1,721,205 research outputs found
Role of nitric oxide and melanogenesis in the accomplishment of anticryptococcal activity by the BV-2 microglial cell line.
No full textJ Neuroimmunol. 1995 Apr;58(1):111-6.
Role of nitric oxide and melanogenesis in the accomplishment of anticryptococcal activity by the BV-2 microglial cell line.
Blasi E, Barluzzi R, Mazzolla R, Tancini B, Saleppico S, Puliti M, Pitzurra L, Bistoni F.
SourceDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena, Italy.
Abstract
In the present paper, we investigated the involvement of cryptococcal melanogenesis and macrophage nitric oxide (NO) production in the accomplishment of anticryptococcal activity by microglial effector cells, using the murine cell line BV-2. We demonstrate that the constitutive levels of anticryptococcal activity exerted by BV-2 cells is significantly enhanced upon interferon gamma plus lipopolysaccharide treatment. The phenomenon, which occurs with no enhancement of phagocytic activity, is associated with the production of high levels of NO and is abolished by addition of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine. Comparable patterns of results are observed employing either unopsonized or opsonized microbial targets, the latter microorganisms being markedly more susceptible to BV-2 cell antimicrobial activity. Furthermore, melanization of Cryptococcus neoformans significantly reduces its susceptibility to BV-2 antimicrobial activity, regardless of the fact that activated macrophages or opsonized microorganisms have been employed. In conclusion, our results provide evidence that NO-dependent events are involved in the fulfillment of anticryptococcal activity by activated microglial cells and that fungal melanization is a precious escamotage through which C. neoformans overcomes host defenses.
PMID: 773044
Role of protein synthesis in the activation of cytotoxic mouse macrophages by lymphokines.
No full textThe role of protein synthesis during the activation of macrophages (Mφ) by lymphokines (LK) was studied. Peritoneal murine macrophages elicited by proteose-peptone (pMφ) were activated with LK (supernatants from normal mouse spleen cells pulsed with concanavalin A) and tested for cytotoxicity in an 18 hr assay against 111In-labeled L5178Y lymphoma target cells. Reversible (cycloheximide and puromycin) or poorly reversible (emetine and pactamycin) inhibitors of protein synthesis were added during activation, and their effects on pMφ-mediated cytotoxicity and pMφ protein synthesis were measured. Minimal concentrations of inhibitors, reducing the rate of protein synthesis by more than 90% without toxic effects on macrophages, were chosen. Exposure of pMφ to LK for 2 to 18 hr in the presence of reversible inhibitors of protein synthesis did not affect the induction of cytolytic activity, indicating that protein synthesis was not required during the activation period. In contrast, activation of macrophages for 2 hr in the presence of poorly reversible inhibitors of protein synthesis resulted in a considerable reduction of cytolytic activity. The impairment of cytotoxic activity was also evident when pMφ were treated with such drugs during the first 2 hr of an 18 hr exposure to LK or when LK-activated macrophages were treated for 2 hr with the drugs before the addition of the targets. These results demonstrate that active protein synthesis is not required during the exposure of pMφ to LK, but that new proteins have to be synthesized to allow the expression of the cytotoxic activity in LK-activated pMφ. © 1984
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
Percorsi creativi di turismo urbano - I Foodies: turisti per gusto nella città multietnica
No full textTumor formation by a murine macrophage cell line immortalized in vitro by v-raf and v-myc oncogenes
No full textMurine bone marrow cells immortalized in vitro by the J2 recombinant retrovirus bearing the v-raf and v-myc oncogenes have the functional and phenotypic characteristics of macrophages. The present study was designed to determine whether these cells are tumorigenic in athymic or euthymic mice. One cloned cell line (GG2EE), that had been previously derived and characterized was used for this purpose. The results demonstrated that GG2EE cells were tumorigenic in allogeneic athymic BALB/c mice at doses of 1×104 to 1×107 cells per mouse regardless of the route administration. All mice utlimately died of progressive tumor growth. Conversely, the GG2EE cells were nontumorigenic or transiently tumorigenic in syngeneic euthymic C3H/HeJ mice. Further studies in BALB/c athymic mice demonstrated that the GG2EE cells were directly tumorigenic since ascites tumors (GG2EE-V) that developed expressed the H-2k surface phenotype of the injected GG2EE cells, excluding the possibility that the J2 virus constitutively produced by GG2EE cells caused in vivo transformation and therefore tumors of host cell origin. The in vivo passaged cells continued to express the M1/69, MAC-1, MAC-2, F4/80, Fc receptor and Ly5.1 antigens characterically expressed on the parental line. Biological properties including interferon-γ-induced Ia expression, phagocytosis, and activation for cytotoxicity were also retained following in vivo passage. These results demonstrated that J2 virus-immortalized GG2EE cells were directly tumorigenic in athymic mice in vivo and that the macrophage phenotype was maintained in these neoplastic cells. These observations suggest that this tumor model may be valuable for the study of macrophage function as well as therapeutic approaches to oncogen-expressing retrovirus-induced tumors. © 1988 Springer-Verlag
Valutazione dell'assetto fenotipico e funzionale di cellule eucariotiche "carriers" di informazione genetica esogena. Perugia 26-31 Ottobre
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