Publications by authors named "Alessandra Gamberucci"

Free fatty acid receptor 1 (FFAR1) has emerged as the most targeted isoform of the free fatty acid receptors because of its involvement in the modulation of energy balance and its potential role in the control of inflammatory and pain conditions. Quercetin-3-oleate (AV2), recognized as a new FFAR1 partial agonist, was investigated for its ability to modulate inflammation and nociception. Human immortal neuroblastoma SH and the murine macrophagic RAW 264.

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Article Synopsis
  • Tubular aggregate myopathy (TAM) is a rare muscle disorder marked by muscle weakness and pain, linked to specific gene mutations affecting calcium regulation.
  • Mutations in STIM1, ORAI1, and the recently identified CASQ1 gene disrupt normal calcium storage and entry in muscle cells, contributing to the disease's symptoms.
  • Studies using muscle fibers from mice lacking CASQ1 show that these mutations lead to ineffective calcium storage and loss of calcium entry inhibition, highlighting their role in TAM pathology.
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Background: Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive brain tumor. A big effort is required to find novel molecules which can cross the blood-brain barrier and efficiently kill these tumor cells. In this perspective, trehalose (α-glucopyranosyl-[1→1]-α-D-glucopyranoside), found in various dietary sources and used as a safe nutrient supplement, attracted our attention for its pleiotropic effects against tumor cells.

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Behavioral disorders affect millions of people worldwide. Hypertension contributes to both the development and progression of brain damage and cognitive dysfunction and could represent the most powerful modifiable risk factor for cerebral vessel dysfunction and consequent behavioral impairment. Tomato contains antioxidants and bioactive molecules that might play an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular and brain diseases.

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Sdox is a synthetic HS-releasing doxorubicin (Dox) less cardiotoxic and more effective than Dox in pre-clinical, Dox-resistant tumour models. The well-known anthracycline vascular toxicity, however, might limit Sdox clinical use. This study aimed at evaluating Sdox vascular toxicity in vitro, using Dox as reference compound.

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Background Recent data suggest that systemic inflammation can negatively affect atrioventricular conduction, regardless of acute cardiac injury. Indeed, gap-junctions containing connexin43 coupling cardiomyocytes and inflammation-related cells (macrophages) are increasingly recognized as important factors regulating the conduction in the atrioventricular node. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute impact of systemic inflammatory activation on atrioventricular conduction, and elucidate underlying mechanisms.

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Glycogen Storage Disease type 1b (GSDIb) is a genetic disorder with long term severe complications. Accumulation of the glucose analog 1,5-anhydroglucitol-6-phosphate (1,5AG6P) in neutrophils inhibits the phosphorylation of glucose in these cells, causing neutropenia and neutrophil dysfunctions. This condition leads to serious infections and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in GSDIb patients.

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The Jurkat E6.1 clone has been extensively used as a powerful tool for the genetic and biochemical dissection of the TCR signaling pathway. More recently, these cells have been exploited in imaging studies to identify key players in immunological synapse (IS) assembly in superantigen-specific conjugates and to track the dynamics of signaling molecules on glass surfaces coated with activating anti-CD3 antibodies.

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Wound healing represents an urgent need from the clinical point of view. Several diseases result in wound conditions which are difficult to treat, such as in the case of diabetic foot ulcer. Starting from there, the medicinal research has focused on various targets over the years, including GPCRs as new wound healing drug targets.

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Objectives: Microcrystal-induced arthritis is still an unresolved paradigm for medicine. Overt inflammation may be absent even when crystals occur in SF. Recently, the production of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) embedding MSU crystals has been proposed as a possible mechanism of the auto-resolution of the inflammatory phase during gout.

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Blood pressure control in hypertensive subjects calls for changes in lifestyle, especially diet. Tomato is widely consumed and rich in healthy components (i.e.

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Calsequestrin (CASQ) is the most abundant Ca binding protein localized in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of skeletal and cardiac muscle. The genome of vertebrates contains two genes, CASQ1 and CASQ2. CASQ1 and CASQ2 have a high level of homology, but show specific patterns of expression.

