1,721,015 research outputs found
Luxury Venice: the spread of touristification processes as alpha territorialisation
No full textIn Venice, Italy, peculiar forms of alpha territorialisation are triggered mainly by touristification and ‘tourism-led gentrification’ processes. Such dynamics, increasingly supported by real estate financialisation, are affecting the old town, the minor islands of the Venetian lagoon, as well as the mainland. These processes change the traditional relationship between the old town and its islands. At the same time, such drifts are somehow counteracted by social movements and grassroots cultural practices that often implement forms of actions towards the realisation of an alternative idea of the city. This paper argues that such processes can be interpreted as phenomena of alpha territorialisation and that this interpretation helps us understand the spatial and environmental consequences of urban socio-economic restructuring processes
Huntingtin ubiquitination mechanisms and novel possible therapies to decrease the toxic effects of mutated huntingtin
No full textHuntington Disease (HD) is a dominant, lethal neurodegenerative disorder caused by the abnormal expansion (>35 copies) of a CAG triplet located in exon 1 of the HTT gene encoding the huntingtin protein (Htt). Mutated Htt (mHtt) easily aggregates, thereby inducing ER stress that in turn leads to neuronal injury and apoptosis. Therefore, both the inhibition of mHtt aggregate formation and the acceleration of mHtt degradation represent attractive strategies to delay HD progression, and even for HD treatment. Here, we describe the mechanism underlying mHtt degradation by the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS), which has been shown to play a more important role than the autophagy–lysosomal pathway. In particular, we focus on E3 ligase proteins involved in the UPS and detail their structure–function relationships. In this framework, we discuss the possible exploitation of PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras (PROTACs) for HD therapy. PROTACs are heterobifunctional small molecules that comprise two different ligands joined by an appropriate linker; one of the ligands is specific for a selected E3 ubiquitin ligase, the other ligand is able to recruit a target protein of interest, in this case mHtt. As a consequence of PROTAC binding, mHtt and the E3 ubiquitin ligase can be brought to a relative position that allows mHtt to be ubiquitinated and, ultimately, allows a reduction in the amount of mHtt in the cell
The truncated oxygen-avid hemoglobin from Bacillus subtilis: X-ray structure and ligand binding properties
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