Recalling an unfair experience reduces adolescents’ dishonest behavioral intentions: The mediating role of justice sensitivity

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.Injustice experiences are likely to have a strong impact on—adolescents' life. However, individuals differ in how they perceive and respond to injustice depending on their justice sensitivity. Whereas several studies analyzed the relationships between justice sensitivity and antisocial behaviors in adult samples, little is known about this relationship among adolescents. The aim of the present experimental study is to expand knowledge on the antecedents and effects of justice sensitivity from the Victim (i.e., JS-Victim) and Others (i.e., JS-Observer, Perpetrator, and Beneficiary) perspective, particularly with regard to its relationship to willingness to act in dishonest behavioral intentions (e.g., stealing money or objects from classmates, teachers, or strangers). The study involved 369 Italian students (52% males; Mage = 16.64, SD = 1.78). We examined the role of justice sensitivity in the relationship between the recall of unfair, fair, or neutral episodes, and the consequent willingness to perform dishonest behaviors. Results demonstrate that recalling unfair (vs. fair or neutral) episodes leads to an increase in JS-Others, which in turn decreased willingness to behave dishonestly. Conversely, JS-Victim did not mediate the relationship between the recall of unfair episodes and intentions to behave dishonestly. The present findings suggest that during adolescence JS-Others might act as a protective factor against dishonest behaviors.This study was made possible due a FIRB 2012 grant from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR; Grant Number RBFR128CR6)

Expression of a truncated form of hHb1 hair keratin in human breast carcinomas.

Human hHb1 belongs to the type II hard keratin family and is physiologically expressed in hair shafts. In the present study, using specific 3' and 5' probes for hHb1, we established that breast carcinomas ectopically express a hHb1 5'-truncated mRNA, and that this transcript is restricted to malignant epithelial cells. Furthermore, an in vitro study indicated that it could be translated. We concluded that, in breast carcinomas, expression of truncated hHb1 is related to epithelial cell transformation. Because the hHb1 gene maps to 12q11-q13, a chromosome region known to present several breakpoints in solid tumours, we propose that the hHb1 gene might represent a target for such alterations

Socialização organizacional em uma unidade industrial de aves – uia - no oeste do Paraná

The objective of this study checked if the socialization process organizational contributes to reduce the rotation of the collaborators in an Industrial Unity of Birds – UIA, which makes part of the complex agroindustrial of a cooperative located in the Western region of the Paraná. For such, the inquiry method was used exploratory, bibliographical and case study, with qualitative approach. The results indicate that the process of socialization carried out in the UIA contributes to reduce the rate of rotation. He has seen that in the analysed period, after the formalization of the process of socialization, the rotation rates lessened in 7,54 %, corresponding to a percentage of approximately 87,5 %. This result shows the importance of the process of socialization for the studied organization, so much regarding the costs wrapped with the rotation how much with the performance of the productivity.O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar se o processo de socialização organizacional contribui para diminuir a rotatividade dos colaboradores em uma cooperativa agroindustrial no Oeste do Paraná. Para tal, utilizou-se o método de pesquisa exploratória e bibliográfica, e a técnica de coleta de dados por meio de entrevista e pesquisa documental. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que o processo de socialização realizado na organização contribuiu para diminuir o índice de rotatividade no período analisado, demonstrando que esse procedimento de integração é eficaz para uma melhor adaptação do indivíduo à cultura organizacional e no desempenho das suas atividades

FFAT motif phosphorylation controls formation and lipid transfer function of inter‐organelle contacts

Organelles are physically connected in membrane contact sites. The endoplasmic reticulum possesses three major receptors, VAP‐A, VAP‐B, and MOSPD2, which interact with proteins at the surface of other organelles to build contacts. VAP‐A, VAP‐B, and MOSPD2 contain an MSP domain, which binds a motif named FFAT (two phenylalanines in an acidic tract). In this study, we identified a non‐conventional FFAT motif where a conserved acidic residue is replaced by a serine/threonine. We show that phosphorylation of this serine/threonine is critical for non‐conventional FFAT motifs (named Phospho‐FFAT) to be recognized by the MSP domain. Moreover, structural analyses of the MSP domain alone or in complex with conventional and Phospho‐FFAT peptides revealed new mechanisms of interaction. Based on these new insights, we produced a novel prediction algorithm, which expands the repertoire of candidate proteins with a Phospho‐FFAT that are able to create membrane contact sites. Using a prototypical tethering complex made by STARD3 and VAP, we showed that phosphorylation is instrumental for the formation of ER‐endosome contacts, and their sterol transfer function. This study reveals that phosphorylation acts as a general switch for inter‐organelle contacts

Deficiency in trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) increases tumorigenicity of human breast cancer cells and mammary tumor development in TFF1-knockout mice

