Publications by authors named "Marco Giovine"

Article Synopsis
  • Secondary metabolites are compounds that help organisms defend against others or attract mates, and their production is influenced by evolutionary factors.
  • This study focused on the ecotoxicological effects of extracts from three marine sponges and two benthic diatoms on marine organisms, specifically the Mediterranean purple sea urchin and other diatoms.
  • Results indicated that while unfertilized eggs showed some protection from harmful sponge compounds, treatments with sponge extracts had significant negative effects post-fertilization, and diatom extracts led to increased malformations in both pre- and post-fertilization stages.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers analyzed the nematocyst extract from a common hydrozoan, identifying 783 proteins including structural components, enzymes, and potential toxins, similar to those found in more harmful cnidarians.
  • * Biochemical tests identified active enzymes like proteases and phospholipases, suggesting future research could explore the pharmacological uses of these venom components through recombinant methods.
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Article Synopsis
  • The oceans, covering over 70% of Earth, are rich in biodiversity, with sponges acting as vital ecosystem engineers that provide habitats and bioactive compounds.
  • A study utilized metataxonomic techniques to analyze bacterial communities in sponges collected from Faro Lake and Porto Paone, employing molecular markers for sponge identification.
  • The analysis discovered a variety of bacterial classes, including several first-time findings, and highlighted that certain sponge species hosted specific bacteria previously associated mainly with soil and plants.
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Global warming has led to an increase in extreme weather and climate phenomena, including floods and heatwaves. Marine heatwaves have frightening consequences for coastal benthic communities around the world. Each species exhibits a natural range of thermal tolerance and responds to temperature variations through behavioral, physiological, biochemical, and molecular adjustments.

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Research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine has an ever-increasing need for innovative biomaterials suitable for the production of wound-dressing devices and artificial skin-like substitutes. Marine collagen is one of the most promising biomaterials for the production of such devices. In this study, for the first time, 2D collagen membranes (2D-CMs) created from the extracellular matrix extract of the marine demosponge have been evaluated in vitro as possible tools for wound healing.

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(Nardo, 1847) is a marine sponge of high biotechnological interest both for its natural compound content and for its peculiar collagen, which is suitable for the production of innovative biomaterials in the form, for instance, of 2D membranes and hydrogels, exploitable in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In this study, the molecular and chemical-physical properties of fibrillar collagen extracted from specimens collected in different seasons are studied to evaluate the possible impact of sea temperature on them. Collagen fibrils were extracted from sponges harvested by the Sdot Yam coast (Israel) during winter (sea temperature: 17 °C) and during summer (sea temperature: 27 °C).

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Chemotrophic choice as a metabolic source of energy has characterised animal cell evolution. However, light interactions with animal cell photoacceptors that are able to increase energetic metabolism (photo-biomodulation (PBM)) have been previously described. In the present study, we cut three specimens of into four equal parts (12 fragments), and we irradiated the regenerating edge of six fragments with the previously characterised 810 nm near-infrared light, delivered at 1 W, 60 J/cm, 1 W/cm, and 60 J in a continuous-wave mode for 60 s through a flat-top hand-piece with a rounded spot-size area of 1 cm.

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The collagen proteins family is sought-after in the pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food industries for various biotechnological applications. The most abundant sources of collagen are pigs and cows, but due to religious restrictions and possible disease transmission, they became less attractive. An alternative source can be found in marine invertebrates, specifically in sponges.

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Collagen filaments derived from the two marine demosponges and were for the first time isolated, biochemically characterised and tested for their potential use in regenerative medicine. SDS-PAGE of isolated filaments revealed a main collagen subunit band of 130 kDa in both of the samples under study. DSC analysis on 2D membranes produced with collagenous sponge filaments showed higher thermal stability than commercial mammalian-derived collagen membranes.

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Marine biodiversity is expressed through the huge variety of vertebrate and invertebrate species inhabiting intertidal to deep-sea environments. The extraordinary variety of "forms and functions" exhibited by marine animals suggests they are a promising source of bioactive molecules and provides potential inspiration for different biomimetic approaches. This diversity is familiar to biologists and has led to intensive investigation of metabolites, polysaccharides, and other compounds.

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Chondrosia is a common marine demosponge showing many peculiarities, lacking silica spicules and with a body entirely formed by a dense collagenous matrix. In this paper, we have described the identification of a new cytotoxic protein (chondrosin) with selective activity against specific tumor cell lines, from , collected from the Liguria Sea. Chondrosin was extracted and purified using a salting out approach and molecular weight size exclusion chromatography.

