SONIA SCARFÌ

Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by vision loss, due to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death. The RGCs are the first retinal neurons generated during development from multipotent retinal progenitor cells (RPCs), followed by other retinal cells type, i.e. bipolar, horizontal and amacrine cells, Muller glial cells, and cone/rod...

Collagen from marine sources is a very attractive alternative to bovine collagen. In biomedicine, several applications of collagens derived from sponges have been described, many of which from the demospongia Chondrosia reniformis. The production of these molecules in recombinant form would allow to obtain well-defined molecular types and to...

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The exposure to chemicals and pollutants of the lung tissue affects the properties and functions of the alveolar wall leading to serious and often fatal outcomes. The study of biological events related to toxic substances is currently limited due to the lack of relevant preclinical models for testing and validation. To overcome ethical,...

Asbestos fibres, including the amphiboles and the serpentine chrysotile (CHR), are classified as carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Today CHR "safe" mining takes place only in few countries like Russia, China, Africa, and South America, although, to mitigate the health risks associated with CHR, various...

The severe health problems derived from the prolonged inhalation of particulate matter and mineral fibres, such as pulmonary fibrosis, asbestosis, silicosis, lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma, to cite a few, are a well-known issue for several classes of exposed workers even in the modern society[1]. Furthermore, given the considerable number...

Asbestos fibres have been considered an environmental hazard for decades. However, little is known about the attempts of circulating immune cells to counteract their toxicity. We addressed the early effects of fibre-released soluble factors (i.e. heavy metals) in naïve immune cells, circulating immediately below the alveolar/endothelial cell...

The majority of medicines come from natural resources, and in particular a great number of bioactive molecules (more than 10,000) have been isolated until now from the marine environment, with hundreds of new compounds still being discovered every year [1]. The richest sources of sea natural products are invertebrates with Porifera being the...

The interaction between inhaled mineral fibres and alveolar macrophage provokes many adverse effects including cell damage. The mechanisms by which macrophage phagocytosis of mineral fibres exert cytotoxic activity are not fully understood. Our work focuses on the monitoring of the early steps of the interaction between chrysotile, crocidolite...

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A physiologically relevant in vitro human-based model could be the 'gold standard' to clarify the pathological steps involved in glaucoma onset. In this regard, human 3D cultures may represent an excellent starting point to achieve this goal. Indeed, the 3D matrix allows to re-create the in vivo-like tissue architecture, maintaining its...

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Collagen is involved in the formation of complex fibrillar networks able to provide the tridimensional support and to ensure the structural integrity of many tissues. Its low immunogenicity and mechanical properties allow the use of this molecule as a biomaterial suitable as support for in vitro monolayer cell cultures mimicking in vivo basal...