[en] It is shown in literature that stress, such as deprivation of trophic factors and hypoxia, induces apoptosis in cultured cells and in tissues. In light of these results, we explored the possibility of protecting cells from programmed death by improving the metabolism of the mitochondrion. To this end, acetyl-L-carnitine was administered at various concentrations under conditions of serum deprivation. The choice of this drug was based on the accepted notion that acetyl-L-carnitine is able to stabilize mitochondrial membranes and to increase the supply of energy to the organelle. The results presented here indicate that the drug protects cells from apoptotic death: this is demonstrated by a lower positivity to the TUNEL reaction and by a strong reduction of the apoptotic DNA ladder in serum-deprived cells. The involvement of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway was assessed by cytochrome C release and immunoreactivity to caspase 3. Moreover, acetyl-L-carnitine stimulates cell proliferation

[en] Functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have shown great promise in several biomedical contexts, spanning from drug delivery to tissue regeneration. Thanks to their unique size-related properties, single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) are particularly interesting in these fields. However, their use in nanomedicine requires a clear demonstration of their safety in terms of tissue damage, toxicity and pro-inflammatory response. Thus, a better understanding of the cytotoxicity mechanisms, the cellular interactions and the effects that these materials have on cell survival and on biological membranes is an important first step for an appropriate assessment of their biocompatibility. In this study we show how bovine serum albumin (BSA) is able to generate homogeneous and stable dispersions of SWCNTs (BSA-CNTs), suggesting their possible use in the biomedical field. On the other hand, this study wishes to shed more light on the impact and the interactions of protein-stabilized SWCNTs with two different cell types exploiting multidisciplinary techniques. We show that BSA-CNTs are efficiently taken up by cells. We also attempt to describe the effect that the interaction with cells has on the dielectric characteristics of the plasma membrane and ion flux using electrorotation. We then focus on the BSA-CNTs’ acute toxicity using different cellular models. The novel aspect of this work is the evaluation of the membrane alterations that have been poorly investigated to date. (paper)

[en] In the last few years, graphene has been defined as the revolutionary material showing an incredible expansion in industrial applications. Different graphene forms have been applied in several contexts, spreading from energy technologies and electronics to food and agriculture technologies. Graphene showed promises also in the biomedical field. Hopeful results have been already obtained in diagnostic, drug delivery, tissue regeneration and photothermal cancer ablation. In view of the enormous development of graphene-based technologies, a careful assessment of its impact on health and environment is demanded. It is evident how investigating the graphene toxicity is of fundamental importance in the context of medical purposes. On the other hand, the nanomaterial present in the environment, likely to be generated all along the industrial life-cycle, may have harmful effects on living organisms. In the present work, an important contribution on the impact of multi-layer graphene (MLG) on health and environment is given by using a multifaceted approach. For the first purpose, the effect of the material on two mammalian cell models was assessed. Key cytotoxicity parameters were considered such as cell viability and inflammatory response induction. This was combined with an evaluation of MLG toxicity towards Xenopus laevis, used as both in vivo and environmental model organism. (paper)