Converting biomass waste into valuable biomaterials and bioactive compounds: an overview of antimicrobial activities in the pursuit of global sustainability and health.

The escalating global population poses formidable challenges to addressing pressing environmental concerns, hindering progress towards sustainable development goals. Unregulated human activities, particularly the excessive reliance on fossil fuels and unsustainable agricultural practices, contribute to pollution, climate change, and resource depletion. Inadequate waste management systems exacerbate environmental degradation and pose risks to public health.

Inhibiting immunoregulatory amidase NAAA blocks ZIKV maturation in Human Neural Stem Cells.

Recent evidence suggests that lipids play a crucial role in viral infections beyond their traditional functions of supplying envelope and energy, and creating protected niches for viral replication. In the case of Zika virus (ZIKV), it alters host lipids by enhancing lipogenesis and suppressing β-oxidation to generate viral factories at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) interface. This discovery prompted us to hypothesize that interference with lipogenesis could serve as a dual antiviral and anti-inflammatory strategy to combat the replication of positive sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA+) viruses.

Exploring the link between viruses and cancer in companion animals: a comprehensive and comparative analysis.

Currently, it is estimated that 15% of human neoplasms globally are caused by infectious agents, with new evidence emerging continuously. Multiple agents have been implicated in various forms of neoplasia, with viruses as the most frequent. In recent years, investigation on viral mechanisms underlying tumoral transformation in cancer development and progression are in the spotlight, both in human and veterinary oncology.

Specialized metabolites from plants as a source of new multi-target antiviral drugs: a systematic review.

Viral infections have always been the main global health challenge, as several potentially lethal viruses, including the hepatitis virus, herpes virus, and influenza virus, have affected human health for decades. Unfortunately, most licensed antiviral drugs are characterized by many adverse reactions and, in the long-term therapy, also develop viral resistance; for these reasons, researchers have focused their attention on investigating potential antiviral molecules from plants. Natural resources indeed offer a variety of specialized therapeutic metabolites that have been demonstrated to inhibit viral entry into the host cells and replication through the regulation of viral absorption, cell receptor binding, and competition for the activation of intracellular signaling pathways.

Canonical fibroblast growth factors in viral infection.

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are a family of proteins that play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of various tissues in the body. There are three function-al groups of FGFs: canonical FGFs (cFGFs), intracellularly retained FGFs, and metabolic (also called endocrine) FGFs. cFGFs are secreted and act in an autocrine/paracrine fashion to regulate differentiation during foetal development, as well as tissue repair in adults.

Lipid balance remodelling by human positive-strand RNA viruses and the contribution of lysosomes.

A marked reorganization of internal membranes occurs in the cytoplasm of cells infected by single stranded positive-sense RNA viruses. Most cell compartments change their asset to provide lipids for membrane rearrangement into replication organelles, where to concentrate viral proteins and enzymes while hiding from pathogen pattern recognition molecules. Because the endoplasmic reticulum is a central hub for lipid metabolism, when viruses hijack the organelle to form their replication organelles, a cascade of events change the intracellular environment.

Presence of a mouse mammary tumour virus-like in feline lymphomas: a preliminary study.

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.

Zika virus induces FOXG1 nuclear displacement and downregulation in human neural progenitors.

Congenital alterations in the levels of the transcription factor Forkhead box g1 (FOXG1) coding gene trigger "FOXG1 syndrome," a spectrum that recapitulates birth defects found in the "congenital Zika syndrome," such as microcephaly and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Here, we report that Zika virus (ZIKV) infection alters FOXG1 nuclear localization and causes its downregulation, thus impairing expression of genes involved in cell replication and apoptosis in several cell models, including human neural progenitor cells. Growth factors, such as EGF and FGF2, and Thr271 residue located in FOXG1 AKT domain, take part in the nuclear displacement and apoptosis protection, respectively.

Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Entry by Interacting with S Protein and ACE-2 Receptor.

Lipids play a crucial role in the entry and egress of viruses, regardless of whether they are naked or enveloped. Recent evidence shows that lipid involvement in viral infection goes much further. During replication, many viruses rearrange internal lipid membranes to create niches where they replicate and assemble.

Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV) and MMTV-like Viruses: An In-depth Look at a Controversial Issue.

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.

Assessment of automated high-throughput serological assays for prediction of high-titer SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody.

