Angiogenesis and chronic kidney disease

The number of patients requiring renal replacement therapy due to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is increasing worldwide. The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), and the importance of CKD as a risk factor in development of ESRD and in complicating cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been confirmed. In recent years, the involvement of angiogenesis-related factors in the progression of CKD has been studied, and the potential therapeutic effects on CKD of modulating these factors have been identified. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, a potent pro-angiogenic factor, is involved in the development of the kidney, in maintenance of the glomerular capillary structure and filtration barrier, and in the renal repair process after injury. VEGF-A is also involved in the development of early diabetic nephropathy, demonstrated by the therapeutic effects of anti-VEGF-A antibody. Angiopoietin (Ang)-1 induces the maturation of newly formed blood vessels, and the therapeutic effects of Ang-1 in diabetic nephropathy have been described. In experimental models of diabetic nephropathy, the therapeutic effects of angiogenesis inhibitors, including angiostatin, endostatin and tumstatin peptides, the isocoumarin NM-3, and vasohibin-1, have been reported

Biomass thermal treatment: energy recovery, environmentalcompatibility and determination of external costs

Climate change is the primary worldwide issue of the twenty-first century, as it threatens not only natural ecosystems but many national economies as well. Since the major contributor to climate change is the emission of greenhouse gases, switching to renewable and clean sources of energy production would result in the most immediate benefit. And one of the main energy sources in this category is biomass. In this work some preliminary evaluations are reported concerning the environmental effects, as well as the related external costs, from both local and global points of view, of a proposed biomass plant to be constructed in Piedmont (northern Italy). The obtained results indicate that, from the local point of view, the environmental effectiveness of the plant is related to the percentage of the thermal energy that can be transferred from the district heating network to the local domestic boilers (with subsequent replacement of the related emissions). From a global point of view, and in particular concerning greenhouse gases (GHG), the carbon dioxide produced from biomass combustion would be balanced by the quantity that is absorbed by the plants during their lifetimes. Hence by operating a biomass plant capable of producing 20 thermal MW, we can remove carbon dioxide emissions equal to about 38.368 ton/year, and avoid external costs of 728.992 €/year, if at least 30% of the produced heat can be transferred to the district heating networ

Evaluation of Environmental Compatibility for a Biomass Plant

The aim of this work was to determine the local compatibility of a biomass plant to be constructed in a small town located in Piedmont, northern Italy, to produce both electricity and heat. In order to study both the local critical impacts (on air quality) and the overall environmental benefits (decrease of GHG generation), we performed an evaluation of the emissive flow modification for the hypothesis of activating the biomass plant in the municipal area, by considering introduced and eliminated pollutant loads. The evaluation was conducted using the tools of mass and energy balances, evaluating the pollution fluxes with an external costs methodology and pollutant dispersion models. These conclusions, numerically defined for the specific situation studied, can be considered to be fairly representative as a methodological approach to studying the effects of biomass energy plant

A novel function for SNAP29 (synaptosomal-associated protein of 29 kDa) in mast cell phagocytosis.

Mast cells play a critical role in the innate immune response to bacterial infection. They internalize and kill a variety of bacteria and process antigen for presentation to T cells via MHC molecules. Although mast cell phagocytosis appears to play a significant role during bacterial infection, little is known about the proteins involved in its regulation. In this study, we demonstrate that the SNARE protein SNAP29 is involved in mast cell phagocytosis. SNAP29 is localized in the endocytic pathway and is transiently recruited to Escherichia coli (E. coli)-containing phagosomes. Interestingly, overexpression of SNAP29 significantly increases the internalization and killing of E. coli, while it does not affect mast cell exocytosis of inflammatory mediators. To our knowledge, these data are the first to demonstrate a novel function of SNAP29 in mast cell phagocytosis and have implications in protection against bacterial infection