Publications by authors named "Vanessa Galleggiante"

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) are rare and heterogeneous tumors that present a wide spectrum of different clinical and biological characteristics. Currently, tumor grading, determined by Ki-67 staining and mitotic counts, represents the most reliable predictor of prognosis. This time-consuming approach fails to reach high reproducibility standards thus requiring novel approaches to support histological evaluation and prognosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

High serum levels of microbiota-derived uremic toxins, indoxyl sulfate (IS) and p-cresyl sulfate (PCS), are associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression and cardiovascular complications. IS and PCS cannot be efficiently removed by conventional hemodialysis (HD), due to their high binding affinity for albumin. This study evaluates the efficacy of a divinylbenzene-polyvinylpyrrolidone (DVB-PVP) cartridge and a synbiotic to reduce uremic toxins in HD patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Scope: Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells that play an important role in the crosstalk between the innate and the adaptive immune response. Quercetin exposure is identified as an effective strategy to suppress the inflammatory response induced by LPS.

Methods And Results: In this study, using a next-generation sequencing analysis, the effect of quercetin on microRNAs (miRNAs) expression in DCs is examined.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are debilitating chronic inflammatory disorders that develop as a result of a defective immune response toward intestinal bacteria. Intestinal dysbiosis is associated with the onset of IBD and has been reported to persist even in patients in deep remission. We investigated the possibility of a dietary-induced switch to the gut microbiota composition using Winnie mice as a model of spontaneous ulcerative colitis and chow enriched with 1% Bronze tomato.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells able to trigger the adaptive immune response to specific antigens. When non-self-antigens are captured, DCs switch from an "immature" to a "mature" state to fulfill their function. Among the several surface proteins involved in DCs maturation, the role of aquaporins (AQPs) is still poorly understood.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Dendritic cells' (DCs) ability to present antigens and initiate the adaptive immune response confers them a pivotal role in immunological defense against hostile infection and, at the same time, immunological tolerance towards harmless components of the microbiota. Food products can modulate the inflammatory status of intestinal DCs. Among nutritionally-derived products, we investigated the ability of quercetin to suppress inflammatory cytokines secretion, antigen presentation, and DCs migration towards the draining lymph nodes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The importance of hemoproteins for life lies largely in their iron-mediated chemical properties. In the human body, there are about 4 g of iron, a precious resource preserved by sophisticated recycling mechanisms. Iron is also important for pathogen growth, so it is not surprising that immune cells developed mechanisms to reduce iron availability in cases of inflammation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Quercetin, a plant polyphenol found in fruits and vegetables, is known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, particularly in reducing inflammatory responses in dendritic cells (DCs).
  • The study aimed to understand how quercetin affects iron transport and metabolism in DCs, which plays a significant role in their inflammatory responses.
  • Results indicate that quercetin exposure leads to increased iron export from DCs, lowering their intracellular iron levels and reducing inflammation, suggesting that a diet rich in quercetin could help manage chronic inflammatory conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for more than 2% of neoplasias in humans worldwide. Renal biopsy is the gold standard among the diagnostic procedures, but it is invasive and not suitable for all patients. Therefore, new reliable and non-invasive biomarkers for RCC are required.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells (APCs) that in response to microbial infections generate long-lasting adaptive immune response. Following microbial uptake, DCs undergo a cascade of cellular differentiation that ultimately leads to "mature" DCs. Mature DCs produce a variety of inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFβ) a key cytokine for the inflammatory cascade.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a heterogeneous cancer often showing late symptoms. Until now, some candidate protein markers have been proposed for its diagnosis. Metabolomics approaches have been applied, predominantly using Mass Spectrometry (MS), while Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)-based studies remain limited.