Photoinduced formation of gold nanoparticles into vinyl alcohol based polymers

Nanocomposites based on vinyl alcohol-containing polymers and nanostructured gold have been efficiently prepared by a UV photo-reduction process. The very fast process provided dispersed gold nanoparticles with average diameters ranging from 3 to 20 nm depending on the host polymer matrix and the irradiation time. Uniaxial drawing of the irradiated Au/polymer nanocomposites favours the anisotropic distribution of packed assemblies of gold particles, providing oriented films with polarization-dependent tunable optical properties. These pronounced dichroic properties suggest that the nanocomposite films could find potential applications as colour polarizing filters, radiation responsive polymeric objects and smart flexible films in packaging applications.16111058106

Temporal and tissue-specific variability of SMN protein levels in mouse models of spinal muscular atrophy

textabstractSpinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a progressive motor neuron disease caused by deleterious variants in SMN1 that lead to a marked decrease in survival motor neuron (SMN) protein expression. Humans have a second SMN gene (SMN2) that is almost identical to SMN1. However, due to alternative splicing the majority of SMN2 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is translated into a truncated, unstable protein that is quickly degraded. Because the presence of SMN2 provides a unique opportunity for therapy development in SMA patients, the mechanisms that regulate SMN2 splicing and mRNA expression have been elucidated in great detail. In contrast, how much SMN protein is produced at different developmental time points and in different tissues remains under-characterized. In this study, we addressed this issue by determining SMN protein expression levels at three developmental time points across six different mouse tissues and in two distinct mouse models of SMA ('severe' Taiwanese and 'intermediate' Smn2B/mice). We found that, in healthy control mice, SMN protein expression was significantly influenced by both age and tissue type.When comparing mouse models of SMA, we found that, despite being transcribed from genetically different alleles, control SMN levels were relatively similar. In contrast, the degree of SMN depletion between tissues in SMA varied substantially over time and between the two models. These findings offer an explanation for the differential vulnerability of tissues and organs observed in SMA and further our understanding of the systemic and temporal requirements for SMN with direct relevance for developing effective therapies for SMA

Overview of Current Drugs and Molecules in Development for Spinal Muscular Atrophy Therapy

The full text of this article can be found here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40265-018-0868-

How do cardiologists select patients for dual antiplatelet therapy continuation beyond 1 year after a myocardial infarction? Insights from the EYESHOT Post-MI Study

Background: Current guidelines suggest to consider dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) continuation for longer than 12 months in selected patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Hypothesis: We sought to assess the criteria used by cardiologists in daily practice to select patients with a history of MI eligible for DAPT continuation beyond 1 year. Methods: We analyzed data from the EYESHOT Post-MI, a prospective, observational, nationwide study aimed to evaluate the management of patients presenting to cardiologists 1 to 3 years from the last MI event. Results: Out of the 1633 post-MI patients enrolled in the study between March and December 2017, 557 (34.1%) were on DAPT at the time of enrolment, and 450 (27.6%) were prescribed DAPT after cardiologist assessment. At multivariate analyses, a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with multiple stents and the presence of peripheral artery disease (PAD) resulted as independent predictors of DAPT continuation, while atrial fibrillation was the only independent predictor of DAPT interruption for patients both at the second and the third year from MI at enrolment and the time of discharge/end of the visit. Conclusions: Risk scores recommended by current guidelines for guiding decisions on DAPT duration are underused and misused in clinical practice. A PCI with multiple stents and a history of PAD resulted as the clinical variables more frequently associated with DAPT continuation beyond 1 year from the index MI

Systems biology analysis of the endocannabinoid system reveals a scale-free network with distinct roles for anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol.

We represented the endocannabinoid system (ECS) as a biological network, where ECS molecules are the nodes (123) and their interactions the links (189). ECS network follows a scale-free topology, which confers robustness against random damage, easy navigability, and controllability. Network topological parameters, such as clustering coefficient (i.e., how the nodes form clusters) of 0.0009, network diameter (the longest shortest path among all pairs of nodes) of 12, averaged number of neighbors (the mean number of connections per node) of 3.073, and characteristic path length (the expected distance between two connected nodes) of 4.715, suggested that molecular messages are transferred through the ECS network quickly and specifically. Interestingly, ∼75% of nodes are located on, or are active at the level of, the cell membrane. The hubs of ECS network are anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), which have also the highest value of betweeness centrality, and their removal causes network collapse into multiple disconnected components. Importantly, AEA is a ubiquitous player while 2-AG plays more restricted actions. Instead, the product of their degradation, arachidonic acid, and their hydrolyzing enzyme, fatty acid amide hydrolase, FAAH, have a marginal impact on ECS network, indeed their removal did not significantly affect its topology

Contribution to the biology of the endangered Mexican fish, Zoogoneticus tequila, and suggestion for its indoor management

The endangered Mexican fish, Zoogoneticus tequila Webb & Miller, 1998, represents a new challenge for scientists: its biology, quite unknown, could perhaps explain the reason for its extremely low consistency in natural environments. An experimental setting was prepared where four pairs of young Z. tequila from the only Italian colony were bred in two different (biotope and enriched) tanks. Breeding results showed that the animals have grown and presented a positive reproductive performance, in both the environmental conditions confirming that the choice of substrata, of the vegetable layout, of food administration and of breeding of fry, resulted optimal for the indoor breeding. Aggressive behavior was extremely low and, although inter-male interactions were unstable, no injuries were observed among the animals, apart from a few episode of cannibalism towards the young. The behavior of animals in stressful situation were also recorded, namely the encounter with a male displaying enhanced sexual characters or with a predator. The behavioral responses toward the male were mainly noticed in the enriched tank, where flicks of tail and display of fins were recorded compared to the biotope. On the other hand, the predator snake Thamnophis sp. elicited an innate flight response in both the experimental conditions and in both genders. All together those results seem to encourage the breeding of Z. tequila in captive condition, although more studies on the cognitive skills of the species are needed before its reintroduction in natural environment.[...

Signalling compartmentalization involved in the boar sperm acrosome reaction

Actin, a major cytoskeletal protein involved in many functions in mammalian cells, supports the process of spermatogenesis by sustaining the morphological changes occurring in the germ cells as well as the acquisition of motility by the spermatozoon (Lecuyer et al., 2000). Moreover, the biological transformations that take place at a molecular level during the process of capacitation and leading to acrosome reaction also seem to be dependent on both actin localization and its polymeric status (F-actin). In the pig, as for other species, cytoskeletal reorganization has been related to either release of the acrosomal content or the fertilization rate (Castellani-Ceresa et al., 1993; Liu et al., 2002). It can be hypothesized that in the sperm the cytoskeleton acts as an organizer of specific domains on the plasma membrane. This arrangement occurs during the process of sperm maturation by interaction of the actin cyto- skeleton with enzymatic or receptor proteins and/or fusogenic lipids in the membrane, allowing the translocation of specific molecules with antigenic properties to the sites where they are more directly involved in functional processes (AR, fusion etc.). On the basis of this knowledge, the authors have studied the process of capacitation in boar spermatozoa by modulating actin polymerization with cytochalasin D, a specific inhibitor of filament formation. In particular the effect of the actin cytoskeleton on a) acquisition of the capacitation pattern by CTC, and b) incidence of acrosomal exo- cytosis elicited in the sperm after exposure to zonae pellucidae proteins has been evaluated. Finally, the study has focussed on the major events taking place in the lag time from zona stimulation to acrosomal exocytosis, in particular i) the Ca waves triggered by the exposure of single sperm cells to solubilized ZP and ii) the localiza- tion of PLCc1, a membrane linked enzyme acting in the Ca-dependent transduction pathways of AR.[...