A tunable nanoplatform of nanogold functionalised with Angiogenin peptides for anti-angiogenic therapy of brain tumours

Angiogenin (ANG), an endogenous protein that plays a key role in cell growth and survival, has been scrutinised here as promising nanomedicine tool for the modulation of pro-/anti-angiogenic processes in brain cancer therapy. Specifically, peptide fragments from the putative cell membrane binding domain (residues 60-68) of the protein were used in this study to obtain peptide-functionalised spherical gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) of about 10 nm and 30 nm in optical and hydrodynamic size, respectively. Different hybrid biointerfaces were fabricated by peptide physical adsorption (Ang60-68) or chemisorption (the cysteine analogous Ang60-68Cys) at the metal nanoparticle surface, and cellular assays were performed in the comparison with ANG-functionalised AuNPs. Cellular treatments were performed both in basal and in copper-supplemented cell culture medium, to scrutinise the synergic effect of the metal, which is another known angiogenic factor. Two brain cell lines were investigated in parallel, namely tumour glioblastoma (A172) and neuron-like differentiated neuroblastoma (d-SH-SY5Y). Results on cell viability/proliferation, cytoskeleton actin, angiogenin translocation and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) release pointed to the promising potentialities of the developed systems as anti-angiogenic tunable nanoplaftforms in cancer cells treatment

Anti-angiogenic and anti-proliferative graphene oxide nanosheets for tumor cell therapy

Graphene oxide (GO) is a bidimensional novel material that exhibits high biocompatibility and angiogenic properties, mostly related to the intracellular formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this work, we set up an experimental methodology for the fabrication of GO@peptide hybrids by the immobilization, via irreversible physical adsorption, of the Ac-(GHHPH)4-NH2 peptide sequence, known to mimic the anti-angiogenic domain of the histidine-proline-rich glycoprotein (HPRG). The anti-proliferative capability of the graphene-peptide hybrids were tested in vitro by viability assays on prostate cancer cells (PC-3 line), human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y), and human retinal endothelial cells (primary HREC). The anti-angiogenic response of the two cellular models of angiogenesis, namely endothelial and prostate cancer cells, was scrutinized by prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) release and wound scratch assays, to correlate the activation of inflammatory response upon the cell treatments with the GO@peptide nanocomposites to the cell migration processes. Results showed that the GO@peptide nanoassemblies not only effectively induced toxicity in the prostate cancer cells, but also strongly blocked the cell migration and inhibited the prostaglandin-mediated inflammatory process both in PC-3 and in HRECs. Moreover, the cytotoxic mechanism and the internalization efficiency of the theranostic nanoplatforms, investigated by mitochondrial ROS production analyses and confocal microscopy imaging, unraveled a dose-dependent manifold mechanism of action performed by the hybrid nanoassemblies against the PC-3 cells, with the detection of the GO-characteristic cell wrapping and mitochondrial perturbation. The obtained results pointed out to the very promising potential of the synthetized graphene-based hybrids for cancer therapy

Condensed Matter Theory of Dipolar Quantum Gases

Recent experimental breakthroughs in trapping, cooling and controlling ultracold gases of polar molecules, magnetic and Rydberg atoms have paved the way toward the investigation of highly tunable quantum systems, where anisotropic, long-range dipolar interactions play a prominent role at the many-body level. In this article we review recent theoretical studies concerning the physics of such systems. Starting from a general discussion on interaction design techniques and microscopic Hamiltonians, we provide a summary of recent work focused on many-body properties of dipolar systems, including: weakly interacting Bose gases, weakly interacting Fermi gases, multilayer systems, strongly interacting dipolar gases and dipolar gases in 1D and quasi-1D geometries. Within each of these topics, purely dipolar effects and connections with experimental realizations are emphasized.Comment: Review article; submitted 09/06/2011. 158 pages, 52 figures. This document is the unedited author's version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in Chemical Reviews, copyright American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work, a link will be provided soo

Andalusia, Spain: An Assessment of Coastal Scenery

The 1101 km length of the Andalusian coast (Spain) was assessed for coastal scenery at 45 specific locations. Selected areas covered resort (3), urban (19), village (8), rural (10) and remote (5) bathing areas. Scenery was analyzed for physical and human parameters via 26 selected parameters. These parameters were obtained by interviews of 4500 people on European beaches. Each parameter was assessed via a one-to-five-point attribute scale, which essentially ranged from presence/absence or poor quality (1), to excellent/outstanding (5). Results were subsequently weighted by interviewing 4600 bathing area users (not all 26 parameters have equal weight) and subjected to fuzzy logic mathematics in order to reduce recorder subjectivity. High weighted averages for attributes 4 and 5 (excellent/outstanding) reflected high scenic quality, vice versa for attributes 1 and 2. Sites were classified into five classes ranging from Class 1 sites having top grade scenery to Class 5, poor scenery. Seven sites each were found in Classes 1 and 2; 10 sites each in Classes 3 and 5; 11 sites in Class 4. The finest coastal scenery was found in remote areas whilst urban areas scored mainly as Class 3 or 4. Three out of the ten rural sites had Class 3 and 4 values assigned them whereas the rest scored as Class 1 and 2; village sites invariably had scores within Class 3 and 4. Of the three resort sites investigated, one scored as a Class 1 site, the others as Class 3

Ferritin-supported lipid bilayers for triggering the endothelial cell response

Hybrid nanoassemblies of ferritin and silica-supported lipid bilayers (ferritin-SLBs) have been prepared and tested for the adhesion, spreading and proliferation of retinal microvascular endothelial cells (ECs). Lipid membranes with varying surface charge were obtained by mixing cationic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-ethylphosphocholine (POEPC) with zwitterionic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) at increasing POPC/POEPC ratios. The supported bilayer formation and their subsequent interaction processes with ferritin were studied at the pH of 7.4 at different protein concentrations, by using the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring and by atomic force microscopy. Both kinetics and viscoelastic parameters of the protein-lipid membrane interface were scrutinized, as well as surface coverage. Phase-contrast optical microscopy analyses of the ferritin-SLBs substrates after their interaction with endothelial cells evidenced the highest cell adhesion (2-4 h of incubation time) and proliferation (from 24 h to 5 days) for the membranes of POPC/POEPC (75:25 ratio). Moreover, ferritin increased both cell adhesion and proliferation in comparison to control glass (respectively 1.5- and 1.75-fold) as well as proliferation in comparison to bare POPC/POEPC (95:5 ratio) (2 fold). Results are very promising in the goal of modulating the endothelial cell response through the interplay of viscoelastic/charge properties of the solid-supported membranes and the SLB-conditioned ferritin activity

Intrapancreatic rupture of a splenic artery aneurysm during pregnancy - a rare case report with fetal and maternal survival.

Rupture of Splenic Artery Aneurysm (SAA) in pregnancy is a rare and severe condition. A 35- years-old woman at 34 weeks’gestation presented with acute abdominal pain. A ruptured intrapancreatic splenic artery aneurysm was found and a live fetus was delivered. This is a rare case of both fetal and maternal survival

Geochemical characteristics of the beach sediments between Fnideq and M’diq (Tetuan, NE of Morocco)

Seventeen samples of beach sediments were gathered along the littoral between Fnideq and M’diq (NE of Morocco). The mineralogy of the studied samples was investigated through X ray and the obtained geochemical characteristics were used to identify different littoral zones. This way, three main coastal sectors were obtained: the beach of M’diq, which sediments come from the metamorphic complex of Cabo Negro and are characterised by a high content in metals and Potassium; the beaches between Kabila and Marine Smir, that present high levels of carbonates (essentially shell fragments) and high content in Sr; and, the others beaches that contain sediments with intermediate levels of carbonate