Latest PUBLICATIONS

  • EGFR activation triggers cellular hypertrophy and lysosomal disease in NAGLU-depleted cardiomyoblasts, mimicking the hallmarks of mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB.
    Publication Date: 18/01/2018, on Cell death & disease
    by De Pasquale V, Pezone A, Sarogni P, Tramontano A, Schiattarella GG, Avvedimento VE, Paladino S, Pavone LM
    DOI: 10.1038/s41419-017-0187-0

    Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) IIIB is an inherited lysosomal storage disease caused by the deficiency of the enzyme α-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAGLU) required for heparan sulfate (HS) degradation. The defective lysosomal clearance of undigested HS results in dysfunction of multiple tissues and organs. We recently demonstrated that the murine model of MPS IIIB develops cardiac disease, valvular abnormalities, and ultimately heart failure. To address the molecular mechanisms governing cardiac dysfunctions in MPS IIIB, we generated a model of the disease by silencing NAGLU gene expression in H9C2 rat cardiomyoblasts. NAGLU-depleted H9C2 exhibited accumulation of abnormal lysosomes and a hypertrophic phenotype. Furthermore, we found the specific activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and increased phosphorylation levels of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) in NAGLU-depleted H9C2. The inhibition of either EGFR or ERKs, using the selective inhibitors AG1478 and PD98059, resulted in the reduction of both lysosomal aberration and hypertrophy in NAGLU-depleted H9C2. We also found increased phosphorylation of c-Src and a reduction of the hypertrophic response in NAGLU-depleted H9C2 transfected with a dominant-negative c-Src. However, c-Src phosphorylation remained unaffected by AG1478 treatment, posing c-Src upstream EGFR activation. Finally, heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) protein was found overexpressed in our MPS IIIB cellular model, and its silencing reduced the hypertrophic response. These results indicate that both c-Src and HB-EGF contribute to the hypertrophic phenotype of NAGLU-depleted cardiomyoblasts by synergistically activating EGFR and subsequent signaling, thus suggesting that EGFR pathway inhibition could represent an effective therapeutic approach for MPS IIIB cardiac disease.

  • The betaine profile of cereal flours unveils new and uncommon betaines.
    Publication Date: 15/01/2018, on Food chemistry
    by Servillo L, D'Onofrio N, Giovane A, Casale R, Cautela D, Ferrari G, Castaldo D, Balestrieri ML
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.06.111

    We report the LC-ESI-MS/MS determination of betaines in commercial flours of cereals and pseudocereals most utilized in human nutrition. Results showed that glycine betaine, trigonelline, proline betaine, Nε-trimethyllysine were metabolites common to all examined flours, whereas an uncommon betaine, valine betaine, and glutamine betaine were present only in flours of barley, rye, oat, durum wheat, winter wheat, Triticum dicoccum and Triticum monococcum. Valine betaine and glutamine betaine, the latter never reported before in plants and animals, are not evenly distributed in the Poaceae family, but their presence or absence in flours depends on the subfamily to which the plant belongs. Interestingly, we also report for the first time the occurrence of pipecolic acid betaine (homostachydrine) and its precursor 1,2-N-methylpipecolic acid in rye flour. These two metabolites were not detected in any other cereal or pseudocereal flour, suggesting their potential role as markers of rye flour occurrence in cereal-based foods.

  • Information content of dendritic spines after motor learning.
    Publication Date: 15/01/2018, on Behavioural brain research
    by Viggiano D, Speranza L, Crispino M, Bellenchi GC, di Porzio U, Iemolo A, De Leonibus E, Volpicelli F, Perrone-Capano C
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.09.020

    Dendritic spines, small protrusions emerging from the dendrites of most excitatory synapses in the mammalian brain, are highly dynamic structures and their shape and number is continuously modulated by memory formation and other adaptive changes of the brain. In this study, using a behavioral paradigm of motor learning, we applied the non-linear analysis of dendritic spines to study spine complexity along dendrites of cortical and subcortical neural systems, such as the basal ganglia, that sustain important motor learning processes. We show that, after learning, the spine organization has greater complexity, as indexed by the maximum Lyapunov exponent (LyE). The positive value of the exponent demonstrates that the system is chaotic, while recurrence plots show that the system is not simply composed by random noise, but displays quasi-periodic behavior. The increase in the maximum LyE and in the system entropy after learning was confirmed by the modification of the reconstructed trajectories in phase-space. Our results suggest that the remodeling of spines, as a result of a chaotic and non-random dynamical process along dendrites, may be a general feature associated with the structural plasticity underlying processes such as long-term memory maintenance. Furthermore, this work indicates that the non-linear method is a very useful tool to allow the detection of subtle stimulus-induced changes in dendritic spine dynamics, giving a key contribution to the study of the relationship between structure and function of spines.

