Aflatoxins are fungal metabolites found in feeds and foods. When the ruminants eat feedstuffs containing Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), this toxin is metabolized and Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is excreted in milk. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified AFB1 and AFM1 as human carcinogens belonging to Group 1 and Group 2B, respectively, with the formation of DNA adducts. In the last years, some epidemiological studies were conducted on cancer patients aimed to evaluate the effects of AFB1 and AFM1 exposure on cancer cells in order to verify the correlation between toxin exposure and cancer cell proliferation and invasion. In this review, we summarize the activation pathways of AFB1 and AFM1 and the data already reported in literature about their correlation with cancer development and progression. Moreover, considering that few data are still reported about what genes/proteins/miRNAs can be used as damage markers due to AFB1 and AFM1 exposure, we performed a bioinformatic analysis based on interaction network and miRNA predictions to identify a panel of genes/proteins/miRNAs that can be used as targets in further studies for evaluating the effects of the damages induced by AFB1 and AFM1 and their capacity to induce cancer initiation.

The identification of gluten peptides eliciting intestinal T cell responses is crucial for the design of a peptide-based immunotherapy in celiac disease (CD). To date, several gluten peptides have been identified to be active in CD. In the present study, we investigated the recognition profile of gluten immunogenic peptides in adult HLA-DQ2+ celiac patients. Polyclonal, gliadin-reactive T cell lines were generated from jejunal mucosa and assayed for both proliferation and IFN-γ production in response to 21 peptides from wheat glutenins and α-, γ-, and ω-gliadins. A magnitude analysis of the IFN-γ responses was performed to assess the hierarchy of peptide potency. Remarkably, 12 of the 14 patients recognized a different array of peptides. All α-gliadin stimulatory peptides mapped the 57– 89 N-terminal region, thus confirming the relevance of the known polyepitope 33-mer, although it was recognized by only 50% of the patients. By contrast, γ-gliadin peptides were collectively recognized by the great majority (11 of 14, 78%) of CD volunteers. A 17-mer variant of 33-mer, QLQPFPQPQLPYPQPQP, containing only one copy of DQ2-α-I and DQ2-α-II epitopes, was as potent as 33-mer in stimulating intestinal T cell responses. A peptide from ω-gliadin, QPQQPFPQPQQPFPWQP, although structurally related to the α-gliadin 17-mer, is a distinct epitope and was active in 5 out of 14 patients. In conclusion, these results showed that there is a substantial heterogeneity in intestinal T cell responses to gluten and highlighted the relevance of γ- and ω-gliadin peptides for CD pathogenesis. Our findings indicated that α-gliadin (57–73), γ-gliadin (139–153), and ω-gliadin (102–118) are the most active gluten peptides in DQ2+ celiac patients.

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Ascorbic acid (AA), also known as vitamin C, was initially identified as the factor preventing the scurvy disease, and became very popular for its antioxidant properties. It is an important co-substrate of a large class of enzymes, and regulates gene expression by interacting with important transcription factors. AA is important in all stressful conditions that are linked to inflammatory processes and involve immunity. It has been known for decades that the persistence of an inflammatory stimulus is responsible for the onset of many diseases. AA is essential to stimulate the immune system by increasing the strength and protection of the organism. Therefore, its immunostimulant, antinflammatory, antiviral and antibacterial roles are well known, we have summarized its main functions in different types of diseases related to the immune system and chronic inflammation. We can conclude that AA, due to its effects and diversity of regulated pathways, is suitable for use in various fields of medicine including immunology, toxicology, radiobiology and others. AA is not preferable to be used as an isolated mode of treatment, but it can be co-applied as an adjuvant to regulate immunity, gene expression and other important physiological processes. However, we propose that future studies will take into consideration the research of new combinations of antioxidant natural substances and drugs.

Recent evidences suggest that stearoyl-CoA-desaturase 1 (SCD1), the enzyme involved in monounsaturated fatty acids synthesis, has a role in several cancers. We previously demonstrated that SCD1 is important in lung cancer stem cells survival and propagation. In this article, we first show, using primary cell cultures from human lung adenocarcinoma, that the effectors of the Hippo pathway, Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ), are required for the generation of lung cancer three-dimensional cultures and that SCD1 knock down and pharmacological inhibition both decrease expression, nuclear localization and transcriptional activity of YAP and TAZ. Regulation of YAP/TAZ by SCD1 is at least in part dependent upon β-catenin pathway activity, as YAP/TAZ downregulation induced by SCD1 blockade can be rescued by the addition of exogenous wnt3a ligand. In addition, SCD1 activation of nuclear YAP/TAZ requires inactivation of the β-catenin destruction complex. In line with the in vitro findings, immunohistochemistry analysis of lung adenocarcinoma samples showed that expression levels of SCD1 co-vary with those of β-catenin and YAP/TAZ. Mining available gene expression data sets allowed to observe that high co-expression levels of SCD1, β-catenin, YAP/TAZ and downstream targets have a strong negative prognostic value in lung adenocarcinoma. Finally, bioinformatics analyses directed to identify which gene combinations had synergistic effects on clinical outcome in lung cancer showed that poor survival is associated with high co-expression of SCD1, β-catenin and the YAP/TAZ downstream target birc5. In summary, our data demonstrate for the first time the involvement of SCD1 in the regulation of the Hippo pathway in lung cancer, and point to fatty acids metabolism as a key regulator of lung cancer stem cells.

Carbohydrates, also called saccharides, are molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They are the most abundant biomolecules and essential components of many natural products and have attracted the attention of researchers because of their numerous human health benefits. Among carbohydrates the polysaccharides represent some of the most abundant bioactive substances in marine organisms. In fact, many marine macro-and microorganisms are good resources of carbohydrates with diverse applications due to their biofunctional properties. By acting on cell proliferation and cycle, and by modulating different metabolic pathways, marine polysaccharides (including mainly chitin, chitosan, fucoidan, carrageenan and alginate) also have numerous pharmaceutical activities, such as antioxidative, antibacterial, antiviral, immuno-stimulatory, anticoagulant and anticancer effects. Moreover, these polysaccharides have many general beneficial effects for human health, and have therefore been developed into potential cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals. In this review we describe current advances in the development of marine polysaccharides for nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmacological applications. Research in this field is opening new doors for harnessing the potential of marine natural products.

Salt bridges can play important roles in protein structure and function and have stabilizing and destabilizing effects in protein folding. ESBRI is a software available as web tool which analyses the salt bridges in a protein structure, starting from the atomic coordinates. In the case of protein complexes, the salt bridges between protein chains can be evaluated, as well as those among specific charged amino acids and the different protein subunits, in order to obtain useful information regard the protein-protein interaction. AvailabilityThe service is available at the URL: http://bioinformatica.isa.cnr.it/ESBRI/