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In the last years public and scientific debate about the reduction of CO2 and polluting emissions has intensified and the importance of renewable energies and fuel has increased. Scientific researches on the economic possibility to use wood and biomass to obtain electric and thermal energy has shown contrasting results. Jatropha curcas is a multipurpose plant with many attributes and considerable potential . This species is considered of a great interest for plant oil production purposes in the last years, also for its ability to grow on ‘marginal lands’, not suitable for food crops. In these conditions, prohibitive for other species, it may be also utilized to prevent and/or control soil erosion and to reclaim abandoned lands because of its widespread root apparatus development. This approach requires strategic and spatial planning for the land use. The present study shows preliminary results froma research project, funded by the Calabria Region, aimed to promote the cultivation of Jatropha in Calabrian marginal areas, for agriculture and bioenergy purposes. Several experimental fields with Jatropha plants, performed last winter in Calabria, produced positive results, and first processes for biodiesel extraction have been started. In conclusion, the considerable potential of this plant, the low input requirements and its lower CO 2 footprint in comparison with other oil-bearing crops, as well as the ability to prevent soil erosion problems, are the main advantages and the main reasons to promote J. curcas L. cultivation in Calabrian marginal soils.

Concerns about climate change and food productivity have spurred interest in biochar, a form of charred organic material, typically applied in agriculture to improve soil productivity and as mean of carbon sequestration. An innovative approach in agriculture is the use of agro-industrial waste for the production of soil fertilizers for agricultural purposes and as a source of energy. A common agricultural practice is to burn crop residues in the field to produce ashes that can be used as soil fertilizers. This approach is able to supply plants with certain nutrients such as Ca, Na, K, Mg, B, S and Mo. However the lack of N and P in the ashes, together with the occasional presence of heavy metals (Ni, Pb, Cd, Se, Al, etc.), has a negative effect on soil and therefore crop productivity. This work describes the opportunity to create an innovative supply chain from agricultural waste biomass. Olive ( Olea europaea L.) and hazelnut ( Corylus avellana L.) pruning residues represent a major component of biomass waste in the area of Viterbo (Italy). In this study, we evaluated the production of biochar from these residues. Furthermore, a physico-chemical characterization of the produced biochar was performed to assess the quality of the two biochars according to the standards of the European Biochar Certificate (EBC). The results of this study indicate the cost-effective production of high- quality biochars from olive and hazelnuts biomass residues.

The systemic efficacy of the chemotherapeutic agents presently used to treat solid tumors is limited by their low therapeutic index. Previously, our research group improved the in vitro antitumoral activity of gemcitabine, an anticancer agent rapidly deaminated to the inactive metabolite 2',2'-difluorodeoxyuridine, entrapping it into unilamellar pegylated liposomes made up of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-snglycero-3-phosphocholine monohydrate/cholesterol/N-(carbonyl-methoxypolyethylene glycol-2000)-1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (6:3:1 molar ratio). In this work, we investigated the in vivo efficiency of the gemcitabine liposomal formulation (5mg/kg) with respect to the antitumoral commercial product GEMZAR (50mg/kg) on an anaplastic thyroid carcinoma xenograft model obtaining similar effects in terms of inhibition of tumor mass proliferation after 4weeks of treatment. The investigation of the carrier biodistribution and the drug pharmacokinetic profile furnished the rationalization of the efficacy of the vesicular system containing the active compound 10-fold less concentrated; in fact, liposomes promoted the concentration of the drug inside the tumor and they increased its plasmatic half-life. In addition, no signs of blood toxicity were observed when vesicular devices of effective doses of the drug were used.

The transcription factor Hex is expressed in the thyroid follicular cells (TFC) and in several other cell types. In TFC, Hex contributes to the control of the tissue-specific gene expression. By means of RT-PCR assays we found a correlation between the Hex and Pax8 (a different tissue-specific transcription factor, expressed in TFC) mRNA levels in normal and neoplastic thyroid tissues. This finding suggested the presence of a functional correlation between the two transcription factors. Therefore, we tested whether Pax8 regulates the transcriptional activity of Hex promoter. Indeed, by using cotransfection experiments in non-thyroidal cells, we show that increasing doses of Pax8 expression vector elicited a dose-dependent increase of the transcriptional activity of Hex promoter. Accordingly, gel-retardation assays indicated that in the Hex promoter are present several Pax8 binding sites. The Pax8 activating effect on Hex promoter was further increased by the contemporary presence of Hex protein. In fact, cotransfection of both Hex and Pax8 expression vectors doubled the transcriptional activity of Hex promoter with respect to the condition in which the Pax8 expression vector only was transfected. In addition, we show that also the transcriptional cofactor APE/Ref-1 cooperated with Pax8 for upregulation of Hex promoter activity. These findings, together with other published data, suggest that a network of functional interactions between transcriptional regulators is present in TFC.

Hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules are characterized by the presence of spontaneous somatic mutations responsible for constitutive activation of the cAMP pathway. However, alterations affecting other elements of the cAMP signaling system may counteract the effects of the mutations. In this study, the expression of the adenylyl cyclase (AC) types III and VI was investigated by Western blot in 18 hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules; in 12 samples, we also assessed the presence of TSH receptor (TSHR) or gsp mutations and levels of AC VI and III mRNA. We found that the expression of nodular AC VI (but not AC III) was significantly lower (85.1% of normal, P=0.014) than the expression of both adenylyl cycles types of perinodular tissue from the same patients. Slightly, but not significant differences were detected in nodules with or without mutations and AC protein levels generally showed correlation with the levels of the transcripts detected by RT-PCR. In addition, AC III and AC VI expression levels within a given nodule were characterized by a significant positive correlation. These findings indicate that a diminished expression of AC type VI may be part of the mechanisms occurring in the hyperfunctioning nodules, independently of the presence of TSHR or gsp mutations, which influence the resulting phenotype.

Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease APE/Ref-1 is a multifunctional protein provided with DNA repair, transcription-factor regulation and anti-apoptotic activities. We have previously reported that, in thyroid cells, TSH regulates both the synthesis and nuclear translocation of APE/Ref-1. We have also shown that nuclear levels of this protein are reduced both in thyroid carcinoma tissues and cell lines. In the present study, APE/Ref-1 expression and cellular localization were analysed by Western blot in hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules from patients with toxic adenoma and/or toxic multinodular goiter. The total content of APE/Ref-1 protein was increased in the majority of the hyperfunctioning tissues with respect to normal adjacent tissue. There was also an increase in the nuclear levels of APE/Ref-1, suggesting enhanced cytoplasm-to-nucleus translocation of the protein in addition to its increased rate of synthesis. These results demonstrate that the phenomenon of nuclear translocation of APE/Ref-1 hypothesized on the basis of cell culture experiments does actually occur in vivo. Together with previous observations in thyroid carcinomas and tumoral cell lines, our findings suggest a two-stage model of APE/Ref-1 behaviour during malignant thyrocyte transformation: an early stage characterized by simple hyperplasia and upregulation of APE/Ref-1 in the nuclear compartment of the cell and a later stage in which nuclear levels of the protein drop to below-normal levels as the cell becomes progressively undifferentiated.

Our previous studies involving chimeric thyrotropin-lutropin/choriogonadotropin (TSH-LH/CG) receptors suggest that multiple segments spanning the entire extracellular domain of the human TSH receptor contribute to the TSH binding site. Nevertheless, the mid-region (segment C, amino acid residues 171-260) of the receptor extracellular domain is particularly important in TSH binding. In the present studies, we constructed seven new chimeric receptors in order to analyze segment C in further detail. Seven small segments spanning segment C of the TSH receptor were replaced with the counterpart of the rat LH/CG receptor. These mutant receptors were stably introduced into Chinese hamster ovary cells and were tested for hormone binding and cAMP responsiveness to hormone stimulation. The results indicate that 11 amino acids of the TSH receptor (Lys-201 to Lys-211) and the corresponding region of the LH/CG receptor (Thr-202 to Ile-212) are important for specific TSH and human CG binding, respectively. In addition, nine amino acids of the TSH receptor (Gly-222 to Leu-230) are also involved in TSH binding. A further conclusion from these data is that TSH and human CG bind to partially overlapping sites on their respective receptor molecules.

Background Natural extracts from various citrus species have shown promising antitumour effects. In this study we evaluated the effects of the flavonoid fraction of Citrus reticulata (mandarin) juice (FFMJ) on both proliferation and migration of three human anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) cell lines. Methods FFMJ was analysed by uHPLC to elucidate its components. Findings Treatment of CAL-62, C-643, and 8505C cells with rising concentrations of FFMJ significantly reduced cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent and time-dependent manner, with maximal effect elicited at 0.5 mg/ml concentration after 48 h of incubation. Moreover, cytofluorimetric analysis showed a block of the cell cycle in the G2/M phase, accompanied by low cell mortality resulting from autophagic death. Furthermore, FFMJ inhibited migration of ATC cells and was associated with decreased activity of the metalloproteinase MMP-2. Interpretation These finding demonstrate that FFMJ exerts antiproliferative effects on ATC cells together with reducing their migration properties, suggesting a promising role in the prevention or treatment of thyroid cancer.