Bovine herpesvirus 4 based vector as a potential oncolytic-virus for treatment of glioma

The application of gene therapy for malignant gliomas is still under study and the use of specific vectors represents an important contribution. Here, we investigated bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4), which is non-pathogenic if injected into the rodent brain. We show that the vector can infect mouse, rat and human glioma cell lines and primary cultures obtained from human glioblastoma in vitro. BoHV-4 was injected into a tumour grown in rat brain. Although virus expression was scattered across the tumour mass, it was mainly located in the peripheral area of larger gliomas. These data support BoHV-4 as a candidate vector for glioma treatment

Accesso ai corsi di laurea in medicina: messa a punto di un questionario conoscitivo relativo a equilibrio personale e relazionale, attitudini, motivazioni e valori in contesti educativi (EMAV-E)

La grande domanda di accesso ai corsi di medicina richiede di individuare nei candidati le caratteristiche che ne possano fare un “buon medico”. A tal fine abbiamo sviluppato un questionario (EMAV-E) conoscitivo su alcune caratteristiche dei candidati, come base di partenza per l’incontro con l’esperto selezionatore. Le macro-aree indagate dal questionario sono state: equilibrio personale e relazionale (equilibrio e autoregolazione), attitudini accademiche e professionali (intelligenza emotiva, metacognizione, motivazioni), valori personali e professionali, e desiderabilità sociale dell’individuo, usata come controllo. Le macro aree erano divise in 20 aree di interesse entro le quali sono stati individuati 238 item ritenuti rappresentativi. Per la validazione del questionario, sono stati reclutati 653 studenti iscritti al primo anno di corsi di laurea di area medica. Dal questionario iniziale sono state ricavate tre versioni brevi di 80 items. Per saggiarne l’effettiva confrontabilità sono state risomministrate a 160 studenti diversi dal campione iniziale. I tre questionari avendo parametri statistici paragonabili, possono essere considerati forme parallele dello stesso questionario. La procedura ha consentito di sviluppare uno strumento per l’individuazione di punti di forza e di debolezza, secondo le macro aree prese in considerazione, degli studenti che ambiscono a intraprendere la formazione universitaria presso i corsi di laurea in medicina o delle professioni sanitarie

Major urinary proteins, alpha-2U-globulins and aphrodisin

The major urinary proteins (MUPs) are proteins secreted by the liver and filtered by the kidneys into the urine of adult male mice and rats, the MUPs of rats being also referred to as alpha(2U)-globulins. The MUP family also comprises closely related proteins excreted by exocrine glands of rodents, independently of their sex. The MUP family is an expression of a multi-gene family. There is complex hormonal and tissue-specific regulation of MUP gene expression. The multi-gene family and its outflow are characterized by a polymorphism which extends over species, strains, sexes, and individuals. There is evidence of evolutionary conservation of the genes and their outflow within the species and evidence of change between species. MUPs share the eight-stranded beta-barrel structure lining a hydrophobic pocket, common to lipocalins. There is also a high degree of structural conservation between mouse and rat MUPs. MUPs bind small natural odorant molecules in the hydrophobic pocket with medium affinity in the 10(4)-10(5) M(-1) range, and are excreted in the field, with bound odorants. The odorants are then released slowly in air giving a long lasting olfactory trace to the spot. MUPs seem to play complex roles in chemosensory signalling among rodents, functioning as odorant carriers as well as proteins that prime endocrine reactions in female conspecifics. Aphrodisin is a lipocalin, found in hamster vaginal discharge, which stimulates male copulatory behaviour. Aphrodisin does not seem to bind odorants and no polymorphism has been shown. Both MUPs and aphrodisin stimulate the vomeronasal organ of conspecifics

Pheromonally accelerated puberty is enhanced by previous experience of the same stimulus

The influence of rearing conditions on pheromone-induced puberty acceleration was tested on Swiss mice. Litters were reared in one of three conditions: with either both parents, or with two females, or finally with two females in the presence of urinary pheromonal cues from adult males, which are known to induce puberty acceleration. Nine days after weaning the females were exposed to either prepubertal or adult male urine. In the groups reared with either both parents or with two females and the pheromonal cues from stranger males, females treated with adult male urine presented heavier uteri and more cornified vaginal smears than females reared in the same conditions but subsequently treated with prepubertal males urine. In the group reared simply with two females, the differences in both uterus weight and vaginal smears did not reach statistical significance. The data support the notion that early experience of pheromonal cues may influence the response to pheromones in a later period, even if the preweaning exposure to males had no direct influence on early signs of puberty onset

A new method of measure of bubble gas volume shows that interleukin-6 injected into rats has no effect on gas embolism

Bondi M, Cavaggioni A, Gasperetti A, Rubini A. A new method of measure of bubble gas volume shows that interleukin-6 injected into rats has no effect on gas embolism. Undersea Hyperb Med 2009 1 36 (2):1031 115. The pleiotropic cytokine interleukin-6 increases in the plasma of rats after an air dive. Interleukin-6 shares both of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory properties and may condition the vascular system and gas embolism after an air dive. Up to now it is not known whether interleukin-6 has an effect on gas embolism. Aim of this work is to study the effect of interleukin-6 on gas embolism after a standard decompression protocol in a rat model. The volume of gas bubbles was measured in the heart cavities with a new method based on the buoyancy of the heart at different pressures which is physically sound, accurate and precise down to 10(-4) cm(3). No effect was found after injecting physiological doses of interleukin-6 at different times before the air dive. The mortality of the rats in the first half hour after the decompression was associated with a substantial gas volume measured in the heart. Multi-variate logistic regression analysis showed that the female rats had a higher risk compared to male rats of developing a substantial bubble volume and of not surviving; the spring-summer season was a risk factor for the survival. Further studies are needed to see whether interleukin-6 in association with other cytokines has ail effect on gas embolism

Absolute configuration of 2-sec-butyl-4,5-dihydrothiazole in male mouse urine

The absolute configuration of 2-sec-butyl-4,5-dihydrothiazole (DHT) in urine of adult male mice was determined through chiral trifluoroacetyl derivative capillary chromatography by comparing the retention time with synthetic standards. (S)-DHT was extracted from fresh urine, while neither (R)-DHT nor the racemization of (S)-DHT were detected. We can conclude that DHT in urine possesses the S configuration, although we cannot exclude a minor component in the R configuration. (S)-DHT was then characterized for binding to the complex of major urinary proteins of male mouse urine (MUP) and for a behavioral response, the competitive scent marking behavior (countermarking). The binding constant of (S)-DHT to MUP (determined by competitive displacement) was 8.2 \ub1 0.6 \ub5M (mean \ub1 SD) and was 10.5 \ub1 0.6 \ub5M for R-DHT, thus excluding a relevant difference in binding. (S)-DHT modified countermarking in a peculiar way. Male mice were slow in countermarking urinary spots streaked 2 days earlier and on top of which (S)-DHT was added shortly before the test. This response was not seen when adding (S)-DHT to freshly streaked urinary spots or to clean paper. Unlike (S)-DHT, (R)-DHT prompted countermarking rather than delaying it. We can further conclude that (S)-DHT in male mouse urine is an aversive chemosignal for countermarking