Publications by authors named "Martina Ciarnelli"

Metabolic reprogramming drives inflammatory activity in macrophages, including microglia, with Krebs cycle (KC) intermediates playing a crucial role as signaling molecules. Here, we show that the bioenergetic profile of LPS-activated human microglialclone 3 cell line (HMC3) is characterized by high levels of glycolysis and mitochondrial (mt) respiration, and the treatment with KC derivatives, namely dimethyl-fumarate (DMF) and itaconate (ITA), almost restores normal metabolism. However, despite comparable bioenergetic and anti-inflammatory effects, the mt hyper-activity was differentially modulated by DMF and ITA.

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Monocytes (Mos) are crucial in the evolution of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and immunometabolism studies have recently suggested targeting leukocyte bioenergetics in inflammatory diseases. Here, we reveal a peculiar bioenergetic phenotype in circulating Mos of patients with MASH, characterized by high levels of glycolysis and mitochondrial (mt) respiration. The enhancement of mt respiratory chain activity, especially complex II (succinate dehydrogenase [SDH]), is unbalanced toward the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and is sustained at the transcriptional level with the involvement of the AMPK-mTOR-PGC-1α axis.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disease (NDD), is characterized by chronic neuronal cell death through progressive loss of cognitive function. Amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and hyperphosphorylated tau proteins are considered the hallmarks of AD pathology. Different therapeutic approaches approved by the Food and Drug Administration can only target a single altered pathway instead of various mechanisms that are involved in AD pathology, resulting in limited symptomatic relief and almost no effect in slowing down the disease progression.

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Microglia activation drives the pro-inflammatory activity in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the mechanistic basis is elusive, and the hypothesis of targeting microglia to prevent AD onset is little explored. Here, we demonstrated that upon LPS exposure, microglia shift towards an energetic phenotype characterised by high glycolysis and high mitochondrial respiration with dysfunction.

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