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In pre-hypertension, moderate control of blood pressure (BP) can be obtained by a nutritional approach. The effects of a diet enriched with defatted larvae of the mealworm Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) (TM) endowed with ACE inhibitory activity was studied in both spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and in the age-matched normotensive Wistar Kyoto strain. These were fed for 4 weeks with standard laboratory rodent chow supplemented with or without TM or captopril.

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The conjugation of doxorubicin (DOX) with nitric oxide (NO)-releasing groups gave rise to novel anthracyclines, such as nitrooxy-DOX (NitDOX), capable to overcome multidrug resistance. The widely described anthracycline cardiovascular toxicity, however, might limit their clinical use. This study aimed to investigate NitDOX-induced effects, as potential hazard, on vascular smooth muscle A7r5 and endothelial EA.

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Background: Triadin is a protein expressed in cardiac and skeletal muscle that has an essential role in the structure and functional regulation of calcium release units and excitation-contraction coupling. Mutations in the triadin gene (TRDN) have been described in different forms of human arrhythmia syndromes with early onset and severe arrhythmogenic phenotype, including triadin knockout syndrome.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to characterize the pathogenetic mechanism underlying a case of severe pediatric malignant arrhythmia associated with a defect in the TRDN gene.

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3,5-Di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole (DTBHA) is considered as an activator of the skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca-uptake, endowed with antioxidant and L-type Ca channel blocking activities. In this study we assessed the cardiac effects of DTBHA on Langendorff perfused rat hearts, isolated rat atria and rat cardiac SR membrane vesicles, as well as on several SERCA isoforms of membrane preparations. Moreover, in order to clarify its molecular mechanism of action Ca imaging experiments were carried out on HEK293 cells transiently transfected with RyR2 channel.

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Background And Aims: Glycogen storage disease type Ib (GSD1b) is a rare metabolic and immune disorder caused by a deficiency in the glucose-6-phosphate transporter (G6PT) and characterized by impaired glucose homeostasis, myeloid dysfunction, and long-term risk of hepatocellular adenomas. Despite maximal therapy, based on a strict diet and on granulocyte colony-stimulating factor treatment, long-term severe complications still develop. Understanding the pathophysiology of GSD1b is a prerequisite to develop new therapeutic strategies and depends on the availability of animal models.

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Torsades de pointes (TdP) is a life-threatening ventricular tachycardia occurring in long QT-syndrome patients. It usually develops when multiple QT-prolonging factors are concomitantly present, more frequently drugs and electrolyte imbalances. Since proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs)-associated hypomagnesemia is an increasingly recognized adverse event, PPIs were recently included in the list of drugs with conditional risk of TdP, despite only few cases of TdP in PPI users have been reported so far.

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Neoplastic cell traffic abnormalities are central to the pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Enhanced CXC chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) and chemokine receptor-7 (CCR7) recycling contributes to the elevated surface levels of these receptors on CLL cells. Here we have addressed the role of p66Shc, a member of the Shc family of protein adaptors the expression of which is defective in CLL cells, in CXCR4/CCR7 recycling.

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Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disorder presenting fibrosis of the skin and internal organs, for which no effective treatments are currently available. Increasing evidence indicates that the P2X7 receptor (P2X7R), a nucleotide-gated ionotropic channel primarily involved in the inflammatory response, may also have a key role in the development of tissue fibrosis in different body districts. This study was aimed at investigating P2X7R expression and function in promoting a fibrogenic phenotype in dermal fibroblasts from SSc patients, also analyzing putative underlying mechanistic pathways.

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Here, we report the identification of three novel missense mutations in the calsequestrin-1 (CASQ1) gene in four patients with tubular aggregate myopathy. These CASQ1 mutations affect conserved amino acids in position 44 (p.(Asp44Asn)), 103 (p.

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GLUT10 belongs to a family of transporters that catalyze the uptake of sugars/polyols by facilitated diffusion. Loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding GLUT10 are responsible for arterial tortuosity syndrome (ATS). Since subcellular distribution of the transporter is dubious, we aimed to clarify the localization of GLUT10.

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The modern Western society lifestyle is characterized by a hyperenergetic, high sugar containing food intake. Sugar intake increased dramatically during the last few decades, due to the excessive consumption of high-sugar drinks and high-fructose corn syrup. Current evidence suggests that high fructose intake when combined with overeating and adiposity promotes adverse metabolic health effects including dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, type II diabetes, and inflammation.

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