Sarcopenic obesity: where to go

2023 - Comment article published in Clinical Nutrition, suggesting the need for future research on sarcopenic obesity. Sarcopenic obesity research perspectives outlined by the Sarcopenic Obesity Global Leadership Initiative (SOGLI) – proceedings from the SOGLI Consortium meeting in Rome November 2022 I participated to the meeting as an expert on sarcopenia. Below please find the link to access the fulltext Elsevier Share Link: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1gnOuxUE3j7FZ Sarcopenic obesity has health consequences ultimately leading to functional decline and increased risks of cardiometabolic diseases and mortality. The European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) developed a practical clinical definition and consensus diagnostic criteria for age-related sarcopenia: the consensus paper on definition and diagnosis can be found here (Cruz-Jentoft et al. Age Ageing. 2010 Jul;39(4):412-23. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afq034. PMID: 20392703)

The SOGLI group has now identified the most relevant avenues or future research on sarcopenic obesity, in order to fill the gap on the most relevant aspects of this condition, which is not just the sum of age-related sarcopenia and obesity. The read more click here

In this world we are a family

A video from our students at Sapienza in a diffcult moment for our world ----- International Medical School - 2nd y students: "In this world..." (2022)

All classes of my course of Introduction to Research and Scientific Method

Below, you will find my classes (for the full slides, follow the link in the title of each class, below) of my course: Introduction to Research and Scientific Method, for the 1st y college students at Sorbonne University. Below is the planning. 20 hours, 3 credits. The course is mostly in French. 1 PRÉSENTATION: DEMARCHE SCIENTIFIQUE Introduction de la thématique: comment réussir un travail universitaire Le muscle squelettique et ses disciplines La démarche scientifique" Se documenter sur le sujet 'expérimentation animale' de manière à pouvoir en discuter (travail à la maison; individuel) 2 RECHERCHE BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE Présentation de la méthodologie Présentation des resources @ l’UPMC TD" TD bibliographique (sur place et à la maison; individuel) 3 MODELES EXPERIMENTAUX Introduction de la thématique modèles expérimentaux niveaux d’observation et organismes modèles demande d'autorisation à l’experim. anim. débat: expérimentation animale" "Choisir un article scientifique (entre ces proposés sur Sakai en S3) et rédiger une fiche de lecture (à la maison; en trinôme): indiquer dans la fiche mots les clés thématiques, le(s) modèle(s), ainsi que les méthodes.Etudier les annexes S3 fichier Lentz + fichier Neveu" 4 MÉTHODE EXPÉRIMENTALE Reprise «Modèle animal»: la souris Introduction de la thématique: l’analyse des données et l'interprétation Observation, contrôles et artefacts le cahier du laboratoire un exemple réel: activité physique de la souris Abstract: résumé scientifique" Se préparer à la conference (S5) 5 CONFERENCE Se préparer sur le sujet de la conference Suivre la conference, sachant qu'il faudra : en faire un résumé verison Grand Publique (GP) comparer l’exposition pour un conference avec celle dans un article de données prendre des notes sur l’exposé oral et évaluer l’orateur en 5 lignes sur la base de critères de Public speaking (voir S9)" Rédaction d’un Fiche critique de la conférence en Français (une page et demi max), y compris résume en 5 lignes du contenu à l'intention du GP + 5 ligne d’évaluation de l’orateur (à la maison, à envoyer par email; individuel) 6 SAVOIR LIRE: ARTICLES SCIENTIFIQUES Correction du travail à la maison S2, S3 Introduction de la thématique L’article des données Reproductibilité, validation, rétractation présentation d’un vraie article à évaluer TD: Real peer review of a submitted article (correction sur place; en groupe) Cahier des charges, formation de groupes pour la rédaction d’un dossier scientifique" "Recherche d’un sujet de dossier scientifique: bibliographie et rédaction du dossier (à la maison ; en groupe) 7 DOSSIER SCIENTIFIQUE Correction du travail (S5) à la maison Organization, discussion du contenu Comment rédiger un dossier scientifique Plagiat Reproductibilité, société, le cas DBM° Cahier des charges, réunion de groupes pour la rédaction d’un dossier scientifique ° the Di Bella Method " Rédaction du dossier (à la maison ; en groupe) 8 SAVOIR ECRIRE: PROJETS ET RESUMES Le résumé scientifique: pour un congres, pour une demande de financement Rédaction de projets: hints and tips TP: Travail en binome sur le résumé scientifique (abstract) pour un congres, à partir du «cahier du labo» réel de la S4 (en classe; en binôme) réunion groupes dossier scientifique " "Résumé scientifique (abstract) à partir du «cahier du labo» (en classe; en binôme) Rédaction final du dossier selon le format imposé diffusé en cours et sur Sakai (à la maison ; en groupe) 9 SUPPORTS GRAPHIQUES Correction du travail (S8) à la maison Introduction de la thématique Schema vs dessin Visual Abstracts Comment faire un bon diaporama préparation S7 Public Speaking : préparer un discours de 1 min exacte (en Anglais) pour expliquer une idée ou un système (à la maison; individuel) 10 invited speaker: Dr. A. Mazzotti (interpreter & actress)" "SAVOIR PARLER: PUBLIC SPEAKING + COMMENT FAIRE UNA BONNE PRESENTATION (DIAPORAMA) Introduction de la thématique: l’exposé oral public speaking : l'oral qui intègre et accompagne le diapos, langage du corps, communication publique "Réalisation d'un poster en diaporama pour illustrer le dossier ou un article spécifique du dossier; Préparation de l’oral (à la maison ; en groupe)" 11 "SOUTENANCE DES POSTERS* Évaluation de l’enseignement Foire à questions (5 min Qs sur les sujets des présentations) Restitution des dossiers corrigés" Présentation orale du poster: durée max de l’exposé orale 15 min (en groupe/individuel*) * poster version globale et divisé en diapo * approx 3 min chacun

LECTURES, CLASSES ETC: METABOLISM AND CANCER STRIATED MUSCLE RESPONSES ASSOCIATED TO CANCER CACHEXIA

I decided to share and publish a couple of lectures I gave at the University of Sao Paulo (USP - Brasil) last year. I was kindly invited by Prof. Marilia Seelaender and I lectured to her as well as Prof. Antonio Lancha's master students about the crosstalk between cancer and striated muscle tissue. It's been a honor and a great pleasure and I hope to enlarge the audience for such an interesting topic (slides are available by clicking on the link in Part I and Part II, respectively). In the first part I reported what is known about the cancer-induced muscle wasting in the two striated muscle tissue. IN the second part I presented some recent evidence on how to fight back cachexia and tumor growth itself. Table of content: PART I METABOLISM AND CANCER: STRIATED MUSCLE RESPONSES ASSOCIATED TO CANCER CACHEXIA Overview of the striated muscles Metabolic and functional alterations in muscle fibers associated to cancer Functional alterations in the fiber niche Cardiac tissue wasting A novel hypothesis: Is cardiac wasting responsible for deadly cachexia? PART II METABOLISM AND CANCER: FIGHTING BACK: CONTERMEASURES AGAINST CACHEXIA AND THE TUMOR ITSELF Adverse effects cancer and chemotherapy Pharmacological and nutritional interventions Exercise and the exercise pill A novel hypothesis

SEE YOU IN PADUA

The 2017 Spring Padua Muscle Days "Translational Myology for Impaired Mobility" will take place in Montegrotto, Colli Euganei, Padova, Italy, March 23-25 2017. More scientific and logistic info here. I love this little meeting, which gathers twice a year some good Italian and European myologists doing both basic and translational research. Here is a promo VIDEO of next meeting 2017

.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Cappella degli Scrovegni (PADUA) by Giotto: Il saluto di Gioacchino e Sant’Anna alla Porta d’Oro ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... LOOK ALIKE! While browsing for images related to Padua and stuff, which I needed for this post, I ended up with these two, just next to each other in Google images

.....Paduan Chicken.........Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (for the Mexicans: sorry if I played with your President, I just could not resist; I would have put a portrait of myself if I had a picture of myself at dawn - looking pretty much the same as the chicken in the morning, especially my hairs...)

