IGFBP-3 inhibits Wnt signaling in metastatic melanoma cells.

In previous works, we have shown that insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), a tissue and circulating protein able to bind to IGFs, decreases drastically in the blood serum of patients with diffuse metastatic melanoma. In agreement with the clinical data, recombinant IGFBP-3 was found to inhibit the motility and invasiveness of cultured metastatic melanoma cells and to prevent growth of grafted melanomas in mice. The present work was aimed at identifying the signal transduction pathways underlying the anti-tumoral effects of IGFBP-3. We show that the anti-tumoral effect of IGFBP-3 is due to inhibition of the Wnt pathway and depends upon the presence of CD44, a receptor protein known to modulate Wnt signaling. Once it has entered the cell, IGFBP-3 binds the Wnt signalosome interacting specifically with its component GSK-3β. As a consequence, the β-catenin destruction complex dissociates from the LRP6 Wnt receptor and GSK-3β is activated through dephosphorylation, becoming free to target cytoplasmic β-catenin which is degraded by the proteasomal pathway. Altogether, the results suggest that IGFBP-3 is a novel and effective inhibitor of Wnt signaling. As IGFBP-3 is a physiological protein which has no detectable toxic effects either on cultured cells or live mice, it might qualify as an interesting new therapeutic agent in melanoma, and potentially many other cancers with a hyperactive Wnt signaling

Cutaneous cryptococcosis in a patient affected by chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: a case report.

Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic infection, the incidence of which is increased in the immunocompromised patients. Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated fungus that mainly infects the lungs and the central nervous system, possibly involving different organs. Cutaneous cryptococcosis is classified into localized infection, usually occurring after traumatic inoculation (primary cutaneous cryptococcosis) and cutaneous manifestation due to hematogenous dissemination (secondary cutaneous cryptococcosis), mostly in patients with underlying immunosuppression. We report a case of cutaneous cryptococcosis in a patient affected by chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

The autonomic reactivity of social exclusion in patients with psoriasis: a thermal imaging study

While emotion regulation seems to be well understood in the individual domain, information about the inherent link between emotion regulation and social contexts is lacking. In this study, we investigated the behavioral and physiological consequences of social exclusion in control participants (N=17) and in patients (N=17) with psoriasis, a skin disease known to be often accompanied with emotion regulation deficits. Firstly, participants faced the social induction phase by playing the Cyberball Game in which they were excluded or included by other players. Then participants played the Trust Game (TG) in the role of investor. All participants took part in both exclusion and inclusion social inductions and played the TG twice. In the TG, the investor has to decide how much of €10 to invest on familiar and unfamiliar players. The familiar (bad vs good) players were the same players previously encountered in the Cyberball Game. Participants' face temperature (peri-orbital region) during the task was measured by means of functional infrared thermal imaging (fITI). Face temperature in this area is known to reflect the activation of the sympathetic system. We tested whether social inclusion vs. exclusion affected participants’ trust toward other players by entering mean investments into a mixed Repeated Measures ANOVA with Group (patients vs controls) and Block Order (exclusion-inclusion vs inclusion-exclusion) as a between factors and Social Modulation (exclusion vs. inclusion) and Player (familiar vs. unfamiliar) as within factors. We found a statistically significant social modulation x player interaction. Newman-Keuls post hoc test showed that unfamiliar players were trusted significantly more after social exclusion, respect than social inclusion. In order to have a measure of the activation of the sympathetic system during the social modulation phase, we run a mixed repeated measures ANOVA with Group (patients vs controls) and Block Order (exclusion-inclusion vs inclusion-exclusion) as between factors and Social Modulation (exclusion vs. inclusion), Block Phase (start vs. end) and Periorbital Area (left vs. right) as within factors, on the temperature of the peri-orbital regions. We found a significant Group x Social induction interaction, showing that while controls had a lower temperature during inclusion with respect to exclusion, patients’ temperature during social inclusion was as high as the one recorded during social exclusion. Morever, during the social inclusion phase, patients’ periorbital temperature was higher respect to controls’ one. Taken together, these results seem to suggest that for patients, social inclusion was as stressful as exclusion. In line with this physiological result, we found that while controls reported to be much happier after social inclusion than exclusion, patients’ emotional state seemed not to be enhanced by being included. Finally, we found that higher temperature during social exclusion predicted higher trust investments towards unfamiliar opponents in patients but not in controls. This result suggests that patients might have difficulties in regulate the sympathetic activation experienced during painful social interactions and to adjust future behavior consequently. Together our results highlight two important features of autonomic reactivity in psoriasis patients who have a deficit in emotion regulation (i.e. lack of emotional clarity): on the one hand, their sympathetic system does not seem to be relieved during social inclusion, on the other hand the sympathetic activation during social exclusion seems to influence subsequent social behavior more than in controls

