Ricerc@Sapienza

Estrogen and hypoxia promote an aggressive phenotype in prostate cancer (PCa), driving transcription of progression-associated genes. Here, we molecularly dissect the contribution of long non-coding RNA H19 to PCa metastatic potential under combined stimuli, a topic largely uncovered. The effects of estrogen and hypoxia on H19 and cell adhesion molecules' expression were investigated in PCa cells and PCa-derived organotypic slice cultures (OSCs) by qPCR and Western blot. The molecular mechanism was addressed by chromatin immunoprecipitations, overexpression, and silencing assays.

During the past decades, several discoveries have established the role of epigenetic modifications and cellularmicroenvironment in tumor growth and progression. One of the main representatives concerning epigenetic modification is the polycomb group (PcG). It is composed of different highly conserved epigenetic effector proteins preserving, through several post-translational modifications of histones, the silenced state of the genes implicated in a wide range of central biological events such as development, stem cell formation, and tumor progression.

Study Objectives Sleep is altered at high altitude leading many mountaineers to use hypnotics in order to improve sleep efficiency. While after a full night at altitude the short-acting hypnotic zolpidem does not appear to alter cognitive function, residual adverse effects should be considered following early waking-up as performed by mountaineers. We hypothesized that zolpidem intake at high altitude would alter cognitive function 4 hours after drug intake.