ARTICLES: PubMed Central® or PubMed centrally located?

Would you say "PubMed Central®" or "PubMed centrally located", when referring to the NIH/NLM archive of biomedical journals? Would you say “Central nuclei” or “centrally located nuclei”, when talking about nuclear position in adult muscle fibers? In the latter case, I think I used the two expressions randomly. Until one day my collaborators asked me the question of which one to use in a manuscript. It is not a trivial question. And it is not just a matter of semantics. Indeed, a search for one or the other set of keywords retrieves different subsets of articles, thus affecting one's bibliographic search. That's apparently due to the fact that authors use two different sets of keywords(“centrally located nuclei”and “central nuclei”) to indicate the same phenomenon,referring to seriatim arranged myonuclei. I published my ideas and suggestions on this issue in the Front. Physiol. Opinion article, entitled: The Need for a Consensus on the Locution “Central Nuclei” in Striated Muscle Myopathies.

Table 1 shows a list of the types of muscles where central nuclei are observed and their underlying pathologies. As shown in this Table, a wide range of skeletal muscles from different regions of the body(neck,trunk,limbs) have central nuclei in their myofibers in pathological conditions. This fact confirms that nuclear positioning is a key feature in the histopathological analysis of skeletal muscle.

Smile! Life is beautiful after all

There is wonder in every aspect of life, especially with a closer look by transmission electron microscopy. Dedicated to ILoveHistology, the best website to have fun with histology.

ARTICLES: Sweating Hard or Swallowing Pills?

We have recently shown (Pigna et al., link to full text) in mice that the striking beneficial effects exerted by endurance exercise (running) on survival and muscle wasting (cancer cachexia) are due to a rescue of the autophagic flux, which is altered in pathological conditions such as cachexia. This counterintuitive observation (autophagy means "to eat onself" and it is a way to grant cell survival in the absence of nutrients, accounting for cell atrophy) was done on both tumor-bearing humans and mice. In addition to the proposed molecular mechanisms underlying exercise effects, we showed that exercise can be replaced by pharmacological treatments, such as rapamycin or AICAR (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-ribofuranoside), the latter also known as exercise mimetic (EM). EM are a heterogeneous group of compounds that share the ability to induce pathways which are physiologically activated by exercise, thus stimulating endurance and rescuing muscle atrophy. GW1516 (also known as GW501516) or AICAR, among others, are activators of AMPK, PPARs and PGC-1. This pathway ultimately leads to the activation of both mitochondriogenesis and muscle oxidative metabolism, as it would in response to an increased AMP/ATP ratio, physiologically following exercise and energy consumption. As enhancers of physical performance, EM treatments would be considered doping agents in sport.However, thay couls be to avoid many consequences of inactivity due to aging, reduced gravity and forced immobilization; moreover, it could be prescribed for severely diseased people, such as cancer patients, for whom doing exercise could not be a streightforward endevour. Further discussion on the new view of the exercised muscle as an endocrine organ and the promise of exercise mimetics can be found in our editorial entitled " Will exercise mimetics hold promise?"

Figure legend. Exercise, AICAR and rapamycin counteract muscle wasting in cancer cachexia and modulate an adequate autophagic flux level. (A) In hysiological conditions, a balance between autophagosome production and clearance maintains an adequate autophagic flux (red arrow) in the muscles, mirrored by basal levels of LC3bII (black dots) and p62 (green dots) expression. In cachectic muscles from C26-bearing mice (B), a strong accumulation of both LC3bII and p62 proteins points to an unbalanced autophagosome production/ clearance ratio. This correlates with the pathophysiological features observed in cancer-related muscle wasting, including overexpression of Atrogin1 and Murf1 genes, as well as a decline in body weight (BD), muscle weight (MW), fiber size and muscle function. Spontaneous wheel running, or treatment with AICAR or rapamycin (C) counteracts cancer-related muscle wasting in tumor-bearing mice and induces a decrease in both LC3bII and p62 accumulation. Atrogin1 and Murf1 gene expression was restored to the basal levels observed in healthy muscles. This is associated with increased body and muscle weight and improved muscle function.

ARTICLES: Eating to live or living to eat?

Dietary bioactive compounds singificanlty affect physiology and pathology in our lives. This is not just an indirerct effect, due to lower risk of odd pathological conditions deriving from food intake, such as the link between colesterol intake and stroke. What I mean is that fatty acids biosynthesis and metabolism may have direct effects on molecular events of pivotal importance for healthy life, such as DNA damage response (DDR), which, in turn, is implicate din cancer and aging. We have recently done examined the influence of dietary bioactive compounds on the micro-RNAs (miRs) involved in DDR, which potentially may offer clues on the role of these compounds as potential chemopreventive and antiaging (geroprotective) modalities. The results of our analysis (link to full text here) show a strong impact of the compounds considered on important miRs involved in DD/DDR pathways. Epi-gallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), resveratrol (RSV), curcumin (CRC) and n3-PUFA (n3-polyunsaturated fatty acids) are among the most studied compounds shown to have beneficial effects on human health. The analysis suggests a synergic action of all these compounds in the modulation of six miRs. Among these common miRs, we found miR-21 and miR-146. The results of the analysis of the pathways allowed us to speculate how food intervention could modulate DD/DDR.

Figure legend. Venn diagram showing the microRNAs involved in DD/DDR (ellipse, grey) and identified as modulated by bioactive compounds: EGCG (epi-gallocatechin-3-gallate; green), CRC (curcumin; blue), RSV (resveratrol; pink) and n3-PUFAs (n3-polyunsaturated fatty acids, yellow). The common miRNAs, modulated by all four compounds, are indicated in red (miR-16, miR-25, miR-21, miR-181a,miR-146b, miR-34a).

An experimental example of such beneficial effects exherted by the compounds above on a muscle pathology is shown in our study by Carotenuto et al. (link to full text here) . In this paper we show that dietary flaxseed ameliorate skeletal muscle regeneration in an animal model of muscular dystrophy.Flaxseed is one of the richest sources of n-3 PUFA acid α-linolenic acid (ALA). ALA has been shown to have many beneficial effects in several experimental and clinical setting by targeting critical players involved in inflammation response, tissue regeneration and repair.Our study demonstrates that the pathological status of muscular dystrophy can be effectively mitigated by administering natural compounds contained in flaxseed that have a pleiotropic effect rather than by targeting a specific gene mutation as occurs in other therapeutic strategies. Flaxseed not only repairs the damage in the sarcolemma, which is the primary consequence of gene mutation, but also exerts a more extensive epigenetic action that stimulates multiple molecular pathways in dystrophic muscles.

