Search results for "cancer."
showing 10 items of 11362 documents
Proliferation of aneuploid cells induced by CENP-E depletion is counteracted by the p14ARF tumor suppressor
2018
The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) is a cellular surveillance mechanism that ensures the fidelity of chromosomes segregation. Reduced expression of some of its components weakens the SAC and induces chromosome instability and aneuploidy, which are both well-known hallmarks of cancer cells. Centromere protein-E (CENP-E) is a crucial component of the SAC and its function is to facilitate kinetochore microtubule attachment required to achieve and maintain chromosome alignment. The present study investigates the possible role of p14ARF as a controller of aneuploid cells proliferation. We used RNA interference to induce aneuploidy by partial depletion of CENP-E in human primary fibroblasts (I…
Comparative analysis of the proximate and elemental composition of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus, the warty crab Eriphia verrucosa, and the edibl…
2016
AbstractThe proximate composition and element contents of claw muscle tissue of Atlantic blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) were compared with the native warty crab (Eriphia verrucosa) and the commercially edible crab (Cancer pagurus). The scope of the analysis was to profile the chemical characteristics and nutritive value of the three crab species. Elemental fingerprints showed significant inter-specific differences, whereas non-significant variations in the moisture and ash contents were observed. In the blue crab, protein content was significantly lower than in the other two species, while its carbon content resulted lower than that characterizing only the warty crab. Among micro-elements…
The roles of whole-genome and small-scale duplications in the functional specialization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes
2013
Researchers have long been enthralled with the idea that gene duplication can generate novel functions, crediting this process with great evolutionary importance. Empirical data shows that whole-genome duplications (WGDs) are more likely to be retained than small-scale duplications (SSDs), though their relative contribution to the functional fate of duplicates remains unexplored. Using the map of genetic interactions and the re-sequencing of 27 Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomes evolving for 2,200 generations we show that SSD-duplicates lead to neo-functionalization while WGD-duplicates partition ancestral functions. This conclusion is supported by: (a) SSD-duplicates establish more genetic i…
Selection for Robustness in Mutagenized RNA Viruses
2007
Mutational robustness is defined as the constancy of a phenotype in the face of deleterious mutations. Whether robustness can be directly favored by natural selection remains controversial. Theory and in silico experiments predict that, at high mutation rates, slow-replicating genotypes can potentially outcompete faster counterparts if they benefit from a higher robustness. Here, we experimentally validate this hypothesis, dubbed the ‘‘survival of the flattest,’’ using two populations of the vesicular stomatitis RNA virus. Characterization of fitness distributions and genetic variability indicated that one population showed a higher replication rate, whereas the other was more robust to mut…
Collateral sensitivity of natural products in drug-resistant cancer cells
2018
Cancer chemotherapy is frequently hampered by drug resistance. Concepts to combine anticancer drugs with different modes of action to avoid the development of resistance did not provide the expected success in the past, because tumors can be simultaneously non-responsive to many drugs (e.g. the multidrug resistance phenotype). However, tumors may be specifically hypersensitive to other drugs - a phenomenon also termed collateral sensitivity. This seems to be a general biological mechanism, since it also occurs in drug-resistant Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we give a timely and comprehensive overview on hypersensitivity in resistant cancer cells towards natural produc…
Novel simple templates for reproducible positioning of skin applicators in brachytherapy.
2016
Purpose : Esteya and Valencia surface applicators are designed to treat skin tumors using brachytherapy. In clinical practice, in order to avoid errors that may affect the treatment outcome, there are two issues that need to be carefully addressed. First, the selected applicator for the treatment should provide adequate margin for the target, and second, the applicator has to be precisely positioned before each treatment fraction. In this work, we describe the development and use of a new acrylic templates named Template La Fe-ITIC. They have been designed specifically to help the clinical user in the selection of the correct applicator, and to assist the medical staff in reproducing the po…
Purine auxotrophy: Possible applications beyond genetic marker
2019
Exploring new drug candidates or drug targets against many illnesses is necessary as "traditional" treatments lose their effectivity. Cancer and sicknesses caused by protozoan parasites are among these diseases. Cell purine metabolism is an important drug target. Theoretically, inhibiting purine metabolism could stop the proliferation of unwanted cells. Purine metabolism is similar across all eukaryotes. However, some medically important organisms or cell lines rely on their host purine metabolism. Protozoans causing malaria, leishmaniasis, or toxoplasmosis are purine auxotrophs. Some cancer forms have also lost the ability to synthesize purines de novo. Budding yeast can serve as an effect…
The Potential Role of Medicinal Mushrooms in the Prevention and Treatment of Gynecological Cancers: A Review
2019
A review of scientific information about the potential role of medicinal mushrooms in the prevention and treatment of gynecological cancers, human immunodeficiency virus, and human papillomavirus infections is reported here. The results of in vivo and in vitro experiments on 16 different species of Basidiomycetes and three Ascomycetes, which possess chemopreventive potential and are effective in clinical application in combination with chemotherapy, are also discussed. Medicinal mushroom extracts confirm an evident efficacy on the reduction of tumor cell proliferation and side effects in patients with gynecological tumors who are undergoing chemotherapy treatments. This review, the first on…
OMICfpp: a fuzzy approach for paired RNA-Seq counts
2019
© The Author(s) 2019.
K-nearest neighbor driving active contours to delineate biological tumor volumes
2019
Abstract An algorithm for tumor delineation in positron emission tomography (PET) is presented. Segmentation is achieved by a local active contour algorithm, integrated and optimized with the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) classification method, which takes advantage of the stratified k-fold cross-validation strategy. The proposed approach is evaluated considering the delineation of cancers located in different body districts (i.e. brain, head and neck, and lung), and considering different PET radioactive tracers. Data are pre-processed in order to be expressed in terms of standardized uptake value, the most widely used PET quantification index. The algorithm uses an initial, operator selected re…