I.E.ME.S.T.

Prof. Carmelo Montagna, architect and art historian, is the author of an amazing discovery; at Gurfa (Palermo), was recovered the largest Tholos in the Mediterranean, a fantastic property in Sicily, completely carved into the rock, which could be the legendary tomb of Minos mentioned by Diodorus. A new product, an extraordinary discovery that once again places our beautiful country as caput mundi archeology. It is sufficient to enter this monumental tholos to stand speechless, an incredible structure with a lot of secrets and mysteries, hidden in the middle of an unspoiled natural landscape that only a region like Sicily, with a mild and dry climate, can keep forever. Prof. Montagna presents, for the first time, in a long interview with the editor of FENIX (no. 43 June 2012), historical, archaeological and symbolic researchs of an environment that has been built following a considerable knowledge of astrology-astronomy and "initiatic" wisdom of the sacred dimension where all the "builders" of the early history were oriented. 

Professor Giuseppe Di Giovanni, head of the Department of Neuroscience at IEMEST, and Professor Vincenzo Crunelli, from the University of Cardiff and member of IEMEST Advisory board, have been awarded a prestigious grant by the British charity, Epilepsy Research UK.

The research project, entitled “SEROTONERGIC MODULATION OF ABSENCE SEIZURES: FOCUS ON TONIC GABA_A INIHBITION IN THE THALAMUS”, has been granted a sum of £150,000.

State-of-the-art electrophysiology techniques will be used in this project, including the new and powerful optogenetic methods that will allow the researchers to selectively stimulate or inhibit neuronal clusters, with the use of light waves of different lengths, in previously genetically modified awake animals. The expected results will clarify the pathophysiological role of serotonin in this type of generalised epilepsy, and may be useful to evaluate new therapeutic strategies. Indeed, absence epilepsy is currently considered a condition of unknown aetiology and sensitive to only a few drugs.

NEW IMPORTANT COLLABORATION AGREEMENTS

The IEMEST has recently stipulated two international framework agreements with the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences of Belgrade, Serbia, and the Institute of Marine and Environmental Biotechnology of Baltimore, USA. << These collaborations will provide  opportunities to our researchers for developing new projects, in particular on stress induced pathologies, such as cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases >> says Bartolo Sammartino, the President of IEMEST.

Cells from the Umbilical cord’s Wharton jelly (WJC) are promising tools for the treatment of cancer, muscolo-skeletal, neurodegenerative, hepato-pancreatic diseases. Following the recent advances in the field, the international scientific journal “The Open Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Journal” just published a special issue titled “Wharton’s jelly mesenchymal stem cells: tissue regeneration and beyond”, guest edited by Dr Giampiero La Rocca, IEMEST researcher. Contributions were from many pioneers in the field of WJC: International authors were from top laboratories in Belgium, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Switzerland and USA. Italian groups were from the Universities of Chieti, Milano, Padova and Palermo. Different aspects of WJC biology, immune features, disease indications, were discussed in a series of authoritative reviews. Selected original papers provide novel findings on isolation, culturing, features and uses of WJC for cellular therapy. Taken together, the issue provides key advances on the definition of the new frontiers which can be reached, further moving on the current targets of WJC-based regenerative medicine. The special issue is available for free download at this address:

http://www.benthamscience.com/open/totermj/openaccess2.htm

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: new evidences on its pathogenesis

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most severe conditions caused primarily by cigarette smoke and characterized by a progressive airway obstruction. Many people each year die from complications of this disease worldwide. In a study conducted by researchers from many institutions - among which the IEMEST, the "S. Maugeri " Foundation, and the Universities of Palermo, Ferrara, Torino and Padova, new molecules involved in induction and maintenance of the inflammation that underlies the obstruction of the airways have been identified. <<These molecules are called "chaperones" or "heat shock proteins">> says prof. Cappello, principal investigator in this study, <<and while they are physiologically devoted to protect cells from stress induced by various factors (e.g., cigarette smoking) in this disease some of them are overexpressed and they may increase the activity of inflammatory cells . In this paper we describe for the first time some molecular mechanisms involved in its overexpression. These results may lead to more effective therapies for COPD>>. This publication can be downloaded through this link: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0028200