Figure legend. Flaxseed-enriched diet preserves dystrophic skeletal muscle morphology. For all in vivo observations, dystrophic hamsters were fed with a flaxseed- enriched diet (FS) from weaning to the age of 150 days (Dystr/FS) and compared with dystrophic (Dystr/P) and healthy hamsters (Healthy) fed with standard pellet (P). (A) Representative images of H&E-stained skeletal muscle sections. Scale bar: 50 μm. (B) Percentage of myofibers with internalized nuclei from H&E-stained skeletal muscle sections. *P<0.05 vs. Healthy; § P<0.05 vs. Dystr/P; n=5. (C) Component Score Coefficient Matrix. The coefficients by which variables are multiplied to obtain factor scores are shown. The variables are represented by the morphometric parameters derived from light microscope images of skeletal muscle (six sections from each of 5 animals/group). The values highlighted (red boxes) indicate the variables most closely associated with Principal Components 1 and 2. (D) Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Three series of data from of Healthy, Dystr/FS and Dystr/P hamsters were plotted in the bidimensional space defined by the 1st and 2nd PCA. FS diet (Dystr/FS, green dots) restored the morphological parameters of the dystrophic (Dystr/P, yellow dots) phenotype towards value closer to those of healthy (blue dots) skeletal muscles.

In addition to the all above, linolenic acid seems to protect muscle cells from cytokine-induced apoptosis, as shown by us in the paper Cartoenuto et al. (link to full text here); this could singificantly contribute to promote survival in disease states characterized by chronic inflammation due to muscle damage, such as muscle dystrophy or cachexia.

Miro painting by Transmission Electron Microscopy

Electrophotomicrograph of murine skeletal muscle extra-cellular matrix. Collagen fibers and debris, likely deriving from cell damage or necrosis are visible.

Demonstration that feijoada fits better with beer than Bordeaux wine

Introduction Feijoada is a stew of beans with beef and pork,which is the national Brazilian dish. It is served with rice and farofa (manioc flour sauted in butter). "Brazilian feijoada (feijoada brasileira) is prepared with black beans,[3] a variety of salted pork or beef products, such as pork[3] trimmings (ears, tail, feet),[3] bacon, smoked pork ribs, and at least two types of smoked sausage and jerked beef (loin and tongue) and in some regions of the northeast, like Bahia and Sergipe they usually add vegetables like cabbage, kale, potatoes, carrots, okra, pumpkin, chayote and sometimes banana. They are added at the end of the cooking, on top of the meat, so they are cooked by the vapors of the beans and meat stew. This stew is best prepared over low fire in a thick clay pot. The final dish has the beans and meat pieces barely covered by a dark purplish-brown broth. The taste is strong, moderately salty but not spicy, dominated by the flavors of black bean and meat stew. It is customary to serve it with white rice and oranges, the latter to help with digestion. Feijão com arroz is the rice and black beans without the addition of the meat." From wikipedia (1) Matherials and methods "Ingredients 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups chopped onions 2 tablespoons chopped garlic 2 bay leaves Salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 pound choriço sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick 1 pound carne seca or other salted cured beef, soaked overnight and cubed 1 pound baby back spareribs, cut into individual ribs 1 pound black beans 10 cups water 4 cups collared or kale greens, sauteed in olive oil 4 cups cooked white rice Brazilian hot sauce Garnish: 1 orange, halved and cut into thin slices, and Farofa Directions In a large heavy-bottom saucepan, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic. Crush the bay leaves and add to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the sausage. Continue to cook for 4 minutes. Add the cubed beef, ribs, beans and water. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the beans are tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Adding water as necessary to keep the beans covered. Using the back of a ladle, mash 1/4 of the beans. Reseason with salt and pepper if needed. To serve, spoon some of the greens and rice onto each serving plate. Spoon the Feijoada over the rice. Shake some of the hot sauce over the entire plate. Garnish with the orange slices and farofa." Cited from SmithsonianMag (2). Results We tasted home made fejioada pairing with either lager beer or red bordeaux wine. The panel was composed by about twelve lab members, specifically trained to wine and food tasting by dozens of lab parties, with an experience of several years. 85% of the above population agreed that beer matches better than red wine to the dish. In particular, we noted that beer CO2 is sufficient to equilibrate the fatty sauce while respecting the light body of the rise and manioc side dishes. Discussion Here we compared the traditional pairing of fejioada with lager beer to a more innovative approach based on an equilibrate blend represented by the French bordeaux wine. We concluded that beer is more appropriate than red wine to accompany the dish. Since light beer was slightly inadequate to support the full bodied and very aromatic meat sauce, we foresee that champagne wine might have the right combination of aromatic intensity and persistence and body, not to forget effervescence, to perfectly pair fejioada. This hypothesis grunts further investigation. Figure

Acknoledgements Emidio Matos is gratefully acknoledged for the fejioada and farofa preparation. References 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feijoada 2) http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Celebrate-Brazil-with-Emerils-Feijoada-180951699/?no-ist

Christmas 2015 in the lab

METHODS: cell culture conditions for C2C12, L6 cells, C26 and LLC etc.

We have a few cell lines available in the lab, including the following widely diffused cells: fibroblasts, C2C12 murine myoblasts, L6 rat myoblasts, H9C2 cardiomyocytes, C26 murine colon carcinoma, Lewis Lung murine carcinoma. Linked here are some notes and information about line maintenance and myogenic differentiaiton.

Focus: Biomaterials and bioactive molecules to drive differentiation in striated muscle tissue

