Publications by authors named "Mario Felice Tecce"

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) severely impairs metabolic control and can lead to erectile dysfunction (ED) through hyperglycemia-induced vascular damage, autonomic neuropathy, and psychological distress. This review examines the role of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in ameliorating ED by addressing glucose variability and inflammation. A comprehensive analysis of studies and clinical trials was conducted to evaluate the impact of CGM on metabolic control, inflammatory responses, and vascular health in patients with T1D.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The new compounds were rigorously tested using FRET analysis and showed strong inhibition of Haspin, with some identified as the most promising candidates in cellular models when combined with paclitaxel, enhancing its effectiveness.
  • * Additional testing of these inhibitors revealed significant selectivity among 70 different kinases, and further chemical insights were gained, suggesting that these derivatives warrant more in-depth research for potential therapeutic use.
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Heart failure (HF) management in type 1 diabetes (T1D) is particularly challenging due to its increased prevalence and the associated risks of hospitalization and mortality, driven by diabetic cardiomyopathy. Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2-is) offer a promising avenue for treating HF, specifically the preserved ejection fraction variant most common in T1D, but their utility is hampered by the risk of euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This review investigates the potential of SGLT2-is in T1D HF management alongside emergent Continuous Ketone Monitoring (CKM) technology as a means to mitigate DKA risk through a comprehensive analysis of clinical trials, observational studies, and reviews.

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Antibodies are the macromolecules of choice to ensure specific recognition of biomarkers in biological assays. However, they present a range of shortfalls including a relatively high production cost and limited tissue penetration. Peptides are relatively small molecules able to reproduce sequences of highly specific paratopes and, although they have less biospecificity than antibodies, they offer advantages like ease of synthesis, modifications of their amino acid sequences and tagging with fluorophores and other molecules required for detection.

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Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are the most common causes of chronic liver disease and are increasingly emerging as a global health problem. Such disorders can lead to liver damage, resulting in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the activation of infiltrating immune cells. These are some of the common features of ALD progression in ASH (alcoholic steatohepatitis) and NAFLD to NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis).

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Different molecular mechanisms contribute to the development of multidrug resistance in cancer, including increased drug efflux, enhanced cellular repair mechanisms and alterations of drug metabolism or drug targets. ABCG2 is a member of the ATP-binding cassette superfamily transporters that promotes drug efflux, inducing chemotherapeutic resistance in malignant cells. In this context, the development of selective ABCG2 inhibitors might be a suitable strategy to improve chemotherapy efficacy.

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The enzyme glutaminase-1 (GLS-1) has shown a clear and coherent implication in the progression and exacerbation of different aggressive tumors such as glioblastoma, hepatocarcinoma, pancreas, bone, and triple-negative breast cancer. Few chemotypes are currently available as selective GLS-1 inhibitors, and still, fewer of them are at the clinical stage. In the present paper, starting from a naturally-inspired antitumor compound library, metabolomics has been used to putatively identify the molecular mechanism underlying biological activity.

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COVID-19 pandemic, starting from the latest 2019, and caused by SARS-CoV-2 pathogen, led to the hardest health-socio-economic disaster in the last century. Despite the tremendous scientific efforts, mainly focused on the development of vaccines, identification of potent and efficient anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics still represents an unmet need. Remdesivir, an anti-Ebola drug selected from a repurposing campaign, is the only drug approved, so far, for the treatment of the infection.

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Theranostics based on two-photon excitation of therapeutics in the NIR region is an emerging and powerful tool in cancer therapy since this radiation deeply penetrates healthy biological tissues and produces selective cell death. Aggregates of gold nanoparticles coated with glutathione corona functionalized with the dansyl chromophore (a-DG-AuNPs) were synthesized and found efficient nanodevice for applications in photothermal therapy (PTT). Actually the nanoparticle aggregation enhances the quenching of radiative excitation and the consequent conversion into heat.

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Hypercholesterolaemia is considered an important cause of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. In a previous investigation, we demonstrated that cultured hepatoma cells treated with hypercholesterolaemic sera compared with cells treated with normocholesterolaemic sera show overexpression of mRNAs related to mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase (HMGCS2). In the present work, using an NMR metabolomic analysis, we demonstrate that the hypercholesterolaemic blood sera previously used to treat cultured hepatoma cells are characterized by a metabolomic profile that is significantly different from the normocholesterolaemic sera.

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Aims: Excessive glucose serum concentration, endothelial dysfunction and microangiopathy are key features of diabetes mellitus, being both diagnostic parameters and pathogenetic mechanisms. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is importantly implicated in the physiology and pathology of blood vessels, including diabetic vascular damage.

Methods: These factors certainly affect endothelial cells, and to evaluate mechanisms involved, we took advantage of telomerase-immortalized human microvascular endothelial (TIME) cells.

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Background: Among electromagnetic fields treatments used in orthopedics, extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF MF) need more detailed information about the molecular mechanisms of their effects and exposure conditions.

Objective: Evaluation of the effects of an ELF MF exposure system, recently introduced among current clinical treatments for fracture healing and other bone diseases, on Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activity and expression in a human osteosarcoma cell line (SaOS-2), as marker typically associated to osteogenesis and bone tissue regeneration.

Method: Cells were exposed to the ELF MF physical stimulus (75 Hz, 1.

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Mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) synthase (HMGCS2) catalyses the first step of ketogenesis and is critical in various metabolic conditions. Several nutrient molecules were able to differentially modulate HMGCS2 expression levels. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6, n-3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5, n-3), arachidonic acid (AA, C20:4, n-6), and glucose increased HMGCS2 mRNA and protein levels in HepG2 hepatoma cells, while fructose decreased them.

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MicroRNAs are short (21-23 nucleotides), noncoding RNAs that typically silence posttranscriptional gene expression through interaction with target messenger RNAs. Currently, miRNAs have been identified in almost all studied multicellular eukaryotes in the plant and animal kingdoms. Additionally, recent studies reported that miRNAs can also be encoded by certain single-cell eukaryotes and by viruses.

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Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in developed countries. Epidemiological reports indicate that the incidence of HBV-related HCC is higher in males and postmenopausal females than other females. Increasing evidence suggests that sex hormones such as androgens and estrogens play an important role in the progression of an HBV infection and in the development of HBV-related HCC.

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n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), abundant in fish, have been shown to affect development and progression of some types of cancer, including breast cancer. The aim of our study was to further analyze and clarify the effects of these nutrients on the molecular mechanisms underlying breast cancer. Following treatments with DHA we examined cell viability, death, cell cycle, and some molecular effects in breast cell lines with different transformation, phenotypic, and biochemical characteristics (MCF-10A, MCF-7, SK-BR-3, ZR-75-1).

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Serum composition is linked to metabolic diseases not only to understand their pathogenesis but also for diagnostic purposes. Quality and quantity of nutritional intake can affect disease risk and serum composition. It is then possible that diet derived serum components directly affect pathogenetic mechanisms.

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Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) is the rate limiting enzyme in unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis. This enzyme has an important role in the regulation of hepatic lipogenesis and lipid oxidation, and alterations in these pathways may lead to several diseases. We examined, in HepG2 cell cultures, the mechanism of SCD1 regulation considering the involvement of two transcription factors: liver X receptor alpha (LXRα) and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (SREBP-1), also investigating the effect of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on this process.

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The incidence and number of deaths caused by pancreatic tumours have been gradually rising, while the incidence and mortality of other common cancers have been declining. Risk factors for this malignant disease include cigarette smoking, family history of chronic pancreatitis, advancing age, male sex, diabetes mellitus, obesity, non-0 blood group, a high-fat diet, alcohol consumption and possibly Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis B virus infections. Metabolic diseases have become the leading cause of death in many countries.

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We evaluated the effects, on cultured human SaOS-2 cells, of exposures to the low frequency (LF) electric signal (60 kHz sinusoidal wave, 24.5 V peak-to-peak voltage, amplitude modulated by a 12.5 Hz square wave, 50% duty cycle) from an apparatus of current clinical use in bone diseases requiring regenerating processes.

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Vinorelbine (VRN) is one of the most representative compounds of its class: the vinca alkaloids. VRN interferes with microtubule assembly. VRN shows a better therapeutic index than the parent compound vincristine and vinblastine probably because of its higher affinity for mitotic microtubules.

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Serum constituents might directly affect metabolic diseases pathogenesis and are commonly used as diagnostic tool. The aim of this study was to investigate the human serum effect on in vitro gene expression, related to nutrients action and involved in lipid metabolism. In detail, 40 human sera were firstly analyzed in fatty acids profile by gas-chromatography.

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Depression is a disorder that can be classified in the categories of non-organic psychiatric disorders and mood disorders. Mood tone is an important psychic function involved in the adaptation to both our internal and external world. It is flexible, that is, it goes up when we are in positive and favorable conditions, but it goes down when we are in negative and unpleasant states.

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Low-frequency (LF) electric fields (EFs) are currently used in clinical therapies of several bone diseases to increase bone regenerative processes. To identify possible molecular mechanisms involved in these processes, we evaluated the effects on cell cultures of 1 h exposures to the signal generated by an apparatus of current clinical use (frequency 60 kHz, frequency of the modulating signal 12.5 Hz, 50% duty cycle, peak-to-peak voltage 24.

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There have been a few studies that examined the oxidative stress effects of nicotine during pregnancy and lactation. The adverse effect of prenatal smoking exposure on human fetal development and growth has been a major public health issue. Active or passive smoking during pregnancy can result in a wide variety of adverse outcomes, including intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), prematurity, stillbirth, and the sudden infant death syndrome.

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