" lateral hypotha…
Exploring the neural correlates of the reversed letter effect: Evidence from left and right parietal patients.
2019
To investigate the hemispheric lateralization of attentional processes during visual search tasks depending on the stimulus material embedding the target, twelve patients with unilateral left (n = 7) or right (n = 5) parietal lesions and 20 age and education matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited. We used a visual search task for a uniquely tilted oblique bar embedded in an object shape 'N' or in its mirror reversal 'И'. The accuracy and the averaged reaction times (RTs) in each stimulus type ('N' or 'И') were analysed.\ud \ud HC presented significantly longer RTs when the target bar was embedded in 'N' among its mirror reversed 'И' (p < .05). This “reversed letter effect” was also…
Consciousness is Quantum Computed Beyond the Limits of the Brain: A Perspective Conceived from Cases Studied for Hydranencephaly
2016
Hydranencephaly is a developmental malady, where the cerebral hemispheres of the brain are reduced partly or entirely too membranous sacs filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Infants with this malady are presumed to have reduced life expectancy with a survival of weeks to few years and which solely depends on care and fostering of these individuals. During their life span these individuals demonstrate behaviours that are termed “vegetative” by neuroscientists but can be comparable to the state of being “aware” or “conscious”. Based on the most simplified definition for consciousness i.e. “awareness” or “to be aware”, these individuals are undeniably aware of their existence and therefore should…
Jaminaea phylloscopi sp. nov. (Microstromatales), a basidiomycetous yeast isolated from migratory birds in the Mediterranean basin.
2016
During a survey of yeasts vectored by migratory birds in the Mediterranean basin, isolations from the cloacae of members of the order Passeriformes collected in Ustica (Italy) were performed. Based on phylogenetic analysis of the D1/D2 domain of the 26S rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer ITS1-5.8S rRNA gene-ITS2 region, five yeast isolates clustered in a new lineage within the Microstromatales clade. The DNA sequences of these isolates differed from those of their closest relatives, Jaminaea angkorensis and Jaminaea lanaiensis, by 20 and 25 nt substitutions in the D1/D2 domain and 119 and 131 nt substitutions in the complete ITS region, respectively. In addition, the five isolate…
Transforming growth factor β (CiTGF-β) gene expression is induced in the inflammatory reaction of Ciona intestinalis.
2016
Transforming growth factor (TGF-β) is a well-known component of a regulatory cytokines superfamily that has pleiotropic functions in a broad range of cell types and is involved, in vertebrates, in numerous physiological and pathological processes. In the current study, we report on Ciona intestinalis molecular characterisation and expression of a transforming growth factor β homologue (CiTGF-β). The gene organisation, phylogenetic tree and modelling supported the close relationship with the mammalian TGF suggesting that the C. intestinalis TGF-β gene shares a common ancestor in the chordate lineages. Functionally, real-time PCR analysis showed that CiTGF-β was transcriptionally upregulated …