Involvement of transcribed lncRNA uc.291 in hyperproliferative skin disorders

The uc.291 transcript controls keratinocytes differentiation by physical interaction with ACTL6A and subsequent induction of transcription of the genes belonging to the epidermal differentiation complex (EDC). Uc.291 is also implicated in the dedifferentiation phenotype seen in poorly differentiated cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas. Here, we would like to investigate the contribution of uc.291 to the unbalanced differentiation state of keratinocytes observed in hyperproliferative skin disorders, e. g., psoriasis. Psoriasis is a multifactorial inflammatory disease, caused by alteration of keratinocytes homeostasis. The imbalanced differentiation state, triggered by the infiltration of immune cells, represents one of the events responsible for this pathology. In the present work, we explore the role of uc.291 and its interactor ACTL6A in psoriasis skin, using quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), immunohistochemistry and bioinformatic analysis of publicly available datasets. Our data suggest that the expression of the uc.291 and of EDC genes loricrin and filaggrin (LOR, FLG) is reduced in lesional skin compared to nonlesional skin of psoriatic patients; conversely, the mRNA and protein level of ACTL6A are up-regulated. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the expression of uc.291, FLG and LOR is reduced, while ACTL6A mRNA is up-regulated, in an in vitro psoriasis-like model obtained by treating differentiated keratinocytes with interleukin 22 (IL-22). Furthermore, analysis of a publicly available dataset of human epidermal keratinocytes treated with IL-22 (GSE7216) confirmed our in vitro results. Taken together, our data reveal a novel role of uc.291 and its functional axis with ACTL6A in psoriasis disorder and a proof of concept that biological inhibition of this molecular axis could have a potential pharmacological effect against psoriasis and, in general, in skin diseases with a suppressed differentiation programme.

Neuroelectrical source imaging of mu rhythm control for BCI applications

In the last decade, the possibility to noninvasively estimate cortical activity has been highlighted by the application of the techniques known as high resolution EEG. These techniques include a subject's multi-compartment head model (scalp, skull, dura mater, cortex) constructed from individual magnetic resonance images, multi-dipole source model, and regularized linear inverse source estimates of cortical current density. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the use of cortical activity estimated from noninvasive EEG recordings of motor imagery is useful in the context of a brain computer interface as compared with others scalp spatial filters usually used on-line.

Lipiarmycin, a new antibiotic from Actinoplanes III. Mechanism of action

In vivo, at low concentrations (less than or equal to 1 mug/ml), the antibiotic lipiarmycin specifically inhibits RNA synthesis in Bacillus subtilis. At a much higher concentration (100 mug/ml), syntheses of other macromolecules such as DNA and protein also appear to be suppressed. In vitro, the antibiotic caused 50% inhibition of DNA-dependent RNA-polymerase from B. subtilis at a concentration of 0.6 mug/ml and of that E. coli at 5 approximately 8 mug/ml. The activity of Escherichia coli DNA-polymerase I is inhibited 50% at 55 approximately 65 mug/ml. Lipiarmycin prevent ribonucleoside triphosphate polymerization only if added prior to the association between RNA-polymerase and DNA, and does not affect the elongation rate of RNA chains at concentrations up to 100 mug/ml. At that concentration, however, the antibiotic immediately blocks the polymerization of deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates catalyzed by DNA-polymerase I.