  • Effects of incretin treatment on cardiovascular outcomes in diabetic STEMI-patients with culprit obstructive and multivessel non obstructive-coronary-stenosis.
    Publication Date: 03/01/2018, on Diabetology & metabolic syndrome
    by Marfella R, Sardu C, Balestrieri ML, Siniscalchi M, Minicucci F, Signoriello G, Calabrò P, Mauro C, Pieretti G, Coppola A, Nicoletti G, Rizzo MR, Paolisso G, Barbieri M
    DOI: 10.1186/s13098-017-0304-3

    No proper data on prognosis and management of type-2 diabetic ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients with culprit obstructive lesion and multivessel non obstructive coronary stenosis (Mv-NOCS) exist. We evaluated the 12-months prognosis of Mv-NOCS-diabetics with first STEMI vs.to non-diabetics, and then Mv-NOCS-diabetics previously treated with incretin based therapy vs. a matched cohort of STEMI-Mv-NOCS never treated with such therapy.

  • High yield purification and first structural characterization of the full-length bacterial toxin CNF1.
    Publication Date: 01/01/2018, on Biotechnology progress
    by Colarusso A, Caterino M, Fabbri A, Fiorentini C, Vergara A, Sica F, Parrilli E, Tutino ML
    DOI: 10.1002/btpr.2574

    The Cytotoxic Necrotizing Factor 1 (CNF1) is a bacterial toxin secreted by certain Escherichia coli strains causing severe pathologies, making it a protein of pivotal interest in toxicology. In parallel, the CNF1 capability to influence important neuronal processes, like neuronal arborization, astrocytic support, and efficient ATP production, has been efficiently used in the treatment of neurological diseases, making it a promising candidate for therapy. Nonetheless, there are still some unsolved issues about the CNF1 mechanism of action and structuration probably caused by the difficulty to achieve sufficient amounts of the full-length protein for further studies. Here, we propose an efficient strategy for the production and purification of this toxin as a his-tagged recombinant protein from E. coli extracts (CNF1-H8). CNF1-H8 was expressed at the low temperature of 15°C to diminish its characteristic degradation. Then, its purification was achieved using an immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) and a size exclusion chromatography so as to collect up to 8 mg of protein per liter of culture in a highly pure form. Routine dynamic light scattering (DLS) experiments showed that the recombinant protein preparations were homogeneous and preserved this state for a long time. Furthermore, CNF1-H8 functionality was confirmed by testing its activity on purified RhoA and on HEp-2 cultured cells. Finally, a first structural characterization of the full-length toxin in terms of secondary structure and thermal stability was performed by circular dichroism (CD). These studies demonstrate that our system can be used to produce high quantities of pure recombinant protein for a detailed structural analysis. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 34:150-159, 2018.

  • Stem Cells and DNA Repair Capacity: Muse Stem Cells Are Among the Best Performers.
    Publication Date: 01/01/2018, on Advances in experimental medicine and biology
    by Squillaro T, Alessio N, Di Bernardo G, Özcan S, Peluso G, Galderisi U
    DOI: 10.1007/978-4-431-56847-6_5

    Stem cells persist for long periods in the body and experience many intrinsic and extrinsic stresses. For this reason, they present a powerful and effective DNA repair system in order to properly fix DNA damage and avoid the onset of a degenerative process, such as neoplastic transformation or aging. In this chapter, we compare the DNA repair ability of pluripotent stem cells (ESCs, iPSCs, and Muse cells) and other adult stem cells. We also describe personal investigations showing a robust and effective capacity of Muse cells in sensing and repairing DNA following chemical and physical stress. Muse cells can repair DNA through base and nucleotide excision repair mechanisms, BER and NER, respectively. Furthermore, they present a pronounced capacity in repairing double-strand breaks by the nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) process. The studies addressing the role of DNA damage repair in the biology of stem cells are of paramount importance for comprehension of their functions and, also, for setting up effective and safe stem cell-based therapy.