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI), also known as phosphoglucose isomerase, was initially identified as the second glycolytic enzyme that catalyzes the interconversion of glucose-6-phosphate to fructose-6-phosphate. Later studies demonstrated that GPI was the same as the autocrine motility factor (AMF), and that it mediates its biological effects through the interaction with its surface receptor (AMFR/gp78). In this study, we assessed the role of GPI/AMF as a prognostic factor for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) cancer-specific (CSS) and progression-free survival (PFS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men; however, the molecular mechanisms leading to its development and progression are not yet fully elucidated. Of note, it has been recently shown that conditional stk11 knockout mice develop atypical hyperplasia and prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN). We recently reported an inverse correlation between the activity of the STK11/AMPK pathway and the MAPK/p38 cascade in HIF1A-dependent malignancies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Metabolomic profiling offers a powerful methodology for understanding the perturbations of biochemical systems occurring during a disease process. During neoplastic transformation, prostate cells undergo metabolic reprogramming to satisfy the demands of growth and proliferation. An early event in prostate cell transformation is the loss of capacity to accumulate zinc.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The analysis of cancer metabolome has shown that proliferating tumor cells require a large quantities of different nutrients in order to support their high rate of proliferation. In this study we analyzed the metabolic profile of glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) in human clear cell-renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and evaluate the role of these pathways in sustaining cell proliferation, maintenance of NADPH levels, and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Metabolomic analysis showed a clear signature of increased glucose uptake and utilization in ccRCC tumor samples.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Malignancies are one of the main causes of mortality in diabetic patients; however, to date, very limited data have been reported on the specific influence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on the survival of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In the present long-term retrospective study, we investigated whether T2DM may influence the overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with surgically treated RCC. Medical records of 924 patients treated by radical or partial nephrectomy for sporadic, unilateral RCC were reviewed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recently, several studies have investigated the presence of cancer stem cells in kidney cancer, performed characterization, and compared their profile with the normal stem cell counterparts. CD133, alone or in combination with other molecular markers, has been used to isolate normal and cancer stem cells from different sources, including renal carcinoma; however, it is still a matter of debate whether CD133+ cells really represent the main tumorigenic population within the heterogeneous pool of cancer cells that characterize this tumor. In this review, we summarize and discuss the current findings related to cancer stem cells isolation in renal cell carcinoma, focusing on controversies about their origin and the identification of a specific marker.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The effects of obstruction on renal function are the consequence of many factors that profoundly alter all components of glomerular function. Besides the acute effects on glomerular filtration rate and tubule function, a chronic obstruction induces tubular and interstitial injury that results from the activation of different pathways. The progression of tubulointerstitial injury leads to chronic renal damage characterized by tubular atrophy, inflammatory cell infiltration, and interstitial fibrosis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: In clear cell renal cell carcinoma tissue samples we identified and characterized a population of renal cell carcinoma derived CD133+/CD24+ cancer cells. We studied differences between these cells and their nonneoplastic counterpart, tubular adult renal progenitor cells.

Materials And Methods: CD133+/CD24+ renal cell carcinoma derived cells were isolated from 40 patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

CA 15-3, CA 125 and β-2 microglobulin are three common tumor markers currently used for diagnosis, prognosis, assessment of therapeutic response, and/or to evaluate recurrence in breast and ovarian cancer and malignant lymphoproliferative disorders, respectively. In the present prospective study we assessed the role of these three serum proteins as biomarkers for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), as well as any association between tumor marker levels and clinical-pathological parameters. CA 15-3, CA 125, and β-2 microglobulin were preoperatively measured in 332 patients who underwent nephrectomy for RCC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: Sarcosine has been identified as a differential metabolite that is greatly increased during progression from normal tissue to prostate cancer and metastatic disease. In this study we assessed the role of serum sarcosine in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients.

Patients & Methods: Data from 52 mCRPC patients treated with docetaxel-based chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: SPON2 belongs to the F-spondin family of secreted extracellular matrix proteins. It is deregulated in some tumors, including prostate cancer. In this prospective study we assessed the role of serum SPON2 as a biomarker for prostate cancer diagnosis as well as any association between SPON2 levels and clinicopathological features.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF