The Inhibitory Effect of Resveratrol on Elastin Amyloidogenesis

The role of polyphenols in the prevention of degenerative diseases is emerging in the last years. In this report, we will investigatein vitrothe inhibitory effect of resveratrol on elastin amyloidogenesis. The effect of resveratrol on molecular structure was investigated by circular dichroism spectroscopy, while the inhibitory effect on self-assembly was evaluated by turbidimetry as a function of temperature and by atomic force microscopy

Fibrillar Self-Assembly of a Chimeric Elastin-Resilin Inspired Engineered Polypeptide

In the field of tissue engineering, recombinant protein-based biomaterials made up of block polypeptides with tunable properties arising from the functionalities of the individual domains are appealing candidates for the construction of medical devices. In this work, we focused our attention on the preparation and structural characterization of nanofibers from a chimeric-polypeptide-containing resilin and elastin domain, designed on purpose to enhance its cell-binding ability by introducing a specific fibronectin-derived Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence. The polypeptide ability to self-assemble was investigated. The molecular and supramolecular structure was characterized by Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), circular dichroism, state-of-the-art synchrotron radiation-induced techniques X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS). The attained complementary results allow us to assess as H-bonds influence the morphology of the aggregates obtained after the self-assembling of the chimeric polypeptide. Finally, a preliminary investigation of the potential cytotoxicity of the polypeptide was performed by culturing human fetal foreskin fibroblast (HFFF2) for its use as biomedical device

Bilateral spontaneous dissection of the internal carotid arteries

Spontaneous dissections of the carotid or vertebral artery are an important cause of ischemic stroke in young and middleaged patients, accounting for 10–25% of such cases (Schievink, 2001). Between 9 and 21% of carotid dissectionsare bilateral (Zetterling et al., 2000) and the involvement of more than one artery suggests the presence of a transient arteriopathy. Current histological and biochemical data do not suggest only one form of disease, but rather various extracellular matrix abnormalities which may involve one of the fibrillar components or their enzymatic regulation