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C Serna

Publications and source records attributed to C Serna.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Differential pulse voltammetry and additive differential pulse voltammetry with solvent polymeric membrane ion sensors.

The ion transfer across the water-solvent polymeric membrane interface is investigated by using a new device based on a modification of a commercial ion-selective electrode body that permits the accommodation of a platinum counter electrode inside the inner filling solution compartment and, therefore, use of a four-electrode potentiostat with ohmic drop compensation. This device is used here to apply two different double potential pulse techniques--differential pulse voltammetry and additive differential pulse voltammetry--which are more advantageous than other voltammetric techniques, such as normal pulse voltammetry or cyclic voltammetry, for the determination of the characteristic electrochemical parameters of the system. This is due to the concurrence of two factors in these double potential pulse techniques, the peak-shaped response together with a considerable reduction of undesirable current contributions.

Ions↗

The fate of pancreatic tumor cell lines following p16 overexpression depends on the modulation of CDK2 activity.

Restitution of lost tumor-suppressor activities may be a promising strategy to target specifically cancer cells. However, the action of ectopically expressed tumor-suppressor genes depends on genetic background of tumoral cells. Ectopic expression of p16(INK4a) induces either cell cycle arrest or apoptosis in different pancreatic cancer cell lines. We examined the molecular mechanisms mediating these two different cellular responses to p16 overexpression. Ectopic expression of p16 leads to G1 arrest in NP-9 cells by redistributing p21/p27 CKIs and inhibiting cyclin-dependent kinase CDK2 activity. In contrast, in NP-18 cells cyclin E (CycE)/CDK2 activity is significantly higher and is not downregulated by p16-mediated redistribution of p21/p27. Moreover, inhibition of CDK4 activity with fascaplysine, which does not affect CycE/CDK2 activity, reduces pocket protein phosphorylation in both cell lines, but fails to induce growth arrest. Like overexpression of p16, fascaplysine induces apoptosis in NP-18 cells, suggesting that inhibition of D-type cyclin/CDK activity in cells with high levels of CycE/CDK2 activity activates an apoptotic pathway. Inhibition of CycE/CDK2 activity via ectopic expression of p21 in NP-18 cells overexpressing p16 induces growth arrest and prevents p16-mediated apoptosis. Accordingly, silencing of p21 expression by using small interfering RNA switches the fate of p16-expressing NP-9 cells from cell cycle arrest to apoptosis. Our data suggest that, after CDK4/6 inactivation, the fate of pancreatic tumor cells depends on the ability to modulate CDK2 activity.

Adenocarcinoma↗