In Vitro Conditioning of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells by the Endothelial Microenvironment: Modeling Cell Responsiveness towards Non-Genetic Correction of Haemophilia A.

In recent decades, the use of adult multipotent stem cells has paved the way for the identification of new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of monogenic diseases such as Haemophilia A. Being already studied for regenerative purposes, adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Ad-MSCs) are still poorly considered for Haemophilia A cell therapy and their capacity to produce coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) after proper stimulation and without resorting to gene transfection. In this work, Ad-MSCs were in vitro conditioned towards the endothelial lineage, considered to be responsible for coagulation factor production.

Gender-specific associations between polymorphisms of the circadian gene RORA and cutaneous melanoma susceptibility.

Background: Melanoma is the deadliest of skin cancers and has an increasing annual incidence worldwide. It is a multi-factorial disease most likely arising from both genetic predisposition and environmental exposure to ultraviolet light. Genetic variability of the components of the biological circadian clock is recognized to be a risk factor for different type of cancers.

Spotlight on Circadian Genes and Colorectal Cancer Crosstalk.

Mammalian physiology is regulated by circadian clock through oscillating feedback loops controlling cellular processes and behaviors. Recent findings have led to an interesting connection between circadian disruption and colorectal cancer progression and incidence through controlling the hallmarks of cancer, namely cell cycle, cell metabolism and cell death. Deeper understanding of the circadian mechanisms that define the colorectal cancer pathophysiology is the need of the hour to define a chronotherapy for improving colorectal cancer patient survival.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Anisomelic acid-like Compounds for the Treatment of HPV-Mediated Carcinomas.

The vast majority of cervical and 75% of oropharyngeal carcinomas are triggered by infection with a type of high-risk oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV). It is well-known that E6 and E7 oncoproteins are critical for viral-induced cancer, and hence, they represent valuable targets for therapeutic intervention in HPV-mediated cancers. Our earlier research on the cembranoid, anisomelic acid (AA) showed that, AA has the potential to induce apoptosis in HPV cells by the depletion of E6 and E7 oncoproteins.

induced phytohormone changes and root colonization strategies are highly host-specific.

, an endophytic fungus of Sebacinales, has a wide host range and promotes the performance of mono- and eudicot plants. Here, we compare the interaction of with the roots of seven host plants (, and ). Microscopical analyses showed that the colonization time and the mode of hyphal invasion into the roots differ in the symbiotic interactions.

miRNA deregulation targets specific pathways in leiomyosarcoma development: an in silico analysis.

Background: MicroRNA (miRNA) mediate post-transcriptional gene repression and are involved in a variety of human diseases, including cancer. Soft tissue sarcomas are rare malignancies with a variety of histological subtypes which may occur virtually anywhere in the human body. Leiomyosarcoma is one of the most common subtypes, shows a smooth muscle phenotype and its cancerogenesis is still unclear.

Understanding the good and poor cell targeting activity of gold nanostructures functionalized with molecular units for the epidermal growth factor receptor.

Nanostructures can strongly interact with cells or other biological structures; furthermore when they are functionalized with targeting units, they are of great interest for a variety of applications in the biotechnology field like those for efficient imaging, diagnosis and therapy and in particular for cancer theranostics. Obtaining targeting with good specificity and sensitivity is a key necessity, which, however, is affected by the complexity of the interactions between the nanostructures and the biological components. In this work we report the study of specificity and sensitivity of gold nanoparticles functionalized with the peptide GE11 for the targeting of the epidermal growth factor receptor, expressed on many cells and, in particular, on many types of cancer cells.

Sex-specific spatial and temporal gene expressions of Pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN) and binding proteins (PBP/OBP) in Spoladea recurvalis.

Spoladea recurvalis is one of the most destructive insect pests of amaranth, a leafy vegetable in both Asia and Africa. The present study characterized the pheromone biosynthesis-activating neuropeptide (DH-PBAN) and pheromone/odorant binding proteins in S. recurvalis.

Associations of clock genes polymorphisms with soft tissue sarcoma susceptibility and prognosis.

Background: Dysfunction of the circadian clock and polymorphisms of some circadian genes have been linked to cancer development and progression. We investigated the relationship between circadian genes germline variation and susceptibility or prognosis of patients with soft tissue sarcoma.

Patients And Methods: We considered the 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 6 core circadian genes that have a minor allele frequency > 5% and that are known to be associated with cancer risk or prognosis.

Biofabrication of a novel leukocyte-fibrin-platelet membrane as a cells and growth factors delivery platform for tissue engineering applications.

Autologous platelet-rich hemocomponents have emerged as potential biologic tools for regenerative purpose, but their therapeutic efficacy still remains controversial. This work represents the characterization study of an innovative autologous leukocyte-fibrin-platelet membrane (LFPm), which we prepared according to a novel protocol involving multiple cycles of apheresis. The high content in fibrinogen gave to our hemocomponent the appearance of a manipulable and suturable membrane with high elasticity and deformation capacity.

Molecular interaction studies of some Co(III)-surfactants with the transport protein.

The present work describes the synthesis and the molecular interaction of two single-chain Co(III)-coordinated surfactant complexes with a plasma protein, human serum albumin by using various biophysical and in silico techniques. The experimental data reveals that like ordinary classical surfactants, our metallosurfactants also have the tendency to associate themselves and form micelles at critical micelle concentration. The thermodynamic parameters (ΔH°, ΔS°, and ΔG°) derived from the experiment demonstrates that the alkyl chain length and the head group of the Co(III)-surfactant complexes played a vital role in the binding process.

