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Matteo MV, Bove V, Ciasca G, Carlino G, Di Santo R, Vinti L, Polidori G, Pontecorvi V, Papi M, Spada C, Boškoski I. Success Predictors of Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty. Obes Surg 2024; 34:1496-1504. [PMID: 38451369 PMCID: PMC11031450 DOI: 10.1007/s11695-024-07109-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) is a minimally invasive procedure that proved to be safe and effective in obesity treatment. However, not all subjects respond to treatment in the same way, and, with a view to personalized care, it is essential to identify predictors of success or failure. METHODS A retrospective 2-year followed-up cohort of ESG subjects was analyzed to investigate the presence of any baseline or early indicators of long-term optimal or suboptimal ESG outcomes. RESULTS A total of 315 subjects (73% women) were included, with 73% of patients exhibiting an Excess weight loss percentage (%EWL) >25% at the 24 months. Neither demographic parameters (age and sex), smoking habits, and menopause in women nor the presence of comorbidities proved potential predictive value. Interestingly, the %EWL at 1 month after ESG was the strongest predictor of 24-month therapeutic success. Subsequently, we estimated an "early threshold for success" for 1 month-%EWL by employing Youden's index method. CONCLUSIONS ESG is a safe and effective bariatric treatment that can be offered to a wide range of subjects. Early weight loss seems to impact long-term ESG results significantly and may allow proper early post-operative care optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Valeria Matteo
- Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168, Rome, Italy
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Roma, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Bove
- Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168, Rome, Italy
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Roma, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168, Roma, Italy
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Roma, Italy
| | - Giorgio Carlino
- Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168, Rome, Italy
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Roma, Italy
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168, Roma, Italy
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Roma, Italy
| | - Laila Vinti
- Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168, Rome, Italy
| | - Giulia Polidori
- Department of Translational and Precision Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Roma, Italy
| | - Valerio Pontecorvi
- Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168, Rome, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Papi
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168, Roma, Italy
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Roma, Italy
| | - Cristiano Spada
- Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168, Rome, Italy.
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Roma, Italy.
| | - Ivo Boškoski
- Digestive Endoscopy Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168, Rome, Italy
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Roma, Italy
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Porceddu E, Talerico R, Ciasca G, Cammà G, Di Santo R, Peri M, Cina A, Pola R, Porfidia A. Clinical Correlates of In-Hospital Mortality in Patients Undergoing Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement for Acute Deep Vein Thrombosis. J Clin Med 2024; 13:2285. [PMID: 38673558 PMCID: PMC11051392 DOI: 10.3390/jcm13082285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2024] [Revised: 04/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Background: It is reasonable to place an Inferior Vena Cava Filter (IVCF) when an acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the lower limbs occurs in a patient with absolute contraindication to therapeutic anticoagulation. An additional potential reason for placing an IVCF is the need to stop therapeutic anticoagulation in a patient with acute DVT who must undergo urgent non-deferrable surgery. However, IVCFs are often used outside of such established indications and many authors argue about their actual utility, especially in terms of survival. In this retrospective study, we looked for clinical correlates of in-hospital mortality among patients who underwent IVCF placement, limiting our analysis to the cases for which a correct indication to IVCF placement existed. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the electronic database of our University Hospital, searching for consecutive hospitalized patients who had acute DVT and underwent IVCF placement because of an established contraindication to therapeutic anticoagulation and/or because it was necessary to stop anticoagulation due to urgent surgery. The search covered the period between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2020. Results: The search resulted in the identification of 168 individuals. An established contraindication to therapeutic anticoagulation was present in 116 patients (69.0%), while urgent non-deferrable surgery was the reason for IVCF placement in 52 patients (31.0%). A total of 24 patients (14.3%) died during the same hospital stay in which the IVCF was placed. Mortality rate was significantly higher in patients with a contraindication to anticoagulation than in patients who underwent IVCF placement because of urgent surgery (19.0% vs. 3.8%, OD 5.85 vs. 0.17). In-hospital mortality was also significantly higher among patients with chronic kidney disease and those who needed blood cell transfusion during hospitalization. Conclusions: This study provides novel information on clinical correlates of in-hospital mortality among patients with acute DVT who undergo IVCF. Prospective observational studies are needed to substantiate these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrica Porceddu
- Thrombosis Unit, Department of Geriatric, Orthopedic, and Rheumatologic Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Rosa Talerico
- Thrombosis Unit, Department of Geriatric, Orthopedic, and Rheumatologic Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Department of Neuroscience, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Giulia Cammà
- Thrombosis Unit, Department of Geriatric, Orthopedic, and Rheumatologic Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Department of Neuroscience, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Matilde Peri
- Thrombosis Unit, Department of Geriatric, Orthopedic, and Rheumatologic Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandro Cina
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Roberto Pola
- Thrombosis Unit, Department of Geriatric, Orthopedic, and Rheumatologic Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Angelo Porfidia
- Thrombosis Unit, Department of Geriatric, Orthopedic, and Rheumatologic Sciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
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3
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Luigetti M, Primiano G, Basile V, Vitali F, Pignalosa S, Romano A, Sabino A, Marino M, Di Santo R, Ciasca G, Basile U. Serum Neurofilament and Free Light Chain Levels in Patients Undergoing Treatment for Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:1254. [PMID: 38279256 PMCID: PMC10816730 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25021254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 01/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) is an immune-mediated disorder affecting the peripheral nervous system. Despite the established diagnostic criteria, monitoring disease activity and treatment remains challenging. To address this limitation, we investigated serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) and serum free light chains (sFLCs) as potential biomarkers. A total of 32 CIDP patients undergoing immunoglobulin therapy and 32 healthy controls enrolled in the present study, and agreed to have their blood plasma sNfL and sFLCs analyzed, while CIDP severity was assessed through the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and the Overall Neuropathy Limitations Scale (ONLS). In line with the immunoglobulin treatment aimed at limiting neuronal damage administered to the majority of patients, sNfL levels did not exhibit significant differences between the two groups. However, CIDP patients showed significantly elevated sFLC and sFLC ratios, while the marker levels did not correlate with the clinical scores. The study confirms the potential of sFLCs as a sensitive biomarker of inflammatory processes in CIDP. Additionally, the present study results regarding neurofilaments strengthen the role of sNfL in monitoring CIDP treatments, confirming the effectiveness of immunoglobulin therapy. Overall, our results demonstrate how combining these markers can lead to better patient characterization for improved treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Luigetti
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Organi di Senso e Torace, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.L.); (A.R.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.V.); (A.S.)
| | - Guido Primiano
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Organi di Senso e Torace, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.L.); (A.R.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.V.); (A.S.)
