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Opis: Mature MGP (Matrix g-carboxyglutamic acid protein) is known to inhibit soft connective tissues calcification. We investigated its possible involvement in pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), a genetic disorder whose clinical manifestations are due to mineralization of elastic fibers. PXE patients have lower serum concentration of total MGP compared to controls (Po0.001). Antibodies specific for the noncarboxylated (Glu-MGP) and for the g-carboxylated (Gla-MGP) forms of MGP were assayed on ultrathin sections of dermis from controls and PXE patients. Normal elastic fibers in controls and patients were slightly positive for both forms of MGP, whereas Gla-MGP was more abundant within control’s than within patient’s elastic fibers (Po0.001). In patients’ calcified elastic fibers, Glu-MGP intensively colocalized with mineral precipitates, whereas Gla-MGP precisely localized at the mineralization front. Data suggest that MGP is present within elastic fibers and is associated with calcification of dermal elastic fibers in PXE.
Ključne besede: calcification, dermal fibroblast, elastic fiber, human skin, MGP, pseudoxanthoma elasticum
Objavljeno v RUNG: 22.07.2019; Ogledov: 3289; Prenosov: 0
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Opis: The need of wood for building and heating, the extensive grazing and population growth in the 18th and 19th centuries led to turning the Karst area in Slovenia into a bare land. In the 19th century organised reforestation started which was successfully performed with Black pine (Pinus nigra J. F. Arnold). Later on, the reforestation was replaced by the process of spontaneous afforestation. The successfulness of reforestation with Black pine also made it possible for the native tree species to grow. The abandoning of the use of agricultural land also contributes to the spontaneous afforestation. In this project we determined the changes in forest cover through time. We used aerial photographs from the years 1957, 1975, 1985 and 2015. By drawing polygons on the maps in the QGIS programme on the areas that are covered with forests, are overgrown or are used for agricultural purpose we compared the areas from the maps of different years. We found out that the area covered with forest had increased by more than 50 % from the year 1957 to 2015. The increase in the area of forest cover due to afforestation provides new habitats for fauna and flora to live in.
Ključne besede: Karst, afforestation, new habitat, Black pine, human impact
Objavljeno v RUNG: 07.11.2017; Ogledov: 4991; Prenosov: 0
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Opis: Objectives: We have shown that age and pathology impair the biological properties of stem cells isolated from human hearts (CSC) and functional assays showed differences between CSC isolated from normal (DCSC) and end-stage failing (ECSC) hearts. As alterations of mechanical properties of the myocardium, such as stiffening and increased wall stress, are crucial features of cardiac remodeling, this work addresses the biological effects exerted on CSC by mechanical stimuli. Materials and methods: DCSC and ECSC were cultured under defined conditions to mimic specific features of the pathologic condition: increased mechanical loading (up to 15%, cyclic at 1 Hz), differential substrate stiffness (ranging from 1 to 231 kPa), differential cell densities. After 24, 48 and 72 h, cells were fixed and stained for analysis of proliferation and subcellular localization of YAP or lysed for RT-PCR analysis.Results: Cyclic stretch was significantly associated with both increased proliferation of DCSC (n = 6, p<0.0001) and ECSC (n = 4, p = 0.003), and with a significant reduction of nuclear localized YAP (nYAP) as a function of time (p<0.05). However, while significant correlation between cell density and decreased nYAP (p = 0.003, r2 = 0.37) characterized ECSC, this was not evident for unstretched DCSC, suggesting a less stringent regulation of contact inhibition in DCSC. These data were further confirmed by seeding cells at differential density. As opposed to what previously shown for epithelial cell lines, DCSC did not reduce nYAP positivity as a function of cell density, when grown in serum containing medium, suggesting that soluble factors present in the serum could maintain the nuclear localization of YAP, independently from the cell density. In line, serum significantly increased the nYAP expressing cells in DCSC, while a significant positive correlation between cell density and nYAP positivity can be demonstrated in DCSC cultured in serum free medium. RT-PCR for YAP-regulated targets confirmed immuno- fluorescence data. Furthermore, independently from the pathologic status, cyclic stretch was significantly associated with a persistent YAP signaling at high cell density. Besides, tension and assembly of cytoskeletal network, induced by increasing substrate stiffness, correlates with nYAP (p<0.05) and YAP transcriptional activation (p<0.05). Conclusions: D- and ECSC differ in their mechanosensing properties. However, in the first cell type, nYAP localization is dictated by the combined action of paracrine factors and cytoskeletal tension, thus reducing the contact inhibition effect. This finding is in line with a more primitive phenotype of SC isolated from normal hearts.
Ključne besede: Stem cells, human cardiac stem cells, mechanosensing, mechanotransduction, heart failure, YAP
Objavljeno v RUNG: 21.03.2017; Ogledov: 4316; Prenosov: 0
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