Publications by authors named "Mazzone M"

Metabolic rewiring of cancer cells is one of the hallmarks of cancer. As a consequence, the metabolic landscape of the tumour microenvironment (TME) differs compared to correspondent healthy tissues. Indeed, due to the accumulation of acid metabolites, such as lactate, the pH of the TME is generally acidic with a pH drop that can be as low as 5.

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  • miR-210 is a highly conserved microRNA involved in various physiological processes including responses to low oxygen and cancer, with new roles emerging in eye health; its absence in model organisms leads to significant retinal degeneration.
  • Research revealed that while overexpression of miR-210 does not affect retinal health, knockout of miR-210 in mice resulted in photoreceptor degeneration, although no parallel changes in lipid metabolism were found between flies and mice.
  • The study detected distinct gene expression changes in miR-210 knockout models, highlighting issues beyond the retina, such as potential neuronal deficiencies that could affect overall signal processing.
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Despite progress significant advances in immunotherapy for some solid tumors, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unresponsive poorly responsive to such interventions, largely due to its highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) with limited CD8 T cell infiltration. This study explores the role of the epigenetic factor Sin3B in the PDAC TME. Using murine PDAC models, we found that tumor cell-intrinsic Sin3B loss reshapes the TME, increasing CD8 T cell infiltration and cytotoxicity, thus impeding tumor progression and enhancing sensitivity to anti-PD1 treatment.

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Growing evidence highlights the importance of tumor endothelial cells (TECs) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) for promoting tumor growth and evading immune responses. Immunomodulatory endothelial cells (IMECs) represent a distinct plastic phenotype of ECs that exerts the ability to modulate immunity in health and disease. This review discusses our current understanding of IMECs in cancer biology, scrutinizing insights from single-cell reports to compare their characteristics and function dynamics across diverse tumor types, conditions, and species.

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Background: Neutrophils are essential in the early innate immune response to pathogens. Harnessing their antimicrobial powers, without driving excessive and damaging inflammatory responses, represents an attractive therapeutic possibility. The neutrophil population is increasingly recognised to be more diverse and malleable than was previously appreciated.

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Objective: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) stands as one of the most lethal cancers, marked by its lethality and limited treatment options, including the utilisation of checkpoint blockade (ICB) immunotherapy. Epigenetic dysregulation is a defining feature of tumourigenesis that is implicated in immune surveillance, but remains elusive in PDAC.

Design: To identify the factors that modulate immune surveillance, we employed epigenetic-focused CRISPR-Cas9 screen in mouse PDAC tumour models engrafted in either immunocompetent or immunodeficient mice.

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  • A clinical study compared the effectiveness and safety of Eyestil Plus® and Vismed Multi® in treating keratitis lesions in patients with moderate-to-severe dry eye disease.
  • Conducted as a randomized, double-blind trial, the study involved 96 adults receiving either treatment for 3 months, measuring outcomes such as corneal staining scores, tear film stability, and safety.
  • The results indicated that Eyestil Plus® was not inferior to Vismed Multi® in performance and safety, with high satisfaction among investigators and a 16.6% rate of adverse events among participants.
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Introduction: Patients with dry eye disease (DED) complain of a multitude of symptoms that affect their visual function and quality of life (QoL). This clinical investigation assessed the performance, tolerance, and safety of a novel preservative-free ophthalmic solution containing xanthan gum 0.2% and desonide sodium phosphate 0.

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  • Scientists found a group of special immune cells in tumors called TIM3VISTA tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) that make it hard for cancer treatments to work.
  • These cells thrive in tumors that don't have many visible markers for the immune system to recognize and fight, which helps the cancer escape being attacked.
  • By blocking these TIM3VISTA TAMs and combining the treatment with a type of chemotherapy, they could change these cells to be more aggressive against cancer, making the treatments more effective.
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Background: Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) represents the pathologic end stage of several interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. However, current treatments can only delay disease progression rather than provide a cure. The role of inflammation in PF progression is well-established, but new insights into immune regulation are fundamental for developing more efficient therapies.

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Many individuals with cancer are resistant to immunotherapies. Here, we identify the gene encoding the pyrimidine salvage pathway enzyme cytidine deaminase (CDA) among the top upregulated metabolic genes in several immunotherapy-resistant tumors. We show that CDA in cancer cells contributes to the uridine diphosphate (UDP) pool.

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  • - Uterine leiomyosarcomas (uLMS) are aggressive cancers that don't respond well to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), and research indicates that issues with the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway may contribute to this resistance.
  • - A detailed analysis of 101 uLMS cases showed that over-activation of PI3K/mTOR is linked to immune evasion, with changes in the tumor microenvironment that limit immune responses.
  • - By inhibiting the PI3K/mTOR pathway, researchers were able to change the tumor microenvironment, enhance anti-tumor immune responses, and improve the effectiveness of PD-1 blockade therapy, leading to better treatment outcomes in preclinical models.
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Macrophages are innate immune cells that play key roles during both homeostasis and disease. Depending on the microenvironmental cues sensed in different tissues, macrophages are known to acquire specific phenotypes and exhibit unique features that, ultimately, orchestrate tissue homeostasis, defense, and repair. Within the tumor microenvironment, macrophages are referred to as tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and constitute a heterogeneous population.

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Forkhead box P3 (Foxp3)-expressing regulatory T cells (Treg) are the guardians of controlled immune reactions and prevent the development of autoimmune diseases. However, in the tumor context, their increased number suppresses antitumor immune responses, indicating the importance of understanding the mechanisms behind their function and stability. Metabolic reprogramming can affect Foxp3 regulation and, therefore, Treg suppressive function and fitness.

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Non-cirrhotic portal hypertension (NCPH), also known as idiopathic non-cirrhotic portal hypertension (INCPH) and porto-sinusoidal vascular disorder (PSVD), is a rare disease characterized by intrahepatic portal hypertension (IPH) in the absence of cirrhosis. The precise etiopathogenesis of IPH is an area of ongoing research. NCPH diagnosis is challenging, as there are no specific tests available to confirm the disease, and a high-quality liver biopsy, detailed clinical information, and an expert pathologist are necessary for diagnosis.

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Fungal invasion of the oral epithelium is central to the pathogenesis of oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC). Candida albicans invades the oral epithelium by receptor-induced endocytosis but this process is incompletely understood. We found that C.

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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the leading causes of death by cancer in the world. What makes this pathological condition particularly lethal is a combination of clinical and molecular heterogeneity, lack of early diagnostic indexes, and underwhelming results from current therapeutic protocols. A major cause of PDAC chemoresistance seems to lie in the ability of cancer cells to spread out and fill the pancreatic parenchyma, exchanging nutrients, substrates, and even genetic material with cells from the surrounding tumor microenvironment (TME).

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Endothelial cells (ECs) grant access of disseminated cancer cells to distant organs. However, the molecular players regulating the activation of quiescent ECs at the premetastatic niche (PMN) remain elusive. Here, we find that ECs at the PMN coexpress tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and its cognate death receptor 5 (DR5).

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Unlabelled: Fungal invasion of the oral epithelium is central to the pathogenesis of oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC). invades the oral epithelium by receptor-induced endocytosis but this process is incompletely understood. We found that infection of oral epithelial cells induces c-Met to form a multi-protein complex with E-cadherin and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).

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Metabolic rewiring is often considered an adaptive pressure limiting metastasis formation; however, some nutrients available at distant organs may inherently promote metastatic growth. We find that the lung and liver are lipid-rich environments. Moreover, we observe that pre-metastatic niche formation increases palmitate availability only in the lung, whereas a high-fat diet increases it in both organs.

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Neuronal development in the human cerebral cortex is considerably prolonged compared with that of other mammals. We explored whether mitochondria influence the species-specific timing of cortical neuron maturation. By comparing human and mouse cortical neuronal maturation at high temporal and cell resolution, we found a slower mitochondria development in human cortical neurons compared with that in the mouse, together with lower mitochondria metabolic activity, particularly that of oxidative phosphorylation.

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Background: Tumor progression is based on a close interaction between cancer cells and Tumor MicroEnvironment (TME). Here, we focus on the role that Cancer Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs), Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) and microRNAs (miRs) play in breast cancer and melanoma malignancy.

Methods: We used public databases to investigate miR-214 expression in the stroma compartment of primary human samples and evaluated tumor formation and dissemination following tumor cell injections in miR-214 overexpressing (miR-214) and knock out (miR-214) mice.

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The prolyl hydroxylase domain/hypoxia-inducible factor (PHD/HIF) pathway has been implicated in a wide range of immune and inflammatory processes, including in the oxygen-deprived tumor microenvironment. To examine the effect of HIF stabilization in antitumor immunity, we deleted Phd2 selectively in T lymphocytes using the cre/lox system. We show that the deletion of PHD2 in lymphocytes resulted in enhanced regression of EG7-OVA tumors, in a HIF-1α-dependent manner.

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