Below the point on our most recent research in Tissue enginnering. Recently, an article by Armstrong et al. entitled « TOP 10 DEVELOPMENTS IN STEM CELL BIOLOGY OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS » summarized ten quantum leaps in stem cells research. These are: 1) THE DISCOVERY AND ISOLATION ADULT STEM CELLS 2) THE FIRST EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS FROM MICE 3) THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAMMALIAN CLONING 4) HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS 5) THE CONCEPT OF CANCER STEM CELLS 6) INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS 7) MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS 8) THE TISSUE ENGINEERING WITH STEM CELLS 9) THE IMPROVEMENT OF GENETIC MANIPULATION THE BEGINNING OF TRANSLATIONAL MEDICAL APPLICATIONS (In: Armstrong L. et al. STEM CELLS 2012;30:2–9. link fo tull text: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_z0HQaQV25yX3EzOTVBcXNSVTA/view?usp=sharing) We have cited in this article (Perniconi et al. Biomaterials, 2011) as an outstanding example of tissue engineering approach. That's great! Thank you. We mainly focus on the use of Biomaterials to drive differentiation in striated muscle tissue. The latter has a peculiar way of regeneraitng (Restoration versus reconstruction: cellular mechanisms of skin, nerve and muscle regeneration compared. Coletti D, Teodori L, Lin Z, Beranudin JF, Adamo S. Regen Med Res. 2013 Oct 1;1(1):4. doi: 10.1186/2050-490X-1-4. eCollection 2013 Dec. Review. PMID: 25984323. Full text here). Advances in tissue replacement and regeneraiton involve muscle replacement, such as in the case of volumetric muscle loss, and inflammation control, such as in myopathies characterized by chronic inflammation (Inflammation in muscle repair, aging, and myopathies. Bouché M, Muñoz-Cánoves P, Rossi F, Coletti D. Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:821950. doi: 10.1155/2014/821950. Epub 2014 Aug 4. No abstract available. PMID: 25162030. Full text here). Of the various alternative approaches to replace or regenerate muscle, the use of biomaterials has gained major attention (Biomaterials and bioactive molecules to drive differentiation in striated muscle tissue engineering. Di Felice V, Forte G, Coletti D. Front Physiol. 2015 Feb 23;6:52. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2015.00052. eCollection 2015. PMID: 25755644. Full text here). In particular, scaffolds obtained by decellularization of small intestinal submucosa(SIS),urinary bladder mucosa(UB) and skeletal muscle are getting very promising results at pre-clinical and clinical level (reviewed in Native extracellular matrix: a new scaffolding platform for repair of damaged muscle. Teodori L, Costa A, Marzio R, Perniconi B, Coletti D, Adamo S, Gupta B, Tarnok A. Front Physiol. 2014 Jun 16;5:218. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2014.00218. eCollection 2014. Review. PMID: 24982637. Full text here). A consistent body of evidence indicates that extra-cellular matrix (ECM) proteins regulate stem cell differentiation and renewal and are highly relevant to tissue engineering applications. The ECM also provides a supportive medium for blood or lymphatic vessels and for nerves. Thus, the ECM is the nature's ideal biological scaffold material. We have been focusing on ECM derived from decellularized skeletal muscle. This muscle acellular scaffold (MAS) may represent a suitable environment for muscle and non-muscle 3D constructs characterized by a highly organized structure whose relative stability promotes integration with the surrounding tissues. (Muscle acellular scaffold as a biomaterial: effects on C2C12 cell differentiation and interaction with the murine host environment. Perniconi B, Coletti D, Aulino P, Costa A, Aprile P, Santacroce L, Chiaravalloti E, Coquelin L, Chevallier N, Teodori L, Adamo S, Marrelli M, Tatullo M. Front Physiol. 2014 Sep 26;5:354. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2014.00354. eCollection 2014. PMID: 25309452. Full text here). Our recent work also highlights the plasticity of MAS, suggesting that it may be possible to consider MAS for a wider range of tissue engineering applications than the mere replacement of volumetric muscle loss. (Muscle extracellular matrix scaffold is a multipotent environment. Aulino P, Costa A, Chiaravalloti E, Perniconi B, Adamo S, Coletti D, Marrelli M, Tatullo M, Teodori L. Int J Med Sci. 2015 Apr 6;12(4):336-40. doi: 10.7150/ijms.10761. eCollection 2015. PMID: 25897295. Full text here). Nonetheless, caution is imposed when announcing these major progresses on skeletal muscle tissue engineering, since is still impossible to fully reconstruct such a highly hierarchized, big, and complex organ for in vivo transplantaiton. While for these ambitious in vivo tissue engineering applications, there may still be a long way to go, novel in vitro applications for tissue engineered contructs are emerging, such as 3D cultures aimed at better mimicking an in vivo models. It is self-evident that bidimensional cultures are very limited insofar as the physiological 3D tissue organization they yield is somewhat approximate. With the current need to develop experimentals models replacing or refining animal-based research, these ideas are becoming increasingly appealing. In conclusion, we believe that the best bet for skeletal muscle TE is to focus on specific, anatomically defined solutions or on 3D in vitro modeling of muscle tissue for basic and applied research (Skeletal muscle tissue engineering: best bet or black beast? Perniconi B, Coletti D. Front Physiol. 2014 Jul 4;5:255. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2014.00255. eCollection 2014. No abstract available. PMID: 25071600. Full text here). We are confident that we will eventually be able to transform the black beast (i.e., striated muscle tissue engineering) into the best bet (i.e., a successful clinical practice based on engineered muscles).

Figure from: Coletti Det al. Regen Med Res. 2013 Oct 1;1(1):4. Hematoxilin- and eosin-staining (H&E) and immunofluorescence localization of muscle fiber damage (red) and of the membrane basement component laminin (green) on serial cross-sections of murine Tibialis anterior muscle (only a portion of the muscle is shown). Thirty minutes before fixation, the muscle was subjected to two types of physical injury: mechanical stress by crunching and tearing with forceps (LEFT) and freezing by applying a liquid nitrogen-cooled steel forceps to the surface (facing down in the picture) for 10 seconds (CENTER). Apart for the edema and fiber swelling visible in the images on the right, no major alterations of the basement membrane are seen following focal injury. In mice injected with Evans Blue Dye (EBD, RIGHT), injury muscle fiber necrosis (red) is apparent 8 h after freezing thanks to accumulation of EBD in the interior part of the damaged fibers. The muscle fibers die and are either renewed or replaced within the intact scaffold represented by the membrane basement, which wraps each fiber.Note that in all cases the basement membrane remains intact in sharp contrast with muscle fiber damage, therefore the general architecture of the muscle is preserved.

Everything you always wanted to know about SYNEMIN and never dared to ask

Synemin, a type IV intermediate filament (IF) protein, forms a bridge between IFs and cellular membrane, by interacting with Desmin, Vinculin, Talin and Dystrophin. An A-kinase anchoring protein, it also provides temporal and spatial targeting of protein kinase A. This protein likely functions to integrate mechanical stress and maintain structural integrity and tissue homeostasis in skeletal muscle and other cells.

In our recent article, entitled "Synemin acts as a regulator of signalling molecules during skeletal muscle hypertrophy" (Li et al. J Cell Sci, 2014) we provide novel evidence on its role by phenotyping the synemin null mice. All the additional hints and informations on synemin role in development and postnatal life in PubMed.

Inflammation in Muscle Repair, Aging, and Myopathies

I have recently had the honor to co-edit a special issue of BioMed Research International dedicated to the role of inflammation in various acute and chronic conditions of muscle loss and disease. Our group in Rome participated to the special issue with a paper (from which the figure is extracted) confirming in vivo a role for the neurohypophyseal hormone vasopressin in muscle repair and homeostasis. The paper by Alessandra Costa et al., entitled "Local Overexpression of V1a-Vasopressin Receptor Enhances Regeneration in Tumor Necrosis Factor-Induced Muscle Atrophy" can be found by fillowing the link.

Figure legend. V1aR overexpression counteracts TNF-dependent protein degradation by stimulating the Akt pathway. (a) Western blots of phosphorylated Akt and native and phosphorylated FoxO3a expression demonstrate that in muscle overexpressing TNF, phospho-Akt and phospho-FoxO3a are downregulated, while the native Foxo3a is increased. In V1aR overexpressing muscles, the expression levels of phospho-FoxO3a and phospho-Akt is increased compared with TNF alone, while the native Foxo3a is reduced. (b–d) Densitometric analysis of three independent experiments of phospho-Akt, phospho-FoxO3a, and native FoxO3a expression levels. (e) Real-time PCR analysis revealed that the strong upregulation of atrogin-1 expression observed in the sample overexpressing TNF alone is downregulated in V1aR+TNF-transfected muscles. ; by Student’s -test.

