University of Florence

About: University of Florence is a education organization based out in Florence, Toscana, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Carbonic anhydrase. The organization has 27292 authors who have published 79599 publications receiving 2341684 citations. The organization is also known as: Università degli studi di Firenze & Universita degli studi di Firenze.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts and M2-polarized macrophages synergize during prostate carcinoma progression.

Abstract: Inflammation is now acknowledged as an hallmark of cancer. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) force a malignant cross talk with cancer cells, culminating in their epithelial-mesenchymal transition and achievement of stemness traits. Herein, we demonstrate that stromal tumor-associated cells cooperate to favor malignancy of prostate carcinoma (PCa). Indeed, prostate CAFs are active factors of monocyte recruitment toward tumor cells, mainly acting through stromal-derived growth factor-1 delivery and promote their trans-differentiation toward the M2 macrophage phenotype. The relationship between M2 macrophages and CAFs is reciprocal, as M2 macrophages are able to affect mesenchymal-mesenchymal transition of fibroblasts, leading to their enhanced reactivity. On the other side, PCa cells themselves participate in this cross talk through secretion of monocyte chemotactic protein-1, facilitating monocyte recruitment and again macrophage differentiation and M2 polarization. Finally, this complex interplay among cancer cells, CAFs and M2 macrophages, cooperates in increasing tumor cell motility, ultimately fostering cancer cells escaping from primary tumor and metastatic spread, as well as in activation of endothelial cells and their bone marrow-derived precursors to drive de novo angiogenesis. In keeping with our data obtained in vitro, the analysis of patients affected by prostate cancers at different clinical stages revealed a clear increase in the M2/M1 ratio in correlation with clinical values. These data, coupled with the role of CAFs in carcinoma malignancy to elicit expression of stem-like traits, should focus great interest for innovative strategies aimed at the co-targeting of inflammatory cells and fibroblasts to improve therapeutic efficacy.

Aponecrosis: morphological and biochemical exploration of a syncretic process of cell death sharing apoptosis and necrosis.

Abstract: A rat fibroblastic cell line (rat-1/myc-ER™) was treated with different concentration of Antimycin A, a metabolic poison that affects mitochondrial respiratory chain complex III. The modes of cell death were analyzed by time-lapse videomicroscopy, in situ end-labeling (ISEL) technique, and ultrastructural analysis. Intracellular ATP levels were also measured in order to detect whether the energetic stores were determinant for the type of cell death. It was found that while apoptosis was the prevalent cell death in the fibroblasts treated with low doses, 100 or 200 μM Antimycin A, a new type of cell demise that shared dynamic, molecular, and morphological features with both apoptosis and necrosis represents the most common cell death when the cells were exposed to high doses, 300 or 400 μM, of the hypoxic stimulus. This new type of cell death has been chimerically termed aponecrosis. The inhibition of caspase 3, an enzyme critical for the apoptotic DNA degradation, caused a clear shift from aponecrosis to necrosis in the cell culture, suggesting that this new type of cell death could account for an incomplete execution of the apoptotic program and the following degeneration in necrosis. After being treated with higher doses, i.e., 1000 μM Antimycin A, almost all of the cells died by true necrosis. The analysis of the cellular energetic stores showed that the levels of ATP were a primary determinant in directing toward active cell death (apoptosis), aponecrosis, or necrosis. We conclude that chemically induced hypoxia produces different types of cell death depending on the intensity of the insult and on the ATP availability of the cell, and that the classic apoptosis and necrosis may represent only two extremes of a continuum of intermediate forms of cell demise. J. Cell. Physiol. 182:41–49, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Polarization diversity in radars

Abstract: Polarization, together with the amplitude, time, frequency, phase, and bearing descriptors of radar signals, completes the information which can be obtained on target returns in monostatic radars. The exploitation of information on the echo polarization state through polarimetric radars is currently a subject of interest, due to theoretical and technological advances, as well as to the development of new radar applications. Many polarization techniques, which have been proposed and analyzed to enhance radar performance, are reviewed in this paper in order to assess the possible improvement they can provide in the signal-to-disturbance ratio, target detectability, target discrimination and resolution, and target classification and identification. Some recent experimentally based results relating to these applications are also presented. Those techniques are emphasized for which polarization-based capabilities appear sufficiently assessed, such as adaptive polarization cancellation of clutter, chaff, and jamming. Polarization Doppler processing of dual-polarization radar signals, meteorologic applications, and polarization adaptation for target detection in the clear (in free space) are also examined.