Search results for "PCR"
showing 10 items of 438 documents
Pharmacological Characterization of Loss of Function Mutations of the Human Melanocortin 1 Receptor That Are Associated with Red Hair
2004
Variation in skin color is the major host risk factor for melanoma and other forms of skin cancer. Individuals with red hair show an increased ratio of phaeomelanin to eumelanin in both hair and skin. This ratio is regulated by the melanocortin (MC) 1 receptor. There are several common point mutations in the human MC1 receptor that are overrepresented in North European red-heads, and in individuals with pale skin. In order to determine the functional significance of these mutations, we expressed the Asp84Glu, Val92Met, Arg163Gln, and Asp294His variants of the human MC1 receptors in eukaryotic cells and determined their ability to bind alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) peptides and …
Pharmacological comparison of rat and human melanocortin 3 and 4 receptors in vitro.
2002
Abstract The melanocortin 3 and 4 receptors are G-protein-coupled receptors found in the hypothalamus with important role in regulation of the energy balance. In this study, we performed pharmacological comparison of the rat and human melancortin (MC) 3 and MC4 receptors. We transiently expressed the genes for these receptors individually in a mammalian cell line and determined the binding affinities to several MSH peptides. The results showed no major difference between the rat and human MC3 receptors while the rat MC4 receptor had higher affinity to several peptides compared with the human MC4 receptor. NDP-, α-, β-, γ-MSH, ACTH(1–24), HS014 and MTII had from 5- to 34-fold higher affinity…
PPAR alpha gene variants as predicted performance-enhancing polymorphisms in professional Italian soccer players
2014
Patrizia Proia,1 Antonino Bianco,1 Gabriella Schiera,2 Patrizia Saladino,2 Valentina Contrò,1 Giovanni Caramazza,3 Marcello Traina,1 Keith A Grimaldi,4 Antonio Palma,1 Antonio Paoli5 1Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, 2Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; 3Regional Sports School of CONI Sicilia, Sicily, Italy; 4Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece; 5Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy Background: The PPARα gene encodes the peroxisome proliferato…
Glucose transporter 4 mRNA expression in subcutaneous adipose tissue of women with PCOS remains unchanged despite metformin withdrawal: is there a ce…
2021
Purpose: Metformin induces GLUT-4 mRNA expression in insulin target tissues in PCOS. It is unclear how long this impact is sustained after withdrawal of metformin. We aimed to compare the effect of metformin withdrawal on GLUT-4 mRNA expression in subcutaneous adipose tissue after prior short (ST, 1 year, N = 11) and long term (LT, at least 3 years, N = 13) treatment in obese PCOS women. Methods: At baseline and 6 months after withdrawal, biopsy of subcutaneous adipose tissue followed by quantitative PCR analysis was performed to determine GLUT-4 mRNA expression. Results: We found no time/effect differences in GLUT-4 mRNA expression in ST (2-dCt at baseline 0.42 (0.16–0.48) vs 2-dCt after 6…
Diagnostic Accuracy of a New Antigen Test for SARS-CoV-2 Detection
2021
Background and aims: Quick and reliable diagnostic tools play an important role in controlling the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a new cyto-salivary antigen test aimed at detecting the presence of antigens for SARS-CoV-2, as compared by the gold standard RT-PCR and a lateral flow test. Methods: A total of 433 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study and the sensitivity and specificity of the new cyto-salivary antigen test were calculated, as compared to the RT-PCR nasopharyngeal swab and to the lateral flow test. Results: A total of 433 samples were collected and tested at the Mediterranean Fair in Palermo from Febru…
Differences in cytomegalovirus plasma viral loads measured in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients using two commercial real-time…
2010
5 páginas, 3 figuras.
Meticilīnrezistento Staphylococcus intermedius grupas baktēriju identifikācija un izplatība suņiem Latvijā
2015
Meticilīnrezistentā Staphylococcus intermedius grupa (MRSI) ir galvenā rezistento patogēnu grupa mazajiem dzīvniekiem veterinārajā medicīnā. No gandrīz visām veterinārajām klīnikām pasaulē tiek ziņots par arvien vairāk pieaugošo rezistenci, īpašus draudus rada multirezistence. Meticilīna rezistenci nosaka mecA gēns, kas ir insertēts hromosomālā kasetē, pazīstamā kā stafilokoku hromosomālā kasete (staphylococcal chromosomal cassette – SCCmec). Darba mērķis ir identificēt meticilīnrezistentās S. intermedius grupas baktērijas Latvijā un noteikt to izplatību, kā arī optimizēt noteikšanas procedūru. Izmantojot skrīninga metodes, Brilliance MRSA2 agaru un Mannitol Salt agaru ar 2 mg/L cefoksitīnu…
Mitochondrial DNA deletion and male infertility
2009
Abstract The term “male infertility” does not constitute a defined clinical syndrome, but rather, a collection of different conditions exhibiting a variety of aetiologies and varying diagnosis. In men, oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, teratozoospermia and azoospermia are the main causes of infertility. The present research is aimed to investigate if mtDNA deletions can cause sperm defects in idiopathic astenozoospermic patients with different sperm motility and sperm concentration. The incidence of deletions in mtDNA (mtDNA) was co-related with diagnostic categorization of male infertility when 6.6kb out of the 16.6kb of the mitochondrial genome was amplified from whole sperm samples, f…
Prime indicazioni sulle biocenosi associate alle mummie delle Catacombe dei Cappuccini di Palermo
2009
La fama del convento, costruito dai Cappuccini di Palermo nel 1533, è dovuta in gran parte alle famose "Catacombe". L’origine delle catacombe si fa risalire al 1599 circa, quando i frati, sfruttando una preesistente cavità naturale al di sotto dell’altare maggiore della chiesa, trasferirono le salme di 40 frati precedentemente sepolti presso il lato meridionale della chiesa stessa. I frati iniziarono ad ampliare le catacombe, scavando nel sottosuolo, in relazione al crescente numero di nuove salme che nel tempo si conservavano. Allo stato attuale le catacombe sono una sorta di cimitero sotterraneo, in uso nel XVII secolo, costituito da lunghe gallerie scavate nel tufo per un’estensione di c…
Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA)
2011
The Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) is a PCR-based method. The procedure relies on sequence-specific probe hybridization of genomic DNA, followed by multiplex-PCR amplification of the hybridized probe and a semiquantitative analysis of the resulting PCR products. MLPA allows the analysis of around 40 loci in the same reaction, and is a sensitive and relatively fast technique. Only a small amount of DNA is required and results are available within 2 days.The critical factors when performing MLPA analyses from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues are DNA integrity and purity; for this reason, a suitable DNA extraction method must be chosen.The MLPA protocol …