Here is the Table of content of the special issue, a nice mix of original research and review articles. Inflammation in Muscle Repair, Aging, and Myopathies Guest Editors: Marina Bouché, Pura Muñoz-Cánoves, Fabio Rossi, and Dario Coletti Inflammation in Muscle Repair, Aging, and Myopathies, Marina Bouché, Pura Muñoz-Cánoves, Fabio Rossi, and Dario Coletti Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 821950, 3 pages Stem Cell Transplantation for Muscular Dystrophy: The Challenge of Immune Response, Sara Martina Maffioletti, Maddalena Noviello, Karen English, and Francesco Saverio Tedesco Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 964010, 12 pages From Innate to Adaptive Immune Response in Muscular Dystrophies and Skeletal Muscle Regeneration: The Role of Lymphocytes, Luca Madaro and Marina Bouché Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 438675, 12 pages Cardioprotective Effects of Osteopontin-1 during Development of Murine Ischemic Cardiomyopathy, Georg D. Duerr, Bettina Mesenholl, Jan C. Heinemann, Martin Zoerlein, Peter Huebener, Prisca Schneider, Andreas Feisst, Alexander Ghanem, Klaus Tiemann, Daniela Dewald, Armin Welz, and Oliver Dewald Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 124063, 15 pages IL-6 Impairs Myogenic Differentiation by Downmodulation of p90RSK/eEF2 and mTOR/p70S6K Axes, without Affecting AKT Activity, Michele Pelosi, Manuela De Rossi, Laura Barberi, and Antonio Musarò Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 206026, 12 pages Local Overexpression of V1a-Vasopressin Receptor Enhances Regeneration in Tumor Necrosis Factor-Induced Muscle Atrophy, Alessandra Costa, Angelica Toschi, Ivana Murfuni, Laura Pelosi, Gigliola Sica, Sergio Adamo, and Bianca Maria Scicchitano Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 235426, 14 pages Influence of Immune Responses in Gene/Stem Cell Therapies for Muscular Dystrophies, Andrea Farini, Clementina Sitzia, Silvia Erratico, Mirella Meregalli, and Yvan Torrente Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 818107, 16 pages Vitamin D Receptor Agonists: Suitable Candidates as Novel Therapeutic Options in Autoimmune Inflammatory Myopathy, Clara Crescioli Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 949730, 10 pages 7-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging Precisely and Noninvasively Reflects Inflammation and Remodeling of the Skeletal Muscle in a Mouse Model of Antisynthetase Syndrome, Clara Sciorati, Antonio Esposito, Lara Campana, Tamara Canu, Antonella Monno, Anna Palmisano, Francesco De Cobelli, Alessandro Del Maschio, Dana P. Ascheman, Angelo A. Manfredi, and Patrizia Rovere-Querini Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 879703, 8 pages Understanding the Process of Fibrosis in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Yacine Kharraz, Joana Guerra, Patrizia Pessina, Antonio L. Serrano, and Pura Muñoz-Cánoves Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 965631, 11 pages Inflammation Based Regulation of Cancer Cachexia, Jill K. Onesti and Denis C. Guttridge Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 168407, 7 pages Macrophage Plasticity in Skeletal Muscle Repair, Elena Rigamonti, Paola Zordan, Clara Sciorati, Patrizia Rovere-Querini, and Silvia Brunelli Volume 2014 (2014), Article ID 560629, 9 pages

Our editorial "Inflammation in Muscle Repair, Aging, and Myopathies" briefly summarizes the main focus of this special issue, i.e. bringing together studies that used different experimental approaches in vivo or in vitro to dissect the dynamic changes taking place in specific immune cell populations, their cross talk with other cell types within the muscle milieu, and their contribution to normal versus pathological muscle repair. While the number of scientific publications on the topic of skeletal muscle inflammation has steadily grown over the last two decades, the notion of inflammation as a common feature in muscle degeneration occurring in aging and myopathies and its association with altered muscle has to our knowledge never previously been addressed and discussed in dedicated journal issues before.

Restoration versus reconstruction: how cell anatomy and extra‐cellular matrix affect tissue regeneration

Sadly, in Italy we have a significant experience of repair following heart quakes. Two main strategies are possible and have been alternatively chosen along the decades, as shown below. Similarly, tissues respond to damage by either restoring their structure or reconstructing it ex novo, depending on the extend of the lesions as well as on the tissue type.

Here is the lecture given to the 2013 Congress of the Italian Society of Anatomy and Hsitology, entitled "Restoration versus reconstruction: how cell anatomy and extra‐cellular matrix affect tissue regeneration". Abstract published in Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology http://dx.doi.org/10.13128/IJAE-13961 Tissue regeneration replaces damaged cells and is involved in tissue remodeling. In order to investigate the existence of a leitmotif of tissue regeneration, we compared the cellular aspects of regeneration of epidermis, neurons and skeletal muscle, characterized by different types of histological and functional organization. Following damage, all the tissues here analyzed go through three phases: inflammation, regeneration and maturation. Another common feature is the occurrence of cellular de-differentiation and/or differentiation events, including gene transcription, which are typical of embryonic development. Nonetheless, various strategies are used by different tissues to replace their lost parts. The epidermis regenerates ex novo, whereas neurons restore their missing parts; muscle fibers use a mixed strategy, based on the regrowth of missing parts through reconstruction by means of newborn fibers. The choice of either strategy is influenced by the physical, chemical and structural features of the cells as well as by the extracellular matrix typical of a given tissue, which points to the existence of differential, evolutionary-based mechanisms for specific tissue regeneration. Taking skeletal muscle as a model, we present evidence about the importance of the fiber niche to direct and favour tissue regeneration, a phenomenon of particular relevance for highly hierarchized tissues such as striated muscles. Niche properties are accounted for by cell-cell contacts, cell-matrix interaction and paracrine effects in skeletal muscle. The ordered sequence of steps that characterizes the regeneration processes, shared by several tissues, suggests it may be possible to model this extremely important phenomenon to improve guided in situ regeneration interventions.

ARTCILES: Coletti et al. Regenerative Medicine Research 2103

Figure legend. Examples of focal injuries. (LEFT) Hematoxilin-and eosin-stained murine skeletal muscle, longitudinally sectioned to show the gaps in three adjacent fibers. The injury likely occurred following an intense exercise session (wheel running). Upon leakage of the broken sarcolemma, factors such as Wnt are released before a fast repair process known as patch repair occurs. In turn, Wnt factors trigger the activation of satellite cells and other resident interstitial cells with myogenic potential, which proliferate, migrate and fuse into small myotubes that ultimately fuse with the damaged fibers. (RIGHT) Toluidine blue-stained semithin section of a murine carotid showing damage, likely due to smooth muscle cell-restricted inactivation of the serum response factor gene. A rupture of the endothelial layer, as well as of the elastin matrix, with exposure of underlying cells is visible; release of intracellular factors (von Willebrand Factor) and exposure of undisclosed antigens (collagen) are essential for the subsequent phases of clot formation, remodeling and repair of the wall defect. Bar = 25 micron.

Figure legend. Macrophages infiltrate necrotic muscle fibers. Serial section of murine skeletal muscle in an area of necrosis; corresponding fibers are highlighted by matching color arrows. Evans Blue Dye (EBD) highlights muscle fibers whose plasma membrane is leaking owing to damage; hematoxylin and eosin staining (H&E), showing cellular infiltration in EBD + fibers; histochemistry for esterase staining highlights esterase-enriched macrophages; immunofluorescence analysis for activated macrophages expressing F4/80 (green) confirms the invasion of the muscle fibers by macropohages: laminin (red) and nuclei (blue) are also shown. Coletti et al. Regenerative Medicine Research 2013 1:4 doi:10.1186/2050-490X-1-4

In this review article we present and compare the cellular aspects of regeneration in skin, nerve and muscle, three organs characterized by differences not only in anatomical and functional organization, but also in the number and location of stem cell niches and populations, which ultimately result in varying regenerative potential. By discussing the common traits and the specific features of regeneration in three model tissues, we propose general models of regeneration and highlight various strategies adopted to cope with damage and repair in mammals.The strategies used by a wide range of tissues to replace their lost parts vary, probably as result of evolutionary-based mechanisms for specific tissue regeneration. While the epidermis regenerates ex novo, neurons restore their missing parts; muscle fibers instead use a mixed strategy, based on the reconstruction of missing parts and on the generation of new fibers. These differential strategies are represented by the two terms used in the title to refer to different forms of regeneration: restoration, the attempt to re-establish the status quo ante, and reconstruction, a more radical response, characterized by ex novo cell colonization and tissue formation. The choice of either strategy is deeply influenced by the anatomy and the distribution/features of stem cell niches typical of a given organ. In addition, the energetic costs for either regenerative strategy are also likely to play an important role. The abstraction of divergences and analogies between different types of tissue regeneration might pave the way for the mathematical modeling of this process, thereby making a major contribution to both pathology and regenerative medicine. When talking of wound healing, a distinction is made by some authors between regeneration and repair. Regeneration is used to refer to the complete replacement of damaged tissue with new tissue not associated with scar tissue, while repair is used to refer to the re-establishment of tissue continuity [1]. Regeneration can be attained by two means: a) restoration, defined as “putting together what is broken”; b) reconstruction, defined as “replacing and rebuilding what is torn down” (according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary). To grant homeostasis, most tissues undergo continuous or cyclic processes of regeneration. Which of the afore-mentioned strategies tissues adopt depends on the histological features discussed in the article entitled "Restoration versus reconstruction: cellular mechanisms of skin, nerve and muscle regeneration compared".

