Publications by authors named "Valeria Segatori"

Cells are subjected to multiple mechanical inputs throughout their lives. Their ability to detect these environmental cues is called mechanosensing, a process in which integrins play an important role. During cellular mechanosensing, plasma membrane (PM) tension is adjusted to mechanical stress through the buffering action of caveolae; however, little is known about the role of caveolae in early integrin mechanosensing regulation.

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Nuclear transport and vesicle trafficking are key cellular functions involved in the pathogenesis of RNA viruses. Among other pleiotropic effects on virus-infected host cells, ivermectin (IVM) inhibits nuclear transport mechanisms mediated by importins and atorvastatin (ATV) affects actin cytoskeleton-dependent trafficking controlled by Rho GTPases signaling. In this work, we first analyzed the response to infection in nasopharyngeal swabs from SARS-CoV-2-positive and -negative patients by assessing the gene expression of the respective host cell drug targets importins and Rho GTPases.

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Gliomas are the most common intracranial primary tumors, for which very few therapeutic options are available. The most malignant subtype is the glioblastoma, a disease associated with a 5-year survival rate lower than 5%. Given that research in glycobiology continues highlighting the role of glycans in tumor cell biology, it offers an interesting niche for the search of new therapeutic targets.

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The characterization of murine cell lines is of great importance in order to identify preclinical models that could resemble human diseases. Aberrant glycosylation includes the loss, excessive or novel expression of glycans and the appearance of truncated structures. MB49 and MB49-I are currently the only two murine cell lines available for the development of preclinical bladder cancer models.

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Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common pediatric malignancy diagnosed before the first birthday in which MYCN oncogene amplification is associated with poor prognosis. Although aberrant glycosylation is an important actor in cell biology, little is known about its role in pediatric cancers such as NB. In this work we characterized the glycophenotype and the enzyme expression involved in glycans biosynthesis in five established human NB cell lines and in patient-derived primary tumors with different MYCN status.

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Antitumor strategies based on positive modulation of the immune system currently represent therapeutic options with prominent acceptance for cancer patients' treatment due to its selectivity and higher tolerance compared to chemotherapy. Racotumomab is an anti-idiotype (anti-Id) monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed to NeuGc-containing gangliosides such as NeuGcGM3, a widely reported tumor-specific neoantigen in many human cancers. Racotumomab has been approved in Latin American countries as an active immunotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment.

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Purpose: Control of metastatic spread of colorectal cancer (CRC) remains as a major therapeutic challenge. [V4 Q5 ]dDAVP is a vasopressin peptide analog with previously reported anticancer activity against carcinoma tumors. By acting as a selective agonist of arginine vasopressin type 2 membrane receptor (AVPR2) present in endothelial and tumor cells, [V4Q5]dDAVP is able to impair tumor aggressiveness and distant spread.

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Several Anti-EGFR mAbs are register for the treatment of human cancer. However, their impact on patients overall survival has been limited by tumor resistance. -Glycolyl variant of GM3 ganglioside (NGcGM3) is specifically expressed in some human tumors, and it has been associated with a poor prognosis.

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Background: Biosimilars are described as biological products that resemble the structure of original biologic therapeutic products, with no clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety and effectiveness from the original. A wide range of biosimilars are under development or are already licensed in many countries. Biosimilars are earning acceptance and becoming a reality for immunotherapy treatments mainly based on the alternatives for the commercial anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab.

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Introduction: The identification of molecules expressed selectively on the surface of retinoblastoma cells would allow applying targeted therapies. The Ganglioside, N-Glycolyl-GM3 (NeuGc-GM3), is an attractive candidate, as it has been detected in other paediatric neuroectodermic tumours, and it is not expressed in human normal tissues. The 14F7 antibody recognizes specifically the ganglioside NeuGc-GM3.

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Racotumomab is a murine anti-idiotype cancer vaccine targeting NeuGcGM3 on melanoma, breast, and lung cancer. In order to characterize the immunogenicity of alum-adsorbed racotumomab in a non-clinical setting, Leghorn chickens were immunized in dose levels ranging from 25 μg to 1600 μg. Racotumomab was administered subcutaneously in the birds' neck with three identical boosters and serum samples were collected before, during and after the immunization schedule.

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N-glycolylneuraminic acid (NeuGc) is a sialic acid molecule usually found in mammalian cells as terminal constituents of different membrane glycoconjugates such as gangliosides. The NeuGcGM3 ganglioside has been described as a tumor antigen for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in humans. Racotumomab is an anti-NeuGc-containing gangliosides anti-idiotype monoclonal antibody (mAb) (formerly known as 1E10) that has received attention as a potential active immunotherapy for advanced lung cancer in clinical trials.

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Background: Cancer vaccines are designed to modulate immunological responses against tumor cells through the presentation of tumor antigens.

Materials And Methods: The mouse mRNA of the cytidine monophospho-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (Cmah) gene, the enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of N-glycolylneuraminic acid (NGc), was cloned and transfected into the B16 melanoma cell line. Transfected cells (B16-H) were characterized and used as an NGcGM3-positive primary tumor model for the evaluation of the therapeutic activity of the NGcGM3/VSSP vaccine.

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The N-glycolylated ganglioside NeuGc-GM3 has been described in solid tumors such as breast carcinoma, nonsmall cell lung cancer, and melanoma, but is usually not detected in normal human cells. Our aim was to evaluate the presence of NeuGc-GM3 in pediatric neuroectodermal tumors by immunohistochemistry. Twenty-seven archival cases of neuroblastoma and Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) were analyzed.

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