The Helicobacter pylori HspR-Modulator CbpA Is a Multifunctional Heat-Shock Protein

The medically important human pathogen Helicobacter pylori relies on a collection of highly conserved heat-shock and chaperone proteins to preserve the integrity of cellular polypeptides and to control their homeostasis in response to external stress and changing environmental conditions. Among this set of chaperones, the CbpA protein has been shown to play a regulatory role in heat-shock gene regulation by directly interacting with the master stress-responsive repressor HspR. Apart from this regulatory role, little is known so far about CbpA functional activities. Using biochemistry and molecular biology approaches, we have started the in vitro functional characterization of H. pylori CbpA. Specifically, we show that CbpA is a multifunctional protein, being able to bind DNA and to stimulate the ATPase activity of the major chaperone DnaK. In addition, we report a preliminary observation suggesting that CbpA DNA-binding activity can be affected by the direct interaction with the heat-shock master repressor HspR, supporting the hypothesis of a reciprocal crosstalk between these two proteins. Thus, our work defines novel functions for H. pylori CbpA and stimulates further studies aimed at the comprehension of the complex regulatory interplay among chaperones and heat-shock transcriptional regulators

La personalità animale tra nuovi diritti e antiche tradizioni. Esperienze di diritto comparato.

Il complesso dibattito sul riconoscimento di uno status giuridico in favore degli animali ha di recente ricevuto nuova linfa, imponendo una riflessione tanto in relazione alla necessità di un rafforzamento della legislazione di protezione animale quanto sulla possibile previsione, in seno ai testi costituzionali, di una specifica tutela. L’esperienza comparativa dimostra che l’essere vivente animale non può essere equiparato solo ad una “res” e ciò perché gli animali, come dimostrato anche dal dibattito giurisprudenziale, sono degli esseri viventi sensibili, che soffrono e che, pertanto, sono meritevoli di protezione e benessere fisico e psichico. The complex debate on the recognition of a legal status in favour of animals has recently been given a new lease of life, requiring reflection both on the need to strengthen animal protection legislation and on the possible provision in constitutional texts for specific protection. Comparative experience shows that the living animal cannot be equated only with a “res”, and this is because animals, as also demonstrated by the debate in jurisprudence, are sensitive living beings who suffer and therefore deserve protection and physical and mental well-being

THE RESTORATION OF AGRONOMIO AND CULTURAL BIODIVERSITY AS A STRATEGY OF TOURISTIC SUSTAINABILITY IN CILENTO

In the field of the generał debate about the limits of development, the awareness that touristic development is not unlimited is becoming morę and morę disseminated. First of all, this is because policies highlighting tourism as a strategy for development often prefer public intervention offering immediate economic advantages, but do not provide global and long term stability in the territory. Such strategies also often involve wild exploitation of environmental resources and not their protection

THE RESTORATION OF TRADITIONAL GASTRONOMY AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ENYIRONMENTAL AND CULTURAL TOURISM IN THE SUSTAINABLE DEYELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS IN CILENTO (ITALY)

Cilento is a geographical territory at the Southern extremity of the Salerno Gulf and delimited in the north by the Sele River, in the east by Vallo di Diano, in the south by the Policastro Gulf and in the west by the Tirreno Sea. Cilento is well known for its coastline from Agropoli to the mouth of the Bussento River and the best known resorts are “Marina di Camerota, Capo Palinuro, Marina di Ascea, S. Maria di Castellabate”. Since 1991, almost all the area has been protected by the institution of a national park. The National Park of Cilento e Vallo di Diano (181.048 hectares) is the second largest protected area in Italy. The size of the Park determines the simultaneous presence of different areas of great natural and environmental value and beautiful landscapes. There is also historical and cultural heritage of great worth. The following three quotations reflect the most important issues for the development of the region, in which the park may play a crucial role

Grotta della Rondinella a Polignano a Mare: un progetto di ricerca della Federazione Speleologica Pugliese

Grotta della Rondinella (PU 71) è una tra le cavità più note e suggestive della fascia costiera di Polignano a Mare, in provincia di Bari. Essa presenta un doppio ingresso: da terra, attraverso uno sprofondamento (sinkhole) e da mare con un ampio portale che conduce a una bella spiaggia in ciottoli. Sebbene inserita in un contesto certamente ad alta vocazione turistica, la cavità, al pari delle molte altre distribuite lungo la costa, non è mai stata adeguatamente tutelata, per cui è di frequente oggetto di degrado, specialmente durante la affollata stagione estiva. Grazie ad un finanziamento privato, è stato avviato un progetto di ricerca multi-disciplinare della Federazione Speleologica Pugliese, comprendente un nuovo rilievo della cavità, indagini a carattere geologico-strutturale e di geomorfologia ipogea, analisi petrografiche e mineralogiche, indagini geofisiche indirizzate alla verifica di eventuali prosecuzioni degli ambienti ipogei. Inoltre, è stato messo in opera il monitoraggio micro-climatico della cavità, e sono stati condotti studi di carattere biospeleologico, con particolare riguardo ai chirotteri, presenti con una piccola colonia nella grotta. L’insieme dei dati così raccolti costituisce indubbiamente un’importante banca dati su un singolo ambiente ipogeo, raramente disponibile in Puglia.Rondinella Cave (PU 71 in the Cadastre of Caves of Apulia region, managed by the Apulian Speleological Federation) is one of the most well known coastal karst caves at Polignano a Mare, along the Adriatic coast in the Bari province. The cave has a double entrance: a wide access allows to enter by the sea, leading to a nice pebble shore, whilst inland a collapse sinkhole represents the main access, produced by fall of the rock diaphragm above the cave. Even though the cave is in a coastal sector heavily frequented by tourists, it was never adequately safeguarded, and, as many other coastal caves in the area, commonly experiences negative effects due to anthropogenic disturbance. Thanks to private funds, a research project was recently started by the Apulian Speleological Federation: it included, but was not limited to, the cave survey with modern speleological techniques; geological, structural and geomorphological analyses; petrographic and mineralogical researches; geophysical surveys addressed to identification of likely further cavities in the areas surrounding the cave. In addition, a micro-climatic monitoring system has been established, and the colony of bats hosted in the cave has been monitored and studied. The amount of data so collected represent without any doubt one of the widest database nowadays available about a karst cave in Apulia

Efficacy of gluten-free diet in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Recent research has increasingly shown that depending on the foods we eat, gut flora may be affected by an inflammatory or anti-inflammatory response, thus playing an important role in inflammatory autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or gastroenterological disorders. Gluten seems to be a glycoprotein with a clinically relevant inflammatory effect. Several observational studies and anecdotal cases reported a correlation between gluten and various diseases, including autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. This study aimed to evaluate whether gluten-free diet could be effective in controlling inflammation and ongoing rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. We report 4 cases of patients with long-standing rheumatoid arthritis with no response to several conventional and biotechnological drugs, treated with a gluten-free diet concurrently with the drug therapy. Our patients presented different degrees of response to the diet, in terms of disease remission and improvement of symptoms. Our cases confirm that a gluten-free diet may improve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, even in patients resistant to conventional drug therapies