ARTICLES: He et al. Journal of Clinical investigation 2013

Cachexia is a debilitating condition characterized by extreme skeletal muscle wasting that contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. Efforts to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of muscle loss have predominantly focused on events intrinsic to the myofiber. In contrast, less regard has been given to potential contributory factors outside the fiber within the muscle microenvironment. In tumor-bearing mice and patients with pancreatic cancer, we found that cachexia was associated with a type of muscle damage resulting in activation of both satellite and nonsatellite muscle progenitor cells. In our paper we present extensive data demonstrating that skeletal muscle wasting in cachexia arises from the failure of myogenic progenitor cells to differentiate and fuse into skeletal muscle myofibers. The failure of myogenic progenitor cells to differentiate is due to elevated, NF-kappaB dependent expression of Pax7 leading to expansion of muscle progenitors that are prevented from differentiation and fusion to repair damaged fibers. Our findings challenge the assumption that cachexia arises from events occurring inside the muscle fibers (i.e. essentially proteasome-mediated protein degradation) leading to muscle atrophy. On the contrary, the microenvironment surrounding muscle fiber and including muscle stem cell niche is important for muscle homeostasis and can be targeted to counteract muscle wasting. The link to full text article is provided here. In addition, extensive supplemental data are available here. We are currently investigating the role of Serum Response Factor (SRF) and mechanotransduction in this stem cell mediated response. A posted position to work on this topic is currently available (see related post). Figure modified from: He et al. J Clin Invest doi:10.1172/JCI68523

ARTICLES: Galmiche et al. Circulation research 2103

Common carotid intima-media thickness and distensibility are markers of structural and functional vessel wall properties, with important consequences on cardiovascular risk. We investigated whether SRF and its target genes regulate intrinsic smooth muscle tone and, in turn, arterial stiffness, and we found that inactivating SRF in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) results in profound alterations of the extra-cellular matrix composition and arterial wall properties. The link to the full text article is here.

POSTDOC POSITION IN SKELETAL MUSCLE PHYSIO-PATHOLOGY AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY

A new postdoc position is available in the lab to work on mechanotransduction and SRF role in exercise-mediated responses in cancer cachexia. The position at the University of Paris 6 Pierre et Marie Curie is for 1 year, renewable. Full detail on the position (immediately available) are visible in the attached flyer. Please send a cover letter, CV and names and email address of two references to dario.coletti@upmc.fr

METHOD: NADH transferase staining

NADH transferase activity on muscle cryosections by histochemistry. Whilst NADH transferase is not a mithocondrial marker sensu strict , it helps visualizing the mitochondria and can help distinguishing between glycolytic (pale), oxidative (dark) and intermediate muscle fibers. Attached here is our protocol.

METHOD: INNOVATIVE RAPID PROTOCOL TO QUANTIFY NUCLEAR STAINING

I linked here our revolutionary methodology to automatically quantify several feature of immunostained cells by using the freeware software Image J. The method, to be published soon, is simply based on the novel technology called QR code and on the fact that anyone now has a smartphone. Please, feel free to use our method; your are kindly requested to acknowledge its use with the following statement " The method was originally developed at UPMC Paris 6 by D. Coletti, sponsored by April Fool's Day, AFD grant # 01011971" and possibly a reference to the publication (to be posted asap).

METHODS: Anesthesia for rodents

With the aim to shift to novel pharacological treatments, and keep those only for specific purposes, here are the guidelines for the use of avertin and pentobarbital for mouse anesthesia.

OUR TWIN BLOG: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About SRF But Never Dared Ask

We have a dedicated blog to Serum Response Factor (SRF) and intermediated filaments in the physiopathology of muscle tissues. To access all the publications on the subject, please follow the link to the SRF blog. UPDATE: a sinthetic review on SRF (entitled "Serum response Factor in muscle tissues: from development to aging") has been recently published in European Journal of Translational Myology, open access journal publishing original data papers and reviews on muscle.

METHODS: Phosphate Buffered Solutions in our lab

With or without Ca and Mg, here is the method to make Phosphate Buffered solutions in stock and working concentrations.

METHODS: 4 color IF for extra-cellular matrix and myosin isoforms

Changes in myosin isoform expression accompanying muscle atrophy during cancer cachexia have been shown (Diffee 2002). For this reason we are very much interested in measuring the cross-sectional area as well as the percentage of muscle fiber populations differing in their physiological properties (e.g. the type of myosin isoform). In the attached immunofluorescence method we highlight the interstitial extra-cellular matrix (collagen 3 + laminin, withe) and three different form of myosin (the fast MHCIIb, green; the slow MHCI,blue; and the intermediate MHCIIa, red). Fibers purely expressing MCH type IIX are black (negative staining). EXTENSOR DIGITORUM LONGUS, top

SOLEUS, bottom

METHODS: Visualisation of myosin isoforms by elecrophoresis and silver stain

Different muscle express different myosin isoforms, for instance the Soleus is enriched in the slow myosin (type 1) while the faster Extensor Digitorum Lungos express the fast myiosins 2A and 2X but not myosin 1. Different isoforms of myosin have different molecular weights and can be separated by electrophoresis and then visualized by silver stain. Attache here is the protocol that Eleonora has learned from excellent tutors who master this technique. If interested in myosin isoform analysis, be patient and follow the link.

Figure legend. Myosin isoforms from the Extensor Digitorum Longus (EDL, first two lines) and from the Soleus (SO, lines 3 and 4) murine muscles. The isoforms 2A, 2X have the same apparent weight, the isoform B is specific pf the EDL while the isoform 1 characterizes the SO.

METHODS: Murine muscle dissection from the hinlimb

Here is the link to our illustrated,step by step method for dissecting several skeletal muscles from the hindlimb of a mouse.

EXPERIMENTAL MODELS: BALB/c substrains & running behavior

All BALB/c mice are not equal. In spite of being an inbred strain, there are several SUBstrains that diverged decades ago.In the attached notes, I summarized the names and origins of the the three main BLAB/c substrain, i.e. the Balb/c AnNCrl, the Balb/c J and the Balb/c ByJ mice. They are sold by Charles River, Jackson Laboratories and other vendors, often depending on geographical localization (CRL breeds and sells different substrain in different countries). Concerning the propensity to voluntary running (on a wheel) I could not find any information on the CRL Balb/c AnNCrl substrain,and our recently published results are probably among the first to be released on this substrain. On the contrary,a bibliographic search pinpointed strinking differences between sex, and between different BALB/c substrains, for what concerns running activity (Lightfoot et al. J Appl Physiol. 2010 September; 109(3): 623–634). The infos are summarized here. The source of the data on rod and wheel running activity come from a wonderful database, available on the Jackson website (http://phenome.jax.org/), reporting all major phenotypes of many different mouse strains. Additional data are in the post "EXPERIMENTAL MODELS: wheel running"

Grip stenght test

Here is provided the link to our standard method for measuring the force of a mouse. This method is based on the measure of the grip force by a dynamometer, while the mouse is being pulled by its tail.