Although trefoil factor 1 (TFF1; previously named pS2) is abnormally expressed in about 50% of human breast tumors, its physiopathological role in this disease has been poorly studied. Moreover, controversial data have been reported. TFF1 function in the mammary gland therefore needs to be clarified. In this study, using retroviral vectors, we performed TFF1 gain- or loss-of-function experiments in four human mammary epithelial cell lines: normal immortalized TFF1-negative MCF10A, malignant TFF1-negative MDA-MB-231 and malignant TFF1-positive MCF7 and ZR75.1. The expression of TFF1 stimulated the migration and invasion in the four cell lines. Forced TFF1 expression in MCF10A, MDA-MB-231 and MCF7 cells did not modify anchorage-dependent or -independent cell proliferation. By contrast, TFF1 knockdown in MCF7 enhanced soft-agar colony formation. This increased oncogenic potential of MCF7 cells in the absence of TFF1 was confirmed in vivo in nude mice. Moreover, chemically induced tumorigenesis in TFF1-deficient (TFF1-KO) mice led to higher tumor incidence in the mammary gland and larger tumor size compared with wild-type mice. Similarly, tumor development was increased in the TFF1-KO ovary and lung. Collectively, our results clearly show that TFF1 does not exhibit oncogenic properties, but rather reduces tumor development. This beneficial function of TFF1 is in agreement with many clinical studies reporting a better outcome for patients with TFF1-positive breast primary tumors

Nuclear localization and cytosolic overexpression of LASP-1 correlates with tumor size and nodal-positivity of human breast carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP-1), initially identified from human breast cancer, is a specific focal adhesion protein involved in cell proliferation and migration, which was reported to be overexpressed in 8–12 % of human breast cancers and thought to be exclusively located in cytoplasm.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the present work we analyzed the cellular and histological expression pattern of LASP-1 and its involvement in biological behavior of human breast cancer through correlation with standard clinicopathological parameters and expression of c-erbB2 (HER-2/neu), estrogen- (ER) and progesterone-receptors (PR). For this purpose immunohistochemical staining intensity and percentage of stained cells were semi-quantitatively rated to define a LASP-1 immunoreactive score (LASP-1-IRS). LASP-1-IRS was determined in 83 cases of invasive ductal breast carcinomas, 25 ductal carcinomas in situ (DCIS) and 18 fibroadenomas. Cellular LASP-1 distribution and expression pattern was visualized by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy and assessed through separate Western blots of nuclear and cytosol preparations of BT-20, MCF-7, MDA-MB231, and ZR-75/1 breast cancer cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Statistical analysis revealed that the resulting LASP-1-IRS was significantly higher in invasive carcinomas compared to fibroadenomas (p = 0.0176). Strong cytoplasmatic expression of LASP-1 was detected in 55.4 % of the invasive carcinomas, which correlated significantly with nuclear LASP-1-positivity (p = 0.0014), increased tumor size (p = 0.0159) and rate of nodal-positivity (p = 0.0066). However, levels of LASP-1 expression did not correlate with average age at time point of diagnosis, histological tumor grading, c-erbB2-, ER- or PR-expression.</p> <p>Increased nuclear localization and cytosolic expression of LASP-1 was found in breast cancer with higher tumor stage as well as in rapidly proliferating epidermal basal cells. Confocal microscopy and separate Western blots of cytosolic and nuclear preparations confirmed nuclear localization of LASP-1.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The current data provide evidence that LASP-1 is not exclusively a cytosolic protein, but is also detectable within the nucleus. Increased expression of LASP-1 in vivo is present in breast carcinomas with higher tumor stage and therefore may be related with worse prognosis concerning patients' overall survival.</p

Overexpression of LASP-1 mediates migration and proliferation of human ovarian cancer cells and influences zyxin localisation

LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP-1), initially identified from human breast cancer, is a specific focal adhesion protein involved in cell proliferation and migration. In the present work, we analysed the effect of LASP-1 on biology and function of human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 using small interfering RNA technique (siRNA).Transfection with LASP-1-specific siRNA resulted in a reduced protein level of LASP-1 in SKOV-3 cells. The siRNA-treated cells were arrested in G2/M phase of the cell cycle and proliferation of the tumour cells was suppressed by 60–90% corresponding to around 70% of the cells being transfected successfully as seen by immunofluorescence. Moreover, transfected tumour cells showed a 40% reduced migration. LASP-1 silencing is accompanied by a reduced binding of the LASP-1-binding partner zyxin to focal contacts without changes in actin stress fibre and microtubule organisation or focal adhesion morphology as observed by immunofluorescence. In contrast, silencing of zyxin is not influencing cell migration and had neither influence on LASP-1 expression nor actin cytoskeleton and focal contact morphology suggesting that LASP-1 is necessary and sufficient for recruiting zyxin to focal contacts.The data provide evidence for an essential role of LASP-1 in tumour cell growth and migration, possibly through influencing zyxin localization

Mol Biol Cell

The exon junction complex (EJC) is loaded onto mRNAs as a consequence of splicing and regulates multiple posttranscriptional events. MLN51, Magoh, Y14, and eIF4A3 form a highly stable EJC core, but where this tetrameric complex is assembled in the cell remains unclear. Here we show that EJC factors are enriched in domains that we term perispeckles and are visible as doughnuts around nuclear speckles. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer analyses and EJC assembly mutants show that perispeckles do not store free subunits, but instead are enriched for assembled cores. At the ultrastructural level, perispeckles are distinct from interchromatin granule clusters that may function as storage sites for splicing factors and intermingle with perichromatin fibrils, where nascent RNAs and active RNA Pol II are present. These results support a model in which perispeckles are major assembly sites for the tetrameric EJC core. This subnuclear territory thus represents an intermediate region important for mRNA maturation, between transcription sites and splicing factor reservoirs and assembly sites