Search results for "niche"
showing 10 items of 1201 documents
Longevity: Lesson from model organisms
2019
Research on longevity and healthy aging promises to increase our lifespan and decrease the burden of degenerative diseases with important social and economic effects. Many aging theories have been proposed, and important aging pathways have been discovered. Model organisms have had a crucial role in this process because of their short lifespan, cheap maintenance, and manipulation possibilities. Yeasts, worms, fruit flies, or mammalian models such as mice, monkeys, and recently, dogs, have helped shed light on aging processes. Genes and molecular mechanisms that were found to be critical in simple eukaryotic cells and species have been confirmed in humans mainly by the functional analysis of…
Effect of cadmium on anion exchange capability through Band 3 protein in human erythrocytes
2018
The efficiency of transport through Band 3 protein, mediating HCO3–/Cl– exchange across erythrocytes membrane, is reduced by oxidative stress. The aim of the present study was to verify whether Band 3 protein transport efficiency is compromised by treatment with Cadmium (Cd2+), an extremely toxic heavy metal known to interfere with antioxidant enzymes, energy metabolism, gene expression and cell membranes. To this end, the rate constant for SO4= uptake through Band 3 protein (accounting for velocity of anion exchange) was measured along with membrane –SH groups, Malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and Band 3 protein expression levels in Cd2+-treated human erythrocytes (300 μM, 1 mM). Our results show t…
Mast cells contribute to autoimmune diabetes by releasing interleukin-6 and failing to acquire a tolerogenic IL-10+ phenotype
2017
Mast cells (MCs) are innate immune cells that exert positive and negative immune modulatory functions capable to enhance or limit the intensity and/or duration of adaptive immune responses. Although MCs are crucial to regulate T cell immunity, their action in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases is still debated. Here we demonstrate that MCs play a crucial role in T1D pathogenesis so that their selective depletion in conditional MC knockout NOD mice protects them from the disease. MCs of diabetic NOD mice are overly inflammatory and secrete large amounts of IL-6 that favors differentiation of IL-17-secreting T cells at the site of autoimmunity. Moreover, while MCs of control mice acquire…
The embryo-placental CD15-positive "vasculogenic zones" as a source of propranolol-sensitive pediatric vascular tumors.
2015
Abstract Objective Propranolol-induced involution is a unique biological feature of some pediatric vascular tumors, for instance infantile hemangioma (IH), cerebral cavernoma or chorioangioma. Currently, the cellular origin of these distinct tumors is unclear. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that propranolol-responsive vascular tumors are derived from common vessel-forming CD15 + progenitor cells which occur in early gestation. The aim of this study was to identify the tumor-relevant CD15 + progenitors at the early stages of embryo-placental development. Materials and methods Human embryo-placental units of 4–8 weeks gestation and pediatric vascular tumors were tested for expression…
Common extracellular matrix regulation of myeloid cell activity in the bone marrow and tumor microenvironments
2017
The complex interaction between cells undergoing transformation and the various stromal and immunological cell components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) crucially influences cancer progression and diversification, as well as endowing clinical and prognostic significance. The immunosuppression characterizing the TME depends on the recruitment and activation of different cell types including regulatory T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and tumor-associated macrophages. Less considered is the non-cellular component of the TME. Here, we focus on the extracellular matrix (ECM) regulatory activities that, within the TME, actively contribute to many aspects of tumor progression, acti…
AKT3 Expression in Mesenchymal Colorectal Cancer Cells Drives Growth and Is Associated with Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
2021
Simple Summary Colorectal cancer can be subdivided into four distinct subtypes that are characterised by different clinical features and responses to therapies currently used in the clinic to treat this disease. One of those subtypes, called CMS4, is associated with a worse prognosis and poor response to therapies compared to other subtypes. We therefore set out to explore what proteins are differentially expressed and used in CMS4 to find potential new targets for therapy. We found that protein AKT3 is highly expressed in CMS4, and that active AKT3 inhibits a protein that stalls growth of cancer cells (p27KIP1). We can target AKT3 with inhibitors which leads to strongly reduced growth of c…
MiR-205-5p inhibition by locked nucleic acids impairs metastatic potential of breast cancer cells.
2018
AbstractMir-205 plays an important role in epithelial biogenesis and in mammary gland development but its role in cancer still remains controversial depending on the specific cellular context and target genes. We have previously reported that miR-205-5p is upregulated in breast cancer stem cells targeting ERBB pathway and leading to targeted therapy resistance. Here we show that miR-205-5p regulates tumorigenic properties of breast cancer cells, as well as epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Silencing this miRNA in breast cancer results in reduced tumor growth and metastatic spreading in mouse models. Moreover, we show that miR-205-5p knock-down can be obtained with the use of specific lo…
CHK1 inhibitor sensitizes resistant colorectal cancer stem cells to nortopsentin
2021
Summary Limited therapeutic options are available for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). Herein, we report that exposure to a neo-synthetic bis(indolyl)thiazole alkaloid analog, nortopsentin 234 (NORA234), leads to an initial reduction of proliferative and clonogenic potential of CRC sphere cells (CR-CSphCs), followed by an adaptive response selecting the CR-CSphC-resistant compartment. Cells spared by the treatment with NORA234 express high levels of CD44v6, associated with a constitutive activation of Wnt pathway. In CR-CSphC-based organoids, NORA234 causes a genotoxic stress paralleled by G2-M cell cycle arrest and activation of CHK1, driving the DNA damage repair of CR-CSphCs, regardless…
Scientific Reports
2019
Anthropogenic climate change ranks among the major global-scale threats to modern biodiversity. Extinction risks are known to increase via the interactions between rapid climatic alterations and environmentally-sensitive species traits that fail to adapt to those changes. Accumulating evidence reveals the influence of ecophysiological, ecological and phenological factors as drivers underlying demographic collapses that lead to population extinctions. However, the extent to which life-history traits influence population responses to climate change remains largely unexplored. The emerging 'cul-de-sac hypothesis' predicts that reptilian viviparity ('live-bearing' reproduction), a 'key innovati…
Consensus paper on the “executive summary of the international conference on Mediterranean diet and health: a lifelong approach” an Italian initiativ…
2018
The Mediterranean Diet Foundation, in collaboration with the International Menarini Foundation, organized the “International Conference on Mediterranean Diet and Health: A Lifelong Approach.” The Conference was held in Ostuni (Puglia, Italy) from March 30 to April 1, 2017. The event received the endorsement of the American Federation for Aging Research, the Research Consortium “Luigi Amaducci,” the European Nutrition for Health Alliance, the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society, the Clinical Section of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics—European Region, the National Research Council Research Project on Aging, the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, a…