miR-181a/b downregulation exerts a protective action on mitochondrial disease models.

Mitochondrial diseases (MDs) are a heterogeneous group of devastating and often fatal disorders due to defective oxidative phosphorylation. Despite the recent advances in mitochondrial medicine, effective therapies are still not available for these conditions. Here, we demonstrate that the microRNAs miR-181a and miR-181b (miR-181a/b) regulate key genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and function and that downregulation of these miRNAs enhances mitochondrial turnover in the retina through the coordinated activation of mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy. We thus tested the effect of miR-181a/b inactivation in different animal models of MDs, such as microphthalmia with linear skin lesions and Leber\u27s hereditary optic neuropathy. We found that miR-181a/b downregulation strongly protects retinal neurons from cell death and significantly ameliorates the disease phenotype in all tested models. Altogether, our results demonstrate that miR-181a/b regulate mitochondrial homeostasis and that these miRNAs may be effective gene-independent therapeutic targets for MDs characterized by neuronal degeneration

miR-181a/b downregulation exerts a protective action on mitochondrial disease models.

Mitochondrial diseases (MDs) are a heterogeneous group of devastating and often fatal disorders due to defective oxidative phosphorylation. Despite the recent advances in mitochondrial medicine, effective therapies are still not available for these conditions. Here, we demonstrate that the microRNAs miR-181a and miR-181b (miR-181a/b) regulate key genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and function and that downregulation of these miRNAs enhances mitochondrial turnover in the retina through the coordinated activation of mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy. We thus tested the effect of miR-181a/b inactivation in different animal models of MDs, such as microphthalmia with linear skin lesions and Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy. We found that miR-181a/b downregulation strongly protects retinal neurons from cell death and significantly ameliorates the disease phenotype in all tested models. Altogether, our results demonstrate that miR-181a/b regulate mitochondrial homeostasis and that these miRNAs may be effective gene-independent therapeutic targets for MDs characterized by neuronal degeneration.Italian Fondazione Telethon (grant no. TGM16YGM02 to S. Ban, the Fondazione Roma (grant no. RP‐201300000009 to S. Ban)) and the AFM‐Telethon (grant no. 20685 to B.F.). A.I. received an Umberto Veronesi Fellowship. This research was carried out in the frame of Programme STAR, financially supported by UniNA and Compagnia di San Paolo (Bando STAR, 16‐CSP‐UNINA‐048, to A.I)

La professionalità dell’insegnante nella scuola dell’emergenza

L’emergenza causata dalla pandemia di Covid-19 ha avuto un impatto significativo sul sistema di istruzione e formazione. In un momento così complesso e problematico, la rilettura della proposta di Ferrière offre importanti spunti di riflessione: fra questi limitare l’insegnamento a pochi contenuti, rifiutando un’educazione enciclopedica. La scuola, in particolare al tempo dell’emergenza sanitaria che ha visto limitato e ri-pensato il tempo e il luogo didattico, deve orientarsi alla promozione di apprendimenti significativi e allo sviluppo di competenze trasversali. A partire dalle premesse esposte, questo contributo si propone di comprendere come le scuole italiane abbiano affrontato il periodo emergenziale con lo scopo di indagare in che misura la didattica a distanza ha impattato sulla professionalità docente e, in particolare, sull’azione didattica. Il lavoro brevemente presenta gli esiti di una sintesi narrativa dei principali studi di settore che hanno indagato la professionalità docente nella scuola della Pandemia, allo scopo di delineare le caratteristiche dell’insegnamento efficace “d’emergenza” e/o evidenziare i limiti della proposta di insegnamento.The emergency caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic had a significant impact on the education and training system. At this complex and problematic time, the reinterpretation of Ferrière’s proposal offers some food for thought: among them to limit the teaching to a few contents, refusing an encyclopedic education. The school should be geared towards the promotion of meaningful learning and the development of the soft skills, especially at the time of the health emergency which provided for a change in the time and place of teaching. According to the premises, this work aims to understand how the Italian schools have addressed the emergency, with the intention of investigating the extent to which distance learning has impacted on the teaching professionalism and on the teaching action. The work briefly discusses the results of a narrative synthesis of the main studies that investigated the teaching professionalism in the school of Pandemic, to outline the characteristics of effective teaching and/or highlight the limitations of the training proposal