- Fondazione UILDM Lazio Onlus, 00167 Rome, Italy
| | - Valerio Basile
- Clinical Pathology Unit and Cancer Biobank, Department of Research and Advanced Technologies, I.R.C.C.S. Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, 00144 Rome, Italy;
| | - Francesca Vitali
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.V.); (A.S.)
| | - Stefano Pignalosa
- Dipartimento di Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti, A.U.S.L. Latina, 04100 Latina, Italy; (S.P.); (U.B.)
| | - Angela Romano
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Organi di Senso e Torace, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.L.); (A.R.)
| | - Andrea Sabino
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (F.V.); (A.S.)
| | - Mariapaola Marino
- Sezione di Patologia Generale, Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (G.C.)
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (G.C.)
- Sezione di Fisica, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (G.C.)
- Sezione di Fisica, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Umberto Basile
- Dipartimento di Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti, A.U.S.L. Latina, 04100 Latina, Italy; (S.P.); (U.B.)
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Di Santo R, Niccolini B, Romanò S, Vaccaro M, Di Giacinto F, De Spirito M, Ciasca G. Advancements in Mid-Infrared spectroscopy of extracellular vesicles. Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 2024; 305:123346. [PMID: 37774583 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2023.123346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023]
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid vesicles secreted by all cells into the extracellular space and act as nanosized biological messengers among cells. They carry a specific molecular cargo, composed of lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates, which reflects the state of their parent cells. Due to their remarkable structural and compositional heterogeneity, characterizing EVs, particularly from a biochemical perspective, presents complex challenges. In this context, mid-infrared (IR) spectroscopy is emerging as a valuable tool, providing researchers with a comprehensive and label-free spectral fingerprint of EVs in terms of their specific molecular content. This review aims to provide an up-to-date critical overview of the major advancements in mid-IR spectroscopy of extracellular vesicles, encompassing both fundamental and applied research achievements. We also systematically emphasize the new possibilities offered by the integration of emerging cutting-edge IR technologies, such as tip-enhanced and surface-enhanced spectroscopy approaches, along with the growing use of machine learning for data analysis and spectral interpretation. Additionally, to assist researchers in navigating this intricate subject, our manuscript includes a wide and detailed collection of the spectral peaks that have been assigned to EV molecular constituents up to now in the literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Di Santo
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy.
| | - Benedetta Niccolini
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Sabrina Romanò
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Vaccaro
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Flavio Di Giacinto
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Marco De Spirito
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
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5
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Napodano C, Ciasca G, Chiusolo P, Pocino K, Gragnani L, Stefanile A, Gulli F, Lorini S, Minnella G, Fosso F, Di Santo R, Romanò S, Basile V, De Stefano V, Rapaccini GL, Zignego AL, Di Stasio E, Marino M, Basile U. Serological and Molecular Characterization of Hepatitis C Virus-Related Cryoglobulinemic Vasculitis in Patients without Cryoprecipitate. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:11602. [PMID: 37511357 PMCID: PMC10380893 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241411602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Prolonged B cells stimulation due to the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can result in autoimmunity, stigmatized by rising levels of cryoglobulins (CGs), the rheumatoid factor (RF), and free light chains (FLC) of immunoglobulins (Ig) associated with a range of symptoms, from their absence to severe cryoglobulinemic vasculitis and lymphoma. Here, we aimed to identify an immunological signature for the earliest stages of vasculitis when cryoprecipitate is still not detectable. We firstly analyzed the IgG subclasses, FLC, and RF in 120 HCV-RNA-positive patients divided into four groups according to the type of cryoprecipitate and symptoms: 30 asymptomatic without cryoprecipitate (No Cryo), 30 with vasculitis symptoms but without CGs that we supposed were circulating but still not detectable (Circulating), 30 type II and 30 type III mixed cryoglobulinemia (Cryo II and Cryo III, respectively). Our results revealed that patients with supposed circulating CGs displayed a pattern of serological parameters that closely resembled Cryo II and Cryo III, with a stronger similarity to Cryo II. Accordingly, we analyzed the groups of Circulating and Cryo II for their immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) and T-cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangements, finding a similar mixed distribution of monoclonal, oligoclonal, and polyclonal responses compared to a control group of ten HCV-RNA-negative patients recovered from infection, who displayed a 100% polyclonal response. Our results strengthened the hypothesis that circulating CGs are the origin of symptoms in HCV-RNA-positive patients without cryoprecipitate and demonstrated that an analysis of clonal IGH and TCR rearrangements is the best option for the early diagnosis of extrahepatic complications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Napodano
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, S. Agostino Estense Hospital, 41126 Modena, Italy;
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Sezione di Fisica, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (G.C.); (R.D.S.); (S.R.)
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (P.C.); (G.M.); (F.F.); (V.D.S.); (G.L.R.)
| | - Patrizia Chiusolo
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (P.C.); (G.M.); (F.F.); (V.D.S.); (G.L.R.)
- Sezione di Ematologia, Dipartimento di Scienze Radiologiche ed Ematologiche, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Krizia Pocino
- Unità Operativa Complessa di Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Generale di Zona San Pietro Fatebenefratelli, 00189 Rome, Italy; (K.P.); (A.S.)
| | - Laura Gragnani
- Department of Translation Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Università di Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy;
| | - Annunziata Stefanile
- Unità Operativa Complessa di Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Generale di Zona San Pietro Fatebenefratelli, 00189 Rome, Italy; (K.P.); (A.S.)
| | - Francesca Gulli
- Unit of Clinical Pathology, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital I.R.C.C.S., 00165 Rome, Italy;
| | - Serena Lorini
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Interdepartmental Centre MASVE, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy; (S.L.); (A.L.Z.)
| | - Gessica Minnella
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (P.C.); (G.M.); (F.F.); (V.D.S.); (G.L.R.)
- Sezione di Ematologia, Dipartimento di Scienze Radiologiche ed Ematologiche, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Federica Fosso
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (P.C.); (G.M.); (F.F.); (V.D.S.); (G.L.R.)
- Sezione di Ematologia, Dipartimento di Scienze Radiologiche ed Ematologiche, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Sezione di Fisica, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (G.C.); (R.D.S.); (S.R.)
| | - Sabrina Romanò
- Sezione di Fisica, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (G.C.); (R.D.S.); (S.R.)
| | - Valerio Basile
- Clinical Pathology Unit and Cancer Biobank, Department of Research and Advanced Technologies, I.R.C.C.S. Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, 00144 Rome, Italy;
| | - Valerio De Stefano
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (P.C.); (G.M.); (F.F.); (V.D.S.); (G.L.R.)