  • Prospective memory is dysfunctional in migraine without aura.
    Publication Date: 01/01/2018, on Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache
    by Santangelo G, Russo A, Tessitore A, Garramone F, Silvestro M, Della Mura MR, Marcuccio L, Fornaro I, Trojano L, Tedeschi G
    DOI: 10.1177/0333102418758280

    Introduction Prospective memory is the ability to carry out a delayed intended action, so to maintain and retrieve future plans, goals and activities. Deficits of prospective memory negatively impact on patients and caregivers' everyday living and determine poor adherence to treatment. Since frontal regions are involved in both event- and time-based prospective memory tasks and are impaired in migraine without aura, defects of prospective memory might occur in migraine without aura patients; until now this issue has not been investigated. The aim of the current study was to explore time- versus event-based prospective memory in migraine without aura. Patients and methods Ninty-one consecutive migraine without aura patients and 84 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study. They underwent a standardized measure of prospective memory evaluating both time-based and event-based prospective memory, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment assessing global cognitive status. Moreover, all participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II and a self-administered version of the Apathy Evaluation Scale, to assess severity of depressive symptoms and apathy, respectively. Results Migraine without aura and healthy subjects did not differ on demographic aspects (i.e. age, education and gender). However, individuals with migraine without aura demonstrated impaired prospective memory performance compared to healthy subjects, with a greater impairment demonstrated for the time-based tasks. Within the migraine without aura group, no significant association was found between prospective memory performance and clinical scores, apathy, and depression. Conclusions Individuals with migraine without aura experience particular difficulty executing a future intention; therefore, migraine without aura is associated with dysfunction of prospective memory.

  • Neuropsychological profile in parents of adult phenylketonuria patients.
    Publication Date: 01/01/2018, on Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology
    by Santangelo G, Piscopo F, Santangelo F, Trojano L
    DOI: 10.1007/s10072-017-3181-5

    Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a disorder caused by an inborn error of metabolism, causing cognitive and behavioral disorders when not treated. Heterozygotes (i.e., patients' parents) were described with low verbal intelligence quotient, but no study systematically investigated cognitive functions in PKU parents. To obtain a neuropsychological profile in heterozygotes, we compared cognitive performance of heterozygotes and healthy controls (HC) on cognitive battery. Twelve heterozygotes and 14 HCs underwent standardized neuropsychological tasks assessing frontal/executive functions, memory, and visuospatial abilities. No significant difference between heterozygotes and HC was found on demographic aspects. Heterozygotes performed worse than HC on immediate verbal recall, on test assessing set-shifting, divided attention, and sensitivity to processing speed. No difference was found on the remaining cognitive tests.In conclusions, we observed less efficient control/executive functions in heterozygotes when compared to HCs. Further studies in large sample of heterozygotes should be performed to confirm our results.

  • Cognitive and behavioral disorders in Parkinson's disease: an update. II: behavioral disorders.
    Publication Date: 01/01/2018, on Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology
    by Trojano L, Papagno C
    DOI: 10.1007/s10072-017-3155-7

    Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) can experience several behavioral symptoms, such as apathy, agitation, hypersexuality, stereotypic movements, pathological gambling, abuse of antiparkinsonian drugs, and REM sleep behavioral disorders. Psychoses and hallucinations, depression and anxiety disorders, and difficulties in recognizing and experiencing emotions also impair behavior and can cause severe psychosocial problems in patients with PD. Symptoms can be present since early stages of the disease, sometimes even before the appearance of classical motor symptoms, likely in relation to dopamine depletion in basal ganglia and/or to dysfunctions of other neurotrasmitter systems, and others can develop later, in some cases in relation to dopaminergic treatment. In this paper, we review recent literature, with particular attention to the last 5 years, on the main behavioral and emotional disturbances described in PD patients as well as the hypothesized neurofunctional substrate of such impairments. Finally, we provide some suggestions on the most suitable instruments to check and assess PD-associated behavioral defects over time.

