Metabolic fate of different inorganic and organic species of thallium in the rat

Different [^201+202Tl] labelled thallium compounds such as inorganic mono-(I) and trivalent Tl(III) ions as well as organic dimethylthallium (III) species have been prepared and administered intraperitoneally or orally to rats. The ^201+202Tl radioactivity was measured in the tissues as well as in the kidney and liver intracellular fractions such as nuclei, mitochondria, lysosomes, microsomes and cytosol. The results also suggest analogies in the metabolic behaviour of the dissimilar inorganic Tl⁺ and Tl³⁺ chemical forms when they were administered by different routes.Qualitative similarities have also been observed in the tissue distribution of inorganic Tl⁺ and Tl³⁺ and dimethylthallium forms, the latter being much less absorbed by the gastro-intestinal tract. However the renal and hepatic subcellular distribution of the organic dimethylthallium were identical with respect to those of the inorganic thallium-treated animals.The present findings suggest that the oxidation state of thallium does not influence its metabolism in vivo. The similar biochemical behaviour of the different thallium species is probably related to a mechanism which transforms the different species to a single form.At present it is not possible to predict the most probable oxidation state of thallium in vivo, because both Tl(I) and Tl(III) have been shown biochemically active in vitro.     

Anti- and pro-oxidant activity of Cichorium genus vegetables and effect of thermal treatment in biological systems

The antiradical activity of water soluble components in six vegetables belonging to the Cichorium genus, i.e., three cultivars of red intybus species var. silvestre (Treviso, Chioggia, Verona red chicories), a white intybus species var. foliosum (Belgian chicory), and two vegetables of the endivia species var. latifolium (escarole chicory) and var. crispum (“crispa” chicory), were studied using two biological systems consisting of: (1) microsome membrane rat hepatocyties in which oxidative damage was induced by CCl₄; (2) gram-positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus cultures, subjected to damage with cumene hydroperoxyde. The obtained results show that in both systems the red vegetables possess the strongest antioxidant properties and contain different antioxidant compounds whether at a low or high molecular weight, but only those of high molecular-weight (MW > 3500 Da) are able to act as antioxidants in all the used systems. The lower MW fraction (MW < 3500 Da) showed itself to be pro-oxidant in the microsome system. The effects of thermal treatments such as boiling, freezing and freeze-drying were also investigated.     

Detection of pesticides in crops: A modified QuEChERS approach

The general term “pesticide” includes a large number of substances that belong to many different chemical classes. Pesticides are applied to crops at various stages of cultivation to provide protection against weeds and pests, and during post-harvest storage to preserve quality. The list of which pesticides are authorized for use in Europe is available on EU pesticides Database. The QuEChERS approach is a method designed for the analysis of pesticides in fruits and vegetables. This method is based on an extraction and clean-up step; it has been designed to be Quick Easy Cheap Effective Rugged and Safe. The aim of this study was to modify the QuEChERS method to be applied in the analysis of 9 organophosphate and 1 pyrethroid pesticides in raw materials for animal feeding introducing an additional liquid-liquid partition step. This additional step allowed us to concentrate the samples, avoiding any solvent evaporation, prior to the instrumental analysis. Once the method was optimized, it was carried out a pesticides quantization study using a GC-MS SIM multi-residue analysis. 45 samples of maize and soy coming from Northern Italy (Piedmont Region) were analysed during ten months. In 30 samples organophosphate pesticides were found up to 12.4 mg kg⁻¹ of Chlorpyrifos, while no Deltamethrin was detected.     

