NOL12 Repression Induces Nucleolar Stress-Driven Cellular Senescence and Is Associated with Normative Aging.

The nucleolus is a subnuclear compartment with key roles in rRNA synthesis and ribosome biogenesis, complex processes that require hundreds of proteins and factors. Alterations in nucleolar morphology and protein content have been linked to the control of cell proliferation and stress responses and, recently, further implicated in cell senescence and ageing. In this study, we report the functional role of NOL12 in the nucleolar homeostasis of human primary fibroblasts.

Reverse myocardial effects of intermedin in pressure-overloaded hearts: role of endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity.

Intermedin (IMD) is a cardiac peptide synthesized in a prepro form, which undergoes a series of proteolytic cleavages and amidations to yield the active forms of 47 (IMD(1-47)) and 40 amino acids (IMD(8-47)). There are several lines of evidence of increased IMD expression in rat models of cardiac pathologies, including congestive heart failure and ischaemia; however, its myocardial effects upon cardiac disease remain unexplored. With this in mind, we investigated the direct effects of increasing concentrations of IMD(1-47) (10(-10) to10(-6) m) on contraction and relaxation of left ventricular (LV) papillary muscles from two rat models of chronic pressure overload, one induced by transverse aortic constriction (TAC), the other by nitric oxide (NO) deficiency due to chronic NO synthase inhibition (NG-nitro-l-arginine, l-NAME), and respective controls (Sham and Ctrl).

[Psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score normalization data for the Portuguese population].

Introduction: The Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy (MHE) has been associated to changes in life quality and in the aptitude to drive vehicles, to the appearance of an explicit form of Hepatic Encephalopathy and to a worst prognosis, including a high mortality risk. In this context, the early detection of this condition will lead to the reduction of its consequences. The Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) consists in five easily applicable and scored tasks including the Trail Making Test A and B, the Digit Symbol Test, the Serial Dotting Test and the Line Drawing Test.

Intermedin elicits a negative inotropic effect in rat papillary muscles mediated by endothelial-derived nitric oxide.

Intermedin (IMD) is a novel vasoactive peptide from the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) implicated in cardiac regulation, yet the contractile effects of IMD remain controversial, since previous studies in vivo and isolated cardiomyocytes documented contradictory results. We hypothesized cardiac endothelial cells involvement in IMD modulation of cardiac function as an explanation for these opposing observations. With this in mind, we investigated the direct action of increasing concentrations of IMD (10(-8) to 10(-6)M) on myocardial performance parameters in rat left ventricular (LV) papillary muscles with and without endocardial endothelium (EE) and in presence of receptor antagonists and intracellular pathways inhibitors.