102,941 research outputs found
The role of oxidative stress in the in vitro induction of micronuclei by pesticides in mouse lung fibroblasts
No full textThe involvement of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and glutathione peroxidase (both at 0.1 mg/ml) in defence against the genotoxicity of phosphamidon (80 μg/ml) and dieldrin (25 μM) was investigated in order to demonstrate that the two pesticides damage DNA through the generation of reactive oxygen species and therefore of oxidative stress. The pesticide genotoxicity was determined by the cytokinesis-block micronucleus test performed on primary mouse lung fibroblast cultures. Also, 3-aminotriazole (40 mM) and mercaptosuccinate (0.5 mM), inhibitors of catalase and glutathione peroxidase, respectively, were added to the cultures. Data indicate that catalase causes a decrease only in the damage induced by phosphamidon, while glutathione peroxidase protects against damage induced by both phosphamidon and dieldrin. Simultaneous treatment with antioxidant inhibitors and pesticides results in a decrease in micronucleus frequency and cell number, due to apoptotic death. Our results indicate that clastogenic DNA damage produced by the two pesticides is modulated by antioxidant enzymes and their inhibitors and thus could be due to oxidative stress induction
A Time-Domain Analysis of Interconnecting Structures Operating in Short-Pulse Wave Regime
No full textIn vitro proliferation of achondroplastic and normal mouse chondrocytes, before and after basic fibroblast growth factor stimulation
No full textAchondroplasia in mice is a recessive genetic disorder, characterized by disproportionate dwarfism with reduced bone growth. The cause of this chondrodystrophy is unknown. In this study normal and achondroplastic mouse chondrocytes were cultured in monolayer primary culture, their differentiation was verified by immunofluorescence and their growth was compared. The results showed that achondroplastic cells exhibited a higher proliferative activity than control cells of the same age, confirmed also by a thymidine incorporation assay. Furthermore, basic fibroblast growth factor treatment was found to induce a strong increase in growth of normal mouse chondrocytes, while it did not stimulate statistically significant proliferation of achondroplastic mouse cells. We suppose that this different growth rate could play a role in achondroplastic phenotype development
Genotoxic and antiapoptotic effect of nicotine on human gingival fibroblasts
No full textGrowing evidence suggests that nicotine, the addictive component of cigarettes, can have a direct role in tumor development by enhancing cell proliferation and impairing apoptotic process in certain types of human cancer cell lines. Since the correlation between apoptosis and DNA damage is already well documented, we investigated the response of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) to nicotine exposure by examining its effect on DNA damage induction and apoptotic process in parallel. To assess the genotoxicity of this drug, the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) test was performed. Treatment of HGFs with nicotine, at a concentration of 1 muM, caused a statistically significant increase of micronucleus (MN) frequency at the tested time intervals, while no change was detected in cell growth under the same conditions. Furthermore, we found that preincubation of HGFs with 1 muM nicotine strongly attenuated staurosporine (STP)-induced apoptosis. Finally, we found that cultures exposed to nicotine showed an increase of reactive oxygen species, as determined by increased levels of 2,7-dichlorofluorescein (DCF). When cells were prelabeled with N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), a substrate for glutathione synthesis, and catalase (CAT), the oxygen free radical scavenger, a significant reduction in cytogenetic damage was observed. Thus, for the first time, we report a concomitant genotoxic and antiapoptotic effect of nicotine in HGFs
Il PNRR e l'attuazione di una politica per la valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale religioso.
No full textIl contributo analizza la disciplina dei beni culturali con specifico riguardo a quelli di interesse religioso anche alla luce delle disposizioni normative inserite nel Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza, volte alla valorizzazione e ad una nuova fruizione di questa particolare tipologia di patrimonio. Il lavoro si sofferma sul ruolo delle Istituzioni chiamate ad operare per rilanciare questo settore e sugli strumenti che Stato italiano e Chiesa cattolica possono mettere in campo al fine di centrare gli obiettivi indicati dal Piano attraverso le diverse forme di sinergia e collaborazione tra i due ordinamenti che già nel tempo hanno dato vita a numerose Intese sia a livello centrale che locale
Evidence for the role of nitric oxide in antiapoptotic and genotoxic effect of nicotine on human gingival fibroblasts
No full textResistance to apoptosis is essential for cancer survival and plays a critical role in carcinogenesis. Growing evidence suggests that nicotine can act as a tumor promoter, impairing apoptotic process in certain types of human cancer cell lines. Our previous study revealed in human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) a concomitant antiapoptotic and genotoxic effect of nicotine, manifested by the attenuation of staurosporine (STP)-induced apoptosis and the increase of micronucleus frequency. The present report provides evidence that nitric oxide (NO) is critically involved in these actions. In vitro treatment with sodium nitroprusside as NO donor showed that NO produced similar effects as those observed with nicotine: it caused DNA damage and partially prevented apoptosis induced by staurosporine. Exposure of HGFs to nicotine, at concentrations similar to those found in the blood of habitual smokers, leads to the production of NO associated with the induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression. Experiments using an inhibitor of iNOS, N-monomethyl-L-arginine (NMA), together with nicotine confirmed the involvement of NO in the drug action, abrogating completely cell death and a good part of the genotoxicity. Finally, we show by different approaches that the inhibition of cell death by nicotine through NO release is related to modulation of caspase-1 activation
Lo sviluppo della consulenza etica nei processi di HTA: i dati preliminari dell'esperienza dell'Istituto di Bioetica dell'Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Roma)
No full textTitolo: Lo sviluppo della consulenza etica nei processi di HTA: i dati preliminari dell'esperienza dell'Istituto di Bioetica dell'Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma.
