Germline mutations of the tumour suppressor gene BRCA1 are involved in the predisposition and development of breast cancer and account for 20 -45% of all hereditary cases. There is an increasing evidence that these tumours are characterised by a specific phenotype and pattern of gene expression. We have hypothesised that differences in chemosensitivity might parallel molecular heterogeneity of hereditary and sporadic breast tumours. To this end, we have investigated the chemosensitivity of the BRCA1-defective HCC1937 breast cancer cell line, and the BRCA1-competent MCF-7 (hormone-sensitive) and MDA-MB231 (hormoneinsensitive) breast cancer cell lines using the MTT assay. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) for the individual compounds were derived by interpolate plot analysis of the logarithmic scalar concentration curve after a 48 h exposure. HCC1937 cells were significantly (Po0.005) more sensitive to cisplatin (CDDP) (IC 50 : 30-40 mM) compared with MCF-7 (IC 50 : 60-70 mM) and MDA-MB231 (IC 50 : 90 -100 mM) cells. On the other hand, BRCA1-defective breast cancer cells were significantly less sensitive to doxorubicin (Dox) (IC 50 : 45-50 mM) compared with MCF-7 (IC 50 : 1-5 mM) and MDA-MB231 (IC 50 : 5-10 mM) (Po0.02), as well as to paclitaxel (Tax) (IC 50 : 42 mM for HCC1937, 0.1 -0.2 mM for MCF-7 and 0.01 -0.02 mM for MDA-MB231) (Po0.001). Full-length BRCA1 cDNA transfection of BRCA1-defective HCC1937 cells led to the reconstituted expression of BRCA1 protein in HCC1937/ WT BRCA1-derived cell clone, but did not reduce tumour cell growth in soft agar. BRCA1 reconstitution reverted the hypersensitivity to CDDP (Po0.02), and restored the sensitivity to Dox (Po0.05) and Tax (Po0.001), compared with parental HCC1937 cells. Taken together, our findings suggest a specific chemosensitivity profile of BRCA1-defective cells in vitro, which is dependent on BRCA1 protein expression, and suggest prospective preclinical and clinical investigation for the development of tailored therapeutical approaches in this setting.

Ferroptosis is a new type of oxidative regulated cell death (RCD) driven by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. As major sites of iron utilization and master regulators of oxidative metabolism, mitochondria are the main source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and, thus, play a role in this type of RCD. Ferroptosis is, indeed, associated with severe damage in mitochondrial morphology, bioenergetics, and metabolism. Furthermore, dysregulation of mitochondrial metabolism is considered a biochemical feature of neurodegenerative diseases linked to ferroptosis. Whether mitochondrial dysfunction can, per se, initiate ferroptosis and whether mitochondrial function in ferroptosis is context-dependent are still under debate. Cancer cells accumulate high levels of iron and ROS to promote their metabolic activity and growth. Of note, cancer cell metabolic rewiring is often associated with acquired sensitivity to ferroptosis. This strongly suggests that ferroptosis may act as an adaptive response to metabolic imbalance and, thus, may constitute a new promising way to eradicate malignant cells. Here, we review the current literature on the role of mitochondria in ferroptosis, and we discuss opportunities to potentially use mitochondria-mediated ferroptosis as a new strategy for cancer therapy.

The serum- and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase (Sgk1) is essential for hormonal regulation of epithelial sodium channel-mediated sodium transport and is involved in the transduction of growth factor-dependent cell survival and proliferation signals. Growing evidence now points to Sgk1 as a key element in the development and/or progression of human cancer. To gain insight into the mechanisms through which Sgk1 regulates cell proliferation, we adopted a proteomic approach to identify up- or downregulated proteins after Sgk1-specific RNA silencing. Among several proteins, the abundance of which was found to be up- or downregulated upon Sgk1 silencing, we focused our attention of RAN-binding protein 1 (RANBP1), a major effector of the GTPase RAN. We report that Sgk1-dependent regulation of RANBP1 has functional consequences on both mitotic microtubule activity and taxol sensitivity of cancer cells.

Since December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread from China all over the world and many COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported in long-term care facilities (LCTF). However, data on clinical characteristics and prognostic factors in such settings are scarce. We conducted a retrospective, observational cohort study to assess clinical characteristics and baseline predictors of mortality of COVID-19 patients hospitalized after an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a LTCF. A total of 50 patients were included. Mean age was 80 years (SD, 12 years), and 24/50 (57.1%) patients were males. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 32%. At Cox regression analysis, significant predictors of in-hospital mortality were: hypernatremia (HR 9.12), lymphocyte count < 1000 cells/µL (HR 7.45), cardiovascular diseases other than hypertension (HR 6.41), and higher levels of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6, pg/mL) (HR 1.005). Our study shows a high in-hospital mortality rate in a cohort of elderly patients with COVID-19 and hypernatremia, lymphopenia, CVD other than hypertension, and higher IL-6 serum levels were identified as independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Given the small population size as major limitation of our study, further investigations are necessary to better understand and confirm our findings in elderly patients.

We report that the heterotrimeric transcription factor NFY or "CAAT-binding factor" binds the ؊60 region of the human H ferritin promoter, the B site. DNA binding analysis with specific antibodies demonstrates that NFY/B/C subunits tightly bind this site and that NFY/C subunit is masked in vivo by binding with other protein(s). NFY binds the co-activator p300. Specifically, the NFY/B subunit interacts with the central segment of p300 in vivo and in vitro. cAMP substantially increases the formation of the NFY⅐p300 complex. Taken together these data provide a general model of cAMP induction of non-CRE-containing promoters and suggest that the NFY-B⅐p300 complex is located at the 5 end of the promoter and the NFY-B⅐C⅐TFIIB on the 3 end toward the transcription start site.