We first demonstrated in childhood obesity the role of the MBOAT7 rs641738 variant on serum ALT and the combined effect of the MBOAT7, PNPLA3, and TM6SF2 variants on NAFLD risk. We also provided the first pediatric association of the MBOAT7 polymorphism with indirect markers of liver fibrosis.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are natural nanoparticles secreted under physiological and pathological conditions. Thanks to their diagnostic potential, EVs are increasingly being studied as biomarkers of a variety of diseases, including neurological disorders. To date, most studies on EV biomarkers use blood as the source, despite different disadvantages that may cause an impure isolation of the EVs. In the present article, we propose the use of saliva as a valuable source of EVs that could be studied as biomarkers in an easily accessible biofluid. Using a comparable protocol for the isolation of EVs from both liquid biopsies, salivary EVs showed greater purity in terms of co-isolates (evaluated by nanoparticle tracking analysis and Conan test). In addition, Raman spectroscopy was used for the identification of the overall biochemical composition of EVs coming from the two different biofluids. Even considering the limited amount of EVs that can be isolated from saliva, the use of Raman spectroscopy was not hampered, and it was able to provide a comprehensive characterization of EVs in a high throughput and repeatable manner. Raman spectroscopy can thus represent a turning point in the application of salivary EVs in clinics, taking advantage of the simple method of collection of the liquid biopsy and of the quick, sensitive and label-free biophotonics-based approach.
The several interesting
activities detected for fucosylated chondroitin
sulfate (fCS) have fueled in the last years several efforts toward
the obtainment of fCS oligosaccharides and low molecular weight (LMW)
polysaccharides with a well-defined structure, in order to avoid the
problems associated with the potential employment of native, sea cucumber
sourced fCSs as a drug. Total synthesis and controlled depolymerization
of the natural fCS polysaccharides are the main approaches to this
aim; nonetheless, they present some limitations. These could be circumvented
by semisynthesis, a strategy relying upon the regioselective fucosylation
and sulfation of a microbial sourced polysaccharide sharing the same
chondroitin backbone of fCS but devoid of any fucose (Fuc) and sulfate
decoration on it. This approach is highly versatile, as it could open
access also to fCS isomers carrying Fuc and sulfate groups at non-natural
sites. Here we prepare for the first time some structurally homogeneous
fCS isomers through a multistep procedure with a glycosylation reaction
between a LMW polysaccharide acceptor and three different Fuc donors
as key step. The obtained products were subjected to a detailed structural
characterization by 2D-NMR. The conformational behavior was also investigated
by NMR and molecular dynamics simulation methods and compared with
data reported for natural fCS.
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