Detection of animal-derived proteins in feedstuffs in Italy: a reproducibility study

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a prion disease of ruminants that was first recognized in 1986 in the United Kingdom. Early in the epidemic, it became obvious that the presence of meat and bone meal in feed rations was a common factor in all bovine spongiform encephalopathy cases. The first ban of derived animal proteins in feed was enforced in Europe in 1994 and implemented by Regulation 999/2001 that prohibited the feeding of animal-derived protein to farm animals. The only official method currently accepted by the European Union Commission for test for the presence of animal-derived proteins in feedstuffs is feed microscopy. In Italy, monitoring of feedstuff safety is provided by both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture. The quality of official control, usually assessed by verifying the reproducibility and the accuracy of the testing method, is of fundamental importance for all laboratories and institutions using these results for comparative purposes. The aims of this study were to assess the reproducibility of the official method over all the Italian surveillance network and to provide a model for evaluating the performance of the monitoring system. The accuracy of the identification of the animal class of derived protein detected (avian, mammalian, or aquatic organism) was assessed. The interlaboratory agreement within the overall network reached 0.97 (95% confidence interval of 0.95 to 0.98) for determining the presence or absence of animal-derived proteins (e.g., for mammalian, avian, or aquatic species), and specificity of the identification of the animal class indicated that fish proteins are more easily recognized than are avian or mammalian proteins.     

The Role of Epigenetics in Neuroinflammatory-Driven Diseases

Neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by the progressive loss of central and/or peripheral nervous system neurons. Within this context, neuroinflammation comes up as one of the main factors linked to neurodegeneration progression. In fact, neuroinflammation has been recognized as an outstanding factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Interestingly, neuroinflammatory diseases are characterized by dramatic changes in the epigenetic profile, which might provide novel prognostic and therapeutic factors towards neuroinflammatory treatment. Deep changes in DNA and histone methylation, along with histone acetylation and altered non-coding RNA expression, have been reported at the onset of inflammatory diseases. The aim of this work is to review the current knowledge on this field.     

IGFBP-6: At the Crossroads of Immunity,Tissue Repair and Fibrosis

Insulin-like growth factors binding protein-6 (IGFBP-6) is involved in a relevant number of cellular activities and represents an important factor in the immune response, particularly in human dendritic cells (DCs). Over the past several years, significant insights into the IGF-independent effects of IGFBP-6 were discovered, such as the induction of chemotaxis, capacity to increase oxidative burst and neutrophils degranulation, ability to induce metabolic changes in DCs, and, more recently, the regulation of the Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathway during fibrosis. IGFBP-6 has been implicated in different human diseases, and it plays a rather controversial role in the biology of tumors. Notably, well established relationships between immunity, stroma activity, and fibrosis are prognostic and predictive of response to cancer immunotherapy. This review aims at describing the current understanding of mechanisms that link IGFBP-6 and fibrosis development and at highlighting the multiple roles of IGFBP-6 to provide an insight into evolutionarily conserved mechanisms that can be relevant for inflammation, tumor immunity, and immunological diseases.     

Pirelli ＆ C.房地产公司总部大楼

Pirelli＆C，房地产公司总部的新大楼位于米兰东北角韵Bilcocca新区，是该区一座新的标志性建筑。它矗立在Pirelli公司拥有的750.000m^2的广阔土地上。     

Lactate Rewrites the Metabolic Reprogramming of Uveal Melanoma Cells and Induces Quiescence Phenotype

Uveal melanoma (UM), the most common primary intraocular cancer in adults, is among the tumors with poorer prognosis. Recently, the role of the oncometabolite lactate has become attractive due to its role as hydroxycarboxylic acid receptor 1 (HCAR1) activator, as an epigenetic modulator inducing lysine residues lactylation and, of course, as a glycolysis end-product, bridging the gap between glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. The aim of the present study was to dissect in UM cell line (92.1) the role of lactate as either a metabolite or a signaling molecule, using the known modulators of HCAR1 and of lactate transporters. Our results show that lactate (20 mM) resulted in a significant decrease in cell proliferation and migration, acting and switching cell metabolism toward oxidative phosphorylation. These results were coupled with increased euchromatin content and quiescence in UM cells. We further showed, in a clinical setting, that an increase in lactate transporters MCT4 and HCAR1 is associated with a spindle-shape histological type in UM. In conclusion, our results suggest that lactate metabolism may serve as a prognostic marker of UM progression and may be exploited as a potential therapeutic target.