Indo-Italian Forum on Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

A new space for scientific collaboration, exchange of human resources and grant rising was born in New Delhi last week: the Indo-Italina Forum on Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering. During the APA INternational congress on Advances in Human Healthcare Systems (Healthcare India 2012) we participated to the Indo-Italina Symposium on Tissue Engineering, where several aspects of cell interaction with biomaterials were addressed. In this context the Forum was born, which we hope will become a catalyzer for further exchanges between the two countries. More details on the newborn Indo-Italian Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Forum (i2bite) have been reported on the ENEA newsletter (article in Italian). The link to the Forum web pages (under construction) is here. More details on the event (in Italian) are here.

Candidate for ISAC councilor

I am candidate as ISAC councilor. The elections are in the next few weeks (vote end by March the 30th). Are you an ISAC memeber? Please, vote. All the instructions on how to vote will be soon linked here. Not an ISAC member? Do you want to know more about ISAC? Please, click here to know more about the the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry. Below, there are a few notes on my biography and thoughts about the society. Biography Born in Latina (Italy), I performed both my undergraduate (Biological Sciences, summa cum laude, 1995) and graduate studies (Doctoral degree in Cell Science and Morphogenesis, top mention, 2000) at the Sapienza University of Rome. Since then I accumulated a quite varied experience abroad, as a visiting scholar at the Stanford University (Stanford, CA; 1999), then as a postdoctoral fellow at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (New York, NY; 2000-2003), as invited researcher at the Myology Group, UMR S 787 Inserm, UPMC (Paris, FR; 2007), where I ultimately returned in 2010 as a Maitre de Conferences, i.e. assistant professor, at the University Paris VI/Pierre et Marie Curie. I also held in Italy the responsibility of the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy and Calcium Imaging (Rome, IT; 2004-2010). All this was a lot of fun, since I could feed myself with great science - not to mention outstanding culinary experiences - from very different environments. For all the above, I have to acknowledge several mentors, including Laura Teodori and Sergio Adamo in Rome, Marco Conti in Stanford and David Sassoon in New York. For all the details, please view my full CV, while works in progress can be followed through my blog. As a cell biologist, I dealt with analytical cytology quite early in my career. Whilst not being exclusively specialized in flow cytometry, I exploit the incredible power and the elegant performance of flow cytometry analysis to address several questions related to my scientific interests. I am mostly interested in the control of skeletal muscle differentiation and homeostasis and, more recently, in tissue engineering applications for regenerative medicine of this tissue. I had the honor to become an ISAC Scholar in 2006 and since them I am member of this society. Interests and vision I came across ISAC through my mentor, Dr. Laura Teodori at a time when I was doing my postdoctoral training about 10 years ago. Being scientifically seduced by the powerful applications of analytical cytology I started to attend ISAC international congresses and to participate more actively to the initiatives of the Society. At the XXIII ISAC congress in Quebec in 2006, I was awarded the ISAC Scholarship. As an ISAC Scholar I was encouraged to collaborate to the educational and organization strategies of the Society. I was young, mobile and without a tenured position. I felt sympathetic with the younger members of the Society and concerned about the typical issues they have to deal with: practicing, traveling, finding the resources to do that. By co-chairing a subcommittee of the MSC (Membership Services Committee) dedicated to Students' services in 2004-'08, I helped with the divulgation of skills and resources aimed to improve student members' success rate when applying to mobility grants. For instance, at the XXIV ISAC congress in Budapest in 2008 I participated to the Scientific Professional Skills Workshop with a presentation entitled “Short term mobility grants: tips and hints.” These issues found concrete development in the ISAC web page highlighting grants opportunities for short term mobility and for young fellows (originally published on the ISAC web site, http://www.isac-net.org/content/view/693/137/). I was responsible for that page, updating it twice a year and offering tutoring and advice to ISAC student members, with the aim to help their mobility and grant rising capacity. Today, from a more mature position inside the Society I wish to contribute to consolidate ISAC strengths and to further develop its potentials, hence my interest in the candidature for an ISAC Councilor position. In this position I could possibly exploit my growing experience and creative attitude to serve our common goals. I foresee two critical issues ISAC shall deal with in the incoming years: 1) geographical and intergenerational growth and 2) interaction with novel scientific and technological research areas. 1) I am convinced that our Society should invest more than ever on youngs. As far as I know ISAC educational and scholarship programs see an unprecedented success, which highlights the interests into our society by young researchers. ISAC should be even more attractive than today for them. In order to do so, we should pursue our politic of open access for young members, and of tutoring and education initiatives. Also, ISAC could set up initiatives aimed to assist its younger members in fund rising (startups, mobility). The initiatives could range from helping members to find senior partners for big grant applications to assisting members to identify calls and apply to them (a task often performed by specific services that are present only in major departments and universities). Obviously, the current programs dedicated to tutoring and visiting initiatives for young members would be synergistic with the novel actions I propose. An international society such as ISAC should become the catalyzer for exchanges and interactions not only vertically (between generations) but also horizontally (between emerging countries, where it is largely underrepresented, and consolidated scientific environments). So I would love to see novel initiatives, aimed at networking and diffusing the analytical cytology, especially targeted to the younger members and to researchers from emerging countries. 2) While being well developed in the US, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are novel, fast growing disciplines in several countries, including european countries such as Italy and France, or Asian giants such as India and China. This area of Medicine is attracting more and more public and private financing, given its translational nature and high technological content, which in turns stimulates a growing involvement by scientists. Given the foreseen rapid shift to clinical practice in this field (indeed a reality for certain applications) it is of pivotal importance to set up at the same time innovative approaches and safety/quality control procedures for stem cell isolation and transfer, as well as for immunological stereotyping of host-implant interactions. In this context there is an important opportunity for ISAC to become the reference for such procedures and approaches. Thus, I would like to establish initiatives aimed to boost the collaboration between ISAC and non-ISAC members for regenerative medicine applications. An other level of interaction could be within the journals associated to those societies which represent the analogues of our Cytometry; politics encouraging cross-publication (and even cross-advertising for the scientific societies) could be built and I would be happy to collaborate on this. I wish that the publication of this text can be a matter of discussion and engagement by others and myself independently from my candidature as ISAC councilor. I really think that these issues are relevant for ISAC development and I am looking forward to seeing them dealt with.

Quencing autofluorescence

Method for quencing background fluorescence due to aldehydes or autofluorescence

postdoctoral fellow position available (SOLD OUT!)

We are searching a postdoctoral fellow willing to join us in the frame of the founded project UPMC EMERGENCE 2011 on cardiac wasting. The location is Paris (at the UNiversity Pierre et Maire Curie) in 2012. Please, refer to the online flyer for additional information.

EXPERIMENTAL MODELS AVAILABLE IN THE LAB (2011)

A quick overview of the experimental models currently available in the lab to study the hormonal control of muscle differentiation and homostasis

LAB METHODS: Assessing cell number with a counting chamber

A Chamber with a View...each one has a different one. Supposedly trivial, estimating the number of cells in a cell suspension is matter of never-ending debates in our labs, that's why we finally wrote instructions for either a Thoma or a Malassez chamber, two widely used options in the lab.

