391 research outputs found
Un soggetto scabroso, un progetto ambizioso. Il ‘Giasone’ va alla scuola primaria
No full textIllustrazione, documentazione e commento di un progetto didattico svolto da Silvia Cancedda in una scuola di primo grado (Istituto comprensivo di Pianoro, Bologna) sull'opera 'Giasone' di G. A. Cicognini e F Cavalli (1649) con la consulenza di Lorenzo Bianconi. Scelta didattica coraggiosa, trattandosi di un'opera estranea al repertorio corrente e pervasa da uno spirito libertino assai salace. L'esperimento è da considerarsi pienamente riuscito, sotto il profilo tanto dell'apprendimento delle tecniche musicali quanto dell'accostamento alle dinamiche emotive insite nella drammaturgia specifica di questo vetusto capolavoro
Genetic Variants of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase from human erythrocytes: unique properties of the A-Variant isolated from “deficient” cells
No full textGenetic variants of human erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Discrete conformational states stabilized by NADP+ and NADPH
No full textAvidin expression during chick chondrocyte and myoblast development "in vitro" and "in vivo": regulation of cell proliferation.
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The effect of connectivity on information in neural networks
No full textA mathematical model quantifies the amount of information/exchanged in neural networks as a function of network connectivityQ.</p
Expression of Serum Amyloid A in chondrocytes and myoblasts differentiation and inflammation: possible role in cholesterol homeostasis
No full textSerum amyloid A (SAA) is synthesized by the liver during the acute phase. Local expression of SAA mRNA has been reported also in non-liver cells, a potential local source of SAA protein not related to the systemic acute phase response. SAA function has not been established yet. In the present study, we identified SAA as a protein expressed by chondrocytes and myoblasts in response to inflammatory stimula. In both cell systems, SAA mRNA and protein expression is strongly stimulated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide treatment. SAA mRNA expression is also enhanced during terminal differentiation of cells of the chondrogenic and myogenic lineage; mRNA is barely detectable in prechondrogenic cells and is highly expressed in differentiated hyperthrophic chondrocytes. An increased level of SAA mRNA was also observed in vivo when we compared mRNA extracted from tibiae of 10 day embryos, still fully cartilaginous, with tibiae from 18 day embryos, a stage when the endochondral ossification process has already started. p38 activation, a well-known event of the chondrogenesis signaling cascade, controls expression of SAA in cartilage following inflammatory stimuli. SAA secreted by stimulated chondrocytes is associated with cholesterol. Cholesterol is synthesized by the same chondrocytes and is also increased in inflammatory conditions. A role of SAA in cholesterol homeostasis in chondrocytes is proposed
Intracellular chloride concentration influences the GABAA receptor subunit composition.
No full textGABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)Rs) exist as different subtype variants showing unique functional properties and defined spatio-temporal expression pattern. The molecular mechanisms underlying the developmental expression of different GABA(A)R are largely unknown. The intracellular concentration of chloride ([Cl(-)](i)), the main ion permeating through GABA(A)Rs, also undergoes considerable changes during maturation, being higher at early neuronal stages with respect to adult neurons. Here we investigate the possibility that [Cl(-)](i) could modulate the sequential expression of specific GABA(A)Rs subtypes in primary cerebellar neurons. We show that [Cl(-)](i) regulates the expression of α3-1 and δ-containing GABA(A) receptors, responsible for phasic and tonic inhibition, respectively. Our findings highlight the role of [Cl(-)](i) in tuning the strength of GABAergic responses by acting as an intracellular messenger
Response of young, aged and osteoarthritic human articular chondrocytes to inflammatory cytokines: molecular and cellular aspects
No full textThe aim of this study was to investigate the metabolic properties of human articular chondrocytes derived from young, aged and osteoarthritic subjects and their genetic adaptation to a catabolic challenge (i.e. the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1alpha and tumor necrosis factor-alpha), in the absence or presence of diacerein, a drug potentially useful in osteoarthritis. Chondrocytes in primary culture were analyzed for newly secreted proteins, metalloproteinase synthesis and activity, and production of nitric oxide by-products. Results show that chondrocytes from normal but aged subjects present biochemical properties closer to osteoarthritic-derived cartilage than to normal young cartilage, as indicated by cell morphology, cell proliferation rate and pattern of protein secretion (in particular stromelysin-1 and interstitial collagenase). According to patient age and cartilage physiopathology, chondrocytes secrete increasing amounts of a protein identified by micro-sequencing as chitinase-like protein. Upon exposure to the inflammatory cytokines, chondrocytes, regardless the age or the status of the donor, significantly enhance their production of stromelysin-1, interstitial collagenase, interleukin-6 and interleukin-8. By contrast, the chitinase-like protein is not modulated by the cytokines. The pattern of protein secretion and metal loproteinase activity in chondrocytes from aged subjects appeared to be different from that of young patients, but was highly expressed in osteoarthritic chondrocytes. Diacerein, at therapeutically useful concentrations, consistently counteracts the stimulatory effect of cytokines on newly secreted proteins, metal loproteinase activity and nitric oxide production, whereas a selective nitric oxide blocker alone is ineffective. These data demonstrate that a specific gene program is turned on in cytokine-stimulated chondrocytes, which involves production of proteins engaged in remodeling and destruction of cartilage matrix. Part of these mechanisms appears to be operative also in unstimulated aged chondrocytes. Diacerein largely prevents the metabolic alterations caused by cytokine exposure in human chondrocytes, possibly through its ability to block early intracellular mediators after cytokine stimulation, such as oxygen radicals. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V./International Society of Matrix Biology. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
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