The laboratory as a pedagogical space: an experience with the students of the University of Salerno

In contemporary society, the role and functions of university education have undergone a profound change. The university is no longer a place of élite education reserved for the training of some professions traditionally considered prestigious, nor does it deal exclusively with theoretical and applicative research, but, following the overall evolution of the training systems, it has taken on the typical characteristics a mandatory segment of the training system, that is, necessary for access to most of the contemporary professions. In this context, the individual is increasingly in need of an environment that provides him with the cognitive, emotional, relational and managerial skills necessary for an autonomous and responsible choice in his career path. Therefore, university teaching has the task of generating a profound change in its organization, in relation to the needs of the socio-culturalworking context and the development of different professions. In this context, great attention is paid to the activity of the university laboratory, in terms of reorganization of teaching and as a pedagogical space in which alternative solutions are tested that pave the way for an integration between theory and practice. A place of conjugation between teachers, students and researchers, which requires reflection on the purposes of education and knowledge of the disciplines of study. The laboratories, within the university course, were conceived as a hinge capable of welding the times of formal preparation and practical preparation through analysis, planning and meta-reflection [1] [2] [3] or as a place / operationalization structure of the theory-practice-theory nexus [4]. The laboratory can become an effective tool to strengthen the relationship between training and the world of work, it can become a place capable of nourishing and legitimizing the development of professionalization [2]. If we consider the dimension of the spiral articulation of theory and practice, the learning does not only concern decontextualized knowledge or declinations of knowledge in knowing how to do or knowing how to be, but converge on the construction of skills: disciplinary contents, interdisciplinary plots and skills here they are not an object of learning in themselves but become a means at the service of the treatment of certain situations. The purpose of this work is to theoretically investigate the importance of laboratory activity in the university environment, not only in terms of the application of theory, but as a research space and pedagogical area, in which possible strategies for solving problems are tested that professionalism will face in the world of work. Specifically, it presents a university laboratory experience of Experimental Pedagogy, lived with the students of the Master's Degree Course in Pedagogical Sciences (LM 85) of the University of Salerno. This contribution lays the foundations for a subsequent empirical investigation to be conducted on the laboratory activities present in the degree courses of the educational professions (L19, LM85 and LM57) of the aforementioned University, to understand the logical levels of the learning that takes place in this phase, in relationship to the transfer of disciplines, and its impacts in response to the world of work

Sex-Specific Effects of Short-Term Oral Administration of Food-Grade Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles in the Liver and Kidneys of Adult Rats

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanomaterial is used in several items (implant materials, pills composition, cosmetics, etc.). Although TiO2 is no longer considered safe as a food additive, the general population is exposed daily through different routes, and information is lacking on some aspects of animal and human health. This study evaluated liver and kidney toxicity of food-grade TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) (primary size 2 NPs are known to affect the gastric mucosa, short-term exposure induced sex-specific effects: general toxicity parameters were predominantly altered in female rats, whereas the liver appeared to be more affected than the kidneys in male rats, which also showed overexpression of NPY and SPP1. In the kidneys, the TiO2 NP effects were quantitatively similar but qualitatively different in the two sexes. In conclusion, careful consideration should be paid to the presence of TiO2 NPs in other items that can lead to human exposure

Study of the role of the Ofd1 protein in the hippocampus

The Oral-facial-digital type 1 syndrome (OFD1, MIM 311200) is a developmental disorder that belongs to a heterogeneous group of cilipathies. OFD1 is transmitted as an X-linked dominant condition with male embryonic lethality. The females, however, have abnormalities affecting the face, the oral cavity and the skeletal structures. The OFD1 gene, responsible for the disease, codifies for the OFD1 protein, localized in the basal body of the primary cilium and in centrosome. During embryonic development OFD1 is essential in the process of ciliogenesis and left-right axis specification. The primary cilium is crucial in Hedgehog signal transduction pathway, essential in the organization of the nervous system. Few OFD1 cases display mental retardation that is not associated with structural abnormalities of the CNS and this suggests that the primary cilium might have role in maintaining brain function. We know that Ofd1 is expressed in Mus musculus hippocampus, cerebellum and olfactory bulbs. In order to evaluate the role of Ofd1 in cerebral functions we used as a model organism transgenic mice in which the Ofd1 gene was conditionally inactivated in the hippocampus from day P21. A month after birth, hippocampi showed no morphological alterations in their organization. The images obtained at CLSM showed the presence of the primary cilium that has, in particular at the level of the cells of the dentate gyrus, reduced size in KO compared to wt. It was observed by TEM in KO samples the presence of prociglia both in the cells of the dentate gyrus and of the CA1 region with the presence of alterations in the microtubular basal body organization. These preliminary data confirm that the presence of Ofd1 is essential for maintaining the primary cilium that is altered due to the onset of neurological defects present in OFD1

