1,721,120 research outputs found
Expression of SP7, RUNX1, DLX5, and CTNNB1 in Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Cultured on Xenogeneic Bone Substitute as Compared With Machined Titanium
No full textPURPOSE: The aim of this research was to investigate the gene expression profile of 4 transcription factors in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) cultured with a xenogeneic bone substitute and a support of machined titanium.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: In vitro studies were performed on hMSC cells, which grew in contact with cortical porcine bone and machined titanium disks for 10 days. RNA quantification for genes DLX5, CTNNB1, RUNX1, and SP7 was assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. For cells supported by titanium, immunocytochemistry of osteocalcin (OC) was also performed.
RESULTS: In the osteoblast-induced cells (OIC), DLX5, CTNNB1, and RUNX1 were significantly upregulated (+2.38-, +3.51-, and +7.08-fold, respectively), whereas SP7 was downregulated (-26.32-fold). None of the genes seemed to be upregulated or downregulated by the corticocancellous porcine bone. In cells grown on titanium support, DLX5 and RUNX1 were respectively upregulated (+3.12-fold) and downregulated (-2.14-fold). For titanium support, the presence of both catenin beta-1 and OC was verified.
CONCLUSION: The 2 genes RUNX1 and SP7 resulted differently expressed in cells cultured on metallic supports if compared with the expression recorded for OIC. An induction of the osteogenic phenotype was observed when cells were cultured on machined titanium, but not on xenogeneic material
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
NSC631570 affects MMP9, HENT1, and SPARC expression in cell cultures of pancreatic cancer. Can we use it in combination with gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel?
No full textPurpose: The chemotherapy as Gemcitabine (GEM) treatment plus Nab-paclitaxel (Nab-pax), in combination with the surgical procedure shown to increase the OS in PDAC patients. Indeed, two molecular factors might be associated with efficacy of Gem/Nab-pax treatment: SPARC and hENT1 genes. Additionally, another marker associated with aggressiveness of PDAC is the Matrix Metallo-Proteinase 9 (MMP9). While, NSC-631570 showed its molecular activity against MMP9 and SPARC in PDAC cell lines (PDAC-CL). Our goal was to investigate the efficacy of NSC-631570 in in vitro model of PDAC, on MMP9, hENT1 and SPARC proteins in preclinical model of PDAC.
Materials and methods: Four PTCCs and Two PDAC-CL were used for cytotoxicity study by NSC-631570. Cells were stained by Immunocytochemistry (IHC) for MMP9 and Immunofluorescence (IF) for SPARC. Another part of cells were used in order to extract RNA to perform quantitative PCR analyses for hENT1 and SPARC. Untreated cells served to asses the expression basal levels of markers and no–stained cells were used as negative control for both IHC and IF. We evaluated protein expression by imaging analysis.
Results: We found a significant reduction of MMP9 protein expression in both PTCCs and PDAC-CL treated NSC-631570 with respect to their controls (p<0.01). The drug increased significantly the number cells and showed to modify the structure of nuclei with respect to untreated cells (p<0.001). In addition, NSC-631570 up-regulated the mRNA levels of hENT1 in all PDAC models after IC50 exposure. This data is confirmed by DDCt analyses in comparison with housekeeping gene. In particular, the 2ˆ(-DDCt) revealed that treated cells express higher level of hENT1 with respect to non treated cells (mean value 285.93%; p<0.001). Furthermore, SPARC mRNA levels waere up-regulated in 2/4 PTCCs and in 2/2 PDAC-CL. Finally, the concomitant down-regulation of MMP9 and over-expression hENT1 and SPARC genes was observed in 3/6 (66.7%) of PDAC models.
Conclusions: New pharmacological approach is a challenge in order to reduce the metastatic behavior of the PDAC and increase the clinical outcome after chemotherapy treatment. NSC-631570 has been shown to modulate the expression of SPARC and hENT1 justifing Gem/Nab-pax therapy in combination with NSC-631570, highlighting its applicability as a promising clinical approach against PDAC
Triticum vulgare Extract Modulates Protein-Kinase B and Matrix Metalloproteinases 9 Protein Expression in BV-2 Cells: Bioactivity on Inflammatory Pathway Associated with Molecular Mechanism Wound Healing
Full text linkMatrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a large family of ubiquitously expressed zinc-dependent enzymes with proteolitic activities. They are expressed in physiological situations and pathological conditions involving inflammatory processes including epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), neuronal injury, and cancer. There is also evidence that MMPs regulate inflammation in tumor microenvironment, which plays an important role in healing tissue processes. Looking at both inflammatory and neuronal damages, MMP9 is involved in both processes and their modulation seems to be regulated by two proteins: tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6). However other important genes are involved in molecular regulation of transcription factors, protein-kinase B (AKT), and p65. In addition, Triticum vulgare extract (TVE) modulated the biological markers associated with inflammatory processes, including p65 protein. While there are no evidence that TVE might be involved in the biological modulation of other inflammatory marker as AKT, we would like to assess whether TVE is able to (1) modulate phosphorylation of AKT (pAKT) as an early marker of inflammatory process in vitro and (2) affect MMP9 protein expression in an in vitro model. The BV-2 cells (microglial of mouse) have been used as an in vitro model to simulate both inflammatory and neuronal injury pathologies. Here, MMP9 seems to be involved in cellular migration through inflammatory marker activation. We simulate an inflammatory preclinical model treating BV-2 cells with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce proinflammatory activation affecting pAKT and p65 proteins. TVE is revealed to restore the native expression of AKT and p65. Additionally, TVE extract modulates also the protein concentration of MMP9. Nevertheless, immunofluorescence confocal analyses revealed that both AKT and MMP9 are regulated together, synchronously. This work seems to demonstrate that two important genes can be used to monitor the beginning of an inflammatory process, AKT and MMP9, in which TVE seems able to modulate their expression of inflammation-associated molecules
Antiproliferative effects of novel aliphatic acetogenin analogs against aggressive solid tumor cell lines.
No full textThe antiproliferative effects of three synthetic analogs of aliphatic acetogenins selected from a previous screening were compared to those of the drugs used for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Four PDAC and three MPM cell lines were used in the study. Cell growth inhibition was determined after 48 h exposure to the drugs. Cell-cycle disruption and apoptosis induction were studied by flow cytometry. The modulation of Akt phosphorylation was studied using a specific ELISA for P-Ser473 Akt.
RESULTS:
The new compounds inhibited cell growth, induced apoptosis and cell-cycle abrogation in all cell lines. Phosphorylated Akt levels rose after treatment.
CONCLUSION:
The results demonstrated better performance of aliphatic acetogenin analogs against PDAC cells when compared to standard anticancer drugs. For MPM cells, the application of the new compounds may play an important role in overcoming the resistance to conventional treatments
A proteomic approach to the identification of antigens recognised by trichinellosis patient sera
No full textDispelling 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
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