Telerehabilitation and onsite rehabilitation effectively improve quality of life, fatigue, balance, and cognition in people with multiple sclerosis: an interventional study.

Background: Telerehabilitation (TR) offers a valuable opportunity to improve access to care and has shown results comparable to onsite rehabilitation (SR) across different conditions. The present study aimed to explore the efficacy of TR and SR in improving clinically meaningful outcomes in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS).

Materials And Methods: Subjects enrolled in the study were assigned to one of two treatment arms: a 6-week TR intervention or a 6-week onsite rehabilitation (SR) intervention.

Clinical variables influencing the perception of fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis: a cross-sectional study using FSIQ-RMS.

Background: Physical fatigue is one of the most disabling symptoms in people with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). Several factors might influence the development of fatigue, such as gender, education, body mass index (BMI), Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), disease duration, working status (Ws), physiotherapy (Ph), and disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). Fatigue Symptoms and Impacts Questionnaire-Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (FSIQ-RMS) is a patient-reported outcome (PRO) that allows one to define the impact of fatigue in PwMS clearly.

MiR126-targeted-nanoparticles combined with PI3K/AKT inhibitor as a new strategy to overcome melanoma resistance.

Metastatic melanoma poses significant challenges as a highly lethal disease. Despite the success of molecular targeting using BRAF inhibitors (BRAFis) and immunotherapy, the emergence of early recurrence remains an issue and there is the need for novel therapeutic approaches. This study aimed at creating a targeted delivery system for the oncosuppressor microRNA 126 (miR126) and testing its effectiveness in combination with a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/ protein kinase B (AKT) inhibitor for treating metastatic melanoma resistant to BRAFis.

Eating Hubs in Multiple Sclerosis: Exploring the Relationship Between Mediterranean Diet and Disability Status in Italy.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a complex disease in which multiple factors contribute to disability accrual. Mediterranean Diet (MeDi) has shown beneficial effects across neurodegenerative diseases. We hypothesize that specific food habits, rather than global adherence to MeDi, might impact on MS.

Information specialists and researchers working together for health promotion: Benefits from school-work educational programmes at the National Institute of Health in Italy.

In 2015, the Italian Ministry of Education in Italy launched innovative upper school educational programmes envisaging school-work initiatives. In this framework, the National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS) was among the first scientific institutions to develop educational programmes with school. Involving school students in health research activities allowed health literacy improvement, acquisition of scientific communication skills and fostered student interest in science careers.

Advances in Natural or Synthetic Nanoparticles for Metastatic Melanoma Therapy and Diagnosis.

Advanced melanoma is still a major challenge in oncology. In the early stages, melanoma can be treated successfully with surgery and the survival rate is high, nevertheless the survival rate drops drastically after metastasis dissemination. The identification of parameters predictive of the prognosis to support clinical decisions and of new efficacious therapies are important to ensure patients the best possible prognosis.

Exosomes from CD99-deprived Ewing sarcoma cells reverse tumor malignancy by inhibiting cell migration and promoting neural differentiation.

Ewing sarcoma (EWS) is an aggressive mesenchymal tumor with unmet clinical need and significant social impacts on children, adolescents, and young adults. CD99, a hallmark surface molecule of EWS, participates in crucial biological processes including cell migration, differentiation, and death. EWS cells can release CD99 through exosomes (EXOs), specialized extracellular vesicles with major cell communication roles.

Joint action of miR-126 and MAPK/PI3K inhibitors against metastatic melanoma.

Emerging data support the rationale of combined therapies in advanced melanoma. Specifically, the combined use of drugs with different mechanisms of action can reduce the probability of selecting resistant clones. To identify agents active against melanoma cells, we screened a library of 349 anti-cancer compounds, currently in clinical use or trials, and selected PIK-75, an inhibitor of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathway, as the 'top active' drug.

Desire thinking as a predictor of drinking status following treatment for alcohol use disorder: A prospective study.

Research has indicated that craving is one of the strongest predictors of treatment outcome and relapse in Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) but there is little consensus on the factors that may influence its activation and escalation. Research has also shown that desire thinking is an important cognitive process which may exacerbate craving in problem drinkers. The aim of present study was to explore, for the first time, the role of desire thinking in prospectively predicting relapse, craving and binge drinking in patients receiving treatment for AUD.

Acidic microenvironment plays a key role in human melanoma progression through a sustained exosome mediated transfer of clinically relevant metastatic molecules.

Background: Microenvironment cues involved in melanoma progression are largely unknown. Melanoma is highly influenced in its aggressive phenotype by the changes it determinates in its microenvironment, such as pH decrease, in turn influencing cancer cell invasiveness, progression and tissue remodelling through an abundant secretion of exosomes, dictating cancer strategy to the whole host. A role of exosomes in driving melanoma progression under microenvironmental acidity was never described.

Effect of miR-204&211 and RUNX2 control on the fate of human mesenchymal stromal cells.

MiR-204 and 211 enforced expression in murine mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has been shown to induce adipogenesis and impair osteogenesis, through RUNX2 down-modulation. This mechanism has been suggested to play a role in osteoporosis associated with obesity. However, two further fundamental MSC functions, chondrogenesis and hematopoietic supporting activity, have not yet been explored.

Desire thinking as a predictor of craving and binge drinking: A longitudinal study.

Desire thinking is a conscious and voluntary cognitive process orienting to prefigure images, information and memories about positive target-related experience. Desire thinking has been found to be associated with both craving and alcohol use in clinical and non-clinical populations, however its role in predicting craving and problematic drinking patterns has never been investigated using a longitudinal design. The central aim of the present study was to explore the role of desire thinking at Time 2 (3months post-baseline) in predicting craving and binge drinking and Time 3 (6months post-baseline), controlling for levels of both these constructs and Time 1 (baseline).

