Yeast Lsm Pro-Apoptotic Mutants Show Defects in Autophagy.

is an essential yeast gene encoding a component of different LSM complexes involved in the regulation of mRNA splicing, stability, and translation. In previous papers, we reported that the expression in of the gene lacking the C-terminal Q/N-rich domain in an null strain () restored cell viability. Nevertheless, in this transformed strain, we observed some phenotypes that are typical markers of regulated cell death, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and oxidated RNA accumulation.

The Multifunctional Role of Poloxamer P338 as a Biofilm Disrupter and Antibiotic Enhancer: A Small Step forward against the Big Trouble of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections.

Poloxamer 338 (P338), a nonionic surfactant amphiphilic copolymer, is herein proposed as an anti-biofilm compound for the management of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). P338's ability to disrupt biofilms on silicone urinary catheters and to serve as antibiotic enhancer was evaluated for biofilm-producing Ec5FSL and Ec9FSL clinical strains, isolated from urinary catheters. In static conditions, quantitative biofilm formation assay allowed us to determine the active P338 concentration.

THE PROPHYLAXIS OF FELLOW-EYE RETINAL DETACHMENT IN STICKLER SYNDROME: A RETROSPECTIVE SERIES.

Purpose: To evaluate retrospectively if scleral buckling combined or not to cryopexy reduces fellow-eye retinal detachment (RD) in Stickler syndrome patients who lost their first eye due to RD.

Methods: Retrospective review of 52 Stickler syndrome patients who received a 6-mm wide, 360° encircling scleral buckling. Thirty-nine (75%; Cryo + Group) also received cryo treatment, whereas the reminder 13/52 (25% Cryo - Group) did not.

The C-terminal region of yeast ubiquitin-protein ligase Not4 mediates its cellular localization and stress response.

Transient modification of the environment involves the expression of specific genes and degradation of mRNAs and proteins. How these events are linked is poorly understood. CCR4-NOT is an evolutionary conserved complex involved in transcription initiation and mRNA degradation.

Poloxamer 338 Affects Cell Adhesion and Biofilm Formation in : Potential Applications in the Management of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections.

Poloxamers are nontoxic, amphiphilic copolymers used in different formulations. Due to its surfactant properties, Poloxamer 338 (P388) is herein proposed as a strategy to avoid biofilm formation often causing recalcitrant catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). The aim is to evaluate the ability of P388 coatings to affect the adhesion of Ec5FSL and Ec9FSL strains on silicone urinary catheters.

Acid Stress Triggers Resistance to Acetic Acid-Induced Regulated Cell Death through Activation Which Requires in Yeast.

Acid stress causes resistance to acetic acid-induced regulated cell death (AA-RCD) in budding yeast, resulting in catalase activation. In order to explore the molecular determinants of evasion of AA-RCD triggered by acid stress adaptation, we studied the involvement and the possible interplay of the master regulator of transcription high-osmolarity glycerol 1 () and , a positive regulator of the -dependent mitochondrial retrograde signaling. Viability, DNA fragmentation, and ROS accumulation have been analyzed in wild-type and mutant cells lacking and/or .

A role for microbial selection in frescoes' deterioration in Tomba degli Scudi in Tarquinia, Italy.

Mural paintings in the hypogeal environment of the Tomba degli Scudi in Tarquinia, Italy, show a quite dramatic condition: the plaster mortar lost his cohesion and a white layer coating is spread over almost all the wall surfaces. The aim of this research is to verify if the activity of microorganisms could be one of the main causes of deterioration and if the adopted countermeasures (conventional biocide treatments) are sufficient to stop it. A biocide treatment of the whole environment has been carried out before the conservative intervention and the tomb has been closed for one month.

Annurca apple (M. pumila Miller cv Annurca) extracts act against stress and ageing in S. cerevisiae yeast cells.

Background: During the past years, a number of studies have demonstrated the positive effect of apple on ageing and different diseases such as cancer, degenerative and cardiovascular diseases. The unicellular yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae represents a simple eukaryotic model to study the effects of different compounds on lifespan. We previously demonstrated that apple extracts have anti-ageing effects in this organism because of their antioxidant properties.

RESIDUAL INTRARETINAL EDEMA AFTER 25-GAUGE VITRECTOMY AND MACULAR PUCKER REMOVAL: Is Intraoperative Sustained-release Dexamethasone a Real Treatment Option?

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of intraoperative slow-release dexamethasone implant and 25-gauge (G) vitrectomy plus epiretinal membrane removal in patients affected by idiopathic macular pucker.

Methods: In this randomized, clinical, multicenter study, 60 eyes of 60 pseudophakic eyes having idiopathic macular pucker were enrolled. Thirty eyes underwent 25-G pars plana vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane peeling ("Control group"), whereas 30 eyes underwent 25-G pars plana vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane peeling combined with dexamethasone implant ("DEX group").

LONGITUDINAL MICROPERIMETRY EVALUATION AFTER INTRAVITREAL OCRIPLASMIN INJECTION FOR VITREOMACULAR TRACTION.

Purpose: To determine whether improvements in microperimetry testing are associated with anatomic resolution after ocriplasmin treatment in patients with symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion (VMA)/vitreomacular traction and relatively preserved baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA).

Methods: Patients with vitreomacular traction received a single 125-μg intravitreal ocriplasmin injection and were followed longitudinally for 6 months with optical coherence tomography, BCVA testing, and microperimetry. Visual function changes were compared between eyes with and without VMA resolution on optical coherence tomography.

Inappropriate expression of the translation elongation factor 1A disrupts genome stability and metabolism.

The translation elongation factor eEF1A is one of the most abundant proteins found within cells, and its role within protein synthesis is well documented. Levels of eEF1A are tightly controlled, with inappropriate expression linked to oncogenesis. However, the mechanisms by which increased eEF1A expression alters cell behaviour are unknown.

Increased levels of RNA oxidation enhance the reversion frequency in aging pro-apoptotic yeast mutants.

Despite recent advances in understanding the complexity of RNA processes, regulation of the metabolism of oxidized cellular RNAs and the mechanisms through which oxidized ribonucleotides affect mRNA translation, and consequently cell viability, are not well characterized. We show here that the level of oxidized RNAs is markedly increased in a yeast decapping Kllsm4Δ1 mutant, which accumulates mRNAs, ages much faster that the wild type strain and undergoes regulated-cell-death. We also found that in Kllsm4Δ1 cells the mutation rate increases during chronological life span indicating that the capacity to handle oxidized RNAs in yeast declines with aging.

LASER PROPHYLACTIC TREATMENT OF THE FELLOW EYE IN GIANT RETINAL TEARS: Long-Term Follow-up.

Purpose: To report the results of a retrospective study on prophylactic laser treatment versus observation of giant retinal tears (GRTs) fellow eyes.

Methods: One hundred and sixty consecutive charts of patients operated for GRT were included in this retroprospective study. Standard office visit included manifest and corrected refraction, intraocular pressure measurement, slit-lamp examination of the anterior and posterior segment with +90 diopter lens, and indirect ophthalmoscopy were performed at baseline and during follow-up period.

ADJUSTABLE MACULAR BUCKLING FOR FULL-THICKNESS MACULAR HOLE WITH FOVEOSCHISIS IN HIGHLY MYOPIC EYES: Long-Term Anatomical and Functional Results.

Purpose: To assess functional and structural outcome after adjustable macular buckling for the treatment of foveoschisis (FS), associated with full-thickness macular hole (FTMH) in highly myopic eyes.

Methods: Eighteen consecutive patients who underwent adjustable macular buckling for FS associated with FTMH were included in this prospective study. Three cases were not included in the analysis due to short follow-up period (less than 3 months).

NEM1 acts as a suppressor of apoptotic phenotypes in LSM4 yeast mutants.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants in the essential gene LSM4, involved in messenger RNA decapping, and expressing a truncated form of the LSM4 gene of the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis (Kllsm4Δ1), show premature aging accompanied by the presence of typical markers of apoptosis and high sensitivity to oxidative stressing agents. We isolated multicopy extragenic suppressors of these defects, transforming the Kllsm4Δ1 mutant with a yeast DNA library and selecting clones showing resistance to acetic acid. Here we present one of these clones, carrying a DNA fragment containing the NEM1 gene (Nuclear Envelope Morphology protein 1), which encodes the catalytic subunit of the Nem1p-Spo7p phosphatase holoenzyme.

HIGH-RESOLUTION MULTIMODAL IMAGING AFTER IDIOPATHIC EPIRETINAL MEMBRANE SURGERY.

Purpose: To investigate the changes of the vitreomacular interface during a 1-year follow-up after idiopathic epiretinal membrane (iERM) surgery.

Methods: Six patients affected by fovea-attached iERM were recruited in this pilot study. Pars plana vitrectomy associated with epiretinal membrane peeling was performed uneventfully in all cases.

Encircling scleral buckling with inferior indentation for recurrent retinal detachment in highly myopic eyes.

Purpose: To report on the use of scleral buckling (SB) alone or associated to pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for the treatment of recurrent retinal detachment in highly myopic eyes with axial length >26.5 mm.

Methods: Single-surgeon, retrospective consecutive operative series consisting of 255 eyes of 237 highly myopic patients suffering recurrent retinal detachment after primary SB (40%), primary PPV (40%), and multiple surgery (20%).

Functional screening of antibiotic resistance genes from a representative metagenomic library of food fermenting microbiota.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) represent the predominant microbiota in fermented foods. Foodborne LAB have received increasing attention as potential reservoir of antibiotic resistance (AR) determinants, which may be horizontally transferred to opportunistic pathogens. We have previously reported isolation of AR LAB from the raw ingredients of a fermented cheese, while AR genes could be detected in the final, marketed product only by PCR amplification, thus pointing at the need for more sensitive microbial isolation techniques.

Macular pucker: to peel or not to peel the internal limiting membrane? A microperimetric response.

Background: To compare functional and anatomical outcomes after idiopathic macular pucker removal between eyes that underwent internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling and eyes that did not.

Methods: In this multicentric, randomized clinical trial, 60 eyes of 60 patients affected with idiopathic macular pucker were enrolled. Thirty eyes underwent 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy associated with ILM peeling ("ILM peeling group"), whereas 30 eyes did not undergo ILM peeling ("ILM not peeling group").

Adaptive optics imaging of parafoveal cones in type 1 diabetes.

Purpose: To evaluate the parafoveal cone density in patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1).

Methods: Adaptive optics retinal images of the photoreceptor mosaic were acquired from 11 DM1 patients (study group) and 11 age-matched healthy subjects (control group). Cone density was analyzed, along the horizontal and vertical meridian, at 230-µm, 350-µm, and 460-µm eccentricity from the fovea.

Interocular symmetry of parafoveal photoreceptor cone density distribution.

Purpose: To investigate the variation and symmetry of cone density distribution along the nasal and temporal retina of fellow eyes.

Methods: An adaptive optics retinal camera (rtx1; Imagine Eyes) was used to obtain images of the parafoveal cone mosaic in 20 healthy subjects. Cone density was estimated at 250, 420, 760, and 1,300 μm eccentricity from the fovea along the nasal and temporal retina of both eyes in each subject.

Analysis of retinal capillaries in patients with type 1 diabetes and nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy using adaptive optics imaging.

Purpose: To illustrate a noninvasive method to analyze the retinal capillary lumen caliber in patients with Type 1 diabetes.

Methods: Adaptive optics imaging of the retinal capillaries were acquired in two parafoveal regions of interest in eyes with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy and unaffected controls. Measures of the retinal capillary lumen caliber were quantified using an algorithm written in Matlab by an independent observer in a masked manner.