Muc5ac mucin expression during rat skin development

Some mucin genes have been detected during human embryonic and fetal organ development; however, little is known about mucin expression in epidermal development, neither in humans nor in other species. The present research was developed to explore Muc5ac skin expression during prenatal and postnatal rat development. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blotting (WB) and RT-PCR were employed. By IHC, Muc5ac protein was found early in embryonic epidermis from day 13 of gestation until seven days after birth when the surface epidermis became negative and the reaction was restricted to secreting sebum cells. In coincidence with IHC findings, WB analysis showed a band at approximately 200KDa at the same periods of development. Results were also confirmed by RT-PCR. Muc5ac expression in rat embryonic epidermis suggests that Muc5ac may play a protective role in embryonic skin previous to birth which may be replaced by pile covering. To our knowledge, this is the first report which confirmed Muc5ac expression during skin development.Conclusion: Muc5ac expression in rat embryonic epidermis suggests that Muc5ac may play a protective role in embryonic skin previous to birth which may be replaced by pile covering. To our knowledge, this is the first report which confirmed Muc5ac expression during skin development.Fil: Ferretti, Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Segal Eiras, Amada. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Barbeito, Claudio Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas. Cátedra de Histología y Embriología; ArgentinaFil: Croce, María Virginia. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentin

Immunohistochemical evidence of Muc1 expression during rat embryonic development

During embryonic development, studies on mouse and human embryos have established that Muc1/MUC1 expression coincides with the onset of epithelial sheet and glandular formation. This study aimed therefore at evaluating the temporal and spatial expression of Muc1 at different stages of rat development. In this report, 80 animals were included: 64 rat foetuses at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 days of gestation from pregnant females (WKAH/Hok), 8 embryos each stage. Standard immunohistochemistry was performed using anti-MUC1 cytoplasmic tail polyclonal antibody (CT33). The reaction was considered positive when more than 5% of the cells were stained; reaction patterns were: L = linear, membrane, C = cytoplasmic and M = mixed; nuclear staining was also recorded. Intensity was graded as negative (-), low (+), moderate (++) and strong (+++). Muc1 expression was observed with a low intensity on 13th day (13 D) in the stomach, lung and kidney; at 14 d, small intestine and pancreas were also reactive; at 16 D, liver and esophagus and at 18 D, trachea and salivary glands. During the development, intensity increased while the pattern of expression changed: at the first days of gestation, it was predominantly linear and apical while during further development an increase in cytoplasmic expression was observed. Trachea, stomach, kidney and lung epithelia were the more reactive tissues. In specimens belonging to neonates and adults, all tissues analyzed showed similar Muc1 expression. The findings of this study assess that Muc1 is highly expressed in the epithelial rat embryonic development.Facultad de Ciencias VeterinariasCentro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y AplicadasFacultad de Ciencias Médica

Muc5ac mucin expression during rat skin development

Some mucin genes have been detected during human embryonic and fetal organ development; however, little is known about mucin expression in epidermal development, neither in humans nor in other species. The present research was developed to explore Muc5ac skin expression during pre-and post-natal rat development. Immunohistochemistry (IHC), Western blotting (WB) and RT-PCR were employed. By IHC, Muc5ac protein was found early in embryonic epidermis from day 13 of gestation until seven days after birth when the surface epidermis became negative and the reaction was restricted to secreting sebum cells. In coincidence with IHC findings, WB analysis showed a band at approximately 200KDa at the same periods of development. Results were also confirmed by RT-PCR. Muc5ac expression in rat embryonic epidermis suggests that Muc5ac may play a protective role in embryonic skin previous to birth which may be replaced by pile covering. To our knowledge, this is the first report that confirmed Muc5ac expression during skin development. and airways epithelia.2 It is common knowledge that normal skin exhibits a rather restricted expression of mucins, and it has been demonstrated that epithelial cells of the normal epidermis do not express sialomucins while Muc5ac expression in cancer epidermal cells is well documented.4,5 On the other hand, little is known about mucin expression in epidermal development, neither in humans nor in other species. However, some mucin genes have been detected during human embryonic and fetal organ development according to differential expression patterns in comparison with adult tissues.3,6 The present research was developed to explore Muc5ac skin expression during preand post-natal rat development.Centro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y AplicadasFacultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Expresión de la mucina MUC5AC en el desarrollo embrionario de la rata (<i>Rattus norvegicus</i>)

Las mucinas, principales componentes proteicos del mucus que recubre los epitelios de los mamíferos, cumplen un rol central en la protección y en el mantenimiento de la homeostasis de los epitelios. La MUC5AC humana es una mucina de secreción de alto peso molecular que polimeriza en la superficie de las células formando un entramado a modo de gel. Variaciones en su expresión han sido asociadas a distintas patologías (infecciones y/o inflamaciones crónicas, cáncer, etc.). El propósito de este trabajo es analizar la expresión de MUC5AC en distintos estadíos gestacionales de la rata.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Immunohistochemical evidence of Muc1 expression during rat embryonic development