- Sezione di Ematologia, Dipartimento di Scienze Radiologiche ed Ematologiche, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Gian Ludovico Rapaccini
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (P.C.); (G.M.); (F.F.); (V.D.S.); (G.L.R.)
| | - Anna Linda Zignego
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Interdepartmental Centre MASVE, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy; (S.L.); (A.L.Z.)
| | - Enrico Di Stasio
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biotecnologiche di Base, Cliniche Intensivologiche e Perioperatorie, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Mariapaola Marino
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” I.R.C.C.S., 00168 Rome, Italy; (P.C.); (G.M.); (F.F.); (V.D.S.); (G.L.R.)
- Sezione di Patologia Generale, Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Umberto Basile
- Dipartimento di Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti, A.U.S.L. Latina, 04100 Latina, Italy;
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6
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Caruso C, Colantuono S, Ciasca G, Basile U, Di Santo R, Bagnasco D, Passalacqua G, Caminati M, Michele S, Senna G, Heffler E, Canonica GW, Crimi N, Intravaia R, De Corso E, Firinu D, Gasbarrini A, Del Giacco SR. Different aspects of severe asthma in real life: Role of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins and correlation to comorbidities and disease severity. Allergy 2023; 78:131-140. [PMID: 35922152 DOI: 10.1111/all.15466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2021] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Asthma, with several phenotypes and endotypes, is considered particularly suited for precision medicine. The identification of different non-invasive biomarkers may facilitate diagnosis and treatment. Recently, Staphylococcus aureus and its enterotoxins (SE) have been found to have a role in inducing persistent type 2 airway inflammation in severe asthma, but also in such comorbidities as chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP). METHODS The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the prevalence of SE-IgE sensitization in a multicentric Italian cohort of severe asthmatic patients and correlate it with demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS A total of 249 patients were included in the analysis, out of which 25.3% were staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB)-IgE positive. We found a meaningful association between SEB-IgE and female gender, a positive association was also measured between CRS and CRSwNP. No significant association was found between SEB-IgE sensitization and atopy, the occurrence of exacerbations and corticosteroid dosages. In the SEB-IgE-positive patient, blood eosinophil count does not appear to be correlated with the severity of the disease. Patients with SEB-IgE sensitization are, on average, younger and with an earlier disease onset, thus confirming the possibility to consider SEB-IgE sensitization as an independent risk factor for developing asthma. CONCLUSIONS Our data confirm that the search for SE in the initial screening phase of these patients is helpful to better phenotype them, may predict the evolution of comorbidities and lead to a targeted therapeutic choice; in this point of view this represents a goal of precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristiano Caruso
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Stefania Colantuono
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy.,Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Umberto Basile
- Area Diagnostica di Laboratorio, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Diego Bagnasco
- Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Giovanni Passalacqua
- Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marco Caminati
- Department of Medicine, University of Verona and Verona University Hospital, Verona, Italy
| | - Schiappoli Michele
- Asthma Center and Allergy Unit, University of Verona and General Hospital, Verona, Italy
| | - Gianenrico Senna
- Asthma Center and Allergy Unit, University of Verona and General Hospital, Verona, Italy
| | - Enrico Heffler
- Personalized Medicine, Asthma and Allergy - Humanitas Clinical and Research Hospital IRCCS, Milan, Italy.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy
| | - G Walter Canonica
- Personalized Medicine, Asthma and Allergy - Humanitas Clinical and Research Hospital IRCCS, Milan, Italy.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy
| | - Nunzio Crimi
- Respiratory Medicine Unit, A.O.U. "Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele", Catania, Italy.,Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Respiratory Medicine, A.O.U. "Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele", University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Rossella Intravaia
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Respiratory Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Eugenio De Corso
- Otolaryngology Institute-Department of Head and Neck, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Davide Firinu
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Antonio Gasbarrini
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Stefano R Del Giacco
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
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Temperini ME, Di Giacinto F, Romanò S, Di Santo R, Augello A, Polito R, Baldassarre L, Giliberti V, Papi M, Basile U, Niccolini B, Krasnowska EK, Serafino A, De Spirito M, Di Gaspare A, Ortolani M, Ciasca G. Antenna-enhanced mid-infrared detection of extracellular vesicles derived from human cancer cell cultures. J Nanobiotechnology 2022; 20:530. [PMID: 36514065 PMCID: PMC9746222 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-022-01693-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are sub-micrometer lipid-bound particles released by most cell types. They are considered a promising source of cancer biomarkers for liquid biopsy and personalized medicine due to their specific molecular cargo, which provides biochemical information on the state of parent cells. Despite this potential, EVs translation process in the diagnostic practice is still at its birth, and the development of novel medical devices for their detection and characterization is highly required. RESULTS In this study, we demonstrate mid-infrared plasmonic nanoantenna arrays designed to detect, in the liquid and dry phase, the specific vibrational absorption signal of EVs simultaneously with the unspecific refractive index sensing signal. For this purpose, EVs are immobilized on the gold nanoantenna surface by immunocapture, allowing us to select specific EV sub-populations and get rid of contaminants. A wet sample-handling technique relying on hydrophobicity contrast enables effortless reflectance measurements with a Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectro-microscope in the wavelength range between 10 and 3 µm. In a proof-of-principle experiment carried out on EVs released from human colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC) cells, the protein absorption bands (amide-I and amide-II between 5.9 and 6.4 µm) increase sharply within minutes when the EV solution is introduced in the fluidic chamber, indicating sensitivity to the EV proteins. A refractive index sensing curve is simultaneously provided by our sensor in the form of the redshift of a sharp spectral edge at wavelengths around 5 µm, where no vibrational absorption of organic molecules takes place: this permits to extract of the dynamics of EV capture by antibodies from the overall molecular layer deposition dynamics, which is typically measured by commercial surface plasmon resonance sensors. Additionally, the described metasurface is exploited to compare the spectral response of EVs derived from cancer cells with increasing invasiveness and metastatic potential, suggesting that the average secondary structure content in EVs can be correlated with cell malignancy. CONCLUSIONS Thanks to the high protein sensitivity and the possibility to work with small sample volumes-two key features for ultrasensitive detection of extracellular vesicles- our lab-on-chip can positively impact the development of novel laboratory medicine methods for the molecular characterization of EVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Eleonora Temperini
- grid.7841.aDepartment of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome, Italy ,grid.25786.3e0000 0004 1764 2907Center for Life Neuro and Nano Sciences IIT@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Flavio Di Giacinto
- grid.414603.4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli”, IRCCS, Rome, Italy ,grid.8142.f0000 0001 0941 3192Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Sabrina Romanò
- grid.414603.4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli”, IRCCS, Rome, Italy ,grid.8142.f0000 0001 0941 3192Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- grid.414603.4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli”, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Alberto Augello
- grid.414603.4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli”, IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Raffaella Polito
