A new MRI parameter representative of active tumor burden, the diffusion volume (DV), is proposed in the evaluation of histological grade (G1/G2/G3) and risk classification (low/medium/high-risk) of patients with cervical and endometrial cancer. DV is defined as the sum of the voxels within a tumor with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values enclosed in a specific range and associated to higher cellular density. A semi-automated segmentation procedure was used to calculate the DV. A ...

The feasibility and sensitivity of the TSPO radiotracer 18F-DPA-714 for the study of microglial activation in the brain and spinal cord of transgenic SOD1G93A mice, a model of ALS, was evaluated using high-resolution PET/CT and immunohistochemistry. The results showed that a significant increase in 18F-DPA-714 uptake can be measured with high-resolution PET/CT in the brainstem of symptomatic SOD1G93A mice as compared to WT SOD1 mice. Moreover, immunostaining revealed that TSPO expression was ...

Innovative results in the Biostructure Section have been achieved during the year 2003 in the field of modified oligonucleotides. The PNAs are DNA analogues in which the sugar-phosphate backbone has been substituted by an aminoethylglycine; thanks to their ability to tightly bind complementary DNA and RNA and to their high resistance to enzymes they have been widely used as antisense and antigene molecules. It has been demonstrated that PNA do not bind transcription factors because of their ...

Innovative results in the Biostructure Section have been achieved during the year 2002 in the structural study of the ribosome, the complex machinery which is responsible for protein biosynthesis in cells. The determination of the ribosome structure allows gathering of information on its mechanisms of action and inhibition. In this framework, researchers of the Institute of Biostructure and Bioimaging, in collaboration with Max Planck Institut (Hamburg, Germany) and Weizmann Institute ...