Metabolic syndrome,Mediterranean diet,and polyphenols: Evidence and perspectives

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined as the co-occurrence of metabolic risk factors that includes insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and visceral obesity. The clinical significance of MetS consists of identifying a subgroup of patients sharing a common physiopathological state predisposing to chronic diseases. Clinical and scientific studies pinpoint lifestyle modification as an effective strategy aiming to reduce several features accountable for the risk of MetS onset. Among the healthy dietary patterns, the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) emerges in terms of beneficial properties associated with longevity. Current evidence highlights the protective effect exerted by MedDiet on the different components of MetS. Interestingly, the effect exerted by polyphenols contained within the representative MedDiet components (i.e., olive oil, red wine, and nuts) seems to be accountable for the beneficial properties associated to this dietary pattern. In this review, we aim to summarize the principal evidence regarding the effectiveness of MedDiet–polyphenols in preventing or delaying the physiopathological components accountable for MetS onset. These findings may provide useful insights concerning the health properties of MedDiet–polyphenols as well as the novel targets destined to a tailored approach to MetS.     

Type I IFN as a natural adjuvant for a protective immune response: lessons from the influenza vaccine model

The identification of natural adjuvants capable of selectively promoting an efficient immune response against infectious agents would represent an important advance in immunology, with direct implications for vaccine development, whose progress is generally hampered by the difficulties in defining powerful synthetic adjuvants suitable for clinical use. Here, we demonstrate that endogenous type I IFN is necessary for the Th1 type of immune response induced by typical adjuvants in mice and that IFN itself is an unexpectedly powerful adjuvant when administered with the human influenza vaccine, for inducing IgG2a and IgA production and conferring protection from virus challenge. The finding that these cytokines, currently used in patients, are necessary for full expression of adjuvant activity and are sufficient for the generation of a protective immune response opens new perspectives in understanding the basis of immunity and in vaccine development.     

ATP independent proteasomal degradation of NQO1 in BL cell lines

Human NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) catalyzes the obligatory two-electron reduction of quinones. For this peculiar catalytic mechanism, the enzyme is considered an important cytoprotector. The NQO1 gene is expressed in all human tissues, unless a polymorphism due to C609T point mutation is present. This polymorphism produces a null phenotype in the homozygous condition and reduced enzyme activity in the heterozygous one. We previously demonstrated that two cell lines of haematopoietic origin, HL60 and Raji cells, possess the same heterozygous genotype, but different phenotypes; as expected for a heterozygous condition the HL60 cell line showed a low level of enzyme activity, while the Raji cell line appeared as null phenotype. The level of NQO1 mRNA was similar in the two cell lines and the different phenotype was not due to additional mutations or to expression of alternative splicing products. Here we show that in Raji BL cell line with heterozygous genotype the null NQO1 phenotype is due to 20S proteasome degradation of wild type and mutant protein isoforms and is not directly linked to C609T polymorphism. This finding may have important implications in B-cell differentiation, in leukaemia risk evaluation and in chemotherapy based on proteasome inhibitors.     

Towards gene therapy for deafness

Many hearing disorders are associated with the damage or loss of sensory hair cells (HC) which can produce a profound and irreversible deafness. Apoptosis pathway is reported to play an important role leading to rapid expansion of the HC lesion after exposure to intense noise. Furthermore, progress made over the last year in understanding molecular mechanisms involved in the proliferative and regenerative capacity of sensory cells in the mammalian inner ear has raised the possibility that targeted therapies might prevent the loss of these cells and preserve the patient's hearing. A first step towards the successful therapeutic exploitation is a better understanding of the different pathways that control survival and proliferation of sensory cells. In this review, we provide an overview of recent findings concerning the possibility to prevent apoptosis in auditory cells. We also show the current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms involved in the potential regenerative behavior of these cells and the progress of gene therapy to prevent deafness noise-induced.     

Nonliving biomass of marine macrophytes as arsenic(V) biosorbents

The present study was aimed at assessing the performance of different nonliving macrophytes sampled in the Adriatic coast in arsenic(V) sorption. Full factorial experiments were carried out where the main factors were the macrophyte species (brown algae: Cystoseira, Dictyopteris, and Eisenia; green algae: Caulerpa and Ulva; red algae: Ceramium, Gracilaria, and Porphyra; and seagrass: Zostera), biosorbent washing pre-treatment (deionized water, acid pH?2 and basic pH?10), equilibrium pH (in the range 1 to 8), under relatively high (10?mg?L^?1) and relatively low (100?μg?L^?1) arsenic concentration. All species exhibited significant adsorption. Indeed, they showed a good performance, with the highest observed value of about 1.3?±?0.1?mg?g^?1 for the red alga Ceramium and the seagrass Zostera, comparable with those of activated carbon and other low-cost adsorbents reported in the literature under similar experimental conditions. Moreover, red algae known in the literature to be bad cationic metal sorbents showed very good arsenic sorption performance. This work shows that the performance of arsenic biosorption depends on many factors: the different composition and structure of outer layer of the macrophytes, arsenic speciation and functional group availability under different pH, and eventual counter-ion interactions with arseniate.     

Auxin synthesis-encoding transgene enhances grape fecundity

Grape (Vitis vinifera) yield is largely dependent on the fecundity of the cultivar. The average number of inflorescences per shoot (i.e. shoot fruitfulness) is a trait related to fecundity of each grapevine. Berry number and weight per bunch are other features affecting grape yield. An ovule-specific auxin-synthesizing (DefH9-iaaM) transgene that increases the indole-3-acetic acid content of grape transgenic berries was transformed into cultivars Silcora and Thompson Seedless, which differ in the average number of inflorescences per shoots. Thompson Seedless naturally has very low shoot fruitfulness, whereas Silcora has medium shoot fruitfulness. The average number of inflorescences per shoot in DefH9-iaaM Thompson Seedless was doubled compared to its wild-type control. Berry number per bunch was increased in both transgenic cultivars. The quality and nutritional value of transgenic berries were substantially equivalent to their control fruits. The data presented indicate that auxin enhances fecundity in grapes, thus enabling to increase yield with lower production costs.     

The pheromonal gland of Lymantria dispar: Morphology and evidence for its innervation

The morphological features of the glandular epithelium that secretes pheromone in the polyphagous pest gypsy moth Lymantria dispar are described by light and electron microscopy. The monolayered gland cells are covered by the folded cuticle of the intersegmental membrane between the 8th and 9th abdominal segments showing neither sites of discontinuity nor distinct openings on its external surface. The cells bear a large, often irregularly shaped nucleus, and contain granules of variable amount and electron‐density. These granules are mostly located in the basal compartment of the cytoplasm, in a labyrinthine zone laying on a basement membrane. The apical membrane of the gland cells bear microvilli and cell–cell contact is established by different junctional structures. Nerve fibers enwrapped in glia are found beneath the basement membrane, in close contact with the secretory cells. This latter finding represents the first evidence of the innervation of the pheromonal gland in L. dispar. J. Morphol. 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Absence of the symbiont Candidatus Midichloria mitochondrii in the mitochondria of the tick Ixodes holocyclus

OprG of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a member of the very large and widely distributed but poorly characterized OmpW (PF0392) family of outer membrane proteins. It was established here that OprG was highly transcribed in anaerobic environments rich in iron via the ANR regulator. In the absence of OprG, P. aeruginosa was significantly less cytotoxic toward human bronchial epithelial cells. Planar bilayer studies indicated that purified OprG formed cationic-selective channels with a conductance of 500 pS in 1 M KCl; however, contrary to previous reports, OprG did not appear to be involved in either iron or antibiotic uptake.