Autori: SACCHINI D*, REFOLO P*, MINACORI R*, DI PIETRO ML*, RICCIARDI G**, LA TORRE G***, CICCHETTI A§, MARCHETTI M§§, AND SPAGNOLO AG*
Affiliazioni: * Istituto di Bioetica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC), Roma; ** Istituto di Igiene, UCSC, Roma; *** Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Sezione di Igiene, Università di Roma "Sapienza" ; § Facoltà di Economia, UCSC, Roma; §§ Unità di Valutazione delle Tecnologie sanitarie, Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli", Roma
Testo
La valutazione etica in un rapporto di Health Technology Assessment (HTA) concerne sia le questioni etiche sollevate dalla stessa tecnologia sia le questioni etiche che riguardano il processo di HTA. Anche se elencata come uno degli obiettivi dell’HTA, in pratica l'integrazione di questa dimensione in un report di HTA è stata, in passato, limitata.
Nel contesto italiano, già caratterizzato da un certo ritardo nella diffusione della HTA in generale, l'Istituto di Bioetica dell'Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC), Roma, Italia, dal 2007 ha cercato di colmare - dal rispettivo punto di vista disciplinare - questa lacuna, cominciando a integrare le analisi etiche in report di HTA in una attività consulenziale, sulla scia di esperienze internazionali : in particolare nel Progetto EunetHTA (2006-2008) ed ,attualmente, nell’EUnetHTA Joint Action (2010-2012).
Il contributo intende mostrare i risultati preliminari dell’applicazione dell’expertise etico in diversi rapporti di HTA nel periodo 2007-2010. I seguenti elementi saranno presentati: 1. per descrivere le metodologie / procedure utilizzate per incorporare le analisi etiche in report di HTA; 2. per rivedere l'insieme delle questioni etiche trattate; 3. per visualizzare tutte le risorse coinvolte, 4. Analizzare, infine, le difficoltà sorte nella valutazione.
In conclusione, la prospettiva è quella di strutturare e consolidare procedure operative standard (SOPs) per la consulenza etica in un processo di HTA all’interno di un servizio consulenziale facente capo all’Istituto di Bioetica dell'UCSC
Dynamics of phosphoglucomutase heat sensitivity polymorphism in Culicidae
No full text[No abstract available
Network prominence and innovation: An empirical analysis of corporate-backed biotech spin-offs
No full textWith increasing dynamics and complexity in the biotechnology industry, pharmaceutical companies are forced to broaden the scope of their R&D operations, increasingly relying on external sources of new knowledge. In this context, corporate venturing emerges as an interesting means to exploit new entrepreneurial sources of innovation. By investing in academic spin-offs, and thereby establishing relationships with academic R&D actors, knowledge dispersed in scientific and academic networks can be accessed by the pharmaceutical companies. In this way, equity investments in academic spin-offs present a potential to improve the investors’ innovation performance. Based on a study of 97 corporate-backed academic spin-offs in the biotech field, this paper investigates how structural characteristics of these spin-offs’ R&D networks influence the innovativeness of big pharmaceutical companies that provide venture capital to the spin-offs. In particular, the effect of a spin-off’s prominence in its knowledge network is analyzed, using different network centrality measures. The results obtained show that investments in academic spin-offs holding prominent positions in their R&D networks significantly contribute to the innovativeness of their investors, in terms of the number of patents resulting from these collaborations
Induction of micronuclei in bone marrow by two pesticides and their differentiation with CREST staining: An in vivo study in mice
No full textTwo pesticides, organophosphate phosphamidon (PHO) and organochlorine dieldrin (DED) were assayed by the mouse bone marrow micronucleus test, to ascertain whether they showed genotoxic activity in vivo. Two doses, sub-lethal (PHO = 3 mg/kg b.wt.; DED = 60 mg/kg b.wt.) and lethal (PHO = 5 mg/kg b.wt.; DED = 90 mg/kg b.wt.), of each substance were administered intraperitoneally to 9-10-week old CBA male mice, in acute and repeated exposure. The sub-lethal dose was also administered at two different times and twice at 24-h intervals. Both PHO and DED proved able to induce a dose-dependent increase of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (PCE). The two pesticides also showed a different detoxification time. Furthermore, the CREST staining with antikinetochore antibodies allowed us to conclude that the two chemicals are clastogens
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