Inertial mass for lightweight drystone stratigraphy

RhOME for denCity, winner of the Solar Decathlon 2014, has developed an innovative use of the mass to improve the thermal efficiency of timber buildings. A lightweight envelope that through technological innovation is able to cope with warm climates, finally meeting the needs of consumers who are sensitive to environmental issues but live in the Southern regions of Europe. Towards this simple innovation it will be possible to design timber buildings in Mediterranean climate, combining a contemporary use of numerical control technology and a sustainable choice of building timber structures

Physiological and behavioral reactivity to social exclusion: a functional infrared thermal imaging study in patients with psoriasis

Recent studies show that sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity can be heavily impacted not only by basic threats to survival, but by threats to social bonds. Herein we explored the behavioral and physiological consequences of social exclusion/inclusion in patients with psoriasis, a disease frequently associated with the experience of being ostracized and deficient emotion regulation skills. We employed a virtual ball-tossing game (Cyberball) to induce the experience of social exclusion/inclusion. We then used a Trust game to measure the effects of this social modulation on trust. During Cyberball, Infrared Thermal Imaging was used to record participants' facial temperature and thus obtain an on-line measure of SNS activation. Behavioral data showed that social exclusion shifted participants' trust toward unfamiliar players who had not previously excluded them. Physiological data indicated that, in control participants, social exclusion triggered higher SNS activation than inclusion. No such effect was found in patients with psoriasis, whose SNS activity was the same during inclusion as it was during exclusion, suggesting that they benefit less from inclusive experiences than control participants. In addition, higher SNS activation in patients during social exclusion was linked to higher monetary investment towards unfamiliar players, but not in controls, a result in keeping with the Social Reconnection Hypothesis, according to which emotions triggered by social rejection can be regulated by investing in new social interactions. We also found that an increase in periorbital temperature is accompanied by a decrease in happiness ratings after experiencing social exclusion during the Cyberball gam

Cognitive load and emotional processing in psoriasis: a thermal imaging study

Psoriasis is a chronic dermatologic disease which is frequently associated with psychological distress. Although studies suggest a relationship between this condition and difficulties in emotion regulation, behavioral and physiological evidence about this link is scarce. We measured implicit emotion regulation abilities of psoriasis patients and a healthy control group by examining the impact of distracting emotional (positive, negative or neutral) images on a working memory task (“Emotional N-Back”) which could present high (2-back) or low (1-back) cognitive workload. Moreover, we used Functional Infrared Thermal Imaging to record participants’ facial temperature and obtain a measure of the activation of the autonomic system. Rising of temperature over the peri-orbital areas and the nose tip are believed to reflect the activation and the de-activation of the sympathetic system, respectively. Patients scored higher than controls on the “Lack of emotional clarity” sub-scale of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Compared to controls, who performed much better in the low vs. high cognitive load condition, patients showed a smaller accuracy difference between the two conditions. Moreover, patients showed less sympathetic (lower peri-orbital and higher nasal tip temperature) activity (especially in the negative and neutral blocks) during the high vs. low cognitive load condition, suggesting that the former condition might be less emotionally demanding for them. Patients benefit more than controls from the load-dependent interference effect when dealing with emotional information; thus, therapeutic techniques aiming at teaching how to use cognitive strategies to downregulate emotions might be particularly appropriated for the

Molluscum contagiosum on a tattoo: usefulness of dermoscopy

[No abstract available