Ricerc@Sapienza

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder of the brain, clinically characterised by cognitive deficits that gradually worsen over time. There is, at present, no established cure, or disease-modifying treatments for AD. As life expectancy increases globally, the number of individuals suffering from the disease is projected to increase substantially. Cumulative evidence indicates that AD neuropathological process is initiated several years, if not decades, before clinical signs are evident in patients, and diagnosis made.

Protein and peptide phosphorylation regulate numerous pathological processes, however, their characterization is challenging due to their low abundance and transient nature. Therefore, nanomaterials are being developed to address this demanding task. In particular, carbon nanostructures are attracting interest as scaffolds for functional nanocomposites, yet only isolated studies exist on the topic, and little is known on the effect of nanocarbon morphology on templating nanocomposites.

This trends article describes the analytical approaches for the in-depth characterization of the protein corona on liposome nanoparticles. In particular, examples since 2014 are summarized according to the analytical approach. Traditional protein corona characterizations from in vitro static experiments are provided along with the newly introduced experimental setups for characterization of the protein corona by in vitro dynamic and in vivo studies.

The variations in the membrane proteome of tomato fruit pericarp during ripening have been investigated by mass spectrometry-based label-free proteomics. Mature green (MG30) and red ripe (R45) stages were chosen because they are pivotal in the ripening process: MG30 corresponds to the end of cellular expansion, when fruit growth has stopped and fruit starts ripening, whereas R45 corresponds to the mature fruit.

Mutations in CDCA7, the SNF2 family protein HELLS (LSH), or the DNA methyltransferase DNMT3b cause immunodeficiency–centro-meric instability–facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome. While it has been speculated that DNA methylation defects cause this disease, little is known about the molecular function of CDCA7 and its functional relationship to HELLS and DNMT3b.

Green-fleshed kiwifruit is worldwide appreciated for its flavor and macronutrients that are related to its physiological
development. Fruit ripe stage for harvesting does not correspond to an optimal edible condition due to
firmness/acidity pome characteristics; this is overcome with postharvest fruit processing. To describe the metabolic
pathways/molecular effectors underlying Actinidia deliciosa cv. Hayward pome physiological development,
kiwifruits were harvested at four growth stages (from fruit set to physiological maturity), and corresponding

Nanoparticles (NPs) exposed to biological media are coated by proteins and other biomolecules forming a biomolecular corona (BC) on the particle surface. Recent studies have shown that shear stress as that created by laminar fluid flow generates more complex coronas with systematic changes in composition with respect to counterparts formed under static incubation. However, in most studies reported so far, dynamic environments have been produced by peristaltic pumps and comparing experimental results appears challenging.

The earlier any catastrophic disease (e.g., cancer) is diagnosed, the more likely it can be treated, providing improved patient prognosis, extended survival and better quality of life. In early 2014, we revealed that various types of disease can substantially affect the composition/profile of protein corona (i.e., a layer of biomolecules that forms at the surface of nanoparticles upon their interactions with biological fluids).