- grid.7841.aDepartment of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Leonetta Baldassarre
- grid.7841.aDepartment of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Valeria Giliberti
- grid.25786.3e0000 0004 1764 2907Center for Life Neuro and Nano Sciences IIT@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Papi
- grid.414603.4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli”, IRCCS, Rome, Italy ,grid.8142.f0000 0001 0941 3192Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Umberto Basile
- grid.414603.4Dipartimento di Scienze di Laboratorio e Infettivologiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Benedetta Niccolini
- grid.8142.f0000 0001 0941 3192Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Ewa K. Krasnowska
- grid.5326.20000 0001 1940 4177Institute of Translational Pharmacology, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy
| | - Annalucia Serafino
- grid.5326.20000 0001 1940 4177Institute of Translational Pharmacology, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy
| | - Marco De Spirito
- grid.414603.4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli”, IRCCS, Rome, Italy ,grid.8142.f0000 0001 0941 3192Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandra Di Gaspare
- grid.414603.4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli”, IRCCS, Rome, Italy ,grid.509494.5NEST, CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze and Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy
| | - Michele Ortolani
- grid.7841.aDepartment of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome, Italy ,grid.25786.3e0000 0004 1764 2907Center for Life Neuro and Nano Sciences IIT@Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- grid.414603.4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli”, IRCCS, Rome, Italy ,grid.8142.f0000 0001 0941 3192Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
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Nardini M, Ciasca G, Lauria A, Rossi C, Di Giacinto F, Romanò S, Di Santo R, Papi M, Palmieri V, Perini G, Basile U, Alcaro FD, Di Stasio E, Bizzarro A, Masullo C, De Spirito M. Sensing red blood cell nano-mechanics: Toward a novel blood biomarker for Alzheimer's disease. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:932354. [PMID: 36204549 PMCID: PMC9530048 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.932354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Red blood cells (RBCs) are characterized by a remarkable elasticity, which allows them to undergo very large deformation when passing through small vessels and capillaries. This extreme deformability is altered in various clinical conditions, suggesting that the analysis of red blood cell (RBC) mechanics has potential applications in the search for non-invasive and cost-effective blood biomarkers. Here, we provide a comparative study of the mechanical response of RBCs in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and healthy subjects. For this purpose, RBC viscoelastic response was investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the force spectroscopy mode. Two types of analyses were performed: (i) a conventional analysis of AFM force-distance (FD) curves, which allowed us to retrieve the apparent Young's modulus, E; and (ii) a more in-depth analysis of time-dependent relaxation curves in the framework of the standard linear solid (SLS) model, which allowed us to estimate cell viscosity and elasticity, independently. Our data demonstrate that, while conventional analysis of AFM FD curves fails in distinguishing the two groups, the mechanical parameters obtained with the SLS model show a very good classification ability. The diagnostic performance of mechanical parameters was assessed using receiving operator characteristic (ROC) curves, showing very large areas under the curves (AUC) for selected biomarkers (AUC > 0.9). Taken all together, the data presented here demonstrate that RBC mechanics are significantly altered in AD, also highlighting the key role played by viscous forces. These RBC abnormalities in AD, which include both a modified elasticity and viscosity, could be considered a potential source of plasmatic biomarkers in the field of liquid biopsy to be used in combination with more established indicators of the pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Nardini
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandra Lauria
- Unitá Operativa Complessa Neuroriabilitazione ad Alta Intensitá, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Cristina Rossi
- Department of Laboratory Diagnostic and Infectious Diseases, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Flavio Di Giacinto
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Sabrina Romanò
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Papi
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Valentina Palmieri
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi (ISC), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Rome, Italy
| | - Giordano Perini
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Umberto Basile
- Department of Laboratory Diagnostic and Infectious Diseases, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca D. Alcaro
- Department of Laboratory Diagnostic and Infectious Diseases, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Enrico Di Stasio
- Department of Laboratory Diagnostic and Infectious Diseases, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Alessandra Bizzarro
- Unitáă Operativa Complessa Continuità assistenziale, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
| | - Carlo Masullo
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- Sezione di Neurologia, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
| | - Marco De Spirito
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy
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Di Santo R, Vaccaro M, Romanò S, Di Giacinto F, Papi M, Rapaccini GL, De Spirito M, Miele L, Basile U, Ciasca G. Machine Learning-Assisted FTIR Analysis of Circulating Extracellular Vesicles for Cancer Liquid Biopsy. J Pers Med 2022; 12:jpm12060949. [PMID: 35743734 PMCID: PMC9224706 DOI: 10.3390/jpm12060949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are abundantly released into the systemic circulation, where they show remarkable stability and harbor molecular constituents that provide biochemical information about their cells of origin. Due to this characteristic, EVs are attracting increasing attention as a source of circulating biomarkers for cancer liquid biopsy and personalized medicine. Despite this potential, none of the discovered biomarkers has entered the clinical practice so far, and novel approaches for the label-free characterization of EVs are highly demanded. In this regard, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) has great potential as it provides a quick, reproducible, and informative biomolecular fingerprint of EVs. In this pilot study, we investigated, for the first time in the literature, the capability of FTIR spectroscopy to distinguish between EVs extracted from sera of cancer patients and controls based on their mid-IR spectral response. For this purpose, EV-enriched suspensions were obtained from the serum of patients diagnosed with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) of nonviral origin and noncancer subjects. Our data point out the presence of statistically significant differences in the integrated intensities of major mid-IR absorption bands, including the carbohydrate and nucleic acids band, the protein amide I and II bands, and the lipid CH stretching band. Additionally, we used Principal Component Analysis combined with Linear Discriminant Analysis (PCA-LDA) for the automated classification of spectral data according to the shape of specific mid-IR spectral signatures. The diagnostic performances of the proposed spectral biomarkers, alone and combined, were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression followed by a Receiving Operator Curve analysis, obtaining large Areas Under the Curve (AUC = 0.91, 95% CI 0.81–1.0). Very interestingly, our analyses suggest that the discussed spectral biomarkers can outperform the classification ability of two widely used circulating HCC markers measured on the same groups of subjects, namely alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and protein induced by the absence of vitamin K or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II).
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Di Santo
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.V.); (F.D.G.); (M.P.); (G.L.R.); (M.D.S.); (G.C.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Maria Vaccaro
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.V.); (F.D.G.); (M.P.); (G.L.R.); (M.D.S.); (G.C.)
| | - Sabrina Romanò
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Flavio Di Giacinto
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.V.); (F.D.G.); (M.P.); (G.L.R.); (M.D.S.); (G.C.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Massimiliano Papi
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.V.); (F.D.G.); (M.P.); (G.L.R.); (M.D.S.); (G.C.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Gian Ludovico Rapaccini
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.V.); (F.D.G.); (M.P.); (G.L.R.); (M.D.S.); (G.C.)