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Marine demosponges of the Verongiida order are considered a gold-mine for bioinspired materials science and marine pharmacology. The aim of this work was to simultaneously isolate selected bromotyrosines and unique chitinous structures from A. aerophoba and to propose these molecules and biomaterials for possible application as antibacterial and antitumor compounds and as ready-to-use scaffolds for cultivation of cardiomyocytes, respectively.

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Structure-based tissue engineering requires large-scale 3D cell/tissue manufacture technologies, to produce biologically active scaffolds. Special attention is currently paid to naturally pre-designed scaffolds found in skeletons of marine sponges, which represent a renewable resource of biomaterials. Here, an innovative approach to the production of mineralized scaffolds of natural origin is proposed.

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Naturally occurring three-dimensional (3D) biopolymer-based matrices that can be used in different biomedical applications are sustainable alternatives to various artificial 3D materials. For this purpose, chitin-based structures from marine sponges are very promising substitutes. Marine sponges from the order Verongiida (class Demospongiae) are typical examples of demosponges with well-developed chitinous skeletons.

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Marine sponges remain representative of a unique source of renewable biological materials. The demosponges of the family Ianthellidae possess chitin-based skeletons with high biomimetic potential. These three-dimensional (3D) constructs can potentially be used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

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Sponges are a valuable source of natural compounds and biomaterials for many biotechnological applications. Marine sponges belonging to the order Verongiida are known to contain both chitin and biologically active bromotyrosines. (Aplysineidae: Verongiida) is well known to contain bromotyrosines with relevant bioactivity against human and animal diseases.

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Collagen is involved in the formation of complex fibrillar networks, providing the structural integrity of tissues. Its low immunogenicity and mechanical properties make this molecule a biomaterial that is extremely suitable for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) strategies in human health issues. Here, for the first time, we performed a thorough screening of four different methods to obtain sponge collagenous fibrillar suspensions (FSs) from demosponge, which were then chemically, physically, and biologically characterized, in terms of protein, collagen, and glycosaminoglycans content, viscous properties, biocompatibility, and antioxidant activity.

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Exposure to crystalline silica particles causes silicosis, an occupational disease leading to an overproduction of collagen in the lung. The first step of this pathology is characterized by the release of inflammatory mediators. Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine directly involved in silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

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Due to the wide range of applications in high-tech solutions, Rare Earth Elements (REEs) have become object of great interest. In the last years several studies regarding technologies for REE extraction from secondary resources have been carried out. In particular biotechnologies, which use tolerant and accumulator microorganisms to recover and recycle precious metals, are replacing traditional methods.

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Quartz is a well-known occupational fibrogenic agent able to cause fibrosis and other severe pulmonary diseases such as silicosis and lung cancer. The silicotic pathology owes its severity to the structural and chemo-physical properties of the particles such as shape, size and abundance of surface radicals. In earlier studies, we reported that significant amounts of surface radicals can be generated on crystalline silica by chemical aggression with ascorbic acid (AA), a vitamin naturally abundant in the lung surfactant, and this reaction led to enhanced cytotoxicity and production of inflammatory mediators in a macrophage cell line.

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The sponge Chondrosia reniformis selectively engulfs siliceous particles that, when in crystalline form, become quickly dissolved in its ectosome. The molecular mechanism, identity, and physiological significance of the cells involved in this process are not completely understood. In the present study, we applied light and electronic microscopic techniques to show how the quartz particles in C.

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Here we report the molecular cloning and characterization of the first Tumor Necrosis Factor homologous and of its putative receptor in the marine sponge Chondrosia reniformis: chTNF and chTNFR, respectively. The deduced chTNF amino acid sequence is a type II transmembrane protein containing the typical TNFSF domain. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that chTNF is more related to Chordata TNFs rather than to other invertebrates.

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Prolyl 4-hydroxylase (P4H) is a α2β2 tetramer catalyzing the post-translational hydroxylation of prolines in collagen. Its recombinant production is mainly pursued to realize biotechnological tools able to generate animal contaminant-free hydroxylated collagen. One promising candidate for biomedical applications is the collagen extracted from the marine sponge Chondrosia reniformis, because of its biocompatibility and because is devoid of the health risks associated with bovine and porcine collagens.

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Prolyl 4-hydroxylase (P4H) catalyzes the hydroxylation of proline residues in collagen. P4H has two functional subunits, α and β. Here, we report the cDNA cloning, characterization, and expression analysis of the α and β subunits of the P4H derived from the marine sponge Chondrosia reniformis.

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