102 research outputs found
Transcriptional regulation of arterial differentiation via Wnt, Sox and Notch
No full textPurpose of reviewThe development of a functionally and anatomically correct vascular network is a complex phenomenon that requires the combined activity of different signaling pathways and transcription factors. Notch signaling activation, for instance, is crucial for arterial specification. Here, we discuss the current knowledge on how other signaling pathways cooperate with Notch to orchestrate arterial differentiation of embryonic and postnatal vasculature.Recent findingsThe role of Notch in vascular development and arterial differentiation is well known. However, it was found that canonical Wnt signaling may act upstream of Notch, upregulating Dll4 and inducing endothelial cells to acquire arterial characteristics. Furthermore, the transcription factor Sox17 may act as a link between Wnt and Notch in the induction of a correct arterio/venous differentiation.SummaryIn the past years, the research on vascular development was mostly focused on the mechanisms that regulate vessel growth. We now understand that in order to interfere with several vascular diseases (e.g. aneurysm, cerebral ischemia and stroke) or tumor vascularization, we need to understand the signals that direct arterio/venous specification. Here, we discuss the interplay between Notch, Wnt and Sox that exert a combined positive action on arterial differentiation
Tudor Translation in Theory and Practice
No full textFilling a gap in the study of early modern literature, Massimiliano Morini here exhaustively examines the aims, strategies, practice and theoretical ideas of the sixteenth-century translator. Morini analyzes early modern English translations of works by French and Italian essayists and poets, including Montaigne, Castiglione, Ariosto and Tasso, and of works by classical writers such as Virgil and Petrarch. In the process, he demonstrates how connected translation is with other cultural and literary issues: women as writers, literary relations between Italy and England, the nature of the author, and changes in the English language. Since English Tudor writers, unlike their Italian contemporaries, did not write theoretical treatises, the author works empirically to extrapolate the theory that informs the practice of Tudor translation - he deduces several cogent theoretical principles from the metaphors and figures of speech used by translators to describe translation. Employing a good blend of theory and practice, the author presents the Tudor period as a crucial transitional moment in the history of translation, from the medieval tradition (which in secular literature often entailed radical departure from the original) to the more subtle modern tradition (which prizes the invisibility of the translator and fluency of the translated text). Morini points out that this is also a period during which ideas about language and about the position of England on the political and cultural map of Europe undergo dramatic change, and he convincingly argues that the practice of translation changes as new humanistic methods are adapted to the needs of a country that is expanding its empire
Signaling pathways in the specification of arteries and veins
No full textThe establishment of arterial and venous identity of endothelial cells is critical for the proper anatomic configuration and function of the vascular tree. Arterial and venous specification of endothelial cells is determined by genetic factors, although surrounding cells and hemodynamic forces may also contribute to vascular remodeling. This review provides an overview of the signaling pathways and related transcription factors implicated in differentiation of endothelial cells. We will discuss, in particular, the role of upstream and downstream effectors of Wnt, Sox, and Notch pathways. The understanding of the molecular mechanisms that orchestrate endothelial differentiation may have therapeutic relevance for diseases such as atherosclerosis, arteriovenous malformations, aneurysms, and others
VE-CADHERIN ORCHESTRATES EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS AIMED AT ENDOTHELIAL STABILISATION
No full textIn healthy tissues blood vessels undergo a process known as vascular stabilisation in order to tightly control vascular permeability and ensure an optimal perfusion of the tissue. Vascular stabilisation is accomplished through endothelial cell-cell contact formation, basement membrane deposition and mural cell recruitment. Conversely, tumor vessels lack vascular stability features leading to increased interstitial fluid pressure, reduced drug delivery and easier metastatic dissemination. Vascular Endothelial (VE)-cadherin plays a crucial role in adherens junction (AJ) formation between endothelial cells (ECs) and in the regulation of vascular permeability. Given this, we sought to determine in more details how VE-cadherin promotes the expression of vascular stability genes in ECs.
We found that the expression and clustering of VE-cadherin at AJs upregulates a subset of endothelial-specific genes encoding the tight junction protein claudin-5, Vascular Endothelial-Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase (VE-PTP) and von Willebrand factor (vWf). Most importantly, these genes are well-known for their key role in promoting vascular stabilisation. In the absence of VE-cadherin claudin-5, VE-PTP and vWf are repressed by the combined activity of the transcription factor Forkhead-box O1 (FoxO1), β-catenin and Polycomb Group (PcG) proteins, a family of epigenetic repressors of transcription. Here we show that FoxO1 and β-catenin interact with PcG proteins in ECs and that they work as PcG protein recruiters on claudin-5, VE-PTP and vWf promoters. Strikingly, we found also that VE-cadherin is able to sequester part of Enhancer of Zeste homolog 2 (Ezh2), a key PcG protein, out of the nucleus in a β-catenin- and p120-catenin-dependent manner. Preventing p120-dependent Ezh2 sequestration at the plasma membrane leads to the repression of claudin-5, VE-PTP and vWf, thus suggesting that the sequestered pool of Ezh2 is functionally relevant for gene expression. Since in human ovarian cancer EZH2 is often upregulated in tumor vessels, we took advantage of this condition to demonstrate that CLAUDIN-5 expression is strongly downregulated when EZH2 expression is increased. This suggests that CLAUDIN-5 undergoes an epigenetic regulation exerted by PcG proteins in vivo as well. To conclude, our findings prove for the first time that AJ organisation can influence gene expression at the epigenetic level and provide new insights into the understanding of vascular stabilisation paving the way for developing new therapies for diseases characterized by vessel instability such as cancer
Jane Austen's Irony: Lost in the Italian Versions of "Pride and Prejudice"?
No full textAsk a reader in Britain or the US why one should read Jane Austen, and the answer will unfailingly contain at least a passing reference to irony; ask a non-specialised Italian reader, and that most elusive of rhetorical figures will probably make room for other, more reassuring qualities. Jane Austen’s novels, the Italian answer will run, are fascinating, highly polished, formally perfect representations of a fascinating, highly polished, formally perfect world: one goes to them in order to immerse oneself in the manners of a faraway age and place.
While irony and the representation of manners are not mutually exclusive – in fact, the ironic depiction of manners can be said to be one of Austen’s great strengths – this difference in emphasis reflects deep-seated notions of literature and language in the English-speaking world on the one hand, and Italy on the other. For most English-speaking readers, the primary aim of fiction is to entertain, even though different levels of aesthetic and linguistic complexity are allowed for within this general framework. In the Italian cultural system, by contrast, great novels are thought of primarily as repositories of useful information and timeless moral values, with fun being frowned upon as a mark of popular (i.e., lowbrow) culture. English canonical novels are therefore translated and adapted in accordance to the taste of a general readership that tends to equate seriousness with a moralising attitude, and elegance with a high register.
In this article, Morini looks at some Italian translations and refractions of Austen’s most popular and most light-hearted novel, Pride and Prejudice. By focusing on source passages which are arguably imbued with linguistic irony, the author demonstrates that most target versions tend to mute or erase all traces of non-literal meaning, thereby effectively aligning the novel with the “conservative” readings of Austen’s art
Kirsten Malmkjær. Translation and Creativity
No full textIn an academic world that is becoming more and more fixated on publishing only what is demonstrable and defensible on a purely logical level, with ample reference to all the existing literature in the field, it is rare to find studies that tackle wide-range historical questions with philosophical implications. With very few exceptions, refereed journal articles are only allowed to add little grains of insight to the sum of knowledge, and even monographs (as resounding as their titles may be) often end up looking like collections of articles by a single author or summaries of the state of their art
Towards a Musical Stylistics: Movement in Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’
No full textA very recent trend in stylistics proposes the extension of its field of enquiry to accommodate various forms of multimodal art. Reflecting as it does the growing semiotic complexity of contemporary aesthetics, ‘multimodal stylistics’ is a welcome development. So far, however, its proponents have concentrated on genres in which texts are complemented by, or realized
through, the visual medium – films, stage plays, television series and illustrated books. In this article, a multimodal stylistic analysis is attempted on a genre which has attracted little
critical attention in linguistics – modern pop-rock music. A 1985 song by singer-songwriter Kate Bush, ‘Running Up That Hill’, is studied linguistically and musically. Employing a blend of stylistic
and musicological techniques, and some of the insights provided by newborn multimodal stylistics, the author explores the complex ways in which meaning is created in a pop-rock song
La sociologia e la trasformazione dei partiti politici contemporanei
No full textSince the publication of the seminal work by Roberto Michels on the "Sociology of party politics", the author explores the main transformation in contemporary party politics starting from the application of the "iron law of oligarchy" and using an organizational approach
Multimodal Thought Presentation in Chris Ware's Building Stories
No full textIn their combination of visual and linguistic resources, comic books are perfectly suited, as
objects of study, for the relatively novel inter-discipline of multimodal stylistics. Many graphic novels, in
particular, have reached such a level of stylistic sophistication that it is only through a multimodal analysis
of their techniques that their authors’ aims can be fully appreciated. The author of this article looks at the
various techniques through which thought is bodied forth in Chris Ware’s experimental “comic box”,
Building Stories (2012). Far from merely importing into comic art the techniques normally employed in
non-graphic fiction, Ware combines drawings and the written word in ever-creative ways, often privileging
the visual over the linguistic medium. A character’s thought, or feeling, can be presented by means of a
thought bubble – but also, in a much more immediate manner, by the arrangement of images in the panel
or on the page. At the end of the article, a taxonomy of multimodal techniques for thought presentation is
briefly sketched
Il "regime ibrido": un caso di gerrymandering concettuale? in "Rivista italiana di Scienza Politica", n.3
No full textThis article describes the concept formation of the term "Hybrid regime". It also discusses the use of this concenpt in political science in comparison with two other concepts i.e. democratic and authoritarian regimes. Taking into consideration the methodological and dicotomic approach by Giovanni Sartori the author wants to explore the empirical relevance of such concept in contemporary democratizations. A description of its synonimous such as electoral democracy or democracy with adjunctives and post-authoritarian regimes is provided as well
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