Ricerc@Sapienza

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major burden on the healthcare system: indeed, over two million new cases are
diagnosed every year worldwide. Unfortunately, important drawbacks for the treatment of these patients derive from
our current inability to stop the structural alterations that lead to heart failure, the common endpoint of many CVDs. In
this scenario, a better understanding of the role of epigenetics – hereditable changes of chromatin that do not alter

Accumulation of oxidative insults on molecular and supramolecular levels could compromise renewal potency and architecture in the aging skin.

pH-sensitive nonionic surfactant vesicles (niosomes) by polysorbate-20 (Tween-20) or polysorbate-20 derivatized by glycine (added as pH sensitive agent), were developed to deliver Ibuprofen (IBU) and Lidocaine (LID). For the physical-chemical characterization of vesicles (mean size, size distribution, zeta potential, vesicle morphology, bilayer properties and stability) dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle X-ray scattering and fluorescence studies were performed.

Fragile X-related disorders are due to a dynamic mutation of the CGG repeat at the 5′ UTR of the FMR1 gene, coding for the RNA-binding protein FMRP. As the CGG sequence expands from premutation (PM, 56-200 CGGs) to full mutation (> 200 CGGs), FMRP synthesis decreases until it is practically abolished in fragile X syndrome (FXS) patients, mainly due to FMR1 methylation. Cells from rare individuals with no intellectual disability and carriers of an unmethylated full mutation (UFM) produce slightly elevated levels of FMR1-mRNA and relatively low levels of FMRP, like in PM carriers.

In the present work, the preparation, characterization and therapeutic potential of baicalin-loaded nanohydrogels are reported. The nanohydrogels were prepared by sonicating (S nanohydrogel) or autoclaving (A nanohydrogel) a dispersion of cholesterol-derivatized gellan in phosphate buffer. The nanohydrogel obtained by
autoclave treatment showed the most promising results: smaller particles (∼362 nm vs. ∼530 nm), higher
homogeneity (polydispersity index = ∼0.24 vs. ∼0.47), and lower viscosity than those obtained by sonication.

Oregonin is an open-chain diarylheptanoid isolated from Alnus incana bark that possesses remarkable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, inhibits adipogenesis, and can be used in the prevention of obesity and related metabolic disorders. Here, we aimed to investigate the effects of oregonin on the epigenetic regulation in cells as well as its ability to modulate DNA methylating enzymes expression and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copies.

RATIONALE: Human cardiac mesenchymal cells (CMSCs) are a therapeutically relevant primary cell population. Diabetes mellitus compromises CMSC function as consequence of metabolic alterations and incorporation of stable epigenetic changes.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of α-ketoglutarate (αKG) in the epimetabolic control of DNA demethylation in CMSCs.

Ultrasound (US) induced transient membrane permeabilisation has emerged as a hugely promising tool for the delivery of exogenous vectors through the cytoplasmic membrane, paving the way to