An Historical Overview: The Discovery of How NK Cells Can Kill Enemies, Recruit Defense Troops, and More

Natural killer (NK) cells were originally defined as effector lymphocytes of innate immunity characterized by the unique ability of killing tumor and virally infected cells without any prior priming and expansion of specific clones. The \u201cmissing-self\u201d theory, proposed by Klas Karre, the seminal discovery of the first prototypic HLA class I-specific inhibitory receptors, and, later, of the Natural Cytotoxicity Receptors (NCRs) by Alessandro Moretta, provided the bases to understand the puzzling behavior of NK cells. Actually, those discoveries proved crucial also for many of the achievements that, along the years, have contributed to the modern view of these cells. Indeed, NK cells, besides killing susceptible targets, are now known to functionally interact with different immune cells, sense pathogens using TLR, adapt their responses to the local environment, and, even, mount a sort of immunological memory. In this review, we will specifically focus on the main activating NK receptors and on their crucial role in the ever-increasing number of functions assigned to NK cells and other innate lymphoid cells (ILCs)

Ohio USA stoneflies (Insecta, Plecoptera): species richness estimation, distribution of functional niche traits, drainage affiliations, and relationships to other states

Ohio is an eastern USA state that historically was >70% covered in upland and mixed coniferous forest; about 60% of it glaciated by the Wisconsinan glacial episode. Its stonefly fauna has been studied in piecemeal fashion until now. The assemblage of Ohio stoneflies was assessed from over 4,000 records accumulated from 18 institutions, new collections, and trusted literature sources. Species richness totaled 102 with estimators Chao2 and ICE Mean predicting 105.6 and 106.4, respectively. Singletons and doubletons totaled 18 species. All North American families were represented with Perlidae accounted for the highest number of species at 34. The family Peltoperlidae contributed a single species. Most species had univoltine–fast life cycles with the vast majority emerging in summer, although there was a significant component of winter stoneflies. Nine United States Geological Survey hierarchical drainage units level 6 (HUC6) were used to stratify specimen data. Species richness was significantly related to the number of unique HUC6 locations, but there was no relationship with HUC6 drainage area. A nonparametric multidimensional scaling analysis found that larger HUC6s in the western part of the state had similar assemblages with lower species richness that were found to align with more savanna and wetland habitat. Other drainagesricher assemblages were aligned with upland deciduous and mixed coniferous forests of the east and south where slopes were higher. The Ohio assemblage was most similar to the well–studied fauna of Indiana (88 spp.) and Kentucky (108 spp.), two neighboring states. Many rare species and several high quality stream reaches should be considered for greater protection

Differential effect of asparagine and glutamine removal on three adenocarcinoma cell lines

Asparagine and glutamine depletion operated by the drug Asparaginase (ASNase) has revolutionized therapy in pediatric patients affected by Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), bringing remissions to a remarkable 90 % of cases. However, the knowledge of the proproliferative role of asparagine in adult and solid tumors is still limited. We have here analyzed the effect of ASNase on three adenocarcinoma cell lines (A549, lung adenocarcinoma, MCF-7, breast cancer, and 786-O, kidney cancer). In contrast to MCF-7 cells, 786-O and A549 cells proved to be a relevant target for cell cycle perturbation by asparagine and glutamine shortage. Indeed, when the cell-cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry, A549 showed a canonical response to asparaginase, 786-O cells, instead, showed a reduction of the percentage of cells in the G1 phase and an increase of those in the S-phase. Despite an increased number of PCNA and RPA70 positive nuclear foci, BrdU and EdU incorporation was absent or strongly delayed in treated 786-O cells, thus indicating a readiness of replication forks unmatched by DNA synthesis. In 786-O asparagine synthetase was reduced following treatment and glutamine synthetase was totally absent. Interestingly, DNA synthesis could be recovered by adding Gln to the medium. MCF-7 cells showed no significant changes in the cell cycle phases, in DNA-bound PCNA and in total PCNA, but a significant increase in ASNS and GS mRNA and protein expression. The collected data suggest that the effect observed on 786-O cells following ASNase treatment could rely on mechanisms which differ from those well-known and described for leukemic blasts, consisting of a complete block in the G1/S transition in proliferating cells and on an increase on non-proliferative (G0) blasts

Air, water and soil quality / Qualit\ue9 de l'air, de l'eau et du sol / Qualit\ue0 dell'aria, dell'acqua e del suolo

