Novel Biological Strategies for Melanoma Therapy: A Focus on lncRNAs and Their Targeting

Simple Summary Although available treatments for metastatic melanoma have significantly improved the clinical outcome of patients, there is still a portion of patients whose tumor progresses. Therefore, new therapeutic approaches for melanoma are needed, which could include targeting specific lncRNAs altered in this neoplasm. Indeed, the lncRNAs aberrant expression influences several hallmarks of melanoma cells and contributes to the acquisition of drug resistance. This review focuses on the main lncRNAs altered in melanoma, highlighting the consequences of their aberrant expression on the phenotypic plasticity of melanoma cells. Furthermore, we investigated their possible targeting using nucleic acid-based techniques or natural products such as phytochemicals. Finally, we explored the advances in nanotechnology for the specific delivery of lncRNAs into cancer tissues and to avoid potential side effects. Abstract Increasing evidence revealed that restoring the correct expression of lncRNAs could have implications in the management of melanoma patients. In this context, here, we aim to dissect the main characteristics of lncRNAs altered in melanoma and their crosstalk with the signaling pathways involved in the progression of this disease. We also highlight the role of nucleic acid-based techniques and natural compounds (i.e., phytochemicals) as a therapeutic tool to increase or silence their expression in cancer cells. Finally, we explore the advances in nanotechnologies as delivery systems to efficiently carry these chemicals into cancer cells, thus limiting their potential off-target effects. The analysis of the literature showed that HOTAIR, MALAT1, and H19 are the oncogenic lncRNAs most studied in melanoma, while MEG3 is an important tumor suppressor decreased in this cancer. The aberrant expression of these lncRNAs affects several hallmarks of cancer, e.g., proliferation, motility, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition, promoting the melanoma plasticity and drug resistance. In this frame, siRNA, antisense oligonucleotide, and CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing appear to be the most effective nucleic acid strategies to restore the physiologic expression of lncRNA, while curcumin, resveratrol, and quercetin are the main phytochemicals able to target and influence the expression of lncRNAs altered in cancer. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive overview regarding the role of lncRNAs in the phenotype plasticity of melanoma cells and their potential targeting using RNA-based therapy and natural products

Towards an Aporia? Empirical evidence on the relationship between consumer behavior and metaverse-based virtual stores.

Recently, Metaverse technology has caught the attention of many businesses and consumers. However, there is no research on this topic in the food sector. Thus, it is crucial to understand the key drivers influencing consumers’ intention to purchase food through Metaverse technology. The present research leverages a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to analyse 710 Italian consumers. The results highlighted perceived technological and regulatory uncertainty and the feeling of cyber risk as significant obstacles to consumers’ intention to purchase food using Metaverse platforms. Conversely, several factors emerged as important facilitators, including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, perceived herd behaviour, hedonic motivation and consumer innovativeness. The study shows practical implications for businesses, practitioners and Metaverse developers in designing effective marketing strategies to promote the adoption of Metaverse commerce in the food sector. In fact, this research proposes a model that can be applied by stakeholders. Finally, this paper offers both actionable recommendations and theoretical insights

Low-income consumers' perceptions of ultra-processed foods

In recent years there has been a rapid surge of consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in many developed countries. UPFs are characterized by high levels of fat, salt and sugar, which are in opposition to the World Health Organization's guidelines, advocating for the limitation of foods with high concentrations of these nutrients. To implement effective public policy interventions, it is important to understand the perception of UPFs among final consumers. The present study contributes to current knowledge providing quantitative evidence on the processing, healthiness, and tastiness perceptions of UPFs among low-income Italian consumers. A sample of 810 consumers were surveyed using an online questionnaire including a food shopping task with minimally processed foods and UPFs. Findings reveal an overall adequate awareness of the amount of processing needed to create certain food products. Additionally, low-income consumers did not perceive the investigated UPFs as extremely distant from their actual processing and healthiness classifications. Nevertheless, respondents generally perceived seemingly more processed foods as being less healthy. Results do not underline the need for policymakers to prioritize interventions aimed at fostering an increase of knowledge of UPFs among this socioeconomically disadvantaged grou

How Do Local Economic Structures Influence the Variability of Land Sensitivity to Degradation in Italy?

