Antonella Minutolo

• PhD
• Researcher at University of Rome Tor Vergata

Infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 diseases, can impact different tissues and induce significant cellular alterations. The production of extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are physiologically involved in cell communication, is also altered during COVID-19, along with the dysfunction of cytoplasmic organelles. Since circu...

Background We describe a clinical case of a 39 years old Italian man, that started to be investigated from 2012 for an uncertain HIV diagnosis, when he began to complain several clinical symptoms. Several HIV-1/-2 tests, with frequent Ab antigen test positive for one or more viral proteins, never confirmed by immunoblotting and HIV-RNA and HIV-DNA...

The use of CD169 as a marker of viral infection has been widely discussed in the context of COVID-19, and in particular, its crucial role in the early detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection and its association with the severity and clinical outcome of COVID-19 were demonstrated. COVID-19 patients show relevant systemic alteration and immunological dysfu...

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a postinfectious sequela of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), with some clinical features overlapping with Kawasaki disease (KD). Our research group and others have highlighted that the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 can trigger the activation of human endogenous retr...

Hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), as an effective, efficient, and scalable extraction technique for natural products, could enable the affordable production of valuable antioxidant extracts from plant resources. For the first time, whole pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruits, rich in bioactive phytochemicals endowed with anti-cancer properties, were...

The affordable production of valuable antioxidant extracts from plant resources depends on the availability of enabling technologies, such as hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), characterized by unrivalled effectiveness, efficiency, and scalability in the extraction of natural products. As sources of phytochemicals showing biological effects on human hea...

Introduction Our research group and others demonstrated the implication of the human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) in SARS-CoV-2 infection and their association with disease progression, suggesting HERVs as contributing factors in COVID-19 immunopathology. To identify early predictive biomarkers of the COVID-19 severity, we analyzed the expressio...

Metal-derived platinum complexes are widely used to treat solid tumors. However, systemic toxicity and tumor resistance to these drugs encourage further research into similarly effective compounds. Among others, organotin compounds have been shown to inhibit cell growth and