A proteomics approach to the study of bleomycin- induced lung fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most severe lung fibrotic form and very few pharmacological therapies are available at present. Key events in the onset of the disease are the activation of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts and the production and release of extracellular matrix (ECM) and molecular factors. Primary murine lung fibroblasts were isolated and their activation induced by Bleomycin (BLM) treatment. Extracellular Vesicles (EV) were isolated and protein extracted. Released soluble proteins (Secretome) and EV-derived proteins were reduced, alkylated and trypsin digested. A nano-LC-MS/MS SWATHTM approach was used for the proteomics analyses. Specific proteins with a putative role in the transition from physiological to fibrotic conditions, such as several matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), osteopontin (OPN), chitinase-3-like protein1 (CHI3L1) and CD44 resulted differentially released from BLM-treated fibroblasts as compared with untreated lung fibroblasts. Our results provide further understanding of the pathophysiological features of lung fibrosis, and suggest specific target for pharmacological treatments

Connexin 26 Expression in Mammalian Cardiomyocytes

Connexins are a family of membrane-spanning proteins named according to their molecular weight. They are known to form membrane channels mediating cell-cell communication, which play an essential role in the propagation of electrical activity in the heart. Cx26 has been described in a number of tissues but not in the heart, and its mutations are frequently associated with deafness and skin diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the possible Cx26 expression in heart tissues of different mammalian species and to demonstrate its localization at level of cardiomyocytes. Samples of pig, human and rat heart and H9c2 cells were used for our research. Immunohistochemical and molecular biology techniques were employed to test the expression of Cx26. Interestingly, this connexin was found in cardiomyocytes, at level of clusters scattered over the cell cytoplasm but not at level of the intercalated discs where the other cardiac connexins are usually located. Furthermore, the expression of Cx26 in H9c2 myoblast cells increased when they were differentiated into cardiac-like phenotype. To our knowledge, the expression of Cx26 in pig, human and rat has been demonstrated for the first time in the present paper

Homeworking Women: A Gender Justice Perspective

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High production of endothelin after foam sclerotherapy: a new pathogenetic hypothesis for neurological and visual disturbances after sclerotherapy

BACKGROUND: Visual and neurological disturbances have always been reported following liquid sclerotherapy (LS) for venous insufficiency. In 1993 Cabrera introduced foam sclerotherapy (FS) using a detergent sclerosant as Lauromacrogol 400 or sodium tetradecyl sulphate. Several authors have reported with FS an increased incidence of such transient visual disturbances and neurological complications. This has been associated with gas or air used to generate the sclerosing foam. The frequent association of the presence of a patent foramen ovale, a common condition in normal population, and such complications has led several authors to consider neurological and visual disturbances as paradoxical gas embolism. OBJECTIVE: We are introducing a new pathogenetic hypothesis for sclerotherapy complications. Medical literature shows evidence of a clear relationship among cerebral and retinal vasospasm, migraine and intimal irritation. We think that the irritating sclerosant agent may stimulate a significant release of vasoactive substances from the venous wall, specifically endothelin 1 (ET-1), the most powerful vasoconstricting agent. METHOD: We have studied systemic ET-1 levels after LS and FS with Lauromacrogol 400 in a group of 13 rats at one and five minutes after injection. RESULTS: While ET-1 levels did not change significantly in control and in the LS group, a significant increase was detected after FS at one and five minutes. CONCLUSION: We conclude that should the same results be found in patients treated using sclerosing foam (SF), ET-1 levels may closely correlate to the onset of visual or cerebral complications. Due to the bronchoconstrictor activity of ET-1, a relationship with post-treatment cough can be also postulated