This study examines the relationship between local economic structures and environmental sensitivity in Italy, focusing on a novel indicator that estimates the spatial variability of the Environmentally Sensitive Area Index (ESAI) over time. This approach captures within-region disparities in degradation processes, addressing a key gap in the existing literature. Using a dataset covering all Italian provinces from 1960 to 2010 and considering multiple socio-economic variables, the research evaluates their impacts on ESAI variability. In particular, this study adopts a spatial autoregressive model (SAR), which allows both direct and indirect effects of selected predictors to be captured. The findings offer insights for policymakers in designing strategies to mitigate the spread of land degradation hotspots and promote strategies that balance environmental conservation with socio-economic development to ensure resource sustainability

A General Framework for Closed Loop Negative Feedback Multivariable Physiological Control Systems: Existence, Uniqueness, and Stability of Homeostatic Equilibrium Points

The study of homeostatic equilibrium is a key concern in several fields, from physiology and biology to medicine and biomedical engineering. Control theory approaches can provide effective strategies to model physiological control systems, helping in understanding the dynamics of bio- and physio-logical regulation processes. However, the intrinsic complexity of living systems makes it difficult to identify unified biomodels that can represent a wide variety of physiological systems. In this context, the present work proposes a general framework to model the dynamics and describe the behavior of a wide class of multivariable physiological control systems, from the molecular to the whole-organ scale. The framework adopts a structure based on a closed-loop topology taking into account multiple inputs and outputs and with the negative feedback action intrinsically embedded within the model. The development of such a general model has at least three important repercussions: the first concerns the possibility of better understanding the basic mechanisms common to many physiological systems; the second is to develop a common theoretical framework to enable effective approaches to the analysis and design of synthetic biological control systems; finally, the investigation of the structural properties of the model in a general context, allows a guided and simplified application to specific cases. To this regard, in this paper, the existence, possible uniqueness and stability properties of the homeostatic equilibrium points of the general model are investigated; the theoretical framework is then illustrated through two real-world case-studies: (i) the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway nonlinear dynamics, a critical regulator of cellular growth, proliferation, and survival; (ii) the control mechanism of the neuromuscular stretch reflex, among the prime triggers implicated in postural control. Results proved the capability of the proposed framework to capture the intricate dynamics of multivariable physiological systems at different scales, highlighting the existence of asymptotically stable homeostatic equilibrium and allowing the study of the impact of transmission delays on the system's stability. At the best of authors' knowledge, following the paper Ponsiglione et al. (2023) where monovariable systems where dealt with, the proposed methodology is the first attempt to represent and investigate homeostasis from the molecular up to systemic level by exploiting a unified multivariable biomodeling architecture, which makes it a novel approach to understanding homeostatic control from a broader perspective

Un percorso di amministrazione condivisa: il caso dell’emporio solidale di Empoli

L’amministrazione condivisa si fonda sul dialogo costante tra Enti del Terzo settore e Pubblica amministrazione, che rende possibile una più ampia capacità di intercettare e comprendere i bisogni della collettività. Questo è il senso dell’art. 55 del d. lgs. 117/2017 (Codice del Terzo settore) che disciplina i procedimenti di co-programmazione e di co-progettazione, ispirati al principio di sussidiarietà orizzontale (art. 118, 4 comma, Cost.), come rimarcato anche dalla sentenza della Corte costituzionale 131/2020. Per comprendere a pieno le potenzialità applicative dell’istituto, si è scelto di procedere allo studio di un caso concreto: quello dell’Emporio solidale di Empoli

Is gastronomy crucial for UNESCO sites’ tourists? An important exploratory Italian study

The paper analyses the role of gastronomic experiences as potential tourist attractions for local development. The decision to focus on a particular UNESCO site, as the Carolino aqueduct, is based on a perceived knowledge gap regarding the lack of tourists for the Carolino aqueduct. The work is based on quantitative data collection among potential visitors of the aqueduct Carolino. Altogether, 840 valid questionnaires were collected a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied. Findings reveal that that people’s motivation, supplied food, prior knowledge and past experiences influence the gastronomic experiences. The gastronomic experiences in turn affect both satisfaction with the destination and destination loyalty. Thus, gastronomic experiences should be useful path to support the tourism in a UNESCO site, as the aqueduct Carolino. When discussing issues related to the cultural heritage, the question arises as to how should enhance the cultural heritage for tourism reasons. The results of this research demonstrate that gastronomic experiences are imperative to the success of cultural heritage tourism