Endogenous Retroviruses Activity as a Molecular Signature of Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are genetic elements resulting from relics of ancestral infection of germline cells, now recognized as cofactors in the etiology of several complex diseases. Here we present a review of findings supporting the role of the abnormal HERVs activity in neurodevelopmental disorders. The derailment of brain development underlies numerous neuropsychiatric conditions, likely starting during prenatal life and carrying on during subsequent maturation of the brain.

Potential mechanism of thymosin-α1-membrane interactions leading to pleiotropy: experimental evidence and hypotheses.

Introduction: Thymosins have been extracted, characterized, and identified from Thymus. The Thymosins are hormones whose therapeuric applications have seen a recent increase. The action of Thymosin α1 is based on the stimulation of the immune response with a large number of results in a variety of pathologies.

Transcriptional activity of human endogenous retrovirus in Albanian children with autism spectrum disorders.

Recent studies suggest that autism spectrum disorders (ASD) result from interactions between genetic and environmental factors, whose possible links could be represented by epigenetic mechanisms. Here, we investigated the transcriptional activity of three human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) families, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from Albanian ASD children, by quantitative real-time PCR. We aimed to confirm the different expression profile already found in Italian ASD children, and to highlight any social and family health condition emerging from information gathered through a questionnaire, to be included among environmental risk factors.

Mechanism of Action of Thymosinα1: Does It Interact with Membrane by Recognition of Exposed Phosphatidylserine on Cell Surface? A Structural Approach.

Thymosinα1 is a peptidic hormone with pleiotropic activity, which is used in the therapy of several diseases. It is unstructured in water solution and interacts with negative regions of micelles and vesicles assuming two tracts of helical conformation with a structural flexible break in between. The studies of the interaction of Thymosinα1 with micelles of mixed dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine and sodium dodecylsulfate and vesicles with mixed dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine/dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine, the latter the negative component of the membranes, by (1)H and natural abundance (15)N NMR are herewith reported, reviewed, and discussed.

The activation of human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K) is implicated in melanoma cell malignant transformation.

Melanoma development is a multi-step process arising from a series of genetic and epigenetic events. Although the sequential stages involved in progression from melanocytes to malignant melanoma are clearly defined, our current understanding of the mechanisms leading to melanoma onset is still incomplete. Growing evidence show that the activation of endogenous retroviral sequences might be involved in transformation of melanocytes as well as in the increased ability of melanoma cells to escape immune surveillance.

Expression profile of saccharide epitope CaMBr1 in normal and neoplastic tissue from dogs, cats, and rats: implication for the development of human-derived cancer vaccines.

CaMBr1 is a blood group-related tumour-associated antigen, whose pattern of expression provides a therapeutic window for passive or active immunotherapy and points to the promise of a vaccine against carcinomas overexpressing this antigen. In this context, an animal model that closely mimics the human situation would be extremely useful. We, therefore, utilised the murine monoclonal antibody MBr1, which defines CaMBr1, as a useful probe to detect the molecule targeted for vaccine development on canine and feline spontaneous breast and uterus tumours and on their normal counterparts, and on rat normal tissues and carcinoma cell lines.

[From movement to gesture. Evaluation in the treatment of neuro- psychomotor disability].

Aim of this study is to evaluate whether the subjects with neuromotor deficits can achieve both the restoration of the motor function and of the intentional and communicative components of gesture. Our case series includes 20 children (10 males, 10 females) aged 8 months to 14 years. Ten had neuromotor impairment (9 cases with different features of C.