- Sezione di Medicina Interna, Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Marco De Spirito
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.V.); (F.D.G.); (M.P.); (G.L.R.); (M.D.S.); (G.C.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Luca Miele
- Sezione di Medicina Interna, Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Umberto Basile
- Dipartimento di Scienze di Laboratorio e Infettivologiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.V.); (F.D.G.); (M.P.); (G.L.R.); (M.D.S.); (G.C.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
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Pocino K, Napodano C, Marino M, Di Santo R, Miele L, De Matthaeis N, Gulli F, Saporito R, Rapaccini GL, Ciasca G, Basile U. A Comparative Study of Serum Angiogenic Biomarkers in Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 14:cancers14010011. [PMID: 35008171 PMCID: PMC8750498 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14010011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary The progression of liver disease is accompanied by pathological angiogenesis, a prerequisite for the development of HCC. In this paper, we analyzed the clinical significance of serum angiogenic markers VEGF, Ang-1, Ang-2, angiopoietin receptor Tie1/2, HGF, and PECAM-1 in 62 patients with liver disease, out of which 33 were diagnosed with HCC and 29 with liver cirrhosis without signs of neoplasia. Biomarkers levels were investigated as a function of “Model for End-Stage Liver Disease” (MELD) score and Fibrosis Index (FI). HCC patients showed higher HGF levels than ones with cirrhosis, while high Ang-1 levels appeared to have a protective role in HCC as well as prognostic significance; we also found a strong correlation between HGF levels, Ang-2, and VEGF levels, further supporting their role in tumor angiogenesis. Due to the complexity of angiogenesis and the small size of the study group, further investigations are widely desired especially in the era of immunotherapy and HCC-targeted anti-angiogenic drugs. Abstract Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a global health problem associated with chronic liver disease. Its pathogenesis varies according to the underlying etiological factors, although in most cases it develops from liver cirrhosis. The disease progression is accompanied by pathological angiogenesis, which is a prerequisite that favors the development of HCC. Aims: This study aims at contributing to our understanding of the role of angiogenic factors in the progression of liver disease. For this purpose, we evaluate the clinical significance of serum angiogenic markers (VEGF, Ang-1, Ang-2, the angiopoietin receptor Tie1/2, HGF, and PECAM-1) first in cirrhotic and HCC patients separately, and then comparing cirrhotic patients with and without HCC. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 62 patients, out of whom 33 were diagnosed with HCC and 29 with liver cirrhosis without signs of neoplasia. Patients underwent venous blood sampling before and after receiving treatments for the diagnosed disease. Serum markers were evaluated using ELISA assays for Tie1 and the Bio-Plex Multiplex system for the remaining ones. Biomarker levels were investigated as a function of clinical scores for disease staging (MELD and Fibrosis Index, FI). Results: In cirrhotic patients, Ang-1 and Ang-2 correlate with MELD (ρAng-1 = −0.73, p = 2E−5) and FI (ρAng-1 = −0.52, p = 7E−3, ρAng-2 = 0.53, p = 3E−3). A reduction of Ang-2 levels (p = 0.047) and of the Ang-2/Ang-1 ratio (p = 0.031) is observed in cirrhotic patients diagnosed with viral hepatitis after antiviral treatments. In HCC patients, Ang-1 negatively correlates with FI (ρ = −0.63, p = 1E−4), and PECAM-1 positively correlates with MELD (ρ = 0.44, p = 0.01). A significant Ang-1 reduction was observed in deceased patients during the study compared to ones who survived (p = 0.01). In HCC patients, VEGF levels were increased after tumor treatment (p = 0.037). Notably, HGF levels in cirrhotic patients with HCC are significantly raised (p = 0.017) compared to that in those without HCC. Conclusions: Our results suggest that serum angiogenic markers, with emphasis on Ang-1/2, can contribute to the development of quantitative tools for liver disease staging and therapy monitoring. The comparison between cirrhotic patients with and without HCC suggests that HGF levels are potentially useful for monitoring the insurgence of HCC after a cirrhosis diagnosis. High Ang-1 levels in HCC patients appear to have a protective role as well as prognostic significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krizia Pocino
- Unità Operativa Complessa di Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Generale di Zona San Pietro Fatebenefratelli, 00189 Rome, Italy; (K.P.); (R.S.)
| | | | - Mariapaola Marino
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Sezione di Patologia Generale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (U.B.)
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (G.C.)
| | - Luca Miele
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Sezione di Medicina Interna, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.M.); (N.D.M.); (G.L.R.)
| | - Nicoletta De Matthaeis
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Sezione di Medicina Interna, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.M.); (N.D.M.); (G.L.R.)
| | - Francesca Gulli
- Laboratorio di Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Madre Giuseppina Vannini, 00177 Rome, Italy;
| | - Raffaele Saporito
- Unità Operativa Complessa di Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Generale di Zona San Pietro Fatebenefratelli, 00189 Rome, Italy; (K.P.); (R.S.)
| | - Gian Ludovico Rapaccini
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Sezione di Medicina Interna, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.M.); (N.D.M.); (G.L.R.)
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (G.C.)
| | - Umberto Basile
- Dipartimento di Scienze di Laboratorio e Infettivologiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (U.B.)
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Basile U, Napodano C, Gulli F, Pocino K, Di Santo R, Todi L, Basile V, Provenzano C, Ciasca G, Marino M. Laboratory Investigation of Hybrid IgG4 k/λ in MuSK Positive Myasthenia Gravis. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22179142. [PMID: 34502051 PMCID: PMC8430634 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22179142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Myasthenia gravis with antibodies (Abs) against the muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) is a rare autoimmune disorder (AD) of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) and represents a prototype of AD with proven IgG4-mediated pathogenicity. Thanks to the mechanism of Fab-arm exchange (FAE) occurring in vivo, resulting MuSK IgG4 k/λ Abs increase their interference on NMJ and pathogenicity. The characterization of hybrid MuSK IgG4 as a biomarker for MG management is poorly investigated. Here, we evaluated total IgG4, hybrid IgG4 k/λ, and the hybrid/total ratio in 14 MuSK-MG sera in comparison with 24 from MG with Abs against acetylcholine receptor (AChR) that represents the not IgG4-mediated MG form. In both subtypes of MG, we found that the hybrid/total ratio reflects distribution reported in normal individuals; instead, when we correlated the hybrid/total ratio with specific immune-reactivity we found a positive correlation only with anti-MuSK titer, with a progressive increase of hybrid/total mean values with increasing disease severity, indirectly confirming that most part of hybrid IgG4 molecules are engaged in the anti-MuSK pathogenetic immune-reactivity. Further analysis is necessary to strengthen the significance of this less unknown biomarker, but we retain it is full of a diagnostic-prognostic powerful potential for the management of MuSK-MG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umberto Basile
- Dipartimento di Scienze di Laboratorio e Infettivologiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | | | - Francesca Gulli
- Laboratorio di Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Madre Giuseppina Vannini, 00177 Rome, Italy;
| | - Krizia Pocino
- Unità Operativa Complessa Patologia Clinica, Ospedale Generale di Zona, San Pietro Fatebenefratelli, 00189 Rome, Italy;
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Fondazione Policlinico “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (G.C.)
| | - Laura Todi
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Sezione di Patologia Generale, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.T.); (C.P.)
| | - Valerio Basile
- Clinical Pathology Unit and Cancer Biobank, Department of Research, Advanced Diagnostics and Technological Innovation, IFO-Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, 00128 Rome, Italy;
| | - Carlo Provenzano
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Sezione di Patologia Generale, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.T.); (C.P.)
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Fondazione Policlinico “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (G.C.)
| | - Mariapaola Marino
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Sezione di Patologia Generale, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.T.); (C.P.)
- Correspondence:
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12
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Di Santo R, Quagliarini E, Digiacomo L, Pozzi D, Di Carlo A, Caputo D, Cerrato A, Montone CM, Mahmoudi M, Caracciolo G. Protein corona profile of graphene oxide allows detection of glioblastoma multiforme using a simple one-dimensional gel electrophoresis technique: a proof-of-concept study. Biomater Sci 2021; 9:4671-4678. [PMID: 34018505 DOI: 10.1039/d1bm00488c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive form of gliomas. The development of supplementary approaches for glioblastoma diagnosis, limited to imaging techniques and tissue biopsies so far, is a necessity of clinical relevance. In this context, nanotechnology might afford tools to enable early diagnosis. Upon exposure to biological media, nanoparticles are coated with a layer of proteins, the protein corona (PC), whose composition is individual and personalized. Here we show that the PC of graphene oxide nanosheets has a capacity to detect GBM using a simple one-dimensional gel electrophoresis technique. In a range of molecular weights between 100 and 120 kDa, the personalized PC from GBM patients is completely discernible from that of healthy donors and that of cancer patients affected by pancreatic adenocarcinoma and colorectal cancer. Using tandem mass spectrometry, we found that inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor (ITI) heavy chain H4 is enriched in the PC of all tested individuals but not in the GBM patients. Overall, if confirmed on a larger cohort series, this approach could be advantageous at the first level of investigation to decide whether to carry out more invasive analyses and/or to follow up patients after surgery and/or pharmacological treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Di Santo
- Nanodelivery Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
| | | | - Luca Digiacomo
- Nanodelivery Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
| | - Daniela Pozzi
- Nanodelivery Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
| | - Angelina Di Carlo
- Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Latina, Italy
| | - Damiano Caputo
- University Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, General Surgery, Via Alvaro del Portillo 200, 00128 Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Cerrato
- Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Morteza Mahmoudi
- Precision Health Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
| | - Giulio Caracciolo
- Nanodelivery Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
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13
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Di Santo R, Romanò S, Mazzini A, Jovanović S, Nocca G, Campi G, Papi M, De Spirito M, Di Giacinto F, Ciasca G. Recent Advances in the Label-Free Characterization of Exosomes for Cancer Liquid Biopsy: From Scattering and Spectroscopy to Nanoindentation and Nanodevices. Nanomaterials (Basel) 2021; 11:1476. [PMID: 34199576 PMCID: PMC8230295 DOI: 10.3390/nano11061476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Exosomes (EXOs) are nano-sized vesicles secreted by most cell types. They are abundant in bio-fluids and harbor specific molecular constituents from their parental cells. Due to these characteristics, EXOs have a great potential in cancer diagnostics for liquid biopsy and personalized medicine. Despite this unique potential, EXOs are not yet widely applied in clinical settings, with two main factors hindering their translational process in diagnostics. Firstly, conventional extraction methods are time-consuming, require large sample volumes and expensive equipment, and often do not provide high-purity samples. Secondly, characterization methods have some limitations, because they are often qualitative, need extensive labeling or complex sampling procedures that can induce artifacts. In this context, novel label-free approaches are rapidly emerging, and are holding potential to revolutionize EXO diagnostics. These methods include the use of nanodevices for EXO purification, and vibrational spectroscopies, scattering, and nanoindentation for characterization. In this progress report, we summarize recent key advances in label-free techniques for EXO purification and characterization. We point out that these methods contribute to reducing costs and processing times, provide complementary information compared to the conventional characterization techniques, and enhance flexibility, thus favoring the discovery of novel and unexplored EXO-based biomarkers. In this process, the impact of nanotechnology is systematically highlighted, showing how the effectiveness of these techniques can be enhanced using nanomaterials, such as plasmonic nanoparticles and nanostructured surfaces, which enable the exploitation of advanced physical phenomena occurring at the nanoscale level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Di Santo
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.R.); (A.M.); (G.N.); (M.P.); (F.D.G.)
| | - Sabrina Romanò
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.R.); (A.M.); (G.N.); (M.P.); (F.D.G.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Alberto Mazzini
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.R.); (A.M.); (G.N.); (M.P.); (F.D.G.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Svetlana Jovanović
- “Vinča” Institute of Nuclear Sciences—National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia;
| | - Giuseppina Nocca
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.R.); (A.M.); (G.N.); (M.P.); (F.D.G.)
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biotecnologiche di Base, Cliniche Intensivologiche e Perioperatorie, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
| | - Gaetano Campi
- Rome International Centre Materials Science Superstripes RICMASS, via dei Sabelli 119A, 00185 Rome, Italy;
- Institute of Crystallography, CNR, via Salaria Km 29. 300, Monterotondo Stazione, 00016 Roma, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Papi
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.R.); (A.M.); (G.N.); (M.P.); (F.D.G.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Marco De Spirito
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.R.); (A.M.); (G.N.); (M.P.); (F.D.G.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Flavio Di Giacinto
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.R.); (A.M.); (G.N.); (M.P.); (F.D.G.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.R.); (A.M.); (G.N.); (M.P.); (F.D.G.)
