Ricerc@Sapienza

Introduction: Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the most aggressive human malignancies (representing 15–40% of fatal TC cases), classified as stage IV by the American Joint Committee on Cancer, regardless of tumor size or presence of lymph node and distant metastases. A large number of genetic alterations are associated with ATC, especially causing dysfunctions in the ERK1/2-MEK1/2 and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways (BRAF, p53, RAS, EGFR, VEGFR1, VEGFR2, chromosomal rearrangements, etc). New drugs targeting these molecular pathways have recently been evaluated in ATC.

Background: L-acetylcarnitine, a drug marketed for the treatment of chronic pain, causes analgesia by epigenetically up-regulating type-2 metabotropic glutamate (mGlu2) receptors in the spinal cord. Because the epigenetic mechanisms are typically long-lasting, we hypothesized that analgesia could outlast the duration of L-acetylcarnitine treatment in models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

Glaucoma affects millions of people worldwide and causes optic nerve damage and blindness. The elevation of the intraocular pressure (IOP) is the main risk factor associated with this pathology, and decreasing IOP is the key therapeutic target of current pharmacological treatments. As potential ocular hypotensive agents, we studied compounds that act on two receptors (serotonin 2A and adrenergic α1) linked to the regulation of aqueous humour dynamics.

Although cystic fibrosis (CF) patients exhibit signs of endothelial perturbation, the functions of the cystic fibrosis
conductance regulator (CFTR) in vascular endothelial cells (EC) are poorly defined. We sought to uncover
biological activities of endothelial CFTR, relevant for vascular homeostasis and inflammation. We examined cells
from human umbilical cords (HUVEC) and pulmonary artery isolated from non-cystic fibrosis (PAEC) and CF
human lungs (CF-PAEC), under static conditions or physiological shear. CFTR activity, clearly detected in

Infectious complications are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with primary or secondary immunodeficiency. Prevention of infectious diseases by vaccines is among the most effective healthcare measures mainly for these subjects. However immunocompromised people vary in their degree of immunosuppression and susceptibility to infection and, therefore, represent a heterogeneous population with regard to immunization.

FENOMENI EMODINAMICI INDUCONO PROCESSI ARTERIOSI DI INFIAMMAZIONE