Preface This third volume of the "Qualit\ue0 of the Environment" series assembles the scientific communications presented during the "Air, Water, and Soil Quality" International Congress held at Imola (Imola) on 24th and 25th of June 2009. The air-water-soil system influences the life of the plants and animals which live on the Earth. This system governs biodiversity, giving birth to macro-ecosystems and micro- diversifications inside each different system. If the quality of one or more parts of the system decreases, natural biodiversity may be irrevocably damaged, causing the disappearance of some plant and animal species. Man's presumption at exploiting the ecosystem for his own profit is leading to an irresponsible waste of the necessary resources for his own life. Air, water, and land pollution are henceforth considered conditions that cannot be avoided when a fictive welfare that does not take account of human health and natural sustainability is to be reached. The aim of the meeting was to take account of the present quality of the air-water-soil system, comparing Italian realities with those in other countries of the European Union and to make known the most efficient measures and instruments for fighting ecosystem degradation and the waste of resources. By this we would like to make our public aware of the importance of protecting our environment and its natural resources. Pr\ue9face Ce troisi\ue8me volume de la collection "Qualit\ue9 de l'Environnement" rassemble les communications scientifiques pr\ue9sent\ue9es au cours du Congr\ue8s International "Qualit\ue9 de l'Air, de l'Eau et du Sol" tenu \ue0 Imola (Italie) les 24 et 25 juin 2009. L\u2019\ue9tat du syst\ue8me air-eau-sol influence la vie animale et v\ue9g\ue9tale sur la Terre; il est \ue0 l\u2019origine des biodiversit\ue9s qui ont cr\ue9e la muntiplicit\ue9 des macro-\ue9cosyst\ue8mes et des micro-diversifications \ue0 l\u2019int\ue9rieur de chacun d'eux. Si la qualit\ue9 d\u2019un ou de plusieurs \ue9l\ue9ments du syst\ue8me s\u2019effondre, la biodiversit\ue9 naturelle pourra s'appauvrir au point de cr\ue9er une situation irr\ue9versible conduisant \ue0 la disparition de certaines esp\ue8ces v\ue9g\ue9tales et animales. La pr\ue9somption humaine de pouvoir g\ue9rer l\u2019\ue9cosyst\ue8me \ue0 notre gr\ue9 est en train de conduire \ue0 une irresponsable d\ue9gradation des ressources essentielles \ue0 notre propre vie. La pollution de l\u2019air, des eaux et la contamination du sol, sont d\ue9sormais consider\ue9s comme des conditions in\ue9vitables pour atteindre rapidement un bien-\ueatre factice, sans tenir compte de son impact sur les \ue9cosyst\ue8mes, le d\ue9veloppement durable et la sant\ue9 de l\u2019humanit\ue9. Le congr\ue8s souhaite faire le point de la qualit\ue9 du syst\ue8me air-eau-sol en confrontant les diff\ue9rentes r\ue9alit\ue9s italiennes avec celles des autres pays de l'Union Europ\ue9enne. Son but principal est de faire conna\ueetre les instruments et les actions les plus efficaces pour lutter contre la d\ue9gradation des \ue9cosyst\ue8mes et le gaspillage des ressources ; et, pourquoi pas, nous avons aussi comme objectif de sensibiliser notre public \ue0 la d\ue9fense et \ue0 la valorisation de notre environnement. Prefazione Il terzo volume della Collana "Qualit\ue0 dell'ambiente" raccoglie le comunicazioni scientiche presentate nell'ambito del Congresso Internazionale "Qualit\ue0 dell'aria, dell'acqua e del suolo" svoltosi a Imola nei giotni 24-25 giugno 2009. Il sistema aria-acqua-suolo ha condizionato la vita vegetale ed animale sulla superficie della Terra dando origine alle biodiversit\ue0 che hanno condotto ad una molteplicit\ue0 di macro ecosistemi e di micro diversificazioni all'interno di ciascuno di essi. Se la qualit\ue0 di una o pi\uf9 delle componenti del sistema decade la biodiversit\ue0 naturale si impoverisce al punto tale da poter creare condizioni di irreversibilit\ue0 portando alla scomparsa di specie vegetali ed animali. La presunzione dell'uomo di potere governare l'ecosistema a proprio piacimento sta conducendo ad un irresponsabile degrado delle risorse essenziali per la vita, al punto tale che inquinamento dell'aria e delle acque o contamina..