Genetic susceptibility to bone and soft tissue sarcomas: a field synopsis and meta-analysis.

Background: The genetic architecture of bone and soft tissue sarcomas susceptibility is yet to be elucidated. We aimed to comprehensively collect and meta-analyze the current knowledge on genetic susceptibility in these rare tumors.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence on the association between DNA variation and risk of developing sarcomas through searching PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Scopus and Web of Science databases.

Enhanced EGFR Targeting Activity of Plasmonic Nanostructures with Engineered GE11 Peptide.

Plasmonic nanostructures show important properties for biotechnological applications, but they have to be guided on the target for exploiting their potentialities. Antibodies are the natural molecules for targeting. However, their possible adverse immunogenic activity and their cost have suggested finding other valid substitutes.

Biophysical and biological studies of some polymer grafted metallo-intercalators.

Two water-soluble polymer-copper(II) complexes, [Cu(ip)(BPEI)](ClO)·HO (Complex 1) and [Cu(dppz)BPEI](ClO)·HO (Complex 2) with different degree of coordination have been synthesized and characterized. The interaction between the prepared complexes and CTDNA has been assessed by various physico-chemical methods The spectroscopic and the cyclic voltammetry studies have revealed that both the complexes interact with CTDNA through intercalation binding mode. Among the two complexes, Complex 2 has higher binding affinity with CTDNA.

Genetic variation of clock genes and cancer risk: a field synopsis and meta-analysis.

Background: The number of studies on the association between clock genes' polymorphisms and cancer susceptibility has increased over the last years but the results are often conflicting and no comprehensive overview and quantitative summary of the evidence in this field is available.

Results: Literature search identified 27 eligible studies comprising 96756 subjects (cases: 38231) and investigating 687 polymorphisms involving 14 clock genes. Overall, 1025 primary and subgroup meta-analyses on 366 gene variants were performed.

Plasma Protein Binding of Anisomelic Acid: Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamic Simulations.

Anisomelic acid (AA) is a macrocyclic cembranolide compound extracted from Anisomeles herbal species. Recently, we have shown that AA possesses both anticancer and antiviral activity. However, to date, the plasma protein binding properties of AA are unknown.

Gene and MicroRNA Expression Are Predictive of Tumor Response in Rectal Adenocarcinoma Patients Treated With Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy.

Preoperative chemoradiotherapy (pCRT) followed by surgery is the standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). However, tumor response to pCRT is not uniform, and there are no effective predictive methods. This study investigated whether specific gene and miRNA expression are associated with tumor response to pCRT.

In vitro assessment of TAT - Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor therapeutic potential for peripheral nerve regeneration.

In regenerative neurobiology, Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor (CNTF) is raising high interest as a multifunctional neurocytokine, playing a key role in the regeneration of injured peripheral nerves. Despite its promising trophic and regulatory activity, its clinical application is limited by the onset of severe side effects, due to the lack of efficient intracellular trafficking after administration. In this study, recombinant CNTF linked to the transactivator transduction domain (TAT) was investigated in vitro and found to be an optimized fusion protein which preserves neurotrophic activity, besides enhancing cellular uptake for therapeutic advantage.

Autologous chondrocytes as a novel source for neo-chondrogenesis in haemophiliacs.

Haemophilic arthropathy is the major cause of disability in patients with haemophilia and, despite prophylaxis with coagulation factor concentrates, some patients still develop articular complications. We evaluate the feasibility of a tissue engineering approach to improve current clinical strategies for cartilage regeneration in haemophiliacs by using autologous chondrocytes (haemophilic chondrocytes; HaeCs). Little is known about articular chondrocytes from haemophilic patients and no characterisation has as yet been performed.

Fluorescence-based gene reporter plasmid to track canonical Wnt signaling in ENS inflammation.

In several gut inflammatory or cancer diseases, cell-cell interactions are compromised, and an increased cytoplasmic expression of β-catenin is observed. Over the last decade, numerous studies provided compelling experimental evidence that the loss of cadherin-mediated cell adhesion can promote β-catenin release and signaling without any specific activation of the canonical Wnt pathway. In the present work, we took advantage of the ability of lipofectamine-like reagent to cause a synchronous dissociation of adherent junctions in cells isolated from the rat enteric nervous system (ENS) for obtaining an in vitro model of deregulated β-catenin signaling.

Partially oxidized polyvinyl alcohol as a promising material for tissue engineering.

The desired clinical outcome after implantation of engineered tissue substitutes depends strictly on the development of biodegradable scaffolds. In this study we fabricated 1% and 2% oxidized polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels, which were considered for the first time for tissue-engineering applications. The final aim was to promote the protein release capacity and biodegradation rate of the resulting scaffolds in comparison with neat PVA.

Targeted delivery of a novel anticancer compound anisomelic acid using chitosan-coated porous silica nanorods for enhancing the apoptotic effect.

Targeted cancer therapies are currently a strong focus in biomedical research. The most common approach is to use nanocarrier-based targeting to specifically deliver conventional anticancer drugs to enhance their therapeutic efficacy, increase bioavailability, and decrease the side-effects on normal cells. A step further towards higher specificity and efficacy would be to employ specific novel drugs along with specific nanocarrier-based targeting.