Risk Assessment of Transgender People: Development of Rodent Models Mimicking Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapies and Identification of Sex-Dimorphic Liver Genes as Novel Biomarkers of Sex Transition

Transgender (TG) describes individuals whose gender identity differs from the social norms. TG people undergoing gender-affirming hormone therapy (HT) may be considered a sub-group of the population susceptible to environmental contaminants for their targets and modes of action. The aim of this study is to set appropriate HT doses and identify specific biomarkers to implement TG animal models. Four adult rats/group/sex were subcutaneously exposed to three doses of HT (plus control) selected starting from available data. The demasculinizing-feminizing models (dMF) were β-estradiol plus cyproterone acetate, at 0.09 + 0.33, 0.09 + 0.93 and 0.18 + 0.33 mg, respectively, five times/week. The defeminizing-masculinizing models (dFM) were testosterone (T) at 0.45, 0.95 and 2.05 mg, two times/week. Clitoral gain and sperm count, histopathological analysis of reproductive organs and liver, hormone serum levels and gene expression of sex-dimorphic CYP450 were evaluated. In the dMF model, the selected doses—leading to T serum levels at the range of the corresponding cisgender—induced strong general toxicity and cannot be used in long-term studies. In the dFM model, 0.45 mg of T represents the correct dose. In addition, the endpoints selected are considered suitable and reliable to implement the animal model. The sex-specific CYP expression is a suitable biomarker to set proper (de)masculinizing/(de)feminizing HT and to implement TG animal models

Apprendimento basato sui giochi: il progetto NAVIGATE

The Navigate project was officially born in September 2017, funded by the Erasmus+ Strategic partnership program in support of innovation. The main objective of the Navigate project was to identify and create the conditions for a more effective approach to information literacy by university students in the humanities using games. The article proposes the most significant contents of the workshop "Game-based learning for the goal of sustainable development 4" (SDG4): filling the gaps of students on information literacy!" held in Milan on September 16, 2020 on the occasion of the conference "Libraries and sustainable development". The experience of co-creation and application of the Navigate games by three professors of the University of Parma concludes the paper

Removal of sulfanilamide by tailor-made magnetic metal-ceramic nanocomposite adsorbents

Three tailor-made magnetic metal-ceramic nanocomposites, obtained from zeolite A (ZA1 and ZA2) and a natural clinoptilolite (LB1), have been used as adsorbents to remove sulfanilamide (SA), a sulfonamide antibiotic of common use, from water.A patented process for the synthesis of nanocomposites has been suitably modified to maximize the efficiency of the SA removal, as well as to extend the applicability of the materials.The role played by the main process parameters (kinetic, pH, initial concentration of SA) has been characterized. The significant effect of the pH on the SA removal has been explained identifying two possibly coexisting mechanisms of SA adsorption, based on polar and hydrophobic interactions, respectively.The adsorption kinetics have been in all cases described by the pseudo second-order model. The adsorption isotherms obtained with ZA1 have been satisfactorily described by the Langmuir model, suggesting a monolayer adsorption of SA on the magnetic nanocomposites resulting from a uniform surface energy. The isotherms obtained with LB1 could be described by a more complex approach, deriving by the additive superposition of Langmuir and Sips models.In order to ensure an effective removal of the antibiotic and a proper recycle of the magnetic adsorbents, a sustainable regeneration procedure of the exhausted adsorbent has been developed, based on the treatment with a dilute solution of NaOH