Search results for "mito"
showing 10 items of 2513 documents
Senataxin defective in ataxia oculomotor apraxia type 2 is involved in the defence against oxidative DNA damage
2007
Adefective response to DNA damage is observed in several human autosomal recessive ataxias with oculomotor apraxia, including ataxia-telangiectasia. We report that senataxin, defective in ataxia oculomotor apraxia (AOA) type 2, is a nuclear protein involved in the DNA damage response. AOA2 cells are sensitive to H2O2, camptothecin, and mitomycin C, but not to ionizing radiation, and sensitivity was rescued with full-length SETX cDNA. AOA2 cells exhibited constitutive oxidative DNA damage and enhanced chromosomal instability in response to H2O2. Rejoining of H2O2-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) was significantly reduced in AOA2 cells compared to controls, and there was no evidence fo…
Different muscarinic receptor subtypes modulate proliferation of primary human detrusor smooth muscle cells via Akt/PI3K and map kinases.
2013
While acetylcholine (ACh) and muscarinic receptors in the bladder are mainly known for their role in the regulation of smooth muscle contractility, in other tissues they are involved in tissue remodelling and promote cell growth and proliferation. In the present study we have used primary cultures of human detrusor smooth muscle cells (HDSMCs), in order to investigate the role of muscarinic receptors in HDSMC proliferation. Samples were obtained as discarded tissue from men >65 years undergoing radical cystectomy for bladder cancer and cut in pieces that were either immediately frozen or placed in culture medium for the cell culture establishment. HDSMCs were isolated from samples, propagat…
The role of Aurora-A inhibitors in cancer therapy
2007
Recently, new chemotherapy agents which target the non-structural components of mitosis have been developed. An important protein involved in several mitotic phases is the Aurora-A protein. By means of the phosphorylation of different substrates, Aurora-A regulates the correct development of the various phases of mitosis. The kinase activity of this protein makes Aurora-A an excellent candidate as an oncogene. The first data of Aurora-A involvement in cancer regarded the identification of Aurora-A overexpression in primary breast and colon tumour samples. With regard to the predictive role of Aurora-A, it has been shown that its overexpression disrupts the spindle checkpoint activated by pa…
Artesunate Activates Mitochondrial Apoptosis in Breast Cancer Cells via Iron-catalyzed Lysosomal Reactive Oxygen Species Production
2011
The antimalarial agent artesunate (ART) activates programmed cell death (PCD) in cancer cells in a manner dependent on the presence of iron and the generation of reactive oxygen species. In malaria parasites, ART cytotoxicity originates from interactions with heme-derived iron within the food vacuole. The analogous digestive compartment of mammalian cells, the lysosome, similarly contains high levels of redox-active iron and in response to specific stimuli can initiate mitochondrial apoptosis. We thus investigated the role of lysosomes in ART-induced PCD and determined that in MCF-7 breast cancer cells ART activates lysosome-dependent mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization. ART impac…
The marbled crayfish as a paradigm for saltational speciation by autopolyploidy and parthenogenesis in animals
2015
ABSTRACT The parthenogenetic all-female marbled crayfish is a novel research model and potent invader of freshwater ecosystems. It is a triploid descendant of the sexually reproducing slough crayfish, Procambarus fallax, but its taxonomic status has remained unsettled. By cross-breeding experiments and parentage analysis we show here that marbled crayfish and P. fallax are reproductively separated. Both crayfish copulate readily, suggesting that the reproductive barrier is set at the cytogenetic rather than the behavioural level. Analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes of marbled crayfish from laboratory lineages and wild populations demonstrates genetic identity and indicates a single o…
Multiple-chromosome sex systems in the darkling beetles Blaps gigas and Blaps gibba (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)
1996
We have studied mitotic and meiotic chromosomes in the males of two species of Blaps: B. gigas and B. gibba. Karyological characteristics such as the occurrence of a multivalent configuration at diakinesis and two types of metaphase-II spreads support the notion that multiple-chromosome sex systems involving five chromosomes in B. gigas and eight chromosomes in B. gibba have developed in these species. Results obtained by means of silver staining and C-banding techniques suggest that the complex sex systems occurring in B. gigas and B. gibba may have originated from exchanges of terminal ribosomal genes among the Y chromosome and some autosomes.
11,12-EET Stimulates the Association of BK Channel α and β1 Subunits in Mitochondria to Induce Pulmonary Vasoconstriction
2012
In the systemic circulation, 11,12-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (11,12-EET) elicits nitric oxide (NO)- and prostacyclin-independent vascular relaxation, partially through the activation of large conductance Ca(2+)-activated potassium (BK) channels. However, in the lung 11,12-EET contributes to hypoxia-induced pulmonary vasoconstriction. Since pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells also express BK channels, we assessed the consequences of BKβ(1) subunit deletion on pulmonary responsiveness to 11,12-EET as well as to acute hypoxia. In buffer-perfused mouse lungs, hypoxia increased pulmonary artery pressure and this was significantly enhanced in the presence of NO synthase (NOS) and cyclooxygenase (…
Performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus for detection of latent tuberculosis infection in pregnant women living in a tuberculosis- and HIV-endemic se…
2017
We evaluated the performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus), which includes two Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen formulations (TB1 and TB2), for detection of latent tuberculosis infection during pregnancy. Eight-hundred-twenty-nine Ethiopian pregnant women (5.9% HIV-positive) were tested with QFT-Plus, with bacteriological sputum analysis performed for women with clinically suspected tuberculosis and HIV-positive women irrespective of clinical presentation. QFT-Plus read-out was categorized according to the conventional cut-off (0.35 IU/ml) for both antigen formulations. In addition, we analysed the distribution of QFT-Plus results within a borderline zone (0.20–0.70 IU/ml), and i…
Chromosome numbers in Hieracium and Pilosella species (Asteraceae) from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands
2007
Mitotic chromosome numbers are reported from 16 Hieracium and two Pilosella species from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands that are little known cytogenetically. The chromosome numbers of Hieracium aragonense Scheele (2 n = 27, 36), H. compositum Lapeyr. (2 n = 27), H. murcandidum G. Mateo (2 n = 27), H. spathulatum Scheele (2 n = 27), H. segurae Mateo (2 n = 27), H. teruelanum Mateo (2 n = 27), H. valentinum Pau (2 n = 27), Pilosella pseudovahlii (De Retz) Mateo (2 n = 18), and P. tardans (Peter) Sojak (2 n = 36) were determined for the first time. New cytotypes were detected in H. cordifolium Lapeyr. (2 n = 27) and H. loscosianum Scheele (2 n = 36). The karyo- type of the stu…
Mitochondrial DNA Portrait of Latvians: Towards the Understanding of the Genetic Structure of Baltic-Speaking Populations
2005
Summary Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation was investigated in a sample of 299 Latvians, a Baltic-speaking population from Eastern Europe. Sequencing of the first hypervariable segment (HVS-I) in combination with analysis of informative coding region markers revealed that the vast majority of observed mtDNAs belong to haplogroups (hgs) common to most European populations. Analysis of the spatial distribution of mtDNA haplotypes found in Latvians, as well as in Baltic-speaking populations in general, revealed that they share haplotypes with all neighbouring populations irrespective of their linguistic affiliation. Hence, the results of our mtDNA analysis show that the previously described s…