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Neuronal differentiation is regulated by nerve growth factor (NGF) and other neurotrophins. We explored the impact of NGF on mitochondrial dynamics and metabolism through time-lapse imaging, metabolomics profiling, and computer modeling studies. We show that NGF may direct differentiation by stimulating fission, thereby causing selective mitochondrial network fragmentation and mitophagy, ultimately leading to increased mitochondrial quality and respiration. Then, we reconstructed the dynamic fusion–fission–mitophagy cycling of mitochondria in a computer model, integrating these processes into a single network mechanism. Both the computational model and the simulations are able to reproduce the proposed mechanism in terms of mitochondrial dynamics, levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitophagy, and mitochondrial quality, thus providing a computational tool for the interpretation of the experimental data and for future studies aiming to detail further the action of NGF on mitochondrial processes. We also show that changes in these mitochondrial processes are intertwined with a metabolic function of NGF in differentiation: NGF directs a profound metabolic rearrangement involving glycolysis, TCA cycle, and the pentose phosphate pathway, altering the redox balance. This metabolic rewiring may ensure: (a) supply of both energy and building blocks for the anabolic processes needed for morphological reorganization, as well as (b) redox homeostasis.

La retina, capa interna del ojo, tiene como función principal recibir las señales lumínicas del exterior y transmitirlas, en forma de señales nerviosas, al cerebro. La capa externa de la retina, el epitelio pigmentario de la retina (EPR), alberga una serie de células polarizadas, cuya función principal es actuar como barrera hematorretiniana externa, esencial para el correcto funcionamiento de los fotorreceptores. La parte basal de las células del EPR, se encuentra en contacto con la membrana de Bruch, matriz multicapa que separa la retina de la coroides. A día de hoy, existen múltiples patologías degenerativas oculares que generan alteraciones estructurales y funcionales, que provocan la muerte celular y desencadenan perdida de la visión. En estadios avanzados de estas enfermedades resulta insuficiente administrar cualquier molécula, por lo que es necesario restaurar el tejido dañado. Para ello, el uso de un biomaterial con las características adecuadas es requisito indispensable. En el presente trabajo, se utiliza fibroina de seda (FS), un biopolimero biocompatible y biorreabsorbible procedente del gusano de seda domestico Bombyx mori. La seda procedente de los capullos se procesa y se fabrican mallas de fibras en diferentes orientaciones, en paralelo y en entramado. Para ello se utiliza la tecnica de hilado Dynamic Dope Destabilization Spinning (D3S), que es un sistema que permite obtener fibras de altas prestaciones mecánicas. Estas mallas, actúan como soporte artificial para las células del EPR, que son posteriormente sembradas sobre estas para crear un biohibrido funcional.

Quello della fantascienza e delle distopie è un vastissimo universo narrativo (comprensivo di opere cinematografiche e serie televisive) in cui il confronto con temi e problemi di giustizia appare particolarmente serrato, malgrado la frequente sottovalutazione di questo filone legata all’etichetta di genere e alla proliferazione di prodotti commerciali. Eppure, in un mondo in cui la sempre più rapida evoluzione tecnologica rende attuali, e anzi impellenti, questioni etiche, filosofiche e sociopolitiche un momento prima apparentemente remote e ‘futuribili’, confrontarsi con gli scenari immaginati dai grandi autori di fantascienza diventa ineludibile, per il giurista come per il cittadino. La fantascienza di qualità letteraria, presa in considerazione dai saggi qui raccolti, presenta anzi al lettore o spettatore un’incredibile varietà di conflitti, questioni giuridiche e dilemmi morali, in superficie legati a specifici sviluppi tecnologici, reali o immaginifici, ma assai spesso, a un’analisi più approfondita, di portata universale. Nel trasportare il lettore «oltre i confini della realtà» attuale, l’analisi della letteratura fantascientifica compiuta dagli autori del presente volume finisce quindi per incoraggiarlo a spingersi «dove nessuno è mai giunto prima» nell’esplorazione della vera «ultima frontiera» adombrata dalla metafora dello spazio intergalattico: le profondità dell’umano e, «in uno specchio oscuro», del disumano., Science fiction and dystopian narratives often address, in different ways and through different media, deep and complex issues of (in)justice, and thus a wide range of different legal as well as ethical problems, questions, and dilemmas. Science fiction thus offers a fertile (albeit oft neglected) ground for Law & Literature studies, even more nowadays, when ever faster scientific and technological change and evolution keeps confronting humankind with new legal and ethical challenges. The essays collected in this volume explore how science fiction can help critically reflect on such issues and, even more, on universal and everlasting questions of justice and injustice relating to the deepest abysses of human nature.

Received: 25 August 2022; Accepted: 13 December 2022; Published: 17 December 2022, Inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are incurable autoimmune diseases characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. There is increasing evidence that inappropriate interaction between the enteric nervous system and central nervous system and/or low activity of the vagus nerve, which connects the enteric and central nervous systems, could play a crucial role in their pathogenesis. Therefore, it has been suggested that appropriate neuroprosthetic stimulation of the vagus nerve could lead to the modulation of the inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and consequent long-term control of these autoimmune diseases. In the present paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of (1) the cellular and molecular bases of the immune system, (2) the way central and enteric nervous systems interact and contribute to the immune responses, (3) the pathogenesis of the inflammatory bowel disease, and (4) the therapeutic use of vagus nerve stimulation, and in particular, the transcutaneous stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve. Then, we expose the working hypotheses for the modulation of the molecular processes that are responsible for intestinal inflammation in autoimmune diseases and the way we could develop personalized neuroprosthetic therapeutic devices and procedures in favor of the patients., REgión de Campania (Italia), Ministerio de Investigación y Universidades de Italia, Unidad Docente de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución, Fac. de Óptica y Optometría, TRUE, pub