During embryonic development, studies on mouse and human embryos have established that Muc1/MUC1 expression coincides with the onset of epithelial sheet and glandular formation. This study aimed therefore at evaluating the temporal and spatial expression of Muc1 at different stages of rat development. In this report, 80 animals were included: 64 rat foetuses at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 days of gestation from pregnant females (WKAH/Hok), 8 embryos each stage. Standard immunohistochemistry was performed using anti-MUC1 cytoplasmic tail polyclonal antibody (CT33). The reaction was considered positive when more than 5% of the cells were stained; reaction patterns were: L = linear, membrane, C = cytoplasmic and M = mixed; nuclear staining was also recorded. Intensity was graded as negative (-), low (+), moderate (++) and strong (+++). Muc1 expression was observed with a low intensity on 13th day (13 D) in the stomach, lung and kidney; at 14 d, small intestine and pancreas were also reactive; at 16 D, liver and esophagus and at 18 D, trachea and salivary glands. During the development, intensity increased while the pattern of expression changed: at the first days of gestation, it was predominantly linear and apical while during further development an increase in cytoplasmic expression was observed. Trachea, stomach, kidney and lung epithelia were the more reactive tissues. In specimens belonging to neonates and adults, all tissues analyzed showed similar Muc1 expression. The findings of this study assess that Muc1 is highly expressed in the epithelial rat embryonic development.Facultad de Ciencias VeterinariasCentro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y AplicadasFacultad de Ciencias Médica

Influence of socio-demographic features and apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 expression on the prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment in a population of 70-74-year olds: The InveCe.Ab study

Abstract The age-specific prevalence rates of dementia vary widely. Studies focusing on specific age groups are needed to provide reliable estimates for healthcare providers and policy makers. We estimated the prevalence of dementia, dementia subtypes and cognitive impairment in "InveCe.Ab" (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01345110 ), a single-step multidimensional population-based study of 70–74-year olds living in Abbiategrasso (Milan, Italy). We also looked for associations with socio-demographic factors and the presence of the apolipoprotein E-ɛ4 allele. The overall dementia prevalence was 3% (95%CI: 2.1–4.1%) [Alzheimer's disease (AD): 1.2% (95%CI 0.6–1.9%); vascular dementia (VD): 1.4% (95%CI: 0.8–2.2%)]. Being single was found to be a risk factor for vascular dementia; subjects born in southern Italy were shown to be at greater risk both of overall dementia and of vascular dementia. The prevalence of cognitive impairment, with or without subjective cognitive complaints (cognitive impairment, no dementia, CIND) was 7.8% (95%CI: 6.4–9.4%). As regards the CIND subgroups, the prevalence of subjects with subjective cognitive complaints (mild cognitive impairment, MCI) was 5.0% (95%CI 3.9–6.3%), while the prevalence of those without MCI (CIND-other) was 2.8% (95%CI: 1.9–3.8). The males had a higher risk of MCI and CIND-other; the older subjects were more likely to have MCI, and those born in north-eastern Italy to have CIND-other. The prevalence of AD was higher among the apolipoprotein E-ɛ4 carriers. Our data highlight the importance of dementia and cognitive impairment in the transitional period from adulthood to old age, and reveal the presence of different associations with socio-demographic and genetic factors

Alternative splicing variant of RHBDD2 is associated with cell stress response and breast cancer progression

RHBDD2 is an intramembrane pseudoprotease member of the Rhomboid superfamily. Our previous studies in breast and colorectal cancer indicate an association between RHBDD2 overexpression and advanced tumor stages. Two alternative transcriptional variants have been described for RHBDD2, which would be encoding for different RHBDD2 protein isoforms. The expression of these RHBDD2 variants/isoforms and its association with breast cancer was the focus of this study. First, expression of RHBDD2 splicing variants was evaluated in normal and breast tumor samples. RHBDD2 variant 2 overexpression was detected in tumors in respect to normal breast tissues at the mRNA and protein levels (P<0.05). Moreover, RHBDD2 variant 2 expression was associated with poor prognostic factors such as basal‑like intrinsic subtype (P<0.05), high proliferation (P<0.01) and long‑term risk‑of‑recurrence (P<0.01) scores. Second, the expression of both variants was evaluated under nutritional‑deprived conditions in breast cancer cell lines. Results demonstrated that RHBDD2 splicing was switched from mRNA variant 1 to variant 2 in association with a significant increment of protein isoform B in response to glucose starvation treatment. Therefore, we propose that the switch from the RHBDD2 variant 1, expressed in normal epithelial cells, to variant 2 occurs as an adaptive phenotype to bypass the stressful tumor microenvironment and promote tumor progression. Finally, the RHBDD2 subcellular localization was corroborated at the Golgi apparatus and their associated v‑SNARE transport vesicles, suggesting a putative new role for RHBDD2 in the protein trafficking of human breast cancer cells.Facultad de Ciencias MédicasCentro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y Aplicada

Assessment of different manufacturing techniques for the production of bioartificial scaffolds as soft organ transplant substitutes

Introduction: The problem of organs’ shortage for transplantation is widely known: different manufacturing techniques such as Solvent casting, Electrospinning and 3D Printing were considered to produce bioartificial scaffolds for tissue engineering purposes and possible transplantation substitutes. The advantages of manufacturing techniques’ combination to develop hybrid scaffolds with increased performing properties was also evaluated.Methods: Scaffolds were produced using poly-L-lactide-co-caprolactone (PLA-PCL) copolymer and characterized for their morphological, biological, and mechanical features.Results: Hybrid scaffolds showed the best properties in terms of viability (&gt;100%) and cell adhesion. Furthermore, their mechanical properties were found to be comparable with the reference values for soft tissues (range 1–10 MPa).Discussion: The created hybrid scaffolds pave the way for the future development of more complex systems capable of supporting, from a morphological, mechanical, and biological standpoint, the physiological needs of the tissues/organs to be transplanted