Search results for "model [interaction]"
showing 10 items of 1495 documents
Sox-2 Positive Neural Progenitors in the Primate Striatum Undergo Dynamic Changes after Dopamine Denervation.
2013
The existence of endogenous neural progenitors in the nigrostriatal system could represent a powerful tool for restorative therapies in Parkinson's disease. Sox-2 is a transcription factor expressed in pluripotent and adult stem cells, including neural progenitors. In the adult brain Sox-2 is expressed in the neurogenic niches. There is also widespread expression of Sox-2 in other brain regions, although the neurogenic potential outside the niches is uncertain. Here, we analyzed the presence of Sox-2(+) cells in the adult primate (Macaca fascicularis) brain in naïve animals (N = 3) and in animals exposed to systemic administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine to render th…
Immunopositivity for histone macroH2A1 isoforms marks steatosisassociated hepatocellular carcinoma.
2012
BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Prevention and risk reduction are important and the identification of specific biomarkers for early diagnosis of HCC represents an active field of research. Increasing evidence indicates that fat accumulation in the liver, defined as hepatosteatosis, is an independent and strong risk factor for developing an HCC. MacroH2A1, a histone protein generally associated with the repressed regions of chromosomes, is involved in hepatic lipid metabolism and is present in two alternative spliced isoforms, macroH2A1.1 and macroH2A1.2. These isoforms have been shown to predict lung and colon cancer recurrence but to ou…
Deficiency of the promyelocytic leukemia protein fosters hepatitis C-associated hepatocarcinogenesis in mice.
2012
Overwhelming lines of epidemiological evidence have indicated that persistent infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major risk for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We have recently shown that HCV core protein mediates functional inactivation of the promyelocytic leukemia (PML) tumor suppressor pathway. However, the role of PML in HCC development yet remains unclear. To clarify the function of PML in liver carcinogenesis and HCV-associated pathogenesis we crossed PML-deficient mice with HCV transgene (HCV-Tg) expressing mice and treated the resulting animals with DEN/Phenobarbital, an established protocol for liver carcinogenesis. Seven months after treatment, livers …
SEMI-AUTOMATIC VOLUMETRIC SEGMENTATION OF THE UPPER AIRWAYS IN PATIENTS WITH PIERRE ROBIN SEQUENCE
2014
Pierre Robin malformation is a rare craniofacial dysmorphism whose pathogenesis is multifactorial. Although there is some agreement in non-invasive treatment in less severe cases, the dispute is still open on cases with severe respiratory impairment. We present a semi-automatic novel diagnostic tool for calculating upper airway volume, in order to eventually address surgery in patients with Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS). Multidetector CT datasets of two patients and two controls were tested to assess the proposed method for ROI segmentation, upper airway volume computation and three-dimensional reconstructions. The experimental results show an irregular pattern and a severely reduced cross-s…
Estimating the burden of hospitalization for pneumococcal pneumonia in a general population aged 50 years or older and implications for vaccination s…
2014
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of human infectious diseases worldwide. Despite this documented evidence, data on pneumococcal disease rates among general populations are scant because of the frequent lack of cultural identification. In this study we propose a model for estimating the burden of pneumococcal pneumonia on hospitalizations. The study was performed by analyzing administrative and clinical data of patients aged 50 years or older, resident in Sicily, and hospitalized, from 2005 to 2012. Demographic information, admission/discharge dates, discharge status, and up to 6 discharge diagnoses coded according to ICD-9 CM were collected for each hospitalized patient. During the…
Delivery of epirubicin via slow infusion as a strategy to mitigate chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity
2017
Background Continuous infusion of doxorubicin has been a strategy to reduce cardiotoxicity. Epirubicin is another anthracycline in common clinical use. However, evidence is lacking regarding whether this strategy can reduce cardiotoxicity of epirubicin without compromising antineoplastic efficacy. Design and methods Healthy rats were randomized into groups: epirubicin (8 mg/kg) delivered intraperitoneally via micro osmotic pumps (MOP), epirubicin (8 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal (IP) bolus injection, and placebo control. Blood samples were collected for analyzing biomarkers of myocardial injury and pharmacokinetics. At chosen times, sub-groups of animals were sacrificed for histopathology. A mo…
Cytotoxic activity of the novel small molecule AKT inhibitor SC66 in hepatocellular carcinoma cells
2014
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by limited response to current drug therapies. Here, we report that SC66, a novel AKT inhibitor, reduced cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner, inhibited colony formation and induced apoptosis in HCC cells. SC66 treatment led to a reduction in total and phospho-AKT levels. This was associated with alterations in cytoskeleton organization, a reduction in expression levels of E-cadherin, β-catenin and phospho-FAK, together with up-regulation of Snail protein levels. All these alterations were coupled with anoikis cell death induction. In addition, SC66 induced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA damage. Pre-trea…
2-Hydroxyoleate, a nontoxic membrane binding anticancer drug, induces glioma cell differentiation and autophagy
2012
Despite recent advances in the development of new cancer therapies, the treatment options for glioma remain limited, and the survival rate of patients has changed little over the past three decades. Here, we show that 2-hydroxyoleic acid (2OHOA) induces differentiation and autophagy of human glioma cells. Compared to the current reference drug for this condition, temozolomide (TMZ), 2OHOA combated glioma more efficiently and, unlike TMZ, tumor relapse was not observed following 2OHOA treatment. The novel mechanism of action of 2OHOA is associated with important changes in membrane-lipid composition, primarily a recovery of sphingomyelin (SM) levels, which is markedly low in glioma cells bef…
Citrus limon-derived nanovesicles inhibit cancer cell proliferation and suppress CML xenograft growth by inducing TRAIL-mediated cell death
2015
// Stefania Raimondo 1 , Flores Naselli 1 , Simona Fontana 1 , Francesca Monteleone 1 , Alessia Lo Dico 1 , Laura Saieva 1 , Giovanni Zito 2 , Anna Flugy 1 , Mauro Manno 3 , Maria Antonietta Di Bella 1 , Giacomo De Leo 1 , Riccardo Alessandro 1 1 Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Biotecnologie Mediche, Universita degli Studi di Palermo, sezione di Biologia e Genetica, Palermo, Italy 2 Laboratorio di Ingegneria Tissutale – Piattaforme Innovative per l’Ingegneria Tissutale (PON01–00829), Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Palermo, Italy 3 Istituto di Biofisica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Palermo, Italy Correspondence to: Riccardo Alessandro, e-mail: riccardo.alessandro@unipa.it Keywords: canc…
Tissue oxygenation in brain, muscle and fat in a rat model of sleep apnea: differential effect of obstructive apneas and intermittent hypoxia.
2011
Study Objectives: To test the hypotheses that the dynamic changes in brain oxygen partial pressure (PtO 2) in response to obstructive apneas or to intermittent hypoxia differ from those in other organs and that the changes in brain PtO 2 in response to obstructive apneas is a source of oxidative stress. Design: Prospective controlled animal study. Setting: University laboratory. Participants: 98 Sprague-Dawley rats. Interventions: Cerebral cortex, skeletal muscle, or visceral fat tissues were exposed in anesthetized animals subjected to either obstructive apneas or intermittent hypoxia (apneic and hypoxic events of 15 s each and 60 events/h) for 1 h. Measurements and Results: Arterial oxyge…