Establishment of Cancer Stem Cell Cultures from Human Conventional Osteosarcoma

The current improvements in therapy against osteosarcoma (OS) have prolonged the lives of cancer patients, but the survival rate of five years remains poor when metastasis has occurred. The Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) theory holds that there is a subset of tumor cells within the tumor that have stem-like characteristics, including the capacity to maintain the tumor and to resist multidrug chemotherapy. Therefore, a better understanding of OS biology and pathogenesis is needed in order to advance the development of targeted therapies to eradicate this particular subset and to reduce morbidity and mortality among patients. Isolating CSCs, establishing cell cultures of CSCs, and studying their biology are important steps to improving our understanding of OS biology and pathogenesis. The establishment of human-derived OS-CSCs from biopsies of OS has been made possible using several methods, including the capacity to create 3-dimensional stem cell cultures under nonadherent conditions. Under these conditions, CSCs are able to create spherical floating colonies formed by daughter stem cells; these colonies are termed "cellular spheres". Here, we describe a method to establish CSC cultures from primary cell cultures of conventional OS obtained from OS biopsies. We clearly describe the several passages required to isolate and characterize CSCs

New Materials and Technologies for Durability and Conservation of Building Heritage

The increase in concrete structures’ durability is a milestone to improve the sustainability of buildings and infrastructures. In order to ensure a prolonged service life, it is necessary to detect the deterioration of materials by means of monitoring systems aimed at evaluating not only the penetration of aggressive substances into concrete but also the corrosion of carbon-steel reinforcement. Therefore, proper data collection makes it possible to plan suitable restoration works which can be carried out with traditional or innovative techniques and materials. This work focuses on building heritage and it highlights the most recent findings for the conservation and restoration of reinforced concrete structures and masonry buildings

Vitamina E e granuloma anulare

Many therapeutic options bave heen proposed in the treatment of granuloma annulare, topically and systemically, but sometimes all have serious side effects. In the last 10 years, topical Vitamin E has been used presenting the advantage of no side effects and low cost

Impiego di Kava e Hypericum in dermatologia

More than 1/3 of the skin diseases are induced or influenced by the mental state. Antidepressants and sedatives are, therefore, widely used in dermatology. Today kava and hypericum offer comparable effectiveness to the classical drugs but with less collateral effects. We want, therefore, to evaluate their effectiveness in dermatology

Daylight methyl-aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy versus ingenol mebutate for the treatment of actinic keratoses : an intraindividual comparative analysis

Daylight-photodynamic therapy (D-PDT) and ingenol mebutate (IM) are novel therapies directed to actinic keratoses (AK). The purpose of our study was to compare effectiveness, tolerability, cosmetic outcome and patient preference of D-PDT versus IM in the treatment of grade I and II AK. Twenty-seven patients with AK on the face or scalp were enrolled. Each patient received, in a 25 cm2 target area, D-PDT on right side and IM on left side. Overall 323 AK were treated. Both target areas achieved complete response in 40.47% of the cases and average AK clearance rate was similar for D-PDT and IM (p=0.74). In D-PDT areas mean grade II AK clearance rate was lower compared with that of grade I AK (p=0.015). In IM areas grade I and II AK average clearance rates were similar (p=0.28). At week 1 and month 1, mean local skin responses (LSR) score were higher in areas treated with IM. IM areas showed more severe pain and cosmetic sequelae. D-PDT had similar effectiveness to IM, even if IM demonstrated higher grade II AK clearance rate. Tolerability profile was superior for D-PDT in terms of LSR and pain. D-PDT was more cosmetically acceptable. Patients preferred D-PDT to IM in most cases

Association of estrogen receptor-alpha gene polymorphisms with venous thrombosis

XbaI and PvuII polymorphisms of the estrogen receptor-a gene (ER alpha) have been associated with several multifactorial diseases. We studied the distribution of ERa polymorphisms in patients with deep vein thrombosis. PvuII PP and XbaI XX genotypes may be associated with an approximately 2-fold increased DVT risk of deep vein thrombosis in men

INFLUENCE OF IRRADIATION EXPOSURE TIME ON THE DEPTH CURE OF RESTORATIVE RESIN COMPOSITE.

A study was conducted to evaluate the degree of conversion by the hardness measurements of a commercial resin composite. The specimens were prepared according to ISO 4049 and photo-activated for 20s – 40s – 60s with a light-emitting diodes (LEDs). To establish the optimal increment technique mono-layers 1 mm and 2 mm thick were tested. The ratio bottom-to-top was assessed for the mono-layers groups. Vickers hardness profiles were measured for mono-layer, bi-layer and tri-layer along the cross-section. The microhardness map showed difference in the mechanical characteristic of overlying resin confirmed by SEM images analysis of the fracture mechanics. Curing effectiveness of resin composite is not only dependent on the curing light unit but also from thickness of the resin composite and the duration of the exposure. The data suggest that an exposure time of 40 s or higher is required to provide composites with a homogeneous and high hardness, moreover, a 1 mm buildup multi-layering technique results in adequate curing of the bottom layer and better mechanical properties

CD40 ligand expression in mycosis fungoides is restricted to the patch/plaque (epidermotropic) stages

CD40 ligand (CD40L) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily. It may play an intricate role in the immune response by functional interaction with CD40 antigen expressed on the surface of B- cells, T-cells, monocytes, macrophages, antigen-presenting cells, endothelial cells and some epithelial cells. A possible role of CD40L in the pathogenesis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has been recently hypothesized; in fact, CD40L antigen can be constitutively expressed by the neoplastic CD4sup + T-cell of nodal NHL, thus possibly having a physiological role in these neoplasms. We studied the immunophenotypic and genotypic expression of CD40L antigen in different phases of mycosis fungoides - the prototype of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma - in order to investigate the possible significance and role of this molecule in its pathomechanism. On frozen sections, CD40Lsup + T-cells were present in 9/10 specimens from patch/plaque stage mycosis fungoides. Their percentage (10-25%) and location (junctional and basal epidermal) were very similar to those of CD25sup + and Ki67sup + (proliferating) cells. In 5/5 specimens from tumor stage mycosis fungoides, no CD40L immunostaining was found. All patch/plaque stage mycosis fungoides (6/6 specimens) contained the mRNA transcript for CD40L. It was never detected in tumor stage mycosis fungoides (4/4 specimens). These findings suggest that in early mycosis fungoides, CD40Lsup + T-cells home into the skin by interaction with CD40sup + endothelial cells and into the epidermis by interaction with CD40sup + basal epidermal cells. The interaction between CD40Lsup + T-cells and CD40sup + Langerhans cells and the CD40/CD40L autocrine stimulus possibly triggers activation, growth and neoplastic enhancement of T-cells; up to the blastic transformation occurring at the tumor stage, when neoplastic T-cells loose their antigenic and functional features of mature T-cells and proliferate without any significant control