Dbl oncogene expression in MCF-10 A epithelial cells disrupts mammary acinar architecture, induces EMT and angiogenic factor secretion.

The proteins of the Dbl family are guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) of Rho GTPases and are known to be involved in cell growth regulation. Alterations of the normal function of these proteins lead to pathological processes such as developmental disorders, neoplastic transformation, and tumor metastasis. We have previously demonstrated that expression of Dbl oncogene in lens epithelial cells modulates genes encoding proteins involved in epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) and induces angiogenesis in the lens. Our present study was undertaken to investigate the role of Dbl oncogene in epithelial cells transformation, providing new insights into carcinoma progression. To assess how Dbl oncogene can modulate EMT, cell migration, morphogenesis, and expression of pro-apoptotic and angiogenic factors we utilized bi- and three-dimensional cultures of MCF-10░A cells. We show that upon Dbl expression MCF-10░A cells undergo EMT. In addition, we found that Dbl overexpression sustain

Who should benefit from environmental policies? Social preferences and nonmarket values for the distribution of environmental improvements

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordThe literature is replete with valuations of the costs and benefits of environmental change, yet the issue of where those impacts fall across society is rarely considered. This is a significant knowledge gap given clear evidence of social preferences regarding distributional effects reflected in both policy and protest. As an initial contribution, we examine preferences regarding projects designed to more than offset the biodiversity impacts of housing developments in England, as mandated under the UK's Net Gain legislation. Employing a nationally representative sample, a Discrete Choice Experiment values options for alternative characteristics and location of both development and offset sites, including their situation relative to both the respondent's home and neighborhoods of different socio-economic status. This defines sets of “winners” and “losers” varying across wealth levels. Results show that respondents did not necessarily prefer that the communities losing biodiversity due to development must also be the beneficiaries of the biodiversity enhancement under Net Gain rules. This is particularly the case where the communities losing biodiversity are located far from the respondent and are high wealth. Instead, our findings show that respondents are willing to pay more for Net Gain policies delivering biodiversity improvements to low or average (rather than high) wealth communities. These results highlight the importance of considering distributional concerns when measuring the welfare impacts of environmental policies and the potential role of such policies as redistributive tools to reduce social inequalities.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Exeter Business SchoolEsmée Fairbairn FoundationBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

Unravelling the role of sphingolipids in cystic fibrosis lung disease.

Abstract Cystic fibrosis (CF), one of the most common lethal hereditary diseases of white European populations, is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the CF Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene. One of the main causes of mortality is the onset of CF lung disease, which is characterized by chronic infection and inflammation resulting in the progressive remodelling, irreversible damage and fibrosis of the airways. An increasing number of studies indicate that sphingolipids are crucial players in pulmonary manifestations of CF, even if their direct involvement in CF lung disease is still unclear. In this review, we give an overview of the role of sphingolipids in CF pulmonary disease, focusing on the relationship between glycosphingolipids and lung inflammation, which represents the main hallmark of this disease

Atrial Natriuretic Peptide Levels Reflect Hemodynamic Changes Under Pacemaker Stimulation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73244/1/j.1540-8159.1990.tb02142.x.pd

Experimental Measurement of the Berry Curvature from Anomalous Transport

Geometrical properties of energy bands underlie fascinating phenomena in a wide-range of systems, including solid-state materials, ultracold gases and photonics. Most famously, local geometrical characteristics like the Berry curvature can be related to global topological invariants such as those classifying quantum Hall states or topological insulators. Regardless of the band topology, however, any non-zero Berry curvature can have important consequences, such as in the semi-classical evolution of a wave packet. Here, we experimentally demonstrate for the first time that wave packet dynamics can be used to directly map out the Berry curvature. To this end, we use optical pulses in two coupled fibre loops to study the discrete time-evolution of a wave packet in a 1D geometrical "charge" pump, where the Berry curvature leads to an anomalous displacement of the wave packet under pumping. This is both the first direct observation of Berry curvature effects in an optical system, and, more generally, the proof-of-principle demonstration that semi-classical dynamics can serve as a high-resolution tool for mapping out geometrical properties