Sara Ferrando

Bio: Sara Ferrando is an academic researcher from University of Genoa. The author has contributed to research in topics: Olfactory system & Olfactory epithelium. The author has an hindex of 21, co-authored 121 publications receiving 1541 citations. Previous affiliations of Sara Ferrando include University of Messina.

Effects of selected metal oxide nanoparticles on Artemia salina larvae: evaluation of mortality and behavioural and biochemical responses.

Abstract: The aim was to investigate the toxicity of selected metal oxide nanoparticles (MO-NPs) on the brine shrimp Artemia salina, by evaluating mortality and behavioural and biochemical responses. Larvae were exposed to tin(IV) oxide (stannic oxide (SnO2)), cerium(IV) oxide (CeO2) and iron(II, III) oxide (Fe3O4) NPs for 48 h in seawater, with MO-NP suspensions from 0.01 to 1.0 mg/mL. Mortality and behavioural responses (swimming speed alteration) and enzymatic activities of cholinesterase, glutathione-S-transferase and catalase were evaluated. Although the MO-NPs did not induce any mortality of the larvae, they caused changes in behavioural and biochemical responses. Swimming speed significantly decreased in larvae exposed to CeO2 NPs. Cholinesterase and glutathione-S-transferase activities were significantly inhibited in larvae exposed to SnO2 NPs, whereas cholinesterase activity significantly increased after CeO2 NP and Fe3O4 NP exposure. Catalase activity significantly increased in larvae exposed to Fe3O4 NPs. In conclusion, swimming alteration and choli- nesterase activity represent valid endpoints for MO- NP exposure, while glutathione-S-transferase and cat- alase activities appear to be NP-specific.

Photobiomodulation Affects Key Cellular Pathways of all Life-Forms: Considerations on Old and New Laser Light Targets and the Calcium Issue.

Abstract: After 50 years of studies on photobiomodulation (PBM), there is still so much to investigate to understand the laser light-nonplant cells interactions. The current scientific knowledge allows to say that the phenomena induced by PBM are based on cellular pathways that are the key points of cell life. The mitochondria chromophores, also present on the bacterial membrane, the calcium channels, ion that regulates the life-and-death cellular processes, as well as the TRP family, whose genes have been found in protozoa and suggest that its basic mechanism evolved long before the appearance of animals, seem to be elective targets in photobiomodulatory events by wavelengths from 600 up to 980 nm. The ambiguous resulting cellular communication way, mediated by ATP, ROS and/or calcium, leads to cell manipulation, which modifies its metabolism and whose response connects all life-forms from bacteria to vertebrates. Because of the Giano-Bifronte features of ROS and calcium, as well as the fine balance of energetic mitochondrial processes, whose alteration is responsible for several diseases, the PBM can show unpredictable results and it requires scrupulous approach to avoid cellular damages. However, when carefully applied, PBM is able to improve nonhealthy cell's responses and represents a reliable support in human and veterinary medicine.

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

Nanoparticles in the environment: where do we come from, where do we go to?

Abstract: Nanoparticles serve various industrial and domestic purposes which is reflected in their steadily increasing production volume. This economic success comes along with their presence in the environment and the risk of potentially adverse effects in natural systems. Over the last decade, substantial progress regarding the understanding of sources, fate, and effects of nanoparticles has been made. Predictions of environmental concentrations based on modelling approaches could recently be confirmed by measured concentrations in the field. Nonetheless, analytical techniques are, as covered elsewhere, still under development to more efficiently and reliably characterize and quantify nanoparticles, as well as to detect them in complex environmental matrixes. Simultaneously, the effects of nanoparticles on aquatic and terrestrial systems have received increasing attention. While the debate on the relevance of nanoparticle-released metal ions for their toxicity is still ongoing, it is a re-occurring phenomenon that inert nanoparticles are able to interact with biota through physical pathways such as biological surface coating. This among others interferes with the growth and behaviour of exposed organisms. Moreover, co-occurring contaminants interact with nanoparticles. There is multiple evidence suggesting nanoparticles as a sink for organic and inorganic co-contaminants. On the other hand, in the presence of nanoparticles, repeatedly an elevated effect on the test species induced by the co-contaminants has been reported. In this paper, we highlight recent achievements in the field of nano-ecotoxicology in both aquatic and terrestrial systems but also refer to substantial gaps that require further attention in the future.

Mechanized Silica Nanoparticles: A New Frontier in Theranostic Nanomedicine

Abstract: Medicine can benefit significantly from advances in nanotechnology because nanoscale assemblies promise to improve on previously established therapeutic and diagnostic regimes. Over the past decade, the use of delivery platforms has attracted attention as researchers shift their focus toward new ways to deliver therapeutic and/or diagnostic agents and away from the development of new drug candidates. Metaphorically, the use of delivery platforms in medicine can be viewed as the "bow-and-arrow" approach, where the drugs are the arrows and the delivery vehicles are the bows. Even if one possesses the best arrows that money can buy, they will not be useful if one does not have the appropriate bow to deliver the arrows to their intended location. Currently, many strategies exist for the delivery of bioactive agents within living tissue. Polymers, dendrimers, micelles, vesicles, and nanoparticles have all been investigated for their use as possible delivery vehicles. With the growth of nanomedicine, one can envisage the possibility of fabricating a theranostic vector that could release powerful therapeutics and diagnostic markers simultaneously and selectively to diseased tissue. In our design of more robust theranostic delivery systems, we have focused our attention on using mesoporous silica nanoparticles (SNPs). The payload "cargo" molecules can be stored within this robust domain, which is stable to a wide range of chemical conditions. This stability allows SNPs to be functionalized with stimulus-responsive mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs) in the shape of bistable rotaxanes and psuedorotaxanes to yield mechanized silica nanoparticles (MSNPs). In this Account, we chronicle the evolution of various MSNPs, which came about as a result of our decade-long collaboration, and discuss advances in the synthesis of novel hybrid SNPs and the various MIMs which have been attached to their surfaces. These MIMs can be designed in such a way that they either change shape or shed off some of their parts in response to a specific stimulus, such as changes in redox potential, alterations in pH, irradiation with light, or the application of an oscillating magnetic field, allowing a theranostic payload to be released from the nanopores to a precise location at the appropiate time. We have also shown that these integrated systems can operate not only within cells, but also in live animals in response to pre-existing biological triggers. Recognizing that the theranostics of the future could offer a fresh approach to the treatment of degenerative diseases including cancer, we aim to start moving out of the chemical domain and into the biological one. Some MSNPs are already being tested in biological systems.