Inhibition of autophagy enhances the antitumor efficacy of T/CAR T cell against neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children characterized by poor immune infiltration and resistance to adaptive immunity, contributing to its limited response to immunotherapy. A key mechanism underlying immune evasion in cancer is autophagy, a cellular process that plays many roles in cancer by supporting tumor survival and regulating immune interactions. In this study, we investigate the impact of autophagy inhibition on NB tumor growth, immune modulation, and the efficacy of immunotherapy.

Unlocking novel T cell-based immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma through neoantigen-driven T cell receptor isolation.

Background: Tumour-infiltrating T cells can mediate both antitumour immunity and promote tumour progression by creating an immunosuppressive environment. This dual role is especially relevant in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), characterised by a unique microenvironment and limited success with current immunotherapy.

Objective: We evaluated T cell responses in patients with advanced HCC by analysing tumours, liver flushes and liver-draining lymph nodes, to understand whether reactive T cell populations could be identified despite the immunosuppressive environment.

"If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it". Outcome measures in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: current and future perspectives.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive neuromuscular disorder primarily affecting males, caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. The absence of dystrophin protein leads to progressive skeletal muscle degeneration. Recent advances in the therapeutic landscape underscore the need to identify appropriate outcome measures to assess treatment efficacy in ambulant and non-ambulant DMD patients, across clinical and research settings.

The complex landscape of DMD mutations: moving towards personalized medicine.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration, with respiratory and cardiac complications, caused by mutations in the DMD gene, encoding the protein dystrophin. Various DMD mutations result in different phenotypes and disease severity. Understanding genotype/phenotype correlations is essential to optimize clinical care, as mutation-specific therapies and innovative therapeutic approaches are becoming available.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy in Italy: A systematic review of epidemiology, quality of life, treatment adherence, and economic impact.

Objective: This systematic review aims to update the evidence on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in Italy, describing the epidemiology, quality of life (QoL) of patients and caregivers, treatment adherence, and economic impact of DMD.

Methods: Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase and Web of Science up to January 2023. Literature selection process, data extraction and quality assessment were performed by two independent reviewers.

Role of Platinum Nanozymes in the Oxidative Stress Response of Typhimurium.

Platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) are being intensively explored as efficient nanozymes due to their biocompatibility coupled with excellent catalytic activities, which make them potential candidates as antimicrobial agents. Their antibacterial efficacy and the precise mechanism of action are, however, still unclear. In this framework, we investigated the oxidative stress response of serovar Typhimurium cells when exposed to 5 nm citrate coated PtNPs.

Biocomposite Cryogels for Photothermal Decontamination of Water.

An effective and sustainable approach to deal with the scarcity of freshwater is interfacial solar-driven evaporation. Nonetheless, some serious challenges for photothermal materials still need to be considered, such as long-term stability in harsh environments, eco-friendly materials, and cost-effective and simple fabrication processes. Keeping these points in mind, we present a multifunctional silver-coated vegetable waste biocomposite cryogel that not only exhibits high porosity and enhanced wettability and stability but also possesses high light absorption and low thermal conductivity favorable for heat localization, solar steam generation, and efficient photothermal conversion efficiency.

Pathological implications of metabolic reprogramming and its therapeutic potential in medulloblastoma.

Tumor-specific alterations in metabolism have been recognized to sustain the production of ATP and macromolecules needed for cell growth, division and survival in many cancer types. However, metabolic heterogeneity poses a challenge for the establishment of effective anticancer therapies that exploit metabolic vulnerabilities. Medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the most heterogeneous malignant pediatric brain tumors, divided into four molecular subgroups (Wingless, Sonic Hedgehog, Group 3 and Group 4).

A Lateral Flow Device for Point-of-Care Detection of Doxorubicin.

A simple, rapid, and sensitive point-of-care (POC) device for the on-site detection of doxorubicin was developed. The proposed method relies on the naked-eye detection of the intrinsic fluorescence of the drug in a lateral flow device (LFD) configuration, exploiting the biological recognition of DNA probes and avoiding the use of expensive antibodies and sophisticated instrumentations. The POC assay does not require any pre-treatment or purification step and provides an immediate visual readout, achieving a limit of detection as low as ca.

Gastrectomy with or without Complete Omentectomy for Advanced Gastric Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

: Surgery remains the only possible curative treatment for advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Peritoneal metastases are estimated to occur in approximately 55-60% AGC patients. Greater omentum is the most common metastatic area in AGC.

Process Development for Adoptive Cell Therapy in Academia: A Pipeline for Clinical-Scale Manufacturing of Multiple TCR-T Cell Products.

Cellular immunotherapies based on T cell receptor (TCR) transfer are promising approaches for the treatment of cancer and chronic viral infections. The discovery of novel receptors is expanding considerably; however, the clinical development of TCR-T cell therapies still lags. Here we provide a pipeline for process development and clinical-scale manufacturing of TCR-T cells in academia.

DNA damage contributes to neurotoxic inflammation in Aicardi-Goutières syndrome astrocytes.

Aberrant induction of type I IFN is a hallmark of the inherited encephalopathy Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS), but the mechanisms triggering disease in the human central nervous system (CNS) remain elusive. Here, we generated human models of AGS using genetically modified and patient-derived pluripotent stem cells harboring TREX1 or RNASEH2B loss-of-function alleles. Genome-wide transcriptomic analysis reveals that spontaneous proinflammatory activation in AGS astrocytes initiates signaling cascades impacting multiple CNS cell subsets analyzed at the single-cell level.

Colorimetric Point-of-Care Detection of Spores in Milk Samples.

represents the main spoiling agent responsible for late blowing defects (LBD) in hard and semi-hard cheeses. Its spores are resistant to manufacturing procedures and can germinate during the long ripening process, causing the burst of the cheese paste with a consequent undesirable taste. The lower quality of blown cheeses leads to considerable financial losses for the producers.

Lactose-Gated Mesoporous Silica Particles for Intestinal Controlled Delivery of Essential Oil Components: An In Vitro and In Vivo Study.

Mesoporous silica microparticles functionalized with lactose for the specific release of essential oil components (EOCs) in the small intestine are presented. In vitro and in vivo intestinal models were applied to validate the microparticles (M41-EOC-L), in which the presence of lactase acts as the triggering stimulus for the controlled release of EOCs. Among the different microdevices prepared (containing thymol, eugenol and cinnamaldehyde), the one loaded with cinnamaldehyde showed the most significant Caco-2 cell viability reduction.

Recent Advances in Understanding the Role of Autophagy in Paediatric Brain Tumours.

Autophagy is a degradative process occurring in eukaryotic cells to maintain homeostasis and cell survival. After stressful conditions including nutrient deprivation, hypoxia or drugs administration, autophagy is induced to counteract pathways that could lead to cell death. In cancer, autophagy plays a paradoxical role, acting both as tumour suppressor-by cleaning cells from damaged organelles and inhibiting inflammation or, alternatively, by promoting genomic stability and tumour adaptive response-or as a pro-survival mechanism to protect cells from stresses such as chemotherapy.

CXCL5 Modified Nanoparticle Surface Improves CXCR2 Cell Selective Internalization.

Driving nanomaterials to specific cell populations is still a major challenge for different biomedical applications. Several strategies to improve cell binding and uptake have been tried thus far by intrinsic material modifications or decoration with active molecules onto their surface. In the present work, we covalently bound the chemokine CXCL5 on fluorescently labeled amino-functionalized SiO nanoparticles to precisely targeting CXCR2 immune cells.

Natural Polysaccharide Nanomaterials: An Overview of Their Immunological Properties.

Natural occurring polymers, or biopolymers, represent a huge part of our planet biomass. They are formed by long chains of monomers of the same type or a combination of different ones. Polysaccharides are biopolymers characterized by complex secondary structures performing several roles in plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Protein Adsorption: A Feasible Method for Nanoparticle Functionalization?

Nanomaterials are now well-established components of many sectors of science and technology. Their sizes, structures, and chemical properties allow for the exploration of a vast range of potential applications and novel approaches in basic research. Biomedical applications, such as drug or gene delivery, often require the release of nanoparticles into the bloodstream, which is populated by blood cells and a plethora of small peptides, proteins, sugars, lipids, and complexes of all these molecules.

Metallic Nanoparticles: General Research Approaches to Immunological Characterization.

Our immunity is guaranteed by a complex system that includes specialized cells and active molecules working in a spatially and temporally coordinated manner. Interaction of nanomaterials with the immune system and their potential immunotoxicity are key aspects for an exhaustive biological characterization. Several assays can be used to unravel the immunological features of nanoparticles, each one giving information on specific pathways leading to immune activation or immune suppression.

Laser Ablation as a Versatile Tool To Mimic Polyethylene Terephthalate Nanoplastic Pollutants: Characterization and Toxicology Assessment.

The presence of micro- and nanoplastics in the marine environment is raising strong concerns since they can possibly have a negative impact on human health. In particular, the lack of appropriate methodologies to collect the nanoplastics from water systems imposes the use of engineered model nanoparticles to explore their interactions with biological systems, with results not easily correlated with the real case conditions. In this work, we propose a reliable top-down approach based on laser ablation of polymers to form polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanoplastics, which mimic real environmental nanopollutants, unlike synthetic samples obtained by colloidal chemistry.