Induction of a 70,000 dalton protein in hypertrophic rat heart

Summary Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis analysis of the product of in vitro translation of polyadenylated RNAs extracted from rat heart rendered hypertrophic by aortic constriction, shows a new protein species not present in the map of control hearts. The same is also obtained when hypertrophy is induced by treatment with thyroxine.     

Structure activity relationships of compounds able to suppress the antipolio action of guanidine

Riassunto L'inibizione da parte della guanidina sulla crescita del virus polio può essere antagonizzata da aminoacidi e amino-alcoli. Viene definita la struttura responsabile dell'effetto antiguanidinico negli amino-acidi attivi. Una struttura simile è presente anche negli amino-alcoli attivi. I risultati ottenuti suggeriscono che i composti antiguanidinici interagiscono con la molecola guanidinica sottraendola dai recettori connessi con l'effetto antivirale.

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This work was supported by the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Roma.     

Thiamine transport by human intestine in vitro

Summary Surgical specimens of human gastrointestinal mucosa and muscle were incubated in vitro with thiaminethiazole-2-¹⁴C. Labelled thiamine uptake was uphill in mucosal tissues and downhill in muscle. Small intestinal mucosa accumulated labelled thiamine in a phosphorylated form, while gastric and colonic mucosa, as well as muscular layers of all gastrointestinal segments studied, did not.This work was supported in part by a grant from the Italian Research Council, Rome, Italy.     

Paraensine,a new indolopyridoquinazoline alkaloid fromEuxylophora paraënsis Hub.

Riassunto Dalla corteccia dellaEuxylophora paraënsis Hub. viene isolata la paraensina (I) che si rivela essere il primo alcaloide di tipo indolopiridochinazolinico a contenere una unità isoprenica.

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Acknowledgments. The authors thank Prof.L. Canonica for his interest in the work. Thanks are also due to Dr.G. Severini Ricca for the NMR-spectra, and to Dr.T. Salvatori for mass spectra.     

TNF-α modulates the migratory response of mesenchymal stem cells to TRAIL

The number of circulating mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), analyzed after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), was lower in AMI patients who developed heart failure (HF) in the follow-up. Conversely, the circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and osteoprotegerin (OPG) were higher in AMI patients who developed HF with respect to the patients who did not develop HF. In vitro exposure to TNF-α enhanced the migration of MSC in response to TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and significantly increased the release of OPG by endothelial cells. On the contrary, OPG dose-dependently neutralized the in vitro pro-migratory activity of TRAIL. Thus, TNF-α exhibits opposite effects on MSC migration driven by TRAIL: it is capable of potentiating MSC migration as well as of inhibiting MSC migration as an indirect consequence of OPG induction, which might result in a suboptimal recruitment of circulating MSC after AMI in those patients who develop HF in the follow-up.