690 research outputs found
Drosophila Lethal Giant Larvae Neoplastic Mutant as a Genetic Tool for Cancer Modelling
No full textDrosophila lethal giant larvae (lgl) is a tumour suppressor gene whose function in establishing apical-basal cell polarity as well as in exerting proliferation control in epithelial
tissues is conserved between flies and mammals. Individuals bearing lgl null mutations show a gradual loss of tissue architecture and an extended larval life in which cell proliferation never ceases and no differentiation occurs, resulting in prepupal lethality. When tissues from
those individuals are transplanted into adult normal recipients, a subset of cells, possibly the cancer stem cells, are able to proliferate and migrate to distant sites forming metastases which eventually kill the host. This phenotype closely resembles that of mammalian epithelial cancers, in which loss of cell polarity is one of the hallmarks of a malignant, metastatic behaviour associated with poor prognosis. Lgl protein shares with its human counterpart
Human giant larvae-1 (Hugl-1) significant stretches of sequence similarity that we demonstrated to translate into a complete functional conservation, pointing out a role in cell
proliferation control and tumourigenesis also for the human homologue. The functional conservation and the power of fly genetics, that allows the researcher to manipulate the fly
genome at a level of precision that exceeds that of any other multicellular genetic system, make this Drosophila mutant a very suitable model in which to investigate the mechanisms
underlying epithelial tumour formation, progression and metastatisation. In this review, we will summarise the results obtained in the last years using this model for the study of cancer biology. Moreover, we will discuss how recent advances in developmental genetics techniques have succeeded in enhancing the similarities between fly and human tumourigenesis, giving Drosophila a pivotal role in the study of such a complex genetic disease
Molecular analysis of mechanisms involved in genetic diversity and phenotypic plasticity in D. melanogaster
No full textMolecular analysis of mechanisms involved in Genetic diversity and phenotypic plasticity in D. melanogaster
No full textdMyc oncoprotein levels control lethal giant larvae neoplastic growth in Drosophila epithelia.
No full textL’oncoproteina dMyc sostiene l’iperproliferazione indotta da Yki e conferisce alle cellule imaginali abilità competitiva
No full textL’Hpo pathway è coinvolto nel controllo della proliferazione e nel mantenimento della popolazione neuroepiteliale larvale
No full textLa recente scoperta di cellule tumorali di origine staminale ha esteso la complessità e la rilevanza delle dinamiche di sviluppo coinvolte nella tumorigenesi.
Nella larva di Drosophila i neuroni originano da cellule staminali chiamate neuroblasti, caratterizzati da una divisione di tipo asimmetrico, da cui avranno origine un nuovo neuroblasto e una cellula progenitrice di neuroni/glia (GMC). Nel lobo ottico del cervello larvale i neuroblasti che origineranno i neuroni della medulla e della lamina prendono origine da una popolazione composta di cellule neuroepiteliali, caratterizzate da una proliferazione di tipo simmetrico, a cui segue il passaggio a neuroblasto con divisione asimmetrica.
La deregolazione dei meccanismi di self-renewal e di proliferazione di questa popolazione cellulare potrebbe essere determinante nella comparsa di cellule staminali tumorali e un passaggio chiave potrebbe essere la perturbazione dei meccanismi molecolari che determinano il passaggio da divisione simmetrica a divisione asimmetrica.
I nostri dati mostrano che nel tessuto neuroepiteliale la cascata di segnalazione dell’Hippo pathway è del tutto simile a quella descritta nei tessuti epiteliali di origine imaginale, ed è coinvolta nel controllo della proliferazione e del mantenimento della popolazione neuroepiteliale. Riportiamo inoltre che l’oncoproteina dMyc è fortemente espressa nelle cellule di origine neuroepiteliale, suggerendone un ruolo nel controllo del destino cellulare del neuroepitelio, e che la sua regolazione è in parte determinata dall’attività dell’Hippo pathway.
Dati in letteratura riportano il possibile coinvolgimento della via di segnalazione di decapentaplegic (dpp) nella sopravvivenza di questa popolazione cellulare e in questo contesto proponiamo un modello in cui la via di segnalazione dell’Hippo pathway e di dpp coordinano il passaggio da cellula neuroepiteliale a neuroblasto
La Vestale 'incesta'
No full textMarcello Salvadore: La Vestale incesta.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Pliny the Younger and Plutarch are the sources
of a detailed account of Vestalis incesta’s punishment: they say that she was
sentenced to death. Dionysius adds that there was no after death ritual.
Modern scholars generally accept what the three authors assert. In this article
the author surmises that the Vestalis incesta, together with the parricida, was
not condemned to death: both of them were sentenced to a particular kind
of banishment from the Society
dMyc oncoprotein and tumor suppressor genes crosstalks during Drosophila imaginal development
No full textFitness variation in response to artificial selection for reduced cell area, cell number and wing area in natural populations of
No full textDe Lope a Celano: la adaptación italiana de "Los tres diamantes"
No full textAbstract
This paper explores an Italian adaptation of Lope de Vega’s play Los tres diamantes, written in the
second part of the seventeenth century. Its author, Carlo Celano, was a famous writer of opere regie,
i.e., adaptations of Spanish comedies of situation. The analysis focuses on the way in which the
adaptation of the Aristotelian units of space and time leads to a reduction of the characters and a
simplification of the situation, although this is compensated by enriching its ludic component. This
last trait can be also observed in a previous re-elaboration of Lope’s comedy, the scenario of the
Commedia dell’arte titled Il cavaliere dai tre gigli d’oro
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