Structure activity relationship studies on Amb639752: toward the identification of a common pharmacophoric structure for DGKα inhibitors.

A series of analogues of Amb639752, a novel diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) inhibitor recently discovered by us via virtual screening, have been tested. The compounds were evaluated as DGK inhibitors on α, θ, and ζ isoforms, and as antagonists on serotonin receptors. From these assays emerged two novel compounds, namely and , which with an IC respectively of 1.

Integrins in T Cell Physiology.

From the thymus to the peripheral lymph nodes, integrin-mediated interactions with neighbor cells and the extracellular matrix tune T cell behavior by organizing cytoskeletal remodeling and modulating receptor signaling. LFA-1 (αLβ2 integrin) and VLA-4 (α4β1 integrin) play a key role throughout the T cell lifecycle from thymocyte differentiation to lymphocyte extravasation and finally play a fundamental role in organizing immune synapse, providing an essential costimulatory signal for the T cell receptor. Apart from tuning T cell signaling, integrins also contribute to homing to specific target organs as exemplified by the importance of α4β7 in maintaining the gut immune system.

Port in oncology practice: 3-monthly locking with normal saline for catheter maintenance, a preliminary report.

Introduction: Patients with cancer need stable venous access using central vascular devices like central venous ports and peripherally inserted central catheters that can be used for a wide range of indications. Numerous flushing protocols exist including different frequencies for catheter locking to maintain catheter patency. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the incidence of lumen occlusion of central venous ports in a group of adult cancer patients, adopting a policy of locking with normal saline every three months.

Oligonucleotide Array-based Comparative Genomic Hybridization Approach in Hematologic Malignancies With Normal/Failed Conventional Cytogenetics and Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization.

Oligonucleotide array-based comparative genomic hybridization (oaCGH) was used to investigate 60 cases of hematologic malignancies, mainly acute myeloid leukemias and myelodysplastic syndromes, in order to evaluate its sensitivity and specificity and to search for genomic alterations undetected by previous investigation with conventional cytogenetics (CC) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). On the basis of CC and FISH results, we subdivided the series into group A (36 cases with a normal karyotype after CC and/or FISH testing) and group B (24 cases with anomalies detected by CC and/or FISH). oaCGH did not show alterations in 21 cases of the group A (58.