COVID19 convalescent patient plasma units with high titer neutralizing antibody can be used to treat patients with severe disease. Therefore, in order to select suitable donors, neutralizing antibody titer against SARS CoV-2 needs to be determined. Because the neutralization assay is highly demanding from several points of view, a pre-selection of sera would be desirable to minimize the number of sera to be tested.

Evolution of viruses and the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Life implies adaptation. This is one of the fundamental principles that has permitted most living species to survive through ages in an ever-changing environment. Spontaneously occurring events have shaped also virus populations and their fitness.

A spatial multi-scale fluorescence microscopy toolbox discloses entry checkpoints of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Vero E6 cells.

We exploited a multi-scale microscopy imaging toolbox to address some major issues related to SARS-CoV-2 interactions with host cells. Our approach harnesses both conventional and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy and easily matches the spatial scale of single-virus/cell checkpoints. After its validation through the characterization of infected cells and virus morphology, we leveraged this toolbox to reveal subtle issues related to the entry phase of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Vero E6 cells.

A low-cost simple test for weekly detection of Mycoplasma hyorhinis and arginini contaminations in cell cultures and viral preparations.

Mollicutes (Mycoplasma and Acholeplasma) are parasitic bacteria that adhere to cellular surfaces, naturally resistant to many antibiotics and extremely small. They are often found as contaminants in cultured cells, where they go unnoticed. They may be present in viral stocks because they are present in supernatants of cells where cultured viruses are released.

CRISPR/Cas9 Ablation of Integrated HIV-1 Accumulates Proviral DNA Circles with Reformed Long Terminal Repeats.

Gene editing may be used to excise the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) provirus from the host cell genome, possibly eradicating the infection. Here, using cells acutely or latently infected by HIV-1 and treated with long terminal repeat (LTR)-targeting CRISPR/Cas9, we show that the excised HIV-1 provirus persists for a few weeks and may rearrange in circular molecules. Although circular proviral DNA is naturally formed during HIV-1 replication, we observed that gene editing might increase proviral DNA circles with restored LTRs.

Acid ceramidase controls apoptosis and increases autophagy in human melanoma cells treated with doxorubicin.

Acid ceramidase (AC) is a lysosomal hydrolase encoded by the ASAH1 gene, which cleaves ceramides into sphingosine and fatty acid. AC is expressed at high levels in most human melanoma cell lines and may confer resistance against chemotherapeutic agents. One such agent, doxorubicin, was shown to increase ceramide levels in melanoma cells.

Ablation of Acid Ceramidase Impairs Autophagy and Mitochondria Activity in Melanoma Cells.

Cutaneous melanoma is often resistant to therapy due to its high plasticity, as well as its ability to metabolise chemotherapeutic drugs. Sphingolipid signalling plays a pivotal role in its progression and metastasis. One of the ways melanoma alters sphingolipid rheostat is via over-expression of lysosomal acid ceramidase (AC), which catalyses the hydrolysis of pro-apoptotic long-chain ceramides into sphingosine and fatty acid.

DDX3 inhibitors show antiviral activity against positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses but not against negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses: The coxsackie B model.

Picornaviridae are positive-sense single stranded RNA viruses with a similar genomic structure lacking a cap at the 5' end, but with a highly structured 5'-untranslated region (UTR) containing an internal ribosome entry site (IRES). IRES allows ribosomes to be recruited by the viral RNA and initiate translation in a cap-independent manner. Coxsackie virus type B (CV-B) belong to Picornaviridae and are widespread in human population.

Sphingolipid/Ceramide Pathways and Autophagy in the Onset and Progression of Melanoma: Novel Therapeutic Targets and Opportunities.

Melanoma is a malignant tumor deriving from neoplastic transformation of melanocytes. The incidence of melanoma has increased dramatically over the last 50 years. It accounts for most cases of skin cancer deaths.

Enhanced in vitro virus expression using 3-dimensional cell culture spheroids for infection.

The way viruses interact with cultured cells and their surrounding environment is still a matter of debate. From a technical point of view, 2D cell cultures only partially exhibit the morpho-molecular pattern required for viral tropism, not reflecting the complexity of the microenvironment in vivo. Therefore, 3D cell cultures are envisioned as an alternative approach to study viral replication possibly closer to in vivo conditions than 2D, representing the link between traditional cell culture and in vivo models.