1,720,970 research outputs found
Gremlin as a novel pro-angiogenic VEGFR2 agonist: production of a biologically active recombinant form in S2 Drosophila cells
No full textDelivering cytokines at tumor site: The immunocytokine-conjugated anti-EDB-fibronectin antibody case
No full textAlthough considerable efforts have been made in the discovery of new agents for cancer treatment, several promising
therapeutics cannot be applied systemically because of their severe side effects. This is the case for various recombinant
pro-inflammatory cytokines that, despite their potent anti-cancer activity, cannot find their way to clinical exploitation
due to their devastating toxicity shown during dose escalation to therapeutically active concentrations. To circumvent
these problems, an elegant and efficient way to accumulate therapeutic agents at the tumor site, thus reducing systemic
side effects, is their conjugation to tumor-specific antibodies. Here, we review preclinical data about immunocytokines
conjugated to a promising single-chain human antibody that selectively targets tumor-associated stroma and blood
vessels by binding with high affinity and specificity to the extradomain-B(EDB) of fibronectin
Fibroblast growth factor-2 antagonist and Antiangiogenic activity of long-pentraxin 3-derived synthetic peptides
No full textAbstract: Angiogenesis and inflammation are closely integrated processes. Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) is a
prototypic angiogenesis inducer belonging to the family of the heparin-binding FGF growth factors. FGF2 exerts its proangiogenic
activity by interacting with various endothelial cell surface receptors, including tyrosine kinase receptors,
heparan-sulfate proteoglycans, and integrins. A tight cross-talk exists between FGF2 and the inflammatory response in the
modulation of blood vessel growth. Pentraxins act as soluble pattern recognition receptors with a wide range of functions
in various pathophysiological conditions. The long-pentraxin PTX3 shares the C-terminal pentraxin-domain with shortpentraxins
and possesses a unique N-terminal domain. These structural features indicate that PTX3 may have distinct
biological/ligand recognition properties when compared to short-pentraxins. Co-expression of PTX3 and FGF2 has been
observed in different inflammation/angiogenesis-dependent diseases. PTX3 binds FGF2 with high affinity and specificity.
The interaction prevents the binding of FGF2 to its cognate tyrosine kinase receptors, leading to inhibition of the
angiogenic activity of the growth factor. This suggests that PTX3 may exert a modulatory function by limiting the
angiogenic activity of FGF2. An integrated approach that utilized PTX3 fragments, monoclonal antibodies, and surface
plasmon resonance analysis has identified the FGF2-binding domain in the unique N-terminal extension of PTX3. On this
basis, PTX3-derived synthetic peptides have been designed endowed with a significant antiangiogenic activity in vitro and
in vivo. They may provide the basis for the development of novel antiangiogenic FGF2 antagonists
Anti-FGF2 approaches as a strategy to compensate resistance to anti-VEGF therapy: long-pentraxin 3 as a novel antiangiogenic FGF2-antagonist.
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
- …