LAB METHODS: Cardiac Stem Cell Isolation

Claudia Serradifalco, a PhD student from our collaborators' laboratory at the University of Palermo, has established in Paris their simple and elegant method to obtain Cardiac Stem Cells from adult rat hearts (link to the original paper by Di Felice et al.) by adapting the procedure to our laboratory. Here is the modified protocol...

Blind tasting session at the lab

To welcome a new PhD student in the lab, we organized a tasting session of charcuterie. This included a celebrated home-made fois gras and several salami from different countries. The latter were married to Chardonnay-based wines, a Mersault 1er cru 2008 A. Bouteller and a Chablis VV 2010 Vaucher & fils. For the fois gras I proposed an Alsace Gewurztraminer 2006, moelleux and traditional, by Schueller. A blind testing session concerned four salami and four sausages from the following countries and regions: A) Spain, Cataluna; B) France, Auvergne; C) France, Aveyron; D) Italie, Lombardia (Varzi) and Lazio (Cassino)

Most loved: Category “saucisson (big salami)”: region Avyron (France), producer Linard; Category “saucisse (small sausage)”: region cataluna (Spain)

ARTICLES: Teodori et al. Chimica e Industria 2011

THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: SHARING OR EXCLUDING? THE “NEW BIOTECHNOLOGY DIVIDE”: AN ALARMING PERSPECTIVE OF SCIENTIFIC DUAL USE Linked to the title above, you can find the full version of our paper on biotech divide, an emerging issue related to recent advances in information technology (IT). The role of scientists is of paramount importance in understanding and predicting the impact of their research in issues related to the threat of conflicts inherent in a polarized society. They must increase their own awareness of these issues and better inform the political community by advising and helping to assess programs of cooperation that will lead to more equitable access to benefits and reduce inequalities driven by the technology divide. This article will focus on the use, distribution, and accessibility of research outcomes in one particular area of biotechnology, i.e. technology related to health care. We have identified some biotechnological barriers, given some specific examples of positive action in the field of our expertise in bridging such a divide and highlighted the direction we believe should be followed.

CLASSES, LECTURES ETC: REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

Linked here you can find a presentation dealing with regenerative medicine (in French/ oui, en Français!) for the master students in "Molecules and therapeutic targets". The presentation consists of three parts: 1) stem cells and their therapeutic use 2) what is tissue engineering 3) strategies of the regenerative medicine: in situ regeneration, stem cell transplantation, transplantation of pre-assembled organs. A similar lesson, more focused on tissue engineering (Englligh version) is visible here. Learning about the outstanding capacity of regeneration shown by the newt will allow the full regeneration of human organs? Hopefully better than what we are currently doing.

IS THIS BLOG GOING TO BE SHOT DOWN?

What is going on in Italy? Today, the Italian Wikipedia is ON STRIKE and one has only access to this sober communicate (screen image from the Wikipedia homepage http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Comunicato_4_ottobre_2011 )

Unfortunately, this communicate is in italian, so I will try to summarize it below. The Italian parliament is discussing a bill to strongly limit the publication of texts deriving from phone call tapping used in trials. Wikipedia cites the text of the bill and remarks that a modification of the bill proposed this morning will force the responsible of a web site to rectify within 48h a given information that is possibly considered incorrect by anyone who finds this information as negatively affecting his image. All this by default, without any third party judging the dispute. It is feared that the easiness of the censoring action will discourage everybody from saying just anything on anyone, in sharp contrast with the article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All this happens while the bill to help the agonizing Italian economy is postponed. If you have recently read the content of hot conversations between our Prime Minister and his friends reported worldwide by media, you may imagine the reason why such bill is more urgent than boosting the economy. Indeed, I find reasonable to foresee the risk that such a proposed bill will affect any web site posting free contributions related to whatever subject, including this blog which has hosted in the past political opinions and analyses (concerning science in most of the cases). Shall I shoot it down rather than checking every 48 h not to have received an injunction of rectification?

ARTICLES: Perniconi et al. Biomaterials 2011

In this paper in press we show that one can transplant ghosts of tissues to obtain again the corresponding tissue in mice. Our "ghosts" are acellular scaffolds derived by whole organ decellularization (in 1% SDS) of skeletal muscles (the EDL and the TA). Therefore, they represent the extracellular matrix voided of the cellular component. We show that this biomaterial has niche properties, since it is able to support neomyogenesis once transplanted to replace the matching muscle.

LAB METHODS: transplantation of an acellular scaffold to replace the corresponding muscle

We are about to publish a paper where we characterize the in vivo response to a graft composed by an acellular scaffold obtained by a previously decellularized skeletal muscle. The grafting procedure is now available as a ppt - link embedded in the title of this post. The corresponding video on how to replace a TA with the corresponding acellular scaffold(iPod version) is available through the link in parentheses. For an alternative format, try to click here (avi version). The video is supplemented as Additional materilas to the Biomaterials article.

LAB METHODS: Toluidine blue staining

There is no staining method as fast and informative (two for the price of one!) as the Toluidine blue staining. We use it while cryosectioning or while doing semithin sections to monitor sample quality and orientation. Toluidine specifically stains some cell and ECM features. Linked to the title of this post, you'll find our method for Toluidine staining, with references and additional examples. Fig. legend: Toluidine-stained skeletal muscle cryosections.

Research fundings: an update...

Well...I was too pessimistic. The fundings for the Fiscal Year 2009 ("PRIN 2009") has been released by the Italian Ministry of University and Research , with a delay of only three years and not four years, as I was foreseeing.
That's good news, worth at least a bottle of Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Giustino B. by Ruggeri!
That is also a good chance to have a look at what the USA are doing. Linked to the title is the analysis of the current presidential plan for R&D in that country. President Obama requested $ 147,696 bilion for research in the current Fiscal Year. With this rate they will DOUBLE the fundings in 11 years. Linked to the title, please find the full text of the analysis of this plan.

Left:
Research & Develoment funding path in the USA

Source:
Federal Research end Development Funding - FY 2011
JF Sargent jr., coordinator, specialist in Science and Technology Policy
June 10, 2011

Blind tasting session at the lab

To celebrate a few recent events (the UPMC Emergence 2011 grant, the Mol Endocrinol paper) and to welcome a new student in the lab, we have tasted five Bordeaux 2006 wines, from different appellations characterized by marked nuances of their terroirs and specific grape assembly. Given that the different wineyards are only about 50 Km from each other, the differences were outstanding.

Results of the blind tasting (panel : laboratory members):

1st Château-Haut Maurac, Médoc Cru Bourgeois (60 % Cabernet sauvignon, 40 % Merlot)
2nd Château Musset Chevalier , Saint Emillon Grand cru (50 % Merlot noir / 45 % Cabernet-Franc / 5 % Cabernet-Sauvignon )
3rd Les Hauts du Tertre, Margaux (55 % Cabernet sauvignon, 20 % Merlot, 20 % Cabernet franc, 5 % Petit verdot)
4th Château Prieuré-les-Tours, Graves.

We liked the winner for its intense bouquet of red fruits and its full body, with mature tannins and a long lasting aftertaste. One more cru Borgeois showing the great quality/price ratio of this category. From the color to the marked tannins it expressed the Medoc pretty well. However, I preferred the Margaux of Les Hauts de Tertre, a second wine produced by Château du Tertre, for its elegance and its more floreal bouquet. Margaux came out in the good balance between tannins, acidity and alcoolic warmth. The superb roundness of the Libournais St Emillon and the acidity of the Graves (Alas! - in such a poor interpretation) came out as well, but nobody guessed the crus for all the wines.