TRANS2CARE. Working plans: consciousness and perspective

The project started on 1st April 2011 and will end on 30th September 2014. The project received a budget of \u20ac 2,611,118 from the Italy-Slovenia 2007-2013 Cross-border Cooperation Programme. Seven universities and research institutions, five hospitals and a center for technology transfer distributed over the Programme area constitute the \u201cInterregional network for innovation and technology transfer for health improvement\u201d, which will continuously develop new protocols and biotechnological devices for the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, orthopaedic and oncological diseases

Entry of the University of Trieste in the Cross-Border Cooperation Programme Italy-Slovenia 2007-2013

The CBC Programme Italy-Slovenia 2007-2013 and the University of Trieste: correspondence between Programme\u2019s objectives for the European territorial cooperation and the institutional University missio

Il sistema della ricerca biomedica transfrontaliera italo-slovena: un elemento strategico di specializzazione intelligente per la politica di coesione 2014-2020

Il sistema della ricerca biomedica. Il cospicuo patrimonio d\u2019infrastrutture, tecnologie e conoscenze biomediche presenti con alta densit\ue0 in area transfrontaliera s\u2019inserisce in un quadro strutturale evidenziato come un elemento di forza nell\u2019analisi SWOT del Programma Operativo Italia-Slovenia 2007-2013. Grazie ai finanziamenti erogati dal Programma per la cooperazione transfrontaliera Italia-Slovenia 2007-2013, la ricerca biomedica ha avuto un notevole impulso, creando e rafforzando le collaborazioni in rete transfrontaliere (e trans-regionali)

The enigma of flavonoids and bilitranslocase activity in the cardiovascular system

Numerous epidemiologic studies showed an inverse correlation between dietary flavonoid consumption and cardiovascular risk, but the exact mechanisms are still largely unknown. Flavonoids exhibit hormetic properties, where low concentrations activate adaptive cellular stress response pathways and thus lead towards cytoprotection, whereas high concentrations are cytotoxic. However, the limited bioavailability of dietary flavonoids doubts the relevance of effective flavonoid intracellular concentrations to induce bioactivity in endothelial cells. Therefore, translocation of flavonoids through the cell plasma membrane must occur via specific transporter proteins. Hereby, we describe the involvement of the membrane transporter bilitranslocase (TC #2.A.65.1.1) as the key underlying molecular mechanism for membrane transport, which might help resolve the enigma of flavonoids bioactivity

Obiettivi e caratteristiche della conferenza

Il Programma per la Cooperazione transfrontaliera Italia-Slovenia 2007-2013 ha finanziato sei progetti di ricerca e innovazione in ambito biomedico. In totale, sono stati concessi circa 8,5 milioni di \u20ac a 44 beneficiari, distribuiti nell\u2019Area Programma. La durata dei progetti va da due anni e mezzo a tre anni e mezzo, a seconda dell\u2019ambiziosit\ue0 degli obiettivi e del livello di coinvolgimento dei partner. Il finanziamento rappresenta il 6% dell\u2019intero budget di Programma (137,6 MLN \u20ac) e il 23% del budget assegnato all\u2019asse prioritario n. 2 - Competitivit\ue0 e societ\ue0 basata sulla conoscenza. I coordinatori dei sei progetti si sono incontrati per la prima volta in occasione della tavola rotonda organizzata in occasione del Convegno sulla sanit\ue0 transfrontaliera di Gorizia il 4 dicembre 2013. Gi\ue0 in quell\u2019occasione sono bastati alcuni rapidi contatti tra i Team Manager per decidere di ripetere l\u2019incontro ed approfondire la conoscenza reciproca. L\u2019Universit\ue0 di Trieste, Lead partner del progetto strategico Trans2Care, ha messo a disposizione i suoi spazi in edificio H3 per ospitare la Conferenza. Il sito web del progetto \ue8 stato messo a disposizione per promuovere l\u2019evento e fornire tutte le informazioni necessarie ai partecipanti unitamente agli obiettivi della Conferenza

Translation of Trans2Care concept to the West-African countries: looking beyond tomorrow

3siThe regional partnership established between Italy and Slovenia under the TRANS2CARE Project aims at creating innovative products and services to improve public healthcare system through enhanced knowledge transfer between project partners and stakeholders. This framework of borderless partnership has potential to be translated to the West-African region to effectively utilize the available resources of member states. Such synergistic cooperation is needed to tap into the abundant ethnopharmacological potentials of the region to create an affordable healthcare system and economic advancement. Consequently, research networks and improved healthcare system in the region will drastically reduce braindrain of researchers and physicians.nonemixedPassamonti, S.; Ziberna, L.; Ademosun, A. O.Passamonti, Sabina; Ziberna, Lovro; Ademosun, A. O

Bilirubin is an Endogenous Antioxidant in Human Vascular Endothelial Cells

Bilirubin is a standard serum biomarker of liver function. Inexplicably, it is inversely correlated with cardiovascular disease risk. Given the role of endothelial dysfunction in originating cardiovascular diseases, direct analysis of bilirubin in the vascular endothelium would shed light on these relationships. Hence, we used high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with thermal lens spectrometric detection and diode array detection for the determination of endogenous cellular IX\u3b1-bilirubin. To confirm the isomer IX\u3b1-bilirubin, we used ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a high-resolution mass spectrometer using an electrospray ionization source, as well as tandem mass spectrometric detection. We measured bilirubin in both arterial and venous rat endothelium (0.9\u20131.5 pmol mg 121 protein). In the human endothelial Ea.hy926 cell line, we demonstrated that intracellular bilirubin (3\u20135\u2009pmol mg 121 protein) could be modulated by either extracellular bilirubin uptake, or by up-regulation of heme oxygenase-1, a cellular enzyme related to endogenous bilirubin synthesis. Moreover, we determined intracellular antioxidant activity by bilirubin, with EC50\u2009=\u200911.4\u2009\ub1\u20090.2\u2009nM, in the range of reported values of free serum bilirubin (8.5\u201313.1\u2009nM). Biliverdin showed similar antioxidant properties as bilirubin. We infer from these observations that intra-endothelial bilirubin oscillates, and may thus be a dynamic factor of the endothelial function

Macromolecular and Solution Properties of the Recombinant Fusion Protein HUG

The recombinant fusion protein HELP-UnaG (HUG) is a bifunctional product that exhibits human elastin-like polypeptide (HELP)-specific thermal behavior, defined as a reverse phase transition, and UnaG-specific bilirubin-dependent fluorescence emission. HUG provides an interesting model to understand how its two domains influence each other's properties. Turbidimetric, calorimetric, and light scattering measurements were used to determine different parameters for the reverse temperature transition and coacervation behavior. This shows that the UnaG domain has a measurable but limited effect on the thermal properties of HELP. Although the HELP domain decreased the affinity of UnaG for bilirubin, HUG retained the property of displacing bilirubin from bovine serum albumin and thus remains one of the strongest bilirubin-binding proteins known to date. These data demonstrate that HELP can be used to create new bifunctional fusion products that pave the way for expanded technological applications