Publications by authors named "Chiara Mazzanti"

A wide phenotypic spectrum exists among DMD patients, with genetic modifiers seen as a putative cause of this variability. The main aim was to evaluate the effect of 4 genetic modifiers and the location of DMD variants on disease severity in a DMD Argentine cohort. A secondary objective was to provide a summary of the current state of knowledge and association of the tested loci with DMD's phenotype.

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Article Synopsis
  • Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive brain cancer with few treatment options, and the study focuses on exploring extracellular vesicles (EVs) from GBM cells as potential diagnostic biomarkers.
  • * The research utilized tumor explants from GBM patients to preserve tumor characteristics and successfully isolated EVs, analyzing their surface markers through advanced techniques.
  • * Results showed unique surface biomarker expression patterns in GBM-derived EVs that could differentiate them from healthy controls, indicating their potential role in noninvasive diagnosis and understanding of GBM progression.
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Objectives: This study aims to determine whether the sequencing of DNA extracted from pleural fluids (PFs) of Pleural Mesothelioma (PM) patients accurately represents the genetic information obtained from the solid tissue counterpart biopsies with particular attention to the identification of single nucleotide variants (SNVs).

Materials And Methods: Single pleural biopsy, PFs, and blood were collected from PM patients. DNA was extracted from these samples and then subjected to Whole-Exome Sequencing.

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Glioblastoma, a deadly brain tumor, shows limited response to standard therapies like temozolomide (TMZ). Recent findings from the REGOMA trial underscore a significant survival improvement offered by Regorafenib (REGO) in recurrent glioblastoma. Our study aimed to propose a 3D ex vivo drug response precision medicine approach to investigate recurrent glioblastoma sensitivity to REGO and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in tumor resistance or responsiveness to treatment.

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In 2012, whole-transcriptome sequencing analysis led to the discovery of recurrent fusions involving the and genes as the main oncological driver in a subset of human glioblastomas. Since then, fusions have been identified in several other solid cancers. Further studies dissected the oncogenic mechanisms of the fusion protein and its complex interplay with cancer cell metabolism.

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Purpose Of Review: Gliomas represent approximately 25% of all primary brain and other central nervous system (CNS) tumors and 81% of malignant tumors. Unfortunately, standard treatment approaches for most CNS cancers have shown limited improvement in patient survival rates.

Recent Findings: The current drug development process has been plagued by high failure rates, leading to a shift towards human disease models in biomedical research.

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Despite advances in the therapy of Central Nervous System (CNS) malignancies, treatment of glioblastoma (GB) poses significant challenges due to GB resistance and high recurrence rates following post-operative radio-chemotherapy. The majority of prognostic and predictive GB biomarkers are currently developed using tumour samples obtained through surgical interventions. However, the selection criteria adopted by different neurosurgeons to determine which cases are suitable for surgery make operated patients not representative of all GB cases.

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Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are one of the most important causes of tumor recurrence and distant metastases. Glioblastoma (GBM) has been considered restricted to the brain for many years. Nevertheless, in the past years, several pieces of evidence indicate that hematogenous dissemination is a reality, and this is also in the caseof GBM.

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Conventional high-grade osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary cancer of bone and it typically affects the extremities of adolescents. OS has a complex karyotype, and molecular mechanisms related to carcinogenesis, progression and resistance to therapy are still largely unknown. For this reason, the current standard of care is associated with considerable adverse effects.

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Background: Glioblastoma growth impacts on the structure and physiology of peritumoral neuronal networks, altering the activity of pyramidal neurons which drives further tumor progression. It is therefore of paramount importance to identify glioma-induced changes in pyramidal neurons, since they represent a key therapeutic target.

Methods: We longitudinal monitored visual evoked potentials after the orthotopic implant of murine glioma cells into the mouse occipital cortex.

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Regeneration of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) leverages on extensive exchange of factors released from motor axon terminals (MATs), muscle fibers and perisynaptic Schwann cells (PSCs), among which hydrogen peroxide (HO) is a major pro-regenerative signal. To identify critical determinants of NMJ remodeling in response to injury, we performed temporal transcriptional profiling of NMJs from 2 month-old mice during MAT degeneration/regeneration, and cross-referenced the differentially expressed genes with those elicited by HO in SCs. We identified an enrichment in extracellular matrix (ECM) transcripts, including Connective Tissue Growth Factor (Ctgf), which is usually expressed during development.

