Publications by authors named "Morselli E"

Article Synopsis
  • - The central nervous system and adipose tissue communicate bidirectionally, influencing metabolism, appetite, and energy use through the hypothalamus, which integrates various signals to regulate body functions.
  • - This review discusses the roles of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves in managing white and brown adipose tissue activities, such as fat breakdown and heat production, while also highlighting adipose tissue's role as both an energy store and hormone-secreting organ.
  • - Recent discoveries about communication pathways, like extracellular vesicles, complicate the brain-adipose tissue interaction, with consequences for metabolic disorders like obesity and type-2 diabetes, suggesting new therapeutic approaches for better metabolic health.
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Despite the diverse nature of obesity, there is compelling genetic, clinical, and experimental evidence that endorses the important contribution of brain circuits to this condition. The hypothalamus contains major regulatory circuits for bodyweight homoeostasis, the deregulation of which can lead to obesity. Although functional perturbation of hypothalamic pathways could lie at the basis of common forms of obesity, the term hypothalamic obesity has been created to define those rare forms of severe obesity where a clear hypothalamic substrate can be identified, either of genetic or acquired origin.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how autophagy and oxidized low-density lipoproteins (ox-LDL) impact the function of extravillous trophoblasts (EVTs), which are vital for proper placentation.
  • Autophagy is found to be essential for EVTs to transition into an endothelial-like phenotype but doesn't influence their invasion capabilities, while ox-LDL negatively affects both invasion and the formation of vital structures, independent of autophagy.
  • The research highlights that alterations in autophagy levels and ox-LDL concentrations could play a significant role in placental development issues, including complications like preeclampsia.
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Obesity, a global health crisis, disrupts multiple systemic processes, contributing to a cascade of metabolic dysfunctions by promoting the pathological expansion of visceral adipose tissue (VAT). This expansion is characterized by impaired differentiation of pre-adipocytes and an increase in senescent cells, leading to a pro-inflammatory state and exacerbated oxidative stress. Particularly, the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) and adipose tissue hypoxia further impair cellular function, promoting chronic disease development.

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Objective: Obesity represents a significant global health challenge characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation and metabolic dysregulation. The hypothalamus, a key regulator of energy homeostasis, is particularly susceptible to obesity's deleterious effects. This study investigated the role of the immunoproteasome, a specialized proteasomal complex implicated in inflammation and cellular homeostasis, during metabolic diseases.

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Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of a single bout of resistance exercise on mitophagy in human skeletal muscle (SkM).

Methods: Eight healthy men were recruited to complete an acute bout of one-leg resistance exercise. SkM biopsies were obtained one hour after exercise in the resting leg (Rest-leg) and the contracting leg (Ex-leg).

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The primary cilium, hereafter cilium, is an antenna-like organelle that modulates intracellular responses, including autophagy, a lysosomal degradation process essential for cell homeostasis. Dysfunction of the cilium is associated with impairment of autophagy and diseases known as "ciliopathies". The discovery of autophagy-related proteins at the base of the cilium suggests its potential role in coordinating autophagy initiation in response to physiopathological stimuli.

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The brain is, after the adipose tissue, the organ with the greatest amount of lipids and diversity in their composition in the human body. In neurons, lipids are involved in signaling pathways controlling autophagy, a lysosome-dependent catabolic process essential for the maintenance of neuronal homeostasis and the function of the primary cilium, a cellular antenna that acts as a communication hub that transfers extracellular signals into intracellular responses required for neurogenesis and brain development. A crosstalk between primary cilia and autophagy has been established; however, its role in the control of neuronal activity and homeostasis is barely known.

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Introduction: The modern food environment facilitates excessive calorie intake, a major driver of obesity. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) is a neuroendocrine peptide that has been the basis for developing new pharmacotherapies against obesity. The GLP1 receptor (GLP1R) is expressed in central and peripheral tissues, and activation of GLP1R reduces food intake, increases the expression of thermogenic proteins in brown adipose tissue (BAT), and enhances lipolysis in white adipose tissue (WAT).

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Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. After heart injury triggered by myocardial ischemia or myocardial infarction, extensive zones of tissue are damaged and some of the tissue dies by necrosis and/or apoptosis. The loss of contractile mass activates a series of biochemical mechanisms that allow, through cardiac remodeling, the replacement of the dysfunctional heart tissue by fibrotic material.

