Selection of Male Donors in Local Chicken Breeds to Implement the Italian Semen Cryobank: Variability in Semen Quality, Freezability and Fertility.

Native breed conservation is an important component of poultry biodiversity. The aim of this work is to describe different steps that lead to donor selection for the implementation of the Italian Semen Cryobank of Autochthonous Chicken and Turkey Breeds. The variability within and between breeds was evaluated, and the stored semen reproductive capacity was in vivo tested using artificial insemination.

All muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (M-M) are expressed in murine brain microvascular endothelium.

Clinical and experimental studies indicate that muscarinic acetylcholine receptors are potential pharmacological targets for the treatment of neurological diseases. Although these receptors have been described in human, bovine and rat cerebral microvascular tissue, a subtype functional characterization in mouse brain endothelium is lacking. Here, we show that all muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (M-M) are expressed in mouse brain microvascular endothelial cells.

Are they in or out? The elusive interaction between Qtracker ® 800 vascular labels and brain endothelial cells.

Aim: Qtracker(®)800 Vascular labels (Qtracker(®)800) are promising biomedical tools for high-resolution vasculature imaging; their effects on mouse and human endothelia, however, are still unknown.

Materials & Methods: Qtracker(®)800 were injected in Balb/c mice, and brain endothelium uptake was investigated by transmission electron microscopy 3-h post injection. We then investigated, in vitro, the effects of Qtracker(®)800 exposure on mouse and human endothelial cells by calcium imaging.

Antidepressant activity of fingolimod in mice.

Recent findings indicate that fingolimod, the first oral drug approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), acts as a direct inhibitor of histone deacetylases (HDACs) and enhances the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the CNS. Both mechanisms are relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major depression. We examined the antidepressant activity of fingolimod in mice subjected to chronic unpredictable stress (CUS), a model of reactive depression endowed with face and pharmacological validity.

The aging brain, neuroinflammatory signaling and sleep-wake regulation.

Tissues and organs change over time, regulated by intrinsic (genetic) determinants and environmental (and microenvironmental) adaptation. Brain changes during lifetime are especially critical, as the brain is the effector of cognition and the vast majority of neurons live throughout the life of the individual. In addition, brain aging mechanisms are especially critical for disease vulnerability, given the aging-related prevalence of pathologies that include neurodegenerative diseases.

9-Hydroxystearic acid interferes with EGF signalling in a human colon adenocarcinoma.

The epidermal growth factor has long been known to be strictly correlated with the highly proliferating activities of cancer cells and primary tumors. Moreover, in the nucleus, the epidermal growth factor/epidermal growth factor receptor complex (EGF/EGFR) functions as a transcriptional regulator that activates the cyclin D1 gene. 9-hydroxystearic acid (9-HSA) induces cell proliferation arrest and differentiation in HT29 colon cancer cells by inhibiting histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1).