Publications by authors named "M Spatuzza"

Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life support in newborns with severe respiratory failure. Our main objective was to evaluate the mortality of patients and define positive and negative predictive factors of survival.

Methods: We performed a Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE)-conformed retrospective observational study and a systematic review, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive cancers, characterized by a decrease in antioxidant levels. Evidence has demonstrated that ferulic acid (FA), a natural antioxidant particularly abundant in vegetables and fruits, could be a promising candidate for GBM treatment. Since FA shows a high instability that compromises its therapeutic application, it has been encapsulated into Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLCs) to improve its bioavailability in the brain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein 1 (FMRP) is a widely expressed RNA binding protein involved in several steps of mRNA metabolism. Mutations in the FMR1 gene encoding FMRP are responsible for fragile X syndrome (FXS), a leading genetic cause of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, and fragile X-associated tremor-ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), a neurodegenerative disorder in aging men. Although FMRP is mainly expressed in neurons, it is also present in glial cells and its deficiency or altered expression can affect functions of glial cells with implications for the pathophysiology of brain disorders.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In an effort to help reduce the costs of fluorescence microscopy and expand the use of this valuable technique, we developed a low-cost platform capable of visualising and analysing the spatio-temporal dynamics of intracellular Ca signalling in astrocytes. The created platform, consisting of a specially adapted fluorescence microscope and a data analysis procedure performed with Imagej Fiji software and custom scripts, allowed us to detect relative changes of intracellular Ca ions in astrocytes. To demonstrate the usefulness of the workflow, we applied the methodology to several astrocyte preparations, specifically immortalised human astrocyte cells and wild-type mouse cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study highlights the role of mGlu5 receptors in various forms of monogenic autism, building on previous findings related to fragile-X syndrome (FXS).
  • Researchers developed a method to assess a specific signaling pathway (PI hydrolysis) in mice models of autism, discovering that this pathway was significantly reduced in key brain regions of mice with Angelman syndrome (AS) and FXS.
  • The findings suggest that the typical signaling process linked to mGlu5 receptors is impaired in these autism models, marking a significant advancement in understanding the neurobiological aspects of monogenic autism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF