Browsing by Author "Palumbo, Anna"
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- Cephalopods in neuroscience: regulations, research and the 3RsPublication . Fiorito, Graziano; Affuso, Andrea; Anderson, David B; Basil, Jennifer; Bonnaud, Laure; Botta, Giovanni; Cole, Alison; D'Angelo, Livia; De Girolamo, Paolo; Dennison, Ngaire; Dickel, Ludovic; Di Cosmo, Anna; Di Cristo, Carlo; Gestal, Camino; Fonseca, Rute; Grasso, Frank; Kristiansen, Tore; Kuba, Michael; Maffucci, Fulvio; Manciocco, Arianna; Mark, Felix Christopher; Melillo, Daniela; Osório, Daniel; Palumbo, Anna; Perkins, Kerry; Ponte, Giovanna; Raspa, Marcello; Shashar, Nadav; Smith, Jane; Smith, David; Sykes, António V.; Villanueva, Roger; Tublitz, Nathan; Zullo, Letizia; Andrews, PaulCephalopods have been utilised in neuroscience research for more than 100 years particularly because of their phenotypic plasticity, complex and centralised nervous system, tractability for studies of learning and cellular mechanisms of memory (e.g. long-term potentiation) and anatomical features facilitating physiological studies (e.g. squid giant axon and synapse). On 1 January 2013, research using any of the about 700 extant species of "live cephalopods" became regulated within the European Union by Directive 2010/63/EU on the "Protection of Animals used for Scientific Purposes", giving cephalopods the same EU legal protection as previously afforded only to vertebrates. The Directive has a number of implications, particularly for neuroscience research. These include: (1) projects will need justification, authorisation from local competent authorities, and be subject to review including a harm-benefit assessment and adherence to the 3Rs principles (Replacement, Refinement and Reduction). (2) To support project evaluation and compliance with the new EU law, guidelines specific to cephalopods will need to be developed, covering capture, transport, handling, housing, care, maintenance, health monitoring, humane anaesthesia, analgesia and euthanasia. (3) Objective criteria need to be developed to identify signs of pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm particularly in the context of their induction by an experimental procedure. Despite diversity of views existing on some of these topics, this paper reviews the above topics and describes the approaches being taken by the cephalopod research community (represented by the authorship) to produce "guidelines" and the potential contribution of neuroscience research to cephalopod welfare.
- First evidence of dermo-protective activity of marine sulfur-containing histidine compoundsPublication . Brancaccio, Mariarita; Milito, Alfonsina; S B Viegas, Carla; Palumbo, Anna; Simes, Dina; Castellano, ImmacolataAmong natural products, ovothiol (ovo), produced by marine invertebrates, bacteria, and microalgae, is receiving increasing interest for its unique antioxidant properties. Recently, ovo has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity in an in vitro model of endothelial dysfunction and in an in vivo model of liver fibrosis.The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ovo and its precursor 5-thiohistidine (5-thio) in comparison with ergothioneine (erg), in human skin cells and tissues upon inflammation. We used both an in vitro and ex vivo model of human skin, represented by a keratinocytes cell line (HaCaT) and skin biopsies, respectively. We observed that ovo, 5-thio, and erg were not cytotoxic in HaCaT cells, but instead exerted a protective function against TNF-alpha-induced inflammation. In order to get insights on their mechanism of action, we performed western blot analysis of ERK and JNK, as well as sub-cellular localization of Nrf2, a key mediator of the anti-inflammatory response. The results indicated that the pre-treatment with ovo, 5-thio, and erg differently affected the phosphorylation of ERK and JNK. However, all the three molecules promoted the accumulation of Nrf2 in the nucleus of HaCaT cells. In addition, gene expression analysis by RTqPCR and ELISA assays performed in ex vivo human skin tissues pre-treated with thiohistidines and then inflamed with IL-1 beta revealed a significant downregulation of IL-8, TNF-alpha and COX-2 genes and a concomitant significant decrease in the cytokines IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha production. Moreover, the protective action of ovo and 5-thio resulted to be stronger when compared with dexamethasone, a corticosteroid drug currently used to treat skin inflammatory conditions.Our findings suggest that ovo and 5-thio can ameliorate skin damage and may be used to develop natural skin care products to prevent the inflammatory status induced by environmental stressors and aging.