Use of remote sensing to evaluate the effects of environmental factors on soil salinity in a semi-arid area.

The global water crisis, driven by water scarcity and water quality deterioration, is expected to continue and intensify in dry and overpopulated areas, and will play a critical role in meeting future agricultural demands. Sustainability of agriculture irrigated with low quality water will require a comprehensive approach to soil, water, and crop management consisting of site- and situation-specific preventive measures and management strategies. Other problem related with water quality deterioration is soil salinization.

Polymorphisms Within the Proto-Oncogene and Risk of Sporadic Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.

Sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma (sMTC) is an uncommon neoplasia arising from the calcitonin-producing parafollicular cells of the thyroid. Previous studies evaluated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within (a pivotal proto-oncogene for this disease) are associated with the risk for developing sMTC, but the results are inconclusive. In this work, we evaluated the association of -SNPs c.

Polymorphisms within base and nucleotide excision repair pathways and risk of differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

The thyrocytes are exposed to high levels of oxidative stress which could induce DNA damages. Base excision repair (BER) is one of the principal mechanisms of defense against oxidative DNA damage, however recent evidences suggest that also nucleotide excision repair (NER) could be involved. The aim of present work was to identify novel differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) risk variants in BER and NER genes.

Low prevalence of the somatic M918T RET mutation in micro-medullary thyroid cancer.

Background: The prevalence of RET somatic mutations in sporadic medullary thyroid cancer (MTCs) is ∼40%-50%, and the most frequent somatic mutation is M918T. RET-positive MTCs have been demonstrated to have a more advanced stage at diagnosis and a worse outcome.

Aims: The aim of the present work was to compare the prevalence of RET somatic mutations in sporadic microMTCs (<1 cm) and in larger MTCs.

Celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, potentiates the chemotherapic effect of vinorelbine in the medullary thyroid cancer TT cell line.

We analyzed the in vitro effects of celecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor, and determined if celecoxib can sensitize a human MTC-derived cell line (TT) to chemotherapeutics. We found that celecoxib induced apoptosis in TT cells and decreased drug efflux by reducing the expression of MDR-1 mRNA, which codes for the drug efflux pump P-gp. We also observed that TT cells were 10-fold more resistant to doxorubicin than to vinorelbine, mimicking what can be observed in clinical practice.

Chromosome 10 and RET gene copy number alterations in hereditary and sporadic Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma.

About 30% of hereditary Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (MTC) have been demonstrated to harbour imbalance between mutant and wild-type RET alleles. We studied the RET copy number alterations (RET CNA) in 65 MTC and their correlation with RET mutation and patients' outcome. Fluorescence in situ Hybridization and Real-time PCR revealed RET CNA in 27.

In silico and in vitro analysis of rare germline allelic variants of RET oncogene associated with medullary thyroid cancer.

Germline and somatic RET oncogene mutations are found in 98% hereditary and 40% sporadic medullary thyroid carcinomas. Our aim was to analyse by in silico and in vitro assays the transforming activity of six rare RET mutations (T338I, V648I, M918V, A883T, S904F and M848T). Six known RET mutations were used as controls.

Combined serum mesothelin and plasma osteopontin measurements in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Introduction: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a lethal tumor related to asbestos exposure. At present, the only instruments for screening and diagnosis are based on radiological tests, posing evident economic and radio-protectionist problems. Some authors are evaluating biological indicators, such as plasma osteopontin (pOPN) and serum soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP).

Two novel polymorphisms in 5' flanking region of the mesothelin gene are associated with soluble mesothelin-related peptide (SMRP) levels.

Background And Aims: Increased concentrations of soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP) have been found in sera of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) even if a relatively high rate of false positives has hampered their clinical use as a tumor marker. Individual SMRP levels could be affected by polymorphic elements. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms within the promoter-5'UTR regions and SMRP levels in healthy asbestos-exposed individuals and patients suffering from MPM.

Comparison between plasma and serum osteopontin levels: usefulness in diagnosis of epithelial malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Background: A potential role of serum osteopontin (OPN) and serum mesothelin-related peptide (SMRP) in the diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has been recently reported. Although the most important data regarding the role of OPN in MPMs derive from the marker's measurement in serum samples, most commercial laboratory kits for OPN assay are suitable only for measuring plasma levels, as indicated by the manufacturers. Our study aimed to evaluate the influence of preanalytic variables on serum and plasma OPN, to compare serum and plasma OPN in the same population, and to assess whether OPN levels can aid in the diagnostic distinction of patients with MPM versus benign respiratory disease (BRD) and healthy subjects exposed to asbestos.

Polymorphisms in the putative micro-RNA-binding sites of mesothelin gene are associated with serum levels of mesothelin-related protein.

Background: Serum mesothelin, also known as soluble mesothelin-related protein (SMRP), reportedly shows increased levels in epithelial-type malignant pleural mesothelioma, but sometimes also arrives at high values in healthy asbestos-exposed subjects.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms in the 3'untranslated region (3'UTR) of the mesothelin-encoded gene (MSLN) are associated with the SMRP levels measured in serum.

Methods: The 3'UTR of the mesothelin gene was genotyped in 59 healthy asbestos-exposed subjects, selected on the basis of their SMRP levels.

Re-differentiation of thyroid carcinoma cell lines treated with 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine and retinoic acid.

We studied cell growth rate, mechanisms of growth inhibition, phenotype re-differentiation, expression of RARalpha, beta, gamma and differentiation thyroid genes before and after combined treatment with 5-Aza-CdR and RA (5-Aza/RA) of human thyroid carcinoma cell lines (FRO, WRO, TT). Furthermore, the activity and localization of the re-expressed sodium-iodide-symporter (NIS) protein was analyzed. After 5-Aza/RA treatment, all cell lines showed a significant reduction in cell growth.

Retinoic acid receptor beta2 re-expression and growth inhibition in thyroid carcinoma cell lines after 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment.

The treatment of both undifferentiated and de-differentiated thyroid tumors, which are unresponsive to radioiodine, represents one of the biggest challenges for thyroidologists. The aim of the present study was to investigate in vitro the methylation status of retinoic acid receptors (RAR)beta2 promoter and the effect of the demethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR) on 5 human thyroid cancer cell lines. The methylation status of RARbeta2 promoter was analyzed by methylation-specific PCR.

Expression analysis of facilitative glucose transporters (GLUTs) in human thyroid carcinoma cell lines and primary tumors.

Fluorine-18-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is based on cell capability to take-up glucose. While a significantly higher expression of the glucose transporter GLUT1 has been reported in thyroid tumors only few data are available on the expression of other GLUT isoforms. We studied several GLUT isoforms expression in thyroid tumor cell lines deriving from anaplastic (ARO, FRO), papillary (NPA), follicular (WRO) and medullary (TT) human thyroid carcinoma.

[Serum mesothelin dosages in follow-up of previously exposed workers].

High dosages of Serum Mesothelin have been demonstrated to be significantly associated to Pleural Malignant Mesothelioma. We recently demonstrated that Serum Mesothelin may be clinically helpful both for diagnostic and prognostic purposes, with the best cut-off corresponding to 1 nM. We also discovered that high levels of Serum Mesothelin are significantly associated to Lung Cancer.

Prognostic significance of somatic RET oncogene mutations in sporadic medullary thyroid cancer: a 10-year follow-up study.

Background: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a well-differentiated thyroid tumor that maintains the typical features of C cells. An advanced stage and the presence of lymph node metastases at diagnosis have been demonstrated to be the most important bad prognostic factors. Somatic RET mutations have been found in 40-50% of MTCs.

Clinical significance of serum mesothelin in patients with mesothelioma and lung cancer.

Purpose: High levels of serum-soluble mesothelin family proteins (SMRP) have been found to be associated with malignant mesothelioma (MM), but not lung cancer (LC). To verify the clinical role of this marker for both these tumors, we tested serum SMRP in the largest population of thoracic cancers ever assembled.

Experimental Design: SMRP blood concentrations were measured in 107 patients with MM, 215 patients with LC, 130 patients with benign respiratory diseases (BRD), and 262 controls.

Treatment with drugs able to reduce iodine efflux significantly increases the intracellular retention time in thyroid cancer cells stably transfected with sodium iodide symporter complementary deoxyribonucleic acid.

Context: One of the major limits of gene therapy with sodium iodide symporter (NIS), which enables cells to be subjected to radioiodine therapy, is that NIS-transfected cells rapidly release the intracellular iodine.

Methods: We transfected human anaplastic (FRO) and medullary (TT) thyroid cancer-derived cell lines that were unable to take up iodine with human NIS cDNA. The possibility of increasing the iodine retention time by treating the transfected clones with myricetin, lithium, 17-(allylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG), and 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS) was explored.

RET/PTC3 rearrangement and thyroid differentiation gene analysis in a struma ovarii fortuitously revealed by elevated serum thyroglobulin concentration.

Struma ovarii (SO) is usually asymptomatic and only in a few cases it is associated with thyrotoxicosis. The presurgical diagnosis is very uncommon. In the majority of cases a pelvic mass is discovered at physical examination or by abdominal ultrasound.

SV40 enhances the risk of malignant mesothelioma among people exposed to asbestos: a molecular epidemiologic case-control study.

We conducted a case-control study on asbestos exposure and presence of SV40 in tumor samples of malignant mesotheliomas (MMs) and bladder urotheliomas (BUs). PCR analysis revealed the presence of SV40 DNA (SV40+) in eight (42.1%) MMs and 6 (33.

All-trans-retinoic acid treatment inhibits the growth of retinoic acid receptor beta messenger ribonucleic acid expressing thyroid cancer cell lines but does not reinduce the expression of thyroid-specific genes.

Conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy are ineffective for the treatment of advanced thyroid tumors like poorly differentiated papillary, anaplastic, and medullary thyroid cancer. In the attempt to evaluate the possibility of using retinoic acid (RA) in the treatment of thyroid cancer refractory to conventional therapy, we studied the effect of all-trans-RA treatment on five human thyroid cancer cell lines. We found that WRO and NPA, derived from follicular and poorly differentiated human thyroid carcinoma, respectively, showed a growth inhibition after 25 and 21 d of RA treatment.

Biology and clinical application of the NIS gene.

The sodium iodide symporter (NIS) is a plasma basolateral membrane protein that actively transports iodide to the thyroid follicular cells as the first step of thyroid hormone biosynthesis. NIS also mediates active iodide transport in other human tissues including the salivary glands, lactating mammary gland and gastric mucosa. NIS expression has been recently reported also in several other human tissues but its physiological role is still unclear.

Low specificity of blood thyroglobulin messenger ribonucleic acid assay prevents its use in the follow-up of differentiated thyroid cancer patients.

Thyroglobulin (Tg) is a glycoprotein specifically synthesized by follicular thyroid epithelium. After thyroidectomy and remnant (131)I ablation, serum Tg is a specific and sensitive marker for the presence of thyroid cancer tissue, and its measurement is fundamental in the follow-up of patients affected by differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTCs), being even more sensitive than diagnostic whole-body scan. Unfortunately, serum Tg measurement becomes useless in approximately 15-25% of DTC cases who are positive for anti-Tg antibodies that interfere with the Tg measurement.

Expression of cAMP response element-binding protein and sodium iodide symporter in benign non-functioning and malignant thyroid tumours.

Objective: Reduced expression or defective targeting of the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) to the cell membrane in thyroid tumours has been reported. The expression of the NIS gene is up-regulated by TSH through the cAMP pathway and the characterization of the promoter region of the rat NIS gene revealed the existence of a degenerate cAMP response element (CRE) sequence. The cAMP-dependent transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) binds to CRE acting, upon phosphorylation, as a transcriptional activator.

[SV40: a possible co-carcinogen of asbestos in the pathogenesis of mesothelioma?].

Background: The etiopathogenic role of asbestos in causing malignant mesothelioma of the pleura is clearly supported by an impressive amount of data. Despite the frequent association with previous exposure to asbestos, only a relatively small fraction of those exposed develop malignant mesothelioma. The long latency period between initial exposure and onset of the tumor suggests that human mesothelioma, like many other tumors, has a multi-stage evolution with the occurrence of many mutating events involving various tumorigenic agents, probably in part initiating and in part promoting development.