Aldo Nicosia - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Aldo Nicosia

Procambarus Clarkii (Girard 1852) è una delle specie di crostacei di maggiore interesse scientifi... more Procambarus Clarkii (Girard 1852) è una delle specie di crostacei di maggiore interesse scientifico-economico. Le cause che spingono tali interessi sono sicuramente le intrinseche doti adattative della specie, fatte da: strategia riproduttiva vincente, grande adattabilità ad un ampio range di condizioni chimico-fisiche, e non per ultimo un potentissimo sistema immunitario. Questi aspetti hanno fatto sì che il P. Clarkii divenisse oggetto di allevamento per uso edule, esportandolo praticamente in tutta la fascia temperata del globo, e successivamente fonte di studio in campo biomedico. Stimolati dalla possibilità di utilizzare tale organismo come modello per studi multidisciplinari che spaziano dall’ecologia alla biochimica, e dalla biologia molecolare alla bioacustica, si è deciso di mettere a punto una serie di metodologie da utilizzare per lo studio di questo organismo passando da una delle fasi di vita principali quale la riproduzione. Lo scopo è ottenere una risposta riproduttiv...

TIPIZZAZIONE DEL DNA DI DITTERI CAMPIONATI SU UN CORPO RINVENUTO IN SICILIA

PLOS ONE, 2015

Proteases play an important role in the field of tissue dissociation combined with regenerative m... more Proteases play an important role in the field of tissue dissociation combined with regenerative medicine. During the years new sources of proteolytic enzymes have been studied including proteases from different marine organisms both eukaryotic and prokaryotic. Herein we have purified a secreted component of an isolate of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, with electrophoretic mobilities corresponding to 36 kDa, belonging to the serine proteases family. Sequencing of the N-terminus enabled the in silico identification of the whole primary structure consisting of 345 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 37.4 KDa. The purified enzyme, named VpSP37, contains a Serine protease domain between residues 35 and 276 and a canonical Trypsin/Chimotrypsin 3D structure. Functional assays were performed to evaluate protease activity of purified enzyme. Additionally the performance of VpSP37 was evaluated in tissue dissociations experiments and the use of such enzyme as a component of enzyme blend for tissue dissociation procedures is strongly recommended. Fig 2. Enzymatic efficiency of fractions from the Vibrio isolate supernatants. (A) Proteins were separated using anionic exchange chromatography and to investigate proteinase activity, casein was used as substrate. (B) The fractions from 3 to 9 showing higher activity were analysed by SDS-PAGE.

Applicazione di un protocollo di immuno-stimolazione su individui di Pracambarus clarkii mirato a... more Applicazione di un protocollo di immuno-stimolazione su individui di Pracambarus clarkii mirato alla produzione di peptidi con attività biologica.

Negli ultimi anni è notevolmente cresciuta la rilevanza economica, commerciale e nutrizionale del... more Negli ultimi anni è notevolmente cresciuta la rilevanza economica, commerciale e nutrizionale del consumo di pesce fresco o commercializzato sotto forma di prodotto minimamente trasformato, oltre che del consumo di prodotti crudi, con ovviamente tutta una serie di criticità legate al mantenimento del pescato il più possibile integro e sicuro per il consumatore. I prodotti del pescato devono infatti soddisfare determinate caratteristiche di qualità, tra cui la sicurezza, freschezza, caratteristiche nutrizionali, il sapore, la consistenza, il colore (Haard, 1992). La velocità dei processi di degradazione e la conservabilità variano con la specie e sono influenzate da numerosi parametri relativi alla filiera produttiva. Esistono inoltre, rischi connessi a contaminanti biologici (batteri, virus, tossine algali per i molluschi bivalvi, parassiti, ecc.) o chimici (metalli pesanti, mercurio, piombo, cadmio, policlorobifenili, PCB, diossine, ecc.). Il livello di contaminazione dipende inolt...

Esperimento pilota mirato all'analisi dell'effetto della stimolazione immunitaria su A. v... more Esperimento pilota mirato all'analisi dell'effetto della stimolazione immunitaria su A. viridis, finalizzato alla produzione di composti biologicamente attivi.

Protocolli di pretrattamento sul prodotto agroalimentare fresco o minimamente processato e indivi... more Protocolli di pretrattamento sul prodotto agroalimentare fresco o minimamente processato e individuazione del processo ottimale 1 I.A.M.C-CNR di Capo Granitola Protocolli di pretrattamento sul prodotto agroalimentare fresco o minimamente processato e individuazione del processo ottimale.

L’obiettivo è quello di identificare più tipologie di pectina aventi caratteristiche chimico-fisi... more L’obiettivo è quello di identificare più tipologie di pectina aventi caratteristiche chimico-fisiche, di purezza e trasparenza tali da poter essere applicate, da sole o in miscela con altre sostanze, in forma di gel. Tale studio permetterà di identificare quelle miscele che meglio si prestano ad essere utilizzate come film edibili da applicare sui prodotti ittici, con lo scopo di garantirne il mantenimento della shelf life.

Current Frontiers and Perspectives in Cell Biology, 2012

Fisheries Oceanography, 2015

In order to investigate the larval population structure, specimens of Engraulis encrasicolus larv... more In order to investigate the larval population structure, specimens of Engraulis encrasicolus larvae from five different locations in the Strait of Sicily were analyzed by means of otolith readings, morphometric and genetic techniques. The distribution of age in day, identified by means of the otolith readings and associated with the oceanographic parameters, was useful to identify possible spawning areas and transport dynamics. The presence of more than one spawning area suggested the possibility that two or more sub-populations may co-exist in the study area. The morphometric characteristics were more adequate than genetic parameters to discriminate the different larval groups. The most relevant variables for the separation were the mouth length (ML) and the body diameter (BD). The population structure by means of genetic data reported the presence of two phylogroups co-occurring among samples in each sampling locations specimens. The pattern of genetic divergence among anchovy larvae in the Strait of Sicily was congruent with previous studies conducted on adult populations present in other Mediterranean areas with different molecular markers. The habitat-specific nature of the morphological variation and the lack of corresponding genetic variation among larvae from the different locations suggested that the observed differences in morphology could be linked to environmental parameters. The body form differences among different larvae samples could reflect the nutritional status of larvae. In fact, these differences were found among anchovy larvae collected in areas with different oxygen and fluorescence, which is an index of primary productivity and is linked to the availability of food for anchovy larvae.

BioMed Research International, 2015

Due to anthropogenic activities the relative concentrations of cadmium and manganese have increas... more Due to anthropogenic activities the relative concentrations of cadmium and manganese have increased in the marine environment. Cephalopods are able to accumulate such metals and, as inhabitant of coastal waters, Octopus vulgaris is continuously exposed to anthropogenic activities. Since no study is available on the effects of heavy metals at molecular level in developing octopuses, herein we exposed 1-day-old paralarvae for 24 h to 10, 100, and 1000 g/L of CdCl 2 or MnCl 2 . Cd exerted a concentration-dependent inhibition of survival and a reduction in growth rate was shown while Mn exposure did not affect the survival rate even at the highest concentrations. Gene expression profiles of hsp70, sod, cat, and gst genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR and defined patterns of transcription were observed. Moreover posttranscriptional analyses were also performed suggesting the impairment of metabolic functions, under strong oxidative conditions (as occurred in paralarvae exposed to Cd) or the complete detoxification events (as occurred in paralarvae exposed to Mn).

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disease mainly caused by mutations in the low den... more Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disease mainly caused by mutations in the low density lipoprotein receptor (ldl-r) gene. However, FH-like phenotypes may also arise from mutations occurring in other genes, the products of which normally interact with the ldl receptor. although several FH-associated proteins have been discovered, many FH-like phenotypes cannot be linked to mutations in already characterized genes, suggesting the existence of other genes still to be identified, the mutations of which may be directly linked to the FH disorder. in order to identify new putative ldlr interactors possibly involved in its internalization and/or sorting, the cytoplasmic tail of the receptor was used as 'bait' in a two-hybrid assay. We identified an 85-amino acid protein able to bind the ldlr intracellular domain through the last 14 c-terminal amino acids. The novel protein is probably derived from the translation of an alternative open reading frame of the human MT2a gene.

Biogeosciences Discussions, 2013

REE, Zr and Hf distributions in seafloor sediments collected from the hypersaline, anoxic Thetis,... more REE, Zr and Hf distributions in seafloor sediments collected from the hypersaline, anoxic Thetis, Kryos, Medee and Tyro deep-sea basins from the Eastern Mediterranean were determined in light of their mineralogical composition, and biomass contents. Mineralogical investigations demonstrate that all the studied sediments show 5 a similar mineralogy. Detritic assemblages mainly consist of quartz, gypsum and calcite with Mg contents ranging from 0 to about 7 %, often of a bioclastic nature. On the contrary, authigenic parageneses are formed by halite, bischofite, dolomite and calcite, with Mg contents up to 22 %. Textural evidences of biological activity were also identified. In sediments from the Medee and Tyro basins, REE, Zr and Hf distributions 10 were analysed in the fraction soluble in nitric acid, whereas in materials coming from the Thetis and Kryos basins, the water-soluble sediment fraction had been previously removed and REE, Zr and Hf distributions were investigated in the residue. This approach evidenced that shale-normalised REE patterns of the whole fraction soluble in nitric acid show strong intermediate REE (MREE) enrichments that give way to positive 15 Gd anomalies once water-soluble minerals are removed.

Biogeosciences, 2014

Sediments collected from hypersaline and anoxic deep-sea basins in the eastern Mediterranean (The... more Sediments collected from hypersaline and anoxic deep-sea basins in the eastern Mediterranean (Thetis, Kryos, Medee, and Tyro) were characterised in terms of their mineralogical composition, the distributions of rare earth elements (REE), Zr, and Hf and their content of microbial DNA. We identified two major mineralogical fractions: one fraction of detritic origin was composed of quartz, gypsum, and low-Mg calcite bioclasts (with 0 < Mg < 0.07 %) and another fraction of authigenic origin constituted of halite, dolomite, high-Mg calcite (with a Mg content of up to 22 %) and rare bischofite and showed a textural evidence of microbial assemblages.

A metallothionein family member interacts with the intracellular domain of the low density lipoprotein (ldl) receptor

COSTA S., NICOSIA A, RAGUSA MA, POLLACCIA D, VALENTI V, CEFALÙ AB, et al. (2007). A metallothione... more COSTA S., NICOSIA A, RAGUSA MA, POLLACCIA D, VALENTI V, CEFALÙ AB, et al. (2007). A metallothionein family member interacts with the intracellular domain of the low density lipoprotein (ldl) receptor.. ... A metallothionein family member interacts with the intracellular domain ...

INTERACTION OF THE INTRACELLULAR DOMAIN OF THE LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN (LDL) RECPTOR WITH METALLOTHIONEIN2 (MT2)

Evidence of accelerated evolution and ectodermal-specific expression of presumptive BDS toxin cDNAs from Anemonia viridis

Profiling the physiological and molecular response to sulfonamidic drug in Procambarus clarkii.

Gene family encoding small Heat-Shock Proteins (sHSPs containing a-crystallin domain) are found b... more Gene family encoding small Heat-Shock Proteins (sHSPs containing a-crystallin domain) are found both in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms; however, there is limited knowledge of their evolution. In this study, two small HSP genes termed AvHSP28.6 and AvHSP27, both organized in one intron and two exons, were characterised in the Mediterranean snakelocks anemone Anemonia viridis. The release of the genome sequence of Hydra magnipapillata and Nematostella vectensis enabled a comprehensive study of the molecular evolution of a-crystallin gene family among cnidarians. Most of the H. magnipapillata sHSP genes share the same gene organization described for AvHSP28.6 and AvHSP27, differing from the sHSP genes of N. vectensis which mainly show an intronless architecture. The different genomic organization of sHSPs, the phylogenetic analyses based on protein sequences, and the relationships among Cnidarians, suggest that the A.viridis sHSPs represent the common ancestor from which H. magnipapillata genes directly evolved through segmental genome duplication. Additionally retroposition events may be considered responsible for the divergence of sHSP genes of N. vectensis from A. viridis. Analyses of transcriptional expression profile showed that AvHSP28.6 was constitutively expressed among different tissues from both ectodermal and endodermal layers of the adult sea anemones, under normal physiological conditions and also under different stress condition. Specifically, we profiled the transcriptional activation of AvHSP28.6 after challenges with different abiotic/biotic stresses showing induction by extreme temperatures, heavy metals exposure and immune stimulation. Conversely, no AvHSP27 transcript was detected in such dissected tissues, in adult whole body cDNA library or under stress conditions. Hence, the involvement of AvHSP28.6 gene in the sea anemone defensome is strongly suggested.

Analytical Biochemistry, 2009

Sil ica col umns are among the most used DNA puri fi ca tion sys tems, allow ing a good yield of ... more Sil ica col umns are among the most used DNA puri fi ca tion sys tems, allow ing a good yield of high-qual ity nucleic acids with out organic extrac tions. Sil ica col umn regen er a tion pro to cols reported up to now to remove DNA traces are time-con sum ing, and their effec tive ness on geno mic DNA has not been dem onstrated. Here we report a very rapid regen er a tion pro ce dure that ensures no DNA car ry over, inde pendent of its size, with out impair ing col umn effi ciency. The method takes advan tage of the improved DNA removal by low con cen tra tions of Tri ton X-100. gli avi a@un i pa.it (M. Tagliavia). 1 These authors con trib uted equally to this work.