The Effect of Diet on Colony Recognition and Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiles of the Invasive Argentine Ant, .

Ants are some of the most abundant and ecologically successful terrestrial organisms, and invasive ants rank among the most damaging invasive species. The Argentine ant is a particularly well-studied invader, in part, because of the extreme social structure, known as , that occurs in introduced populations. Unicoloniality is characterized by the formation of geographically vast supercolonies, within which territorial behavior and intraspecific aggression are absent.

Dexamethasone-induced enhancement of resistance to ionizing radiation and chemotherapeutic agents in human tumor cells.

Background: Dexamethasone-induced changes in radioresistance have previously been observed by several authors. Here, we examined effects of dexamethasone on resistance to ionizing radiation in 10 additional human cell lines and strains, and on resistance to carboplatin and paclitaxel in 13 fresh tumor samples.

Material And Methods: Eight human carcinoma cell lines, a glioblastoma cell line and a strain of normal human diploid fibroblasts were arbitrarily chosen for these in-vitro studies.

Dexamethasone-induced radioresistance occurring independent of human papilloma virus gene expression in cervical carcinoma cells.

Background: Inactivation of p53 by binding to simian virus 40-T antigen (SV40-T) and human papilloma virus type 16 protein E6 (HPV 16 E6) in transfected human diploid fibroblasts causes enhanced radioresistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of HPV 18 E6 and E7 gene products with respect to radiosensitivity of two cervical carcinoma cell lines.

Materials And Methods: The two cervical carcinoma lines C4-1 and SW 756 were used in which treatment with dexamethasone allows to modulate expression levels of HPV 18 E6 and E7 genes: upregulation in C4-1, downregulation in SW 756.