Search results for "then"

Microparticles harbouring Sonic hedgehog morphogen improve the vasculogenesis capacity of endothelial progenitor cells derived from myocardial infarc…

2019

Aims Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) play a role in endothelium integrity maintenance and regeneration. Decreased numbers of EPC or their impaired function correlates with an increase in cardiovascular events. Thus, EPC are important predictors of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Microparticles carrying Sonic hedgehog (Shh) morphogen (MPShh+) trigger pro-angiogenic responses, both in endothelial cells and in ischaemic rodent models. Here, we propose that MPShh+ regulates EPC function, thus enhancing vasculogenesis, and correcting the defects in dysfunctional EPC obtained from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. Methods and results The mechanisms underlying Shh pathway func…

Excessive daytime sleepiness is associated with an increased frequency of falls and sarcopenia.

2021

Background:\ud \ud This cross-sectional study aimed to examine associations between excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) with falls and falls related conditions in older adults.\ud \ud Methods:\ud \ud To assess EDS, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale was used, with a score of ≥11/24 points indicating EDS. Number of falls and fall history (at least one) in the last year were recorded. Timed Up and Go test (TUG) was used to assess fall risk. Sarcopenia was defined by SARC-F tool. A grip strength score of the dominant hand, measured with a hand-grip dynamometer, less than 16 kg in females and 27 kg in males was accepted as dynapenia. Frailty status was defined by five dimensions including shrinking, e…

Good's syndrome and recurrent leishmaniasis: A case report and review of literature

2020

We report the case of a 56-year-old Caucasian male affected by thymoma and myasthenia gravis that developed recurrent visceral leishmaniasis 11 years after thymectomy. After treatment of each relapse with liposomal amphotericin B the PCR-Leishmania was negative and the patient showed clinical improvement. An immunologic work-up was performed showing lymphopenia with an important decrease in CD4+ T cells (52 cells/μ) and CD4/CD8 ratio (0.2). HIV test was negative. On the basis of previous thymoma and myasthenia gravis and on the basis of the immunological profile a diagnosis of Good's syndrome was made. Since IFNγ plays a main role in the control of Leishmania infection the production of IFN…

Noncanonical GLI1 signaling promotes stemness features and in vivo growth in lung adenocarcinoma

2016

Aberrant Hedgehog/GLI signaling has been implicated in a diverse spectrum of human cancers, but its role in lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) is still under debate. We show that the downstream effector of the Hedgehog pathway, GLI1, is expressed in 76% of LACs, but in roughly half of these tumors, the canonical pathway activator, Smoothened, is expressed at low levels, possibly owing to epigenetic silencing. In LAC cells including the cancer stem cell compartment, we show that GLI1 is activated noncanonically by MAPK/ERK signaling. Different mechanisms can trigger the MAPK/ERK/GLI1 cascade including KRAS mutation and stimulation of NRP2 by VEGF produced by the cancer cells themselves in an autocrin…

Phototherapy: Ruthenium-Containing Block Copolymer Assemblies: Red-Light-Responsive Metallopolymers with Tunable Nanostructures for Enhanced Cellular…

2016

Aerobic growth of Rhodococcus aetherivorans BCP1 using selected naphthenic acids as the sole carbon and energy sources

2018

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are an important group of toxic organic compounds naturally occurring in hydrocarbon deposits. This work shows that Rhodococcus aetherivorans BCP1 cells not only utilize a mixture of eight different NAs (8XNAs) for growth but they are also capable of marked degradation of two model NAs, cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (CHCA) and cyclopentanecarboxylic acid (CPCA) when supplied at concentrations from 50 to 500 mgL−1 . The growth curves of BCP1 on 8XNAs, CHCA, and CPCA showed an initial lag phase not present in growth on glucose, which presumably was related to the toxic effects of NAs on the cell membrane permeability. BCP1 cell adaptation responses that allowed survi…

Myositis/myasthenia after pembrolizumab in a bladder cancer patient with an autoimmunity-associated HLA: Immune–biological evaluation and case report

2021

Pembrolizumab (mAb to PD-1) has been recently approved for the therapy of pretreated urothelial cancer. Despite the efficacy, it is often accompanied by unpredictable and sometime severe immune-related (ir) adverse events (AEs). Here, we report the clinical and immune–biological characterization of a patient with a metastatic bladder cancer who developed myositis signs (M) and a myasthenia-like syndrome (MLS) during treatment with pembrolizumab. The patient presented an autoimmunity-associated HLA haplotype (HLA-A*02/HLA-B*08/HLA-C*07/HLA-DRB1*03) and experienced an increase in activated CD8 T-cells along the treatment. The symptomatology regressed after pembrolizumab discontinuation and a …

Mesopolysaccharides: The extracellular surface layer of visceral organs

2020

The mesothelium is a dynamic and specialized tissue layer that covers the somatic cavities (pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial) as well as the surface of the visceral organs such as the lung, heart, liver, bowel and tunica vaginalis testis. The potential therapeutic manipulation of visceral organs has been complicated by the carbohydrate surface layer—here, called the mesopolysaccharide (MPS)—that coats the outer layer of the mesothelium. The traditional understanding of MPS structure has relied upon fixation techniques known to degrade carbohydrates. The recent development of carbohydrate-preserving fixation for high resolution imaging techniques has provided an opportunity to re-examine…

2019

Parthenolide (PT) is a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Tanacetum parthenium. In this study, PT showed varying cytotoxic effects against different solid tumor cell lines. HCT116 (p53+/+) colon carcinoma cells and their parental HCT116 knockout p53 (p53-/-) cell lines showed a resistance degree of 2.36. On the other hand, wild-type U87.MG cells or cells transfected with a deletion-activated EGFR cDNA (U87.MGΔEGFR) exhibited slight sensitivity toward PT. Multidrug-resistant MDA-MB-231-BCRP cells were even more sensitive toward PT than sensitive MDA-MB-231-pcDNA cells with a resistance degree of 0.07 (collateral sensitivity). To the best of our knowledge, hypersensitivity (collateral sensit…

Cytotoxic activity of medicinal plants of the Kakamega County (Kenya) against drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant cancer cells

2018

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance The geographical location of Kakamega County proximal to the Kakamega Rain Forest in Kenya and its rich flora represents an interesting resource of traditional medicinal plants. The medicinal plants in the present study are traditionally used to treat cancer in Kakamega County as recorded in published literature. Aim of the study Due to multidrug resistance (MDR) and severe side effects of currently used drugs in clinical oncology, new candidate compounds are urgently required to improve treatment outcome. The present study explored the in vitro cytotoxic potential of 34 organic and 19 aqueous extracts of Kakamega medicinal plants towards sensitive an…