1,720,978 research outputs found
Bcl-2-like protein-10 increases aggressive features of melanoma cells
Get PDFAim: B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)-like protein-10 (Bcl2L10) is the less studied member of Bcl-2 family proteins, with the controversial role in different cancer histotypes. Very recently, Bcl2L10 expression in melanoma tumor specimens and its role in melanoma response to therapy have been demonstrated. Here, the involvement of Bcl2L10 on the in vitro and in vivo properties associated with melanoma aggressive features has been investigated. Methods: Endogenous Bcl2L10 protein expression was detected by western blotting analysis in a panel of patient-derived and commercially available human melanoma cells. In vitro assays to evaluate clonogenicity, cell proliferation, cell migration, cell invasion, and in vitro capillary-like structure formation [vasculogenic mimicry (VM)] have been performed by using human melanoma cells stably overexpressing Bcl2L10 or transiently transfected for loss/gain function of Bcl2L10, grown under two- or three-dimensional (3D) conditions Xenograft melanoma model was employed to evaluate in vivo tumor growth and angiogenesis. Results: Results demonstrated that Bcl2L10 acts as an inducer of in vitro cell migration, invasion, and VM, while in vitro cell proliferation, in vivo tumor growth, as well as colony formation properties were not affected. Dissecting different signaling pathways, it was found that Bcl2L10 positively affects the phosphorylation of extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and the expression of markers of cell invasion, such as urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Of note, Bcl2L10-dependent in vitro migration, invasion, and VM are linked to uPAR. Bcl2L10 also negatively regulates the intracellular calcium level. Finally, reduced invasion capability in 3D spheroid invasion assay of melanoma cells transiently overexpressing Bcl2L10 was observed after treatment with inhibitors of MMPs and uPAR. Conclusions: Overall, data reported in this paper provide evidence supporting a positive role of Bcl2L10 in melanoma aggressive features.Fil: Del Bufalo, Donatella. Regina Elena National Cancer Institute; ItaliaFil: Di Martile, Marta. Regina Elena National Cancer Institute; ItaliaFil: Valentini, Elisabetta. Regina Elena National Cancer Institute; ItaliaFil: Manni, Isabella. Regina Elena National Cancer Institute; ItaliaFil: Masi, Ilenia. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; ItaliaFil: D'Amore, Antonella. Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; ItaliaFil: Filippini, Antonio. Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; ItaliaFil: Nicoletti, Carmine. Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; ItaliaFil: Zaccarini, Marco. San Gallicano Dermatological Institute; ItaliaFil: Cota, Carlo. San Gallicano Dermatological Institute; ItaliaFil: Castro, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Básicos, Aplicados y Desarrollo. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas; ArgentinaFil: Quezada, Maria Josefina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Básicos, Aplicados y Desarrollo. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas; ArgentinaFil: Rosanò, Laura. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Italia. Regina Elena National Cancer Institute; ItaliaFil: Lopez Bergami, Pablo Roberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: D'Aguanno, Simona. Regina Elena National Cancer Institute; Itali
HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITION DOWNREGULATES THYMIDYLATE SYNTHASE (TS) EXPRESSION AND ENHANCES PEMETREXED-INDUCED CYTOTOXICITY IN NSCLC MODELS
No full textExploring association of melanoma-specific Bcl-xL with tumor immune microenvironment
Get PDFBackground: Macrophages take center stage in the tumor microenvironment, a niche composed of extracellular matrix and a heterogeneous group of cells, including immune ones. They can evolve during tumor progression and acquire Tumor-Associated Macrophage (TAMs) phenotype. The release of cytokines by tumor and stromal cells, influence the secretion of cytokines by TAMs, which can guarantee tumor progression and influence the response to therapy. Among all factors able to recruit and polarize macrophages, we focused our attention on Bcl-xL, a multifaceted member of the Bcl-2 family, whose expression is deregulated in melanoma. It acts not only as a canonical pro-survival and anti-apoptotic protein, but also as a promoter of tumor progression. Methods: Human melanoma cells silencing or overexpressing Bcl-xL protein, THP-1 monocytic cells and monocyte-derived macrophages were used in this study. Protein array and specific neutralizing antibodies were used to analyze cytokines and chemokines secreted by melanoma cells. qRT-PCR, ELISA and Western Blot analyses were used to evaluate macrophage polarization markers and protein expression levels. Transwell chambers were used to evaluate migration of THP-1 and monocyte-derived macrophages. Mouse and zebrafish models were used to evaluate the ability of melanoma cells to recruit and polarize macrophages in vivo. Results: We demonstrated that melanoma cells overexpressing Bcl-xL recruit macrophages at the tumor site and induce a M2 phenotype. In addition, we identified that interleukin-8 and interleukin-1β cytokines are involved in macrophage polarization, and the chemokine CCL5/RANTES in the macrophages recruitment at the tumor site. We also found that all these Bcl-xL-induced factors are regulated in a NF-kB dependent manner in human and zebrafish melanoma models. Conclusions: Our findings confirmed the pro-tumoral function of Bcl-xL in melanoma through its effects on macrophage phenotype
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Phytochemical characterization and cytotoxic potential of extracts from roots and inflorescences of Cannabis sativa L. cv. Eletta Campana
No full textCannabis roots have been used in folk medicine for millennia and as nutrient storage systems,
contain compounds that may have medicinal value. Despite this, cannabis roots have generally
received little attention compared to cannabis flowers, leaves and seeds and were for a long time
considered just a waste product. In this paper, for the first time, the extracts of dried roots and inflorescences
of Cannabis sativa L. cv Eletta Campana, were chemically investigated in order to
compare their metabolite content. The obtained results highlighted a profile rich in fatty acids in
the roots and cannabinoids in the inflorescences. Other components such as monoterpenes,
sesquiterpenes, diterpenes and triterpenes were also detected. The extracts were also evaluated in
terms of cytotoxic activity by using a panel of cancer cell lines derived from different histotypes
including melanoma (A375, M14), colon (HCT116, HT29), breast (MDAMB231, MCF7) and nonsmall
cell lung cancer (H1299, A549). Although both extracts significantly reduced the cancer
cell viability, the inflorescence extract was more potent. Furthermore, the latter induced a comparable
response in all tested cancer cell lines, while melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer
were the most sensitive histotypes to the root extract treatment
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe 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
- …
