MC1R gene analysis applied to breed traceability of beef

Since the breed of origin highly affects the beef price, reliable methods are needed to detect incorrect declarations. As most breeds are standardised for coat colour, the Melanocortin 1 Receptor gene (MC1R), involved in the regulation of eu/pheomelanins synthesis, has been suggested as marker for breed traceability of products of animal origin. The aim of this investigation is to characterise the main breeds reared in the Piedmont Region by MC1R locus and to apply the analysis of the locus to breed traceability of beef cuts purchased in different outlets of the Region. A total of 168 DNA samples of four cattle breeds (Piemontese, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Italian Friesian and Aosta Red Pied) were analysed for MC1R locus by PCR-RFLP. In addition, 28 DNA samples from beef with breed indication were tested. Piemontese and Blonde d'Aquitaine were monomorphic for the E+and eallele, respectively. In the Friesian breed the EdEd genotype was the most frequent, but Edewas also observed (2%). Aosta Red Pied was the most variable breed, with the presence of the three alleles and five genotypes out of six. The comparison of the genotypic distribution in the four breeds clearly indicates that it is possible to distinguish among Piemontese, Blonde d'Aquitaine and Friesian breeds, but the same is not true for Aosta Red Pied, which has genotypes in common with the other breeds. The results on beef samples revealed a high percentage of mislabelling (about 18%), which concerned Friesian breed and crossbreds. These results indicate that MC1R locus is an effective marker in breed traceability of beef, when the involved breeds are characterised by different genotypes. Moreover, compared to other genetic markers, it has the great advantage of not requiring DNA reference sam- ples. This survey, though limited, has revealed a high percentage of incompatibilities. Therefore, the analysis of MC1R locus is recommended in the framework of product certification, at least for random controls within a system aimed at preventing fraud

Variability in candidate genes revealed associations with meat traits in the Piemontese cattle breed

In the last years an increasing number of associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate genes and production traits have been reported in beef cattle, but very often the results were not validated and few studies considered breeds homozygous for the allele responsible for the muscular hypertrophy. Therefore, we analysed the variability of 19 previously reported SNPs in 12 genes (GH, GHR, GDF8, GHRL, IGF2, LEP, LEPR, MYF5, NPY, POMC, UCP2, UCP3) in the hypertrophic Piemontese breed and investigated the effects of the observed polymorphisms on growth and conformation. Fourteen SNPs were polymorphic and a significant linkage disequilibrium was observed between SNPs in GHR, LEP and NPY genes, for which both single-SNP and haplotype effects were estimated. Negligible effects on the investigated traits were observed for GHRL, MYF5, NPY, POMC, UCP2 and UCP3 genes. The GHR gene significantly affected daily gain and its effect was further increased when haplotypes were considered. The C allele at LEP-1 and LEP- 2 had moderate negative effects on the considered traits, whereas the C allele at LEP-3 mostly had positive effects; haplotypes in the LEP gene showed weaker but favourable associations with all the traits. The C allele at IGF2 and LEPR had favourable effects on daily gain and negative effects on meat conformation traits. The associations observed for GHR and LEP were consistent with those of previous studies, providing additional evidence of their usefulness as markers. Practical aspects of the applications to the breeding programme of the Piemontese breed need to be examined

Pain-motor integration in the primary motor cortex in Parkinson's disease

In Parkinson's disease (PD), the influence of chronic pain on motor features has never been investigated. We have recently designed a technique that combines nociceptive system activation by laser stimuli and primary motor cortex (M1) activation through transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), in a laser-paired associative stimulation design (Laser-PAS). In controls, Laser-PAS induces long-term changes in motor evoked potentials reflecting M1 long-term potentiation-like plasticity, arising from pain-motor integration

Noninvasive Imaging Methods to Improve the Diagnosis of Oral Carcinoma and Its Precursors: State of the Art and Proposal of a Three-Step Diagnostic Process

Abstract: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent form of cancer of lips and oral cavity, and its diagnostic delay, caused by misdiagnosis at the early stages, is responsible for high mortality ratios. Biopsy and histopathological assessment are the gold standards for OSCC diagnosis, but they are time-consuming, invasive, and do not always enable the patient’s compliance, mainly in cases of follow-up with the need for more biopsies. The use of adjunctive noninvasive imaging techniques improves the diagnostic approach, making it faster and better accepted by patients. The present review aims to focus on the most consolidated diagnostic techniques, such as vital staining and tissue autofluorescence, and to report the potential role of some of the most promising innovative techniques, such as narrow-band imaging, high-frequency ultrasounds, optical coherence tomography, and in vivo confocal microscopy. According to their contribution to OSCC diagnosis, an ideal three-step diagnostic procedure is proposed, to make the diagnostic path faster, better, and more accurate

Plasmon-enhanced circular dichroism spectroscopy of chiral drug solutions

We investigate the potential of surface plasmon polaritons at noble metal interfaces for surface-enhanced chiroptical sensing of dilute chiral drug solutions with nano-litre volume. The high quality factor of surface plasmon resonances in both Otto and Kretschmann configurations enables the enhancement of circular dichroism thanks to the large near-field intensity of such plasmonic excitations. Furthermore, the subwavelength confinement of surface plasmon polaritons is key to attain chiroptical sensitivity to small amounts of drug volumes placed around $\simeq$ 100 nm by the metal surface. Our calculations focus on reparixin, a pharmaceutical molecule currently used in clinical studies for patients with community-acquired pneumonia, including COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Considering realistic dilute solutions of reparixin dissolved in water with concentration $\leq$ 5 mg/ml and nl volume, we find a circular-dichroism differential absorption enhancement factor of the order $\simeq$ 20 and chirality-induced polarization distortion upon surface plasmon polariton excitation. Our results are relevant for the development of innovative chiroptical sensors capable of measuring the enantiomeric imbalance of chiral drug solutions with nl volume

Red blood cells membrane micropolarity as a novel diagnostic indicator of type 1 and type 2 diabetes

Classification of the category of diabetes is extremely important for clinicians to diagnose and select the correct treatment plan. Glycosylation, oxidation and other post-translational modifications of membrane and transmembrane proteins, as well as impairment in cholesterol homeostasis, can alter lipid density, packing, and interactions of Red blood cells (RBC) plasma membranes in type 1 and type 2 diabetes, thus varying their membrane micropolarity. This can be estimated, at a submicrometric scale, by determining the membrane relative permittivity, which is the factor by which the electric field between the charges is decreased relative to vacuum. Here, we employed a membrane micropolarity sensitive probe to monitor variations in red blood cells of healthy subjects (n=16) and patients affected by type 1 (T1DM, n=10) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM, n=24) to provide a cost-effective and supplementary indicator for diabetes classification. We find a less polar membrane microenvironment in T2DM patients, and a more polar membrane microenvironment in T1DM patients compared to control healthy patients. The differences in micropolarity are statistically significant among the three groups (p<0.01). The role of serum cholesterol pool in determining these differences was investigated, and other factors potentially altering the response of the probe were considered in view of developing a clinical assay based on RBC membrane micropolarity. These preliminary data pave the way for the development of an innovative assay which could become a tool for diagnosis and progression monitoring of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Membrane micropolarity, Red blood cells, Fluorescence lifetime microscopy, Metabolic imaging, Personalized medicin

Core/Shell CdSe/CdS bone‐shaped nanocrystals with a thick and anisotropic shell as optical emitters

Colloidal core/shell nanocrystals are key materials for optoelectronics, enabling control over essential properties via precise engineering of the shape, thickness, and crystal structure of their shell. Here, the growth protocol for CdS branched nanocrystals is applied on CdSe nanoplatelet seeds and bone-shaped heterostructures are obtained with a highly anisotropic shell. Surprisingly, the nanoplatelets withstand the high growth temperature of 350 degrees C and structures with a CdSe nanoplatelet core that is overcoated by a shell of cubic CdS are obtained, on top of which tetrahedral CdS structures with hexagonal lattice are formed. These complex core/shell nanocrystals show a band-edge emission around 657 nm with a photoluminescence quantum yield of approximate to 42% in solution, which is also retained in thin films. Interestingly, the nanocrystals manifest simultaneous red and green emission and the relatively long wavelength of the green emission indicates charge recombination at the cubic/hexagonal interface of the CdS shell. The nanocrystal films show amplified spontaneous emission, random lasing, and distributed feedback lasing when the material is deposited on suitable gratings. This work stimulates the design and fabrication of more exotic core/shell heterostructures where charge carrier delocalization, dipole moment, and other optical and electrical properties can be engineered

Clinical validation of 13-Gene DNA methylation analysis from oral brushing: a non invasive sampling procedure for early detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma. A multicentric study

1. Introduction In a recent study our research group described a non-invasive sampling procedure based on DNA methylation analysis of a set of 13 genes with a high level of accuracy (sensitivity 96.6%, specificity 100%) in the detection of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (OSCC) [1]. The purpose of the present study was to test the diagnostic performance of this non invasive sampling procedure in an italian multicentric study. 2. Materials and Methods Oral brushing specimens were collected in ten different italian units of oral medicine. Each oral medicine unit collected blindly 10 brushing specimens from patients affected by OSCC and an equal number of age and sex-matched healthy controls. 13-gene DNA methylation analysis was performed and each sample was considered positive or negative in relation to a predefined cut-off value. 3. Results 181 out of 200 planned specimens were analyzed. DNA could not be amplified in 4 cases (2.2%). 86/93 (92.5%) specimens derived from OSCC patients were detected as positive and 70/84 (83.3%) specimens derived from healthy donors showed a negative score. 4. Conclusions Data from multicentric study confirmed a high level of sensitivity of our procedure whereas level of specificity is slightly lower if compared to our previous study. These data suggest that our procedure may be proposed as a first level diagnostic test with the aim to avoid a diagnostic delay in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Conflicts of Interest: As a possible conflict of interest, L. Morandi and D.B.G. submitted a patent (the applicant is the University of Bologna) in November 2016 to the National Institute of 398 Industrial Property; however, we believe that this is a natural step of translational research (bench-to-bedside) 399 and guarantee that the scientific results are true. The remaining authors declare that they have no competing 400 interest