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Ferdinando NICOLETTIFull Professor

Lucia MALAGUARNERAFull Professor

Salvatore TRAVALIAssociate Professor

Antonio ARCIDIACONOAssistant Professor

Katia MANGANOAssistant Professor

Massimo LIBRAFull ProfessorSection Coordinator

Faculty members

Biometec: a research for life

Section of General, Clinical and Oncological Pathology

LABORATORY OF IMMUNOPATHOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY AIMS: Cellular and molecular immunology, immuno-pharmacology, toxicology and experimental oncology to develop novel approaches for the treatment of cancer and immunoinflammatory and autoimmune diseases. To these aims, preclinical models of cancer, immunoinflammatory, autoimmune and metabolic disease are used in addition to other biomolecular approaches.

LABORATORY OF MOLECULAR IMMUNOPATHOLOGY

AIMS: Diagnostic and prognostic significance of the chitinases in chronic degenerative diseases, neoplasms and metabolic diseases; Studies of the role of Vitamin D3 in immunity and neoplastic processes; Studies on the role of OAS genes in viral infections and in response to interferons.

16 Biometec: a research for life

Section of General, Clinical and Oncological Pathology

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LABORATORY OF TRANSLATIONAL ONCOLOGY & FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS

AIMS: Study of molecular mechanisms involved in the genesis and progression of tumors and the identification of new elements for a more effective diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancer.

RESEARCH UNIT OF THE ITALIAN LEAGUE AGAINST CANCER - SECTION OF CATANIA

AIMS: Behavioral factors in cancer etiology and prevention; Primary and secondary cancer prevention. To these aims the following activities are performed: Bio-banking; Cancer prevention survey and medical record storage; Case control studies and risk factors identification; Nutrition and cancer: Clinical trial design.

Biometec: a research for life

Section of General, Clinical and Oncological Pathology

18 Biometec: a research for life

Section of General, Clinical and Oncological Pathology

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FUNDING SUPPORTSINTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

University Of Crete

Biometec: a research for life

Section of General, Clinical and Oncological Pathology

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Research paper selection of Biometec (2014-2018)

Effects of NO-Hybridization on the Immunomodulatory Properties of the HIV Protease Inhibitors Lopinavir and Ritonavir.Fagone P, Mangano K, Quattrocchi C, Cavalli E, Mammana S, Lombardo GA, Pennisi V, Zocca MB, He M, Al-Abed Y, Nicoletti F. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2015; 117: 306-15.

Chitotriosidase Expression during Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells Differentiation and Maturation.Di Rosa M, Tibullo D, Cambria D, Distefano G, Saccone S, Di Raimondo F, Malaguarnera L. Inflammation. 2015; 38: 2082-91.

Computational identification of microRNAs associated to both epithelial to mesenchymal transition and NGAL/MMP-9 pathways in bladder cancer.Falzone L, Candido S, Salemi R, Basile MS, Scalisi A, McCubrey JA, Torino F, Signorelli SS, Montella M, Libra M. Oncotarget. 2016; 7: 72758-72766.

Expression of DNA methylation genes in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.Fagone P, Mangano K, Di Marco R, Touil-Boukoffa C, Chikovan T, Signorelli S, Lombardo GA, Patti F, Mammana S, Nicoletti F. J Neuroimmunol. 2016; 290: 66-9.

NUPR1, a new target in liver cancer: implication in controlling cell growth, migration, invasion and sorafenib resistance.Emma MR, Iovanna JL, Bachvarov D, Puleio R, Loria GR, Augello G, Candido S, Libra M, Gulino A, Cancila V, et al. Cell Death Dis. 2016; 7: e2269.

MMP-9 overexpression is associated with intragenic hypermethylation of MMP9 gene in melanoma.Falzone L, Salemi R, Travali S, Scalisi A, McCubrey JA, Candido S, Libra M. Aging (Albany NY). 2016; 8: 933-44.