  • Milk from cows fed a diet with a high forage:concentrate ratio improves inflammatory state, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial function in rats.
    Publication Date: 28/12/2017, on Journal of dairy science
    by Cavaliere G, Trinchese G, Musco N, Infascelli F, De Filippo C, Mastellone V, Morittu VM, Lombardi P, Tudisco R, Grossi M, Monda V, Cutrignelli MI, Messina A, Calabrò S, Moni HB, Stradella L, Messina G, Monda M, Crispino M, Mollica MP
    DOI: 10.3168/jds.2017-13550

    Excessive energy intake may evoke complex biochemical processes characterized by inflammation, oxidative stress, and impairment of mitochondrial function that represent the main factors underlying noncommunicable diseases. Because cow milk is widely used for human nutrition and in food industry processing, the nutritional quality of milk is of special interest with respect to human health. In our study, we analyzed milk produced by dairy cows fed a diet characterized by a high forage:concentrate ratio (high forage milk, HFM). In view of the low n-6:n-3 ratio and high content of conjugated linoleic acid of HFM, we studied the effects of this milk on lipid metabolism, inflammation, mitochondrial function, and oxidative stress in a rat model. To this end, we supplemented for 4 wk the diet of male Wistar rats with HFM and with an isocaloric amount (82 kJ, 22 mL/d) of milk obtained from cows fed a diet with low forage:concentrate ratio, and analyzed the metabolic parameters of the animals. Our results indicate that HFM may positively affect lipid metabolism, leptin:adiponectin ratio, inflammation, mitochondrial function, and oxidative stress, providing the first evidence of the beneficial effects of HFM on rat metabolism.

  • pH driven fibrillar aggregation of the super-sweet protein Y65R-MNEI: A step-by-step structural analysis.
    Publication Date: 27/12/2017, on Biochimica et biophysica acta
    by Pica A, Leone S, Di Girolamo R, Donnarumma F, Emendato A, Rega MF, Merlino A, Picone D
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2017.12.012

    MNEI and its variant Y65R-MNEI are sweet proteins with potential applications as sweeteners in food industry. Also, they are often used as model systems for folding and aggregation studies.

  • Targeting and silencing of rhodopsin by ectopic expression of the transcription factor KLF15.
    Publication Date: 21/12/2017, on JCI insight
    by Botta S, de Prisco N, Marrocco E, Renda M, Sofia M, Curion F, Bacci ML, Ventrella D, Wilson C, Gesualdo C, Rossi S, Simonelli F, Surace EM
    DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.96560

    The genome-wide activity of transcription factors (TFs) on multiple regulatory elements precludes their use as gene-specific regulators. Here we show that ectopic expression of a TF in a cell-specific context can be used to silence the expression of a specific gene as a therapeutic approach to regulate gene expression in human disease. We selected the TF Krüppel-like factor 15 (KLF15) based on its putative ability to recognize a specific DNA sequence motif present in the rhodopsin (RHO) promoter and its lack of expression in terminally differentiated rod photoreceptors (the RHO-expressing cells). Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-mediated ectopic expression of KLF15 in rod photoreceptors of pigs enables Rho silencing with limited genome-wide transcriptional perturbations. Suppression of a RHO mutant allele by KLF15 corrects the phenotype of a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa with no observed toxicity. Cell-specific-context conditioning of TF activity may prove a novel mode for somatic gene-targeted manipulation.

  • Fluorescence Sensing Using DNA Aptamers in Cancer Research and Clinical Diagnostics.
    Publication Date: 20/12/2017, on Cancers
    by Musumeci D, Platella C, Riccardi C, Moccia F, Montesarchio D
    DOI: 10.3390/cancers9120174

    Among the various advantages of aptamers over antibodies, remarkable is their ability to tolerate a large number of chemical modifications within their backbone or at the termini without losing significant activity. Indeed, aptamers can be easily equipped with a wide variety of reporter groups or coupled to different carriers, nanoparticles, or other biomolecules, thus producing valuable molecular recognition tools effective for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This review reports an updated overview on fluorescent DNA aptamers, designed to recognize significant cancer biomarkers both in soluble or membrane-bound form. In many examples, the aptamer secondary structure switches induced by target recognition are suitably translated in a detectable fluorescent signal using either fluorescently-labelled or label-free aptamers. The fluorescence emission changes, producing an enhancement ("signal-on") or a quenching ("signal-off") effect, directly reflect the extent of the binding, thereby allowing for quantitative determination of the target in bioanalytical assays. Furthermore, several aptamers conjugated to fluorescent probes proved to be effective for applications in tumour diagnosis and intraoperative surgery, producing tumour-type specific, non-invasive in vivo imaging tools for cancer pre- and post-treatment assessment.

  • Identification and chemical characterization of N acyl-homoserine lactone quorum sensing signals across sponge species and time.
    Publication Date: 18/12/2017, on FEMS microbiology ecology
    by Britstein M, Saurav K, Teta R, Sala GD, Bar-Shalom R, Stoppelli N, Zoccarato L, Costantino V, Steindler L
    DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fix182

    Marine sponges form symbiotic relationships with complex microbial communities, yet little is known about the mechanisms by which these microbes regulate their behavior through gene expression. Many bacterial communities regulate gene expression using chemical signaling termed quorum sensing. While a few previous studies have shown presence of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) based quorum sensing in marine sponges, the chemical identity of AHL signals has been published for only two sponge species. In this study we screened for AHLs in extracts from 15 sponge species (109 specimens in total) from the Mediterranean and Red Sea, using a wide-range AHL-biosensor. This is the first time that AHL presence was examined over time in sponges. We detected the presence of AHL in 46% of the sponge species, and found that AHL signals differ for certain sponge species in time and across sponge individuals. Furthermore, for the Mediterranean sponge species Sarcotragus fasciculatus, we identified 14 different AHLs. The constant presence of specific AHLs molecules in all specimens, together with varying signaling molecules between the different specimens, make S. fasciculatus a good model to further investigate the function of quorum sensing in sponge-associated bacteria. This study extends the knowledge of AHL-based quorum sensing in marine sponges.

  • Vacuolated PAS-positive lymphocytes as an hallmark of Pompe disease and other myopathies related to impaired autophagy.
    Publication Date: 07/12/2017, on Journal of cellular physiology
    by Pascarella A, Terracciano C, Farina O, Lombardi L, Esposito T, Napolitano F, Franzese G, Panella G, Tuccillo F, la Marca G, Bernardini S, Boffo S, Giordano A, Melone MAB, Di Iorio G, Sampaolo S
    DOI: 10.1002/jcp.26365

    Autosomal recessive Pompe disease is a lysosomal disorder caused by mutations of the acid-α-glucosidase (GAA) gene. Deficiency of GAA enzyme leads to glycogen accumulation and autophagy impairment in cardiac and skeletal muscles, but also in lymphocytes. Since an effective therapy is available, a rapid, sensitive and specific test is crucial to early identify affected subjects. Number of lymphocytes containing PAS-positive vacuoles was evaluated on blood films from 72 consecutive adult patients with hyperckemia and/or muscle weakness, 13 genetically confirmed late-onset-Pompe-disease (LOPD) and 13 of their offspring. GAA activity, measured on dried blood spot (DBS) in all patients inversely correlated with number of PAS-positive lymphocytes. More than 4 PAS-positive lymphocytes were found in 11 out of the 72 patients (6 new diagnosis of LOPD, 3 different glycogen storage myopathies, 1 glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, 1 caveolinopathy), in all 13 LOPD patients and in the 13 LOPD offspring. These latter resulted to have all a single GAA mutation but low GAA levels. Immunostaining with the autophagy markers LC3 and p62 confirmed the autophagic nature of lymphocytes vacuoles. ROC curve assessment of PAS-positive lymphocytes disclosed 100% of sensitivity and 94% of specificity in recognizing both compound heterozygous and heterozygous GAA carriers. The other myopathies with more than 4 PAS-positive lymphocytes appeared to be all related to impaired autophagy, which seems to be responsible of PAS-positive vacuolated lymphocytes formation. Quantification of PAS-positive lymphocytes in blood films is useful to identify autophagic vacuolar myopathies and should be routinely used as first level test for Pompe disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.