Biology subjects

Pasquale, V.

Publications and source records attributed to Pasquale, V..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Early consequences of the phospholamban mutation PLN-R14del+/- in a transgenic mouse model

AimsThe heterozygous phospholamban (PLN) mutation R14del (PLN R14del+/-) is associated with a severe arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) developing in the adult. "Superinhibition" of SERCA2a by PLN R14del is widely assumed to underlie the pathogenesis, but alternative mechanisms such abnormal energy metabolism have also been reported. This work aims to 1) to evaluate Ca2+ dynamics and energy metabolism in a transgenic (TG) mouse model of the mutation prior to cardiomyopathy development; 2) to test whether they are causally connected. Methods and ResultsCa2+ dynamics, energy metabolism parameters, reporters of mitochondrial integrity, energy and redox homeostasis were measured in ventricular myocytes of 8-12 weeks-old, phenotypically silent, TG mice. Mutation effects were compared to pharmacological PLN antagonism and analysed during modulation of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and cytosolic Ca2+ compartments. Transcripts and proteins of relevant signalling pathways were evaluated. The mutation was characterized by hyperdynamic Ca2+ handling, similar to that induced by PLN antagonism. Albeit all components of energy metabolism were depressed at rest, functional signs of mitochondrial damage or energy starvation were absent and cell energy charge was preserved. The response of mitochondrial O2 consumption to SERCA2a blockade was lost in mutant myocytes (SR-mitochondrial uncoupling) and ER-stress signalling was activated. Conclusions1) PLN R14del+/- loses its ability to inhibit SERCA2a, which argues against SERCA2a superinhibition as a mechanism of ACM; 2) depression of resting energy metabolism may at least partly reflect impairment of SR-mitochondrial coupling; 3) ER-stress may be an early factor in the pathogenesis.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Global scientific research in Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation: A bibliometric network analysis.

Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) offers a host of interesting features, both from theoretical and practical standpoints. This process was firstly investigated as a geo-biological mechanism involved in carbonate mineral formation both in rocks and soil. The interest towards its practical use significantly increased in the recent years, as MICP was used in different fields, such as oil recovery, improvement of soil geotechnical characteristics and concreate healing. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to carry out a bibliometric descriptive study of publications on MICP. We analyzed data from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC), which provides comprehensive information for bibliometric analysis, including the Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-E) and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). The bibliometric analysis was carried out on 1580 publications, from 2000 to August 2022, and included publication output, author, institution, country, collaborations between authors, institutes and countries, and citation frequency. We created visualization maps including research collaborations by using the VOSviewer program. MICP, carbonate precipitation, cementation, and soil improvement in terms of geotechnical properties are high-frequency used keywords. Although in the year 2000 only two papers were published on MICP, the number of publications increased rapidly since 2014. In 2021, 333 papers were published. China leads as the most productive country, followed by USA and Australia. According to our results, the number of research papers dramatically increased in the last 5 years. MICP with concrete healing/cementation, soil geotechnical improvement, and the low environmental impact of such a technique are becoming very popular topics among researchers. With the ageing of concrete buildings, as well as with the worsening of environmental pollution and soil alterations, the research about MICP will play an ever increasing and crucial role in civil engineering and geotechnical issues and in soil science. Nevertheless, our study pointed out a sort of concentration of the MICP studies in few countries. Russia and Brazil, for instance, seems to poorly contribute to MICP researches. A larger cooperation among countries, together with the extension of the research network on this topic, would considerably foster the progress in MICP studies, from both practical and speculative standpoints.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2019

Differential effects of open- and closed-loop intracortical microstimulation on firing patterns of neurons in distant cortical areas

BackgroundIntracortical microstimulation can be used successfully to modulate neuronal activity. Activity-dependent stimulation (ADS), in which action potentials recorded extracellularly from a single neuron are used to trigger stimulation at another cortical location (closed-loop), is an effective treatment for behavioral recovery after brain lesion in rodents. Neurophysiological changes in cortical communication induced by ADS, and how these changes differ from those induced by open-loop random stimulation (RS) are still not clear. ObjectivesWe investigated the ability of ADS and RS to induce changes in firing patterns in distant populations of neurons in healthy anesthetized rats. MethodsFor this study we used 23 adult Long-Evan rats, recording from a total of 591 neuronal units. Stimulation was delivered to either forelimb or barrel field somatosensory cortex, using either randomly-timed stimulus pulses or ADS triggered from neuronal spikes recorded in the rostral forelimb area (RFA) of the motor cortex. ResultsBoth RS and ADS stimulation protocols rapidly altered spike firing within RFA compared with no stimulation. Changes consisted of increases in mean firing rates and patterns of spike firing as measured by the revised Local Variation metric. ADS was more effective than RS in increasing short-latency evoked spikes during the stimulation periods, by producing a reliable, progressive increase in stimulus-related activity over time. ConclusionsThese results are critical for understanding the efficacy of electrical microstimulation protocols in altering activity patterns in interconnected brain networks. These data further strengthen the idea that activity-dependent microstimulation, can be used to modulate cortical state and functional connectivity.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

A neuroprosthetic system to restore neuronal communication in modular networks

Recent advances in neurotechnology allow neurological impairments to be treated or reduced by brain machine interfaces and neuroprostheses. To develop energy-efficient and real-time capable devices, neuromorphic computing systems are envisaged as the core of next-generation neurobiohybrid systems for brain repair. We demonstrate here the first exploitation of a neuromorphic prosthesis to restore bidirectional interactions between two neuronal populations, even when one is damaged or completely missing. We used in vitro modular cell cultures to mimic the mutual interaction between neuronal assemblies and created a focal lesion to functionally disconnect the two populations. Then, we employed our neuromorphic prosthesis for two specific applications with future clinical implications: bidirectional bridging to artificially reconnect two disconnected neuronal modules and hybrid bidirectional bridging to replace the activity of one module with a neuromorphic spiking neural network. Our neuroprosthetic system opens up new avenues for the development of novel bioelectrical therapeutics for human applications.

bioengineering↗