CHI3L1 and CHI3L2 overexpression in motor cortex and spinal cord of sALS patients.Sanfilippo C, Longo A, Lazzara F, Cambria D, Distefano G, Palumbo M, Cantarella A, Malaguarnera L, Di Rosa M. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2017 Dec;85:162-169. doi: 10.1016/j.mcn.2017.10.001.

Associations of dietary carbohydrates, glycaemic index and glycaemic load with risk of bladder cancer: a case-control study. Augustin LSA, Taborelli M, Montella M, Libra M, La Vecchia C, Tavani A, Crispo A, Grimaldi M, Facchini G, Jenkins DJA, et al. Br J Nutr. 2017; 118: 722-729.

Vitamin D3 regulates LAMP3 expression in monocyte derived dendritic cells.Malaguarnera L, Marsullo A, Zorena K, Musumeci G, Di Rosa M. Cell Immunol. 2017; 311: 13-21.

Biometec: a research for life

Section of General, Clinical and Oncological PathologyRoles of p53, NF-κB and the androgen receptor in controlling NGAL expression in prostate cancer cell lines.Chappell WH, Candido S, Abrams SL, Russo S, Ove R, Martelli AM, Cocco L, Ramazzotti G, Cervello M, Montalto G, Steelman LS, Leng X, Arlinghaus RB, Libra M, McCubrey JA. Adv Biol Regul. 018 Aug;69:43-62. doi: 10.1016/j.jbior.2018.05.002.

Acquired Immune Resistance Follows Complete Tumor Regression without Loss of Target Antigens or IFNγ Signaling. Donia M, Harbst K, Van Buuren M, Kvistborg P, Lindberg MF, Andersen R, Idorn M, Munir Ahmad S, Ellebæk E, Mueller A, Fagone P, Nicoletti F, Libra M, Lauss M, Hadrup SR, Schmidt H, Andersen MH, Thor Straten P, Nilsson JA, Schumacher TN, Seliger B, Jönsson G, Svane IM. Cancer Res. 2017 Sep 1;77(17):4562-4566. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-3172.

Integrated analysis of colorectal cancer microRNA datasets: identification of microRNAs associated with tumor development.Falzone L, Scola L, Zanghì A, Biondi A, Di Cataldo A, Libra M, Candido S. Aging (Albany NY). 2018; 10: 1000-1014

MMP-9 as a Candidate Marker of Response to BRAF Inhibitors in Melanoma Patients With BRAFV600E Mutation Detected in Circulating-Free DNA. Salemi R, Falzone L, Madonna G, Polesel J, Cinà D, Mallardo D, Ascierto PA, Libra M, Candido S. Front Pharmacol. 2018; 9:856.

Preclinical evaluation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in animal models of multiple sclerosis.Mammana S, Bramanti P, Mazzon E, Cavalli E, Basile MS, Fagone P, Petralia MC, McCubrey JA, Nicoletti F, Mangano K. Oncotarget. 2018; 9: 8263-8277.

Involvement of the Nrf2/HO-1/CO axis and therapeutic intervention with the CO-releasing molecule CORM-A1, in a murine model of autoimmune hepatitis.Mangano K, Cavalli E, Mammana S, Basile MS, Caltabiano R, Pesce A, Puleo S, Atanasov AG, Magro G, Nicoletti F, Fagone P. J Cell Physiol. 2018; 233: 4156-4165.

Overexpression of macrophage migration inhibitory factor and functionally-related genes, D-DT, CD74, CD44, CXCR2 and CXCR4, in glioblastoma. Presti M, Mazzon E, Basile MS, Petralia MC, Bramanti A, Colletti G, Bramanti P, Nicoletti F, Fagone P. Oncol Lett. 2018 Sep;16(3):2881-2886. doi: 10.3892/ol.2018.8990.

Contribution of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor superfamily of cytokines in the pathogenesis of preclinical and human multiple sclerosis: In silico and in vivo evidences.Fagone P, Mazzon E, Cavalli E, Bramanti A, Petralia MC, Mangano K, Al-Abed Y, Bramati P, Nicoletti F. J Neuroimmunol. 2018; 322: 46-56.