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
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Napodano C, Callà C, Fiorita A, Marino M, Taddei E, Di Cesare T, Passali GC, Di Santo R, Stefanile A, Fantoni M, Urbani A, Paludetti G, Rapaccini GL, Ciasca G, Basile U. Salivary Biomarkers in COVID-19 Patients: Towards a Wide-Scale Test for Monitoring Disease Activity. J Pers Med 2021; 11:jpm11050385. [PMID: 34066701 PMCID: PMC8151878 DOI: 10.3390/jpm11050385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which impairs the functionality of several organs, represents a major threat to human health. One of the hardest challenges in the fight against COVID-19 is the development of wide-scale, effective, and rapid laboratory tests to control disease severity, progression, and possible sudden worsening. Monitoring patients in real-time is highly demanded in this pandemic era when physicians need reliable and quantitative tools to prioritize patients’ access to intensive care departments. In this regard, salivary biomarkers are extremely promising, as they allow for the fast and non-invasive collection of specimens and can be repeated multiple times. Methods: We compare salivary levels of immunoglobulin A subclasses (IgA1 and IgA2) and free light chains (kFLC and λFLC) in a cohort of 29 SARS-CoV-2 patients and 21 healthy subjects. Results: We found that each biomarker differs significantly between the two groups, with p-values ranging from 10−8 to 10−4. A Receiving Operator Curve analysis shows that λFLC level is the best-suited candidate to discriminate the two groups (AUC = 0.96), with an accuracy of 0.94 (0.87–1.00 95% CI), a precision of 0.91 (0.81–1.00 95% CI), a sensitivity of 1.00 (0.96–1.00 95% CI), and a specificity of 0.86 (0.70–1.00 95% CI). Conclusion: These results suggest λFLC as an ideal indicator of patient conditions. This hypothesis is strengthened by the consideration that the λFLC half-life (approximately 6 h) is significantly shorter than the IgA one (21 days), thus confirming the potential of λFLC for effectively monitoring patients’ fluctuation in real-time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Napodano
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, UOC Gastroenterologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (C.N.); (G.L.R.)
| | - Cinzia Callà
- Dipartimento di Scienze di Laboratorio e Infettivologiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (C.C.); (A.S.); (A.U.)
| | - Antonella Fiorita
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Invecchiamento, Neurologiche, Ortopediche e della Testa e del Collo, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (A.F.); (T.D.C.); (G.C.P.); (G.P.)
| | - Mariapaola Marino
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Eleonora Taddei
- Dipartimento di Sicurezza e Bioetica, Sezione di Malattie Infettive, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (E.T.); (M.F.)
| | - Tiziana Di Cesare
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Invecchiamento, Neurologiche, Ortopediche e della Testa e del Collo, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (A.F.); (T.D.C.); (G.C.P.); (G.P.)
| | - Giulio Cesare Passali
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Invecchiamento, Neurologiche, Ortopediche e della Testa e del Collo, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (A.F.); (T.D.C.); (G.C.P.); (G.P.)
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (G.C.)
| | - Annunziata Stefanile
- Dipartimento di Scienze di Laboratorio e Infettivologiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (C.C.); (A.S.); (A.U.)
| | - Massimo Fantoni
- Dipartimento di Sicurezza e Bioetica, Sezione di Malattie Infettive, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (E.T.); (M.F.)
| | - Andrea Urbani
- Dipartimento di Scienze di Laboratorio e Infettivologiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (C.C.); (A.S.); (A.U.)
| | - Gaetano Paludetti
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Invecchiamento, Neurologiche, Ortopediche e della Testa e del Collo, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (A.F.); (T.D.C.); (G.C.P.); (G.P.)
| | - Gian Ludovico Rapaccini
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, UOC Gastroenterologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (C.N.); (G.L.R.)
| | - Gabriele Ciasca
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisica, Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (G.C.)
| | - Umberto Basile
- Dipartimento di Scienze di Laboratorio e Infettivologiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (C.C.); (A.S.); (A.U.)
- Correspondence:
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15
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Caputo D, cascone C, Di Santo R, Digiacomo L, quagliarini E, Pozzi D, Coppola R, Caracciolo G. Fine-Tuning of Nanoparticle-Protein Corona Composition: A New Strategy for the Development of Efficient in Vitro Diagnostic Testing for Early Pancreatic Cancer Detection. J Am Coll Surg 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.08.084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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16
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Quagliarini E, Di Santo R, Pozzi D, Tentori P, Cardarelli F, Caracciolo G. Mechanistic Insights into the Release of Doxorubicin from Graphene Oxide in Cancer Cells. Nanomaterials (Basel) 2020; 10:E1482. [PMID: 32751061 PMCID: PMC7466571 DOI: 10.3390/nano10081482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Revised: 07/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Liposomal doxorubicin (L-DOX) is a popular drug formulation for the treatment of several cancer types (e.g., recurrent ovarian cancer, metastatic breast cancer, multiple myeloma, etc.), but poor nuclear internalization has hampered its clinical applicability so far. Therefore, novel drug-delivery nanosystems are actively researched in cancer chemotherapy. Here we demonstrate that DOX-loaded graphene oxide (GO), GO-DOX, exhibits much higher anticancer efficacy as compared to its L-DOX counterpart if administered to cellular models of breast cancer. Then, by a combination of live-cell confocal imaging and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), we suggest that GO-DOX may realize its superior performances by inducing massive intracellular DOX release (and its subsequent nuclear accumulation) upon binding to the cell plasma membrane. Reported results lay the foundation for future exploitation of these new adducts as high-performance nanochemotherapeutic agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Quagliarini
- Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy;
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy;
| | - Daniela Pozzi
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy;
| | - Paolo Tentori
- Center for Nanotechnology Innovation@NEST (CNI@NEST), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy;
- NEST Laboratory, Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy;
| | - Francesco Cardarelli
- NEST Laboratory, Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy;
| | - Giulio Caracciolo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy;
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Di Santo R, Digiacomo L, Quagliarini E, Capriotti AL, Laganà A, Zenezini Chiozzi R, Caputo D, Cascone C, Coppola R, Pozzi D, Caracciolo G. Personalized Graphene Oxide-Protein Corona in the Human Plasma of Pancreatic Cancer Patients. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:491. [PMID: 32523944 PMCID: PMC7261887 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The protein corona (PC) that forms around nanomaterials upon exposure to human biofluids (e.g., serum, plasma, cerebral spinal fluid etc.) is personalized, i.e., it depends on alterations of the human proteome as those occurring in several cancer types. This may relevant for early cancer detection when changes in concentration of typical biomarkers are often too low to be detected by blood tests. Among nanomaterials under development for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) testing, Graphene Oxide (GO) is regarded as one of the most promising ones due to its intrinsic properties and peculiar behavior in biological environments. While recent studies have explored the binding of single proteins to GO nanoflakes, unexplored variables (e.g., GO lateral size and protein concentration) leading to formation of GO-PC in human plasma (HP) have only marginally addressed so far. In this work, we studied the PC that forms around GO nanoflakes of different lateral sizes (100, 300, and 750 nm) upon exposure to HP at several dilution factors which extend over three orders of magnitude from 1 (i.e., undiluted HP) to 103. HP was collected from 20 subjects, half of them being healthy donors and half of them diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) a lethal malignancy with poor prognosis and very low 5-year survival rate after diagnosis. By dynamic light scattering (DLS), electrophoretic light scattering (ELS), sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and nano liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC MS/MS) experiments we show that the lateral size of GO has a minor impact, if any, on PC composition. On the other side, protein concentration strongly affects PC of GO nanoflakes. In particular, we were able to set dilution factor of HP in a way that maximizes the personalization of PC, i.e., the alteration in the protein profile of GO nanoflakes between cancer vs. non-cancer patients. We believe that this study shall contribute to a deeper understanding of the interactions among GO and HP, thus paving the way for the development of IVD tools to be used at every step of the patient pathway, from prognosis, screening, diagnosis to monitoring the progression of disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Di Santo