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Article Synopsis
  • Glioblastoma (GB) is a deadly brain cancer with limited treatment options and a median survival of only 12-15 months, prompting the need for improved therapeutic screening methods.
  • This study introduced a functional precision medicine approach utilizing organoids from resected GB tumors, combined with metabolic imaging to assess quick responses to anticancer treatments, validating the method with temozolomide (TMZ).
  • Results indicated successful differentiation between TMZ responders and non-responders within a week post-surgery, uncovering new target genes related to treatment responses and a 17-gene signature linked to patient survival, highlighting the potential to refine current biomarkers.
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Objective: Chondroblastoma-like osteosarcoma (CBLOS) is a rare and poorly understood variant of OS. We examined the clinicopathological, immunohistochemical and molecular features of six CBLOSs to highlight the differences with conventional high-grade OS (CHGOS) and CB, including CB with aggressive features.

Methods: We performed histone 3.

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The mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV) is implicated in the aetiology of murine mammary carcinomas and a variant of it, the type B leukemogenic virus, can cause murine thymic lymphomas. Interestingly, a MMTV-like virus is suspected to be involved in human breast cancer and feline mammary carcinomas. However, to date, no cases of MMTV-like sequence amplifications have been described in lymphoid neoplasms in veterinary literature.

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Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common form of malignant brain cancer and is considered the deadliest human cancer. Because of poor outcomes in this disease, there is an urgent need for progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms of GBM therapeutic resistance, as well as novel and innovative therapies for cancer prevention and treatment. The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is a metabolic pathway complementary to glycolysis, and several PPP enzymes have already been demonstrated as potential targets in cancer therapy.

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Since its discovery as a milk factor, mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) has been shown to cause mammary carcinoma and lymphoma in mice. MMTV infection depends upon a viral superantigen (sag)-induced immune response and exploits the immune system to establish infection in mammary epithelial cells when they actively divide. Simultaneously, it avoids immune responses, causing tumors through insertional mutagenesis and clonal expansion.

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As microtubule-organizing centers (MTOCs), centrosomes play a pivotal role in cell division, neurodevelopment and neuronal maturation. Among centrosomal proteins, centrin-2 (CETN2) also contributes to DNA repair mechanisms which are fundamental to prevent genomic instability during neural stem cell pool expansion. Nevertheless, the expression profile of CETN2 in human neural stem cells and their progeny is currently unknown.

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Background: Glioblastoma (GB) is a devastating primary brain malignancy. The recurrence of GB is inevitable despite the standard treatment of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, and the median survival is limited to around 15 months. The barriers to treatment include the complex interactions among the different cellular components inhabiting the tumor microenvironment.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recent research found MMTV-like nucleotide sequences in some mammary tumors in cats, prompting a study to analyze feline mammary carcinomas (FMCs) for these sequences.
  • Out of 24 FMC samples analyzed, 3 (12.5%) tested positive for MMTV-like sequences and protein, with a high similarity to MMTV.
  • The findings suggest varying molecular phenotypes among the positive FMCs, indicating potential implications for understanding the MMTV-like virus's role in feline tumor biology.
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MiRNAs represent a mechanism that regulates gene expression in many pathological conditions. Exosomes are known to be secreted from all types of cells, and the exosomes-released molecules are crucial messengers that can regulate cellular processes. We investigated the miRNAs content of exosomes released by cancer cells during the invasion .

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Dystrophinopathies cover a spectrum of rare progressive X-linked muscle diseases, arising from mutations. They are among the most common pediatric muscular dystrophies, being Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) the most severe form. Despite the fact that there is still no cure for these serious diseases, unprecedented advances are being made for the development of therapies for DMD.

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Objective: Despite recent advances in diagnosis and treatment of the disease, the prognosis of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains poor. While the value of molecular pattern profiles at first diagnosis has been demonstrated, only few studies have examined these biomarkers at the time of recurrence. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of extent of resection at repeated craniotomy on overall survival (OS) of patients with recurrent GBM.

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Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a fatal tumor with a poor prognosis. The recent developments of liquid biopsies could provide novel diagnostic and prognostic tools in oncology. However, there is limited information about the feasibility of this technique for MPMs.

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Glioblastoma is one of the most common and lethal primary neoplasms of the brain. Patient survival has not improved significantly over the past three decades and the patient median survival is just over one year. Tumor heterogeneity is thought to be a major determinant of therapeutic failure and a major reason for poor overall survival.

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