Molecular characterization of exosomes and their microRNA cargo in human follicular fluid: bioinformatic analysis reveals that exosomal microRNAs control pathways involved in follicular maturation.

Objective: To characterize well-represented microRNAs in human follicular fluid (FF) and to ascertain whether they are cargo of FF exosomes and whether they are involved in the regulation of follicle maturation.

Design: FF exosomes were characterized by nanosight, flow cytometry, and exosome-specific surface markers. Expression microRNA profiles from total and exosomal FF were compared with those from plasma of the same women.

The apoptotic transcriptome of the human MII oocyte: characterization and age-related changes.

Fully competent oocytes represent the final outcome of a highly selective process. The decline of oocyte competence with ageing, coupled to quantitative decrease of ovarian follicles has been well established; on the contrary, its molecular bases are still poorly understood. Through quantitative high throughput PCR, we investigated the role of apoptotic machinery (AM) in this process.

TAp73 is downregulated in oocytes from women of advanced reproductive age.

Studies on oocyte transcriptome are important to understand the biological pathways involved in oogenesis, totipotence and early embryonic development. Moreover, genes regulating physiological pathways in gametes could represent potential candidates for reproductive disorders. In addition to oocyte specific transcription factors, also the members of the p53 family could be etiologically involved due to their biological functions.

Specific alterations of microRNA transcriptome and global network structure in colorectal carcinoma after cetuximab treatment.

The relationship between therapeutic response and modifications of microRNA (miRNA) transcriptome in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown. We investigated this issue by profiling the expression of 667 miRNAs in 2 human CRC cell lines, one sensitive and the other resistant to cetuximab (Caco-2 and HCT-116, respectively), through TaqMan real-time PCR. Caco-2 and HCT-116 expressed different sets of miRNAs after treatment.

Expression profile and specific network features of the apoptotic machinery explain relapse of acute myeloid leukemia after chemotherapy.

Background: According to the different sensitivity of their bone marrow CD34+ cells to in vitro treatment with Etoposide or Mafosfamide, Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) patients in apparent complete remission (CR) after chemotherapy induction may be classified into three groups: (i) normally responsive; (ii) chemoresistant; (iii) highly chemosensitive. This inversely correlates with in vivo CD34+ mobilization and, interestingly, also with the prognosis of the disease: patients showing a good mobilizing activity are resistant to chemotherapy and subject to significantly higher rates of Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) and relapse than the others. Based on its known role in patients' response to chemotherapy, we hypothesized an involvement of the Apoptotic Machinery (AM) in these phenotypic features.

MIR152, MIR200B, and MIR338, human positional and functional neuroblastoma candidates, are involved in neuroblast differentiation and apoptosis.

MicroRNAs (MIRs) perform critical regulatory functions within cell networks, both in physiology as well as in pathology. Through the positional gene candidate approach, we have identified three MIRs (MIR152, MIR200B, and MIR338) that are located in regions frequently altered in neuroblastoma (NB) and target mRNAs encoding proteins involved in cell proliferation, neuroblast differentiation, neuroblast migration, and apoptosis. Expression analysis in NB biopsies and NB cell lines showed that these MIRs are dysregulated.

Molecular profiling of human oocytes after vitrification strongly suggests that they are biologically comparable with freshly isolated gametes.

To assess the effects of vitrification on the biomolecular profile of oocytes, we analyzed through real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction eight genes encoding critically important proteins for embryo development and compared this partial transcriptome with that of freshly collected gametes isolated from the same women. The comparison of the molecular profiles demonstrated that our vitrification protocol does not alter the biomolecular quality of oocytes: in fact, between the two groups we found the absence of statistically significant variations. Accordingly, this cryopreservation technique might be helpful in preserving women's fertility.

Genomics, evolution, and expression of TBPL2, a member of the TBP family.

TBPL2 is the most recently discovered and less characterized member of the TATA box binding protein (TBP) family that also comprises TBP, TATA box binding protein-like 1 (TBPL1), and Drosophila melanogaster TBP related factor (TRF). In this paper we report our in silico and in vitro data on (i) the genomics of the TBPL2 gene in Homo sapiens, Pan troglodytes, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Gallus gallus, Xenopus tropicalis, and Takifugu rubripes; (ii) its evolution and phylogenetic relationship with TBP, TBPL1, and TRF; (iii) the structure of the TBPL2 proteins that belong to the recently identified group of the intrinsically unstructured proteins (IUPs); and (iv) TBPL2 expression in different organs and cell types of Homo sapiens and Rattus norvegicus. Similar to TBP, both the TBPL2 gene and protein are bimodular.