- Nanodelivery Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Luca Digiacomo
- Nanodelivery Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Aldo Laganà
- Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Riccardo Zenezini Chiozzi
- Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.,Netherlands Proteomics Centre, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Damiano Caputo
- General Surgery Unit, University Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Chiara Cascone
- General Surgery Unit, University Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Roberto Coppola
- General Surgery Unit, University Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Daniela Pozzi
- Nanodelivery Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Giulio Caracciolo
- Nanodelivery Lab, Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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Quagliarini E, Di Santo R, Palchetti S, Ferri G, Cardarelli F, Pozzi D, Caracciolo G. Effect of Protein Corona on The Transfection Efficiency of Lipid-Coated Graphene Oxide-Based Cell Transfection Reagents. Pharmaceutics 2020; 12:E113. [PMID: 32019150 PMCID: PMC7076454 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics12020113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Coating graphene oxide nanoflakes with cationic lipids leads to highly homogeneous nanoparticles (GOCL NPs) with optimised physicochemical properties for gene delivery applications. In view of in vivo applications, here we use dynamic light scattering, micro-electrophoresis and one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to explore the bionano interactions between GOCL/DNA complexes (hereafter referred to as "grapholipoplexes") and human plasma. When exposed to increasing protein concentrations, grapholipoplexes get covered by a protein corona that evolves with protein concentration, leading to biocoronated complexes with modified physicochemical properties. Here, we show that the formation of a protein corona dramatically changes the interactions of grapholipoplexes with four cancer cell lines: two breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB and MCF-7 cells), a malignant glioma cell line (U-87 MG) and an epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (CACO-2). Luciferase assay clearly indicates a monotonous reduction of the transfection efficiency of biocoronated grapholipoplexes as a function of protein concentration. Finally, we report evidence that a protein corona formed at high protein concentrations (as those present in in vivo studies) promotes a higher capture of biocoronated grapholipoplexes within degradative intracellular compartments (e.g., lysosomes), with respect to their pristine counterparts. On the other hand, coronas formed at low protein concentrations (human plasma = 2.5%) lead to high transfection efficiency with no appreciable cytotoxicity. We conclude with a critical assessment of relevant perspectives for the development of novel biocoronated gene delivery systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Quagliarini
- Department of Chemistry, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy;
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.P.)
| | - Sara Palchetti
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.P.)
| | - Gianmarco Ferri
- Laboratorio NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy; (G.F.); (F.C.)
| | - Francesco Cardarelli
- Laboratorio NEST, Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy; (G.F.); (F.C.)
| | - Daniela Pozzi
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.P.)
| | - Giulio Caracciolo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy; (R.D.S.); (S.P.)
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Di Santo R, Digiacomo L, Palchetti S, Palmieri V, Perini G, Pozzi D, Papi M, Caracciolo G. Microfluidic manufacturing of surface-functionalized graphene oxide nanoflakes for gene delivery. Nanoscale 2019; 11:2733-2741. [PMID: 30672541 DOI: 10.1039/c8nr09245a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Graphene oxide (GO) is a single-atomic-layered material made of a sheet of oxidized carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb structure. Thanks to the notable physical and chemical properties of GO, GO-based nanomaterials have applications in many fields of research, including gene delivery. It has been reported that pristine GO can absorb single-stranded DNA and RNA through π-π stacking, which cannot be used as a gene carrier because it is hard to load double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). To tackle this issue, this work was aimed at developing a hybrid nanoparticle (NP) system made of GO coated with cationic lipids (hereafter referred to as GOCL) with suitable physical-chemical properties for gene delivery applications. To this end, nanosized GO flakes (nGO) were coated with the cationic lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) by microfluidic mixing. Comprehensive characterization of GOCL NPs was performed by a combination of dynamic light scattering (DLS), micro-electrophoresis and atom force microscopy (AFM). Our results show that GOCL NPs exhibit adequate size (<150 nm) and surface charge (ξ = +15 mV) for gene delivery purposes. Complexes made of GOCL NPs and plasmid DNA (pDNA) were used to transfect human cervical cancer cells (HeLa) and human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cells. Pristine nGO and DOTAP cationic liposomes were used as a reference. GOCL NPs exhibited a similar TE but a much higher cell viability compared with DOTAP cationic liposomes. Confocal fluorescence microscopy provided a reasonable explanation for the superior performance of GOCL/DNA complexes showing that they are much more numerous, regular in size and homogeneously distributed than DOTAP/DNA complexes, thus splitting their gene payload over the entire cell population. Because of the imperative demand for efficient and safe nanocarriers, this study will contribute to the development of novel surface-functionalized GO-based hybrid gene vectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Di Santo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161, Rome, Italy.
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Palmieri V, Bugli F, Cacaci M, Di Santo R, Vitali A, Torelli R, Di Vito M, Conti C, Sanguinetti M, De Spirito M, Papi M. Antibacterial Properties of Curcumin Loaded Graphene Oxide Flakes. Biophys J 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2017.11.2011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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Moriconi C, Palmieri V, Di Santo R, Tornillo G, Papi M, Pilkington G, De Spirito M, Gumbleton M. INSIDIA: A FIJI Macro Delivering High-Throughput and High-Content Spheroid Invasion Analysis. Biotechnol J 2017; 12. [PMID: 28786556 DOI: 10.1002/biot.201700140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Revised: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Time-series image capture of in vitro 3D spheroidal cancer models embedded within an extracellular matrix affords examination of spheroid growth and cancer cell invasion. However, a customizable, comprehensive and open source solution for the quantitative analysis of such spheroid images is lacking. Here, the authors describe INSIDIA (INvasion SpheroID ImageJ Analysis), an open-source macro implemented as a customizable software algorithm running on the FIJI platform, that enables high-throughput high-content quantitative analysis of spheroid images (both bright-field gray and fluorescent images) with the output of a range of parameters defining the spheroid "tumor" core and its invasive characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Moriconi
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Valentina Palmieri
- Physics Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy.,Institute for Complex Systems, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
| | - Riccardo Di Santo
- Physics Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy
| | - Giusy Tornillo
- European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Massimiliano Papi
- Physics Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy.,Institute for Complex Systems, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy
| | - Geoff Pilkington
- Institute of Biomedical and Biomolecular Science, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
| | - Marco De Spirito
- Physics Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Hearth, Rome, Italy
| | - Mark Gumbleton
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
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