Exosome-mediated transfer of miR-222 is sufficient to increase tumor malignancy in melanoma.

Background: Growing evidence is showing that metastatic cell populations are able to transfer their characteristics to less malignant cells. Exosomes (EXOs) are membrane vesicles of endocytic origin able to convey their cargo of mRNAs, microRNAs (miRs), proteins and lipids from donors to proximal as well as distant acceptor cells. Our previous results indicated that miR-221&222 are key factors for melanoma development and dissemination.

SCD5-induced oleic acid production reduces melanoma malignancy by intracellular retention of SPARC and cathepsin B.

A proper balance between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (FAs) is required for maintaining cell homeostasis. The increased demand of FAs to assemble the plasma membranes of continuously dividing cancer cells might unbalance this ratio and critically affect tumour outgrowth. We unveiled the role of the stearoyl-CoA desaturase SCD5 in converting saturated FAs into mono-unsaturated FAs during melanoma progression.

HOXB1 restored expression promotes apoptosis and differentiation in the HL60 leukemic cell line.

Background: Homeobox (HOX) genes deregulation has been largely implicated in the development of human leukemia. Among the HOXB cluster, HOXB1 was silent in a number of analyzed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) primary cells and cell lines, whereas it was expressed in normal terminally differentiated peripheral blood cells.

Methods: We evaluated the biological effects and the transcriptome changes determined by the retroviral transduction of HOXB1 in the human promyelocytic cell line HL60.

miR-126&126* restored expressions play a tumor suppressor role by directly regulating ADAM9 and MMP7 in melanoma.

The abnormal expression of several microRNAs has a causal role in tumorigenesis with either antineoplastic or oncogenic functions. Here we demonstrated that miR-126 and miR-126* play a tumor suppressor role in human melanoma through the direct or indirect repression of several key oncogenic molecules. The expression levels of miR-126&126* were elevated in normal melanocytes and primary melanoma cell lines, whereas they markedly declined in metastatic cells.

The abrogation of the HOXB7/PBX2 complex induces apoptosis in melanoma through the miR-221&222-c-FOS pathway.

Cutaneous melanoma is the fastest increasing cancer worldwide. Although several molecular abnormalities have been associated with melanoma progression, the underlying mechanisms are still largely unknown and few targeted therapies are under evaluation. Here we show that the HOXB7/PBX2 dimer acts as a positive transcriptional regulator of the oncogenic microRNA-221 and -222.

Constitutive activation of the ETS-1-miR-222 circuitry in metastatic melanoma.

MicroRNAs-221 and -222 are highly upregulated in several solid tumors, including melanomas. We demonstrate that the proto-oncogene ETS-1, involved in the pathogenesis of cancers of different origin, is a transcriptional regulator of miR-222 by direct binding to its promoter region. Differently from 293FT cells or early stage melanomas, where unphosphorylated ETS-1 represses miR-222 transcription, in metastatic melanoma the constitutively Thr-38 phosphorylated fraction of ETS-1 induces miR-222.

Human melanoma cells express FGFR/Src/Rho signaling that entails an adhesion-independent caveolin-1 membrane association.

Caveolae have been indicated as a center of cytoskeleton regulation for Src kinase/Rho GTPase signaling. In addition, Src recruitment on intact cortical actin cytoskeleton appears to be required for bFGF/FGFR signal activation. Recently, we established a relationship between caveolin-1 (Cav-1) expression and cell migration in human malignant melanoma, constitutively activated by a bFGF autoregulatory loop.

Caveolin-1 tumor-promoting role in human melanoma.

Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), a member of the caveolin family, regulates caveolae-associated signaling proteins, which are involved in many biological processes, including cancer development. Cav-1 was found to exert a complex and ambiguous role as oncogene or tumor suppressor depending on the cellular microenvironment. Here we investigated Cav-1 expression and function in a panel of melanomas, finding its expression in all the cell lines.

MicroRNA-221 and -222 pathway controls melanoma progression.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) represent a new family of small noncoding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression. Recent studies demonstrated miRNA involvement in all the main biological processes, including tumor development as a consequence of an aberrant deregulated expression. Growing evidence is showing the capability of miRNA expression profiles to unequivocally distinguish between normal and neoplastic tissues, leading to the identification of new diagnostic and/or prognostic molecular markers.

The promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger-microRNA-221/-222 pathway controls melanoma progression through multiple oncogenic mechanisms.

The incidence of cutaneous melanoma is steadily increasing. Although several molecular abnormalities have been associated with melanoma progression, the mechanisms underlying the differential gene expression are still largely unknown and targeted therapies are not yet available. Noncoding small RNAs, termed microRNAs (miR), have been recently reported to play important roles in major cellular processes, including those involved in cancer development and progression.

MicroRNA-133 controls cardiac hypertrophy.

Growing evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) are involved in basic cell functions and oncogenesis. Here we report that miR-133 has a critical role in determining cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. We observed decreased expression of both miR-133 and miR-1, which belong to the same transcriptional unit, in mouse and human models of cardiac hypertrophy.

Expression of alternative transcripts of ferroportin-1 during human erythroid differentiation.

Background And Objectives: Ferroportin-1 (FPN1) is expressed in various types of cells that play critical roles in mammalian iron metabolism and appears to act as an iron exporter in these tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate whether erythroid cells possess specific mechanisms for iron export.

Design And Methods: The expression of FPN1 during human erythroid differentiation, the characterization of alternative transcripts, the modulation by iron and the subcellular localization of this protein were studied.