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The endocannabinoid system (ECS) regulates energy metabolism, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases and exerts its actions mainly through the type 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1). Likewise, autophagy is involved in several cellular processes. It is required for the normal development of muscle mass and metabolism, and its deregulation is associated with diseases.

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PSMD14/POH1/Rpn11 plays a crucial role in cellular homeostasis. PSMD14 is a structural subunit of the lid subcomplex of the proteasome 19S regulatory particle with constitutive deubiquitinase activity. Canonically, PSMD14 removes the full ubiquitin chains with K48-linkages by hydrolyzing the isopeptide bond between the substrate and the C-terminus of the first ubiquitin, a crucial step for the entry of substrates into the catalytic barrel of the 20S proteasome and their subsequent degradation, all in context of the 26S proteasome.

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A crucial etiological component in fetal programming is early nutrition. Indeed, early undernutrition may cause a chronic increase in blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and heart failure. In this regard, current evidence has sustained several pathological mechanisms involving changes in central and peripheral targets.

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Cholesterol is an essential component of animal cells. Different regulatory mechanisms converge to maintain adequate levels of this lipid because both its deficiency and excess are unfavorable. Low cell cholesterol content promotes its synthesis and uptake from circulating lipoproteins.

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Autophagy is an intracellular degradation mechanism that allows recycling of organelles and macromolecules. Autophagic function increases metabolite availability modulating metabolic pathways, differentiation and cell survival. The oral environment is composed of several structures, including mineralized and soft tissues, which are formed by complex interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal cells.

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Palmitic acid (PA) is significantly increased in the hypothalamus of mice, when fed chronically with a high-fat diet (HFD). PA impairs insulin signaling in hypothalamic neurons, by a mechanism dependent on autophagy, a process of lysosomal-mediated degradation of cytoplasmic material. In addition, previous work shows a crosstalk between autophagy and the primary cilium (hereafter cilium), an antenna-like structure on the cell surface that acts as a signaling platform for the cell.

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An important virulence trait of serovar Typhimurium ( Typhimurium) is the ability to avoid the host immune response, generating systemic and persistent infections. Host cells play a crucial role in bacterial clearance by expressing the enzyme heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1), which catalyzes the degradation of heme groups into Fe, biliverdin, and carbon monoxide (CO). The role of Hmox1 activity during Typhimurium infection is not clear and previous studies have shown contradictory results.

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Cells are exposed and respond to various mechanical forces and physical cues stemming from their environment. This interaction has been seen to differentially regulate various cellular processes for maintenance of homeostasis, of which autophagy represents one of the major players. In addition, autophagy has been suggested to regulate mechanical functions of the cells including their interaction with the environment.

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Excess dietary sucrose is associated with obesity and metabolic diseases. This relationship is driven by the malfunction of several cell types and tissues critical for the regulation of energy balance, including hypothalamic neurons and white adipose tissue (WAT). However, the mechanisms behind these effects of dietary sucrose are still unclear and might be independent of increased adiposity.

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The intake of food with high levels of saturated fatty acids (SatFAs) is associated with the development of obesity and insulin resistance. SatFAs, such as palmitic (PA) and stearic (SA) acids, have been shown to accumulate in the hypothalamus, causing several pathological consequences. Autophagy is a lysosomal-degrading pathway that can be divided into macroautophagy, microautophagy, and chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA).

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Early human placental development begins with blastocyst implantation, then the trophoblast differentiates and originates the cells required for a proper fetal nutrition and placental implantation. Among them, extravillous trophoblast corresponds to a non-proliferating trophoblast highly invasive that allows the vascular remodeling which is essential for appropriate placental perfusion and to maintain the adequate fetal growth. This process involves different placental cell types as well as molecules that allow cell growth, cellular adhesion, tissular remodeling, and immune tolerance.

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Proper execution of cellular function, maintenance of cellular homeostasis and cell survival depend on functional integration of cellular processes and correct orchestration of cellular responses to stresses. Cancer transformation is a common negative consequence of mismanagement of coordinated response by the cell. In this scenario, by maintaining the balance among synthesis, degradation, and recycling of cytosolic components including proteins, lipids, and organelles the process of autophagy plays a central role.

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