Publications by authors named "FRANCO S"

In response to DNA double strand breaks (DSB), mammalian cells activate the DNA Damage Response (DDR), a network of factors that coordinate their detection, signaling and repair. Central to this network is the ATM kinase and its substrates at chromatin surrounding DSBs H2AX, MDC1 and 53BP1. In humans, germline inactivation of ATM causes Ataxia Telangiectasia (A-T), an autosomal recessive syndrome of increased proneness to hematological malignancies driven by clonal chromosomal translocations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a globally prevalent infectious pathogen. As many as 80% of people infected with HCV do not control the virus and develop a chronic infection. Response to interferon (IFN) therapy is widely variable in chronic HCV infected patients, suggesting that HCV has evolved mechanisms to suppress and evade innate immunity responsible for its control and elimination.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

One unexplored aspect of HIV-1 genetic architecture is how codon choice influences population diversity and evolvability. Here we compared the levels of development of HIV-1 resistance to protease inhibitors (PIs) between wild-type (WT) virus and a synthetic virus (MAX) carrying a codon-pair-reengineered protease sequence including 38 (13%) synonymous mutations. The WT and MAX viruses showed indistinguishable replication in MT-4 cells or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-induced inflammation and/or long-term antiretroviral drug toxicity may contribute to the evolution of liver disease. We investigated circulating plasma microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers of liver injury in patients mono-infected with HIV-1. We performed large-scale deep sequencing analyses of small RNA level on plasma samples from patients with HIV-1 mono-infection that had elevated or normal levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The purpose of this work was to study the real-time changes of the optical properties of the eye with accommodation in subjects with symptoms of accommodative disorders. From ocular aberrations, it is possible to compute several parameters like the response and lag of accommodation. The ocular aberrations were measured in 4 subjects, with different accommodative disorders, during several cycles of accommodation/disaccommodation and for different accommodative stimuli.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mirror syndrome is an unusual pathological condition in which maternal edema in pregnancy is seen in association with severe fetal and/or placental hydrops. The disease can be life-threatening for both the mother and the fetus. The pathogenesis is poorly understood, and may be confused with preeclampsia, even though distinguishing features can be identified.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Carcinogenesis is influenced by both genetic factors and environmental exposures, with maternal diet having a significant impact on offspring health, particularly regarding prostate cancer risks.
  • A study using a low-protein diet in pregnant rats showed that it negatively affected the growth of the prostate in offspring, leading to increased cancer risk in older rats.
  • The maternal diet likely created an estrogen-rich environment that altered hormonal balances and growth factors in the offspring, contributing to accelerated prostate growth and cancer development later in life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neural progenitor cells in the developing dorsal forebrain give rise to excitatory neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes for the neocortex. While we are starting to gain a better understanding about the mechanisms that direct the formation of neocortical neurons and astrocytes, far less is known about the molecular mechanisms that instruct dorsal forebrain progenitors to make oligodendrocytes. In this study, we show that Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling is required in dorsal progenitors for their late embryonic transition to oligodendrogenesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: It is unclear whether the higher prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women than in men is due to sex differences in the prevalence of the exposure to traumatic events or to differences in vulnerability to traumatic events among those exposed to them.

Methods: We applied mediation and moderated mediation models to a large nationally representative sample of US adults (N = 34,653) drawn from Wave 2 (2004-2005) of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

Results: A model that assumed that the effect of 19 traumatic events was the same across sexes and examined whether sex differences in the prevalence of DSM-IV PTSD were due exclusively to sex differences in exposure to traumatic events predicted similar prevalence of PTSD among men and women (indirect effect standardized β = 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The worldwide incidence of cutaneous melanoma (CM) has been continuously increasing over the last decades. Primary and secondary prevention, with attention to risk factors and early diagnosis, remain the cornerstone for reducing the burden of cutaneous melanoma. Detailed information with respect to clinical and pathological data on cutaneous melanoma is scarce in Brazil.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

DNA Damage Response (DDR) and DNA repair pathways are emerging as potent, ubiquitous suppressors of innate immune signaling in human cells. Here, we show that human cells surviving depletion of the Single Strand Break (SSB) repair protein PARP1 undergo p21-dependent senescence or cell cycle checkpoint activation in the context of activation of innate immune signaling, or viral mimicry. Specifically, we observe induction of a large number of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) and multiple pattern recognition receptors (PRRs; including RIG-I, MDA-5, MAVS, TLR3 and STING) and increased nuclear IRF3 staining.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The present work takes advantage of the self-assembly process occurring along organogelation, to organize Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) active chromophores. To do so, three push-pull chromophores endowed with a dodecyl urea chain were synthesized and characterized. Their organogelating properties were studied in a wide range of solvents.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The sellar/juxtasellar region comprises the bone component of the sella turcica, pituitary gland, cavernous sinus, and suprasellar cistern. Abnormalities in this region can be attributed to underproduction or overproduction of hormones or to the neurological signs and symptoms resulting from the compression of adjacent structures. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is currently the imaging method of choice, having supplanted computed tomography.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hemicorporectomy is an ultra-radical surgery used only in extreme circumstances. Initially used for advanced pelvic neoplastic diseases and intractable pelvic infection, it may also be the only treatment option in patients with crushed pelvic trauma, in cases there are no reconstruction options. This procedure has a high mortality, and its success depends on the multidisciplinary approach, both in the initial phase and in the rehabilitation process.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To investigate the effect of soft contact lenses (SCL) wearing modality and lens materials on the changes in conjunctival bulbar and limbal redness and conjunctival and corneal staining after two months of SCL wear. Comfort level was also analyzed.

Methods: In this longitudinal clinical trial, forty-seven neophyte myopic subjects were fitted with a monthly disposable lens (lotrafilcon-B or comfilcon-A or balafilcon-A) in one eye and a daily disposable lens (nelfilcon-A or stenofilcon-A or nesofilcon-A) in the other eye, randomly selected.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Epilepsy is a common symptom in patients with glioblastoma (GB). 213 patients with GB from RedLANO follow-up registry were included. All patients underwent surgery, if feasible, followed by chemoradiation based on temozolomide (Stupp platform).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Although there have been a number of clinical trials evaluating treatments for adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD), the generalizability of those trials to samples of depressed adolescents who present for routine clinical care is unknown. Examining the generalizability of clinical trials of pharmacological and psychotherapy interventions for adolescent depression can help administrators and frontline practitioners determine the relevance of these studies for their patients and may also guide eligibility criteria for future clinical trials in this clinical population.

Methods: Data on nationally representative adolescents were derived from the National Comorbidity Survey: Adolescent Supplement.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The use of stem cells, including mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), for regenerative medicine is gaining interest for the clinical benefits so far obtained in patients. This study investigates the use of adipose autologous tissue in combination with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to improve the clinical outcome of patients affected by systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) and PRPs were purified from healthy donors and SSc patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To evaluate the survival, success, and complication rates of tapered double-lead threads single implants, placed in fresh extraction sockets and healed sites of the posterior jaws.

Methods: The enrolled patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: in the test group (TG), all implants were inserted at the time of tooth extraction; in the control group (CG), all implants were placed 3 months after extraction. The implants were followed for a period of 1 to 3 years after loading.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The proposal of this article is to briefly present how artistic expressions of the alienated appear as a discursive element in medical and critical readings of Júlio Dantas, starting with his thesis, Pintores e poetas de Rilhafolles, which he presented in 1900 as the conclusion to his medicine course in Lisbon. This particularly involves investigating the methods Dantas used in his invested and conceptual propositions on this topic, considering that his interests responded to very specific issues: the characteristics and forms of social degeneration. The article also reviews some of the reverberations in the social and artistic environments that were insulted by the publication of the thesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To identify factors associated with infant mortality in a city with good socioeconomic development.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study with 7,887 live births in the year of 2012 recorded in the Live Births Information System (SINASC) and associated by linkage with the Mortality Information System (SIM) to identify the deaths in the first year of life. The risk factors were ranked in three levels of determination: distal, intermediate and proximal.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mechanical devices operating in noisy environments lead to low signal-to-noise ratios creating a challenging signal processing problem to monitor the vibrational signature of the device in real-time. To detect/classify a particular type of device from noisy vibration data, it is necessary to identify signatures that make it unique. Resonant (modal) frequencies emitted offer a signature characterizing its operation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cancer can be considered an aberrant organ with a hierarchical composition of different cell populations. The tumor microenvironment, including the immune cells and related cytokines, is crucial during all the steps of tumor development. In particular, type I and II interferons (IFNs) are involved in a plethora of mechanisms that regulate immune responses in cancer, thus balancing immune escape immune surveillance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF