Interleukin secretion, proteoglycan and procollagen alpha(1)(I) gene expression in Crouzon fibroblasts treated with basic fibroblast growth factor

The present study provides the first evidence that fibroblasts obtained from patients affected by Crouzon syndrome, a rare craniosynostosis, despite mutations in the high-affinity bFGF receptor retain their capacity to respond to bFGF. The growth factor reduces IL-1 secretion, downregulates biglycan and procollagen alpha(1)(I), and increases betaglycan expression. Since betaglycan is a co-receptor for bFGF signalling, an alternative signal transduction pathway is suggested in Crouzon fibroblasts, to explain the documented changes in ECM macromolecule production.     

The universal ancestor lived in a thermophilic or hyperthermophilic environment

Galtier et al. (Science 1999, 283, 220-221) exploit the correlation between the optimal growth temperature in prokaryotes and the G+C content of rRNAs and establish that the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) lived in a mesophilic environment. This result was achieved by estimating the G+C content of the ancestral sequences of the rRNAs of the LUCA through use of a complex Markov model. I have re-analysed their alignments of the rDNAs with maximum parsimony and I have found that their result is not robust and is, in all likelihood, incorrect. In particular, the rRNA ancestral sequences reconstructed with maximum parsimony from these rDNA alignments as well as those reconstructed after eliminating all the sites that turn out to be ambiguous to the parsimony algorithm and to a site-by-site inspection of these alignments, are such as to suggest that the LUCA lived in a thermophilic or hyperthermophilic environment. This finding is also supported by some tRNA ancestral sequences. The main conclusion of this analysis is that if the LUCA was a progenote then the origin of life might have taken place at a high temperature.     

The Fibronectin Domain ED-A Is Crucial for Myofibroblastic Phenotype Induction by Transforming Growth Factor-β1

Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1), a major promoter of myofibroblast differentiation, induces α-smooth muscle (sn) actin, modulates the expression of adhesive receptors, and enhances the synthesis of extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules including ED-A fibronectin (FN), an isoform de novo expressed during wound healing and fibrotic changes. We report here that ED-A FN deposition precedes α-SM actin expression by fibroblasts during granulation tissue evolution in vivo and after TGFβ1 stimulation in vitro. Moreover, there is a correlation between in vitro expression of α-SM actin and ED-A FN in different fibroblastic populations. Seeding fibroblasts on ED-A FN does not elicit per se α-SM actin expression; however, incubation of fibroblasts with the anti-ED-A monoclonal antibody IST-9 specifically blocks the TGFβ1-triggered enhancement of α-SM actin and collagen type I, but not that of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 mRNA. Interestingly, the same inhibiting action is exerted by the soluble recombinant domain ED-A, but neither of these inhibitory agents alter FN matrix assembly. Our findings indicate that ED-A–containing polymerized FN is necessary for the induction of the myofibroblastic phenotype by TGFβ1 and identify a hitherto unknown mechanism of cytokine-determined gene stimulation based on the generation of an ECM-derived permissive outside in signaling, under the control of the cytokine itself.     

Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from undeveloped ovules and stigma/style explants of sweet orange navel group [ Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.]

Somatic embryogenesis was induced and plant regeneration was obtained in 11 different genotypes of sweet orange navel group [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.] from cultures of stigma/style explants and undeveloped ovules. Explants were cultured on 3 different modifications of Murashige and Skoog medium: 500 mg l-1 malt extract; 500 mg l-1 malt extract and 4.6 μM kinetin; and 500 mg l-1 malt extract and 13.3 μM 6-benzylaminopurine. Sucrose (146 mM) was used as carbon source. Somatic embryogenesis occurred 1–3 months after culture initiation from undeveloped ovule and stigma/style cultures of all the genotypes tested. Somatic embryos developed into plantlets with a high frequency (74%) after transfer to Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 146 mM sucrose and 500 mg l-1 malt extract. Plants were successfully transferred to soil. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Carvacrol Codrugs: A New Approach in the Antimicrobial Plan

Objective

The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections led to identify alternative strategies for a novel therapeutic approach. In this study, we synthesized ten carvacrol codrugs – obtained linking the carvacrol hydroxyl group to the carboxyl moiety of sulphur-containing amino acids via an ester bond – to develop novel compounds with improved antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities and reduced toxicity respect to carvacrol alone.

Method

All carvacrol codrugs were screened against a representative panel of Gram positive (S. aureus and S. epidermidis), Gram negative (E. coli and P. aeruginosa) bacterial strains and C. albicans, using broth microdilution assays.

Findings

Results showed that carvacrol codrug 4 possesses the most notable enhancement in the anti-bacterial activity displaying MIC and MBC values equal to 2.5 mg/mL for all bacterial strains, except for P. aeruginosa ATCC 9027 (MIC and MBC values equal to 5 mg/mL and 10 mg/mL, respectively). All carvacrol codrugs 1-10 revealed good antifungal activity against C. albicans ATCC 10231. The cytotoxicity assay showed that the novel carvacrol codrugs did not produce human blood hemolysis at their MIC values except for codrugs 8 and 9. In particular, deepened experiments performed on carvacrol codrug 4 showed an interesting antimicrobial effect on the mature biofilm produced by E. coli ATCC 8739, respect to the carvacrol alone. The antimicrobial effects of carvacrol codrug 4 were also analyzed by TEM evidencing morphological modifications in S. aureus, E. coli, and C. albicans.

Conclusion

The current study presents an insight into the use of codrug strategy for developing carvacrol derivatives with antibacterial and antibiofilm potentials, and reduced cytotoxicity.     

Non Digestible Oligosaccharides Modulate the Gut Microbiota to Control the Development of Leukemia and Associated Cachexia in Mice

We tested the hypothesis that changing the gut microbiota using pectic oligosaccharides (POS) or inulin (INU) differently modulates the progression of leukemia and related metabolic disorders. Mice were transplanted with Bcr-Abl-transfected proB lymphocytes mimicking leukemia and received either POS or INU in their diet (5%) for 2 weeks. Combination of pyrosequencing, PCR-DGGE and qPCR analyses of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that POS decreased microbial diversity and richness of caecal microbiota whereas it increased Bifidobacterium spp., Roseburia spp. and Bacteroides spp. (affecting specifically B. dorei) to a higher extent than INU. INU supplementation increased the portal SCFA propionate and butyrate, and decreased cancer cell invasion in the liver. POS treatment did not affect hepatic cancer cell invasion, but was more efficient than INU to decrease the metabolic alterations. Indeed, POS better than INU delayed anorexia linked to cancer progression. In addition, POS treatment increased acetate in the caecal content, changed the fatty acid profile inside adipose tissue and counteracted the induction of markers controlling β-oxidation, thereby hampering fat mass loss. Non digestible carbohydrates with prebiotic properties may constitute a new nutritional strategy to modulate gut microbiota with positive consequences on cancer progression and associated cachexia.     

Rapid estimation of potential yield for data-poor Tapes philippinarum fisheries in North Adriatic coastal lagoons

We show how a simple species distribution model can be used for the rapid estimation of potential yield and for the identification of suitable sites for farming of Tapes philippinarum in two North Adriatic lagoons (Caleri and Marinetta-Vallona, Italy) in the face of limited data. We used a two-part species distribution model with sediment type, hydrodynamism, dissolved oxygen, and salinity as predictors of T. philippinarum potential yield. The first model component uses logistic regression to identify the areas in which clams occur, while the second component uses a weighted geometric mean of suitability values to estimate the potential annual yield (kg m^?2 year^?1) for the sites where T. philippinarum is predicted to be present. We used site-specific yield data from Caleri and Marinetta-Vallona to estimate the weights of the geometric mean by constrained linear regression. We validated the two-part model on an independent set of yield data (R _adj ²  = 0.82), and we then estimated the spatial distribution of potential yield in the two lagoons. The calibration and application of a simple species distribution model are useful tools for objectively identifying the most suitable sites for farming of T. philippinarum in North Adriatic lagoons.     

Transglutaminase participates in the blockade of neurotransmitter release by tetanus toxin: evidence for a novel biological function

The aim of this study was to collect evidences on the role of transglutaminase (TG, E.C.2.3.2.13) in the antineoplastic properties exerted by nimesulide (NMS), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, on murine B16-F10 melanoma cells. Treatment of melanoma cells with nimesulide produces a considerable reduction of cell proliferation, paralleled by a remarkable decrease of the intracellular concentration of polyamines spermidine and spermine. NMS treatment induces cancer cell differentiation, likely through the observed enhancement of TG and tyrosinase activities and increase of melanin production, well known markers of melanocyte differentiation. The overall results highlight the possibility that nimesulide acts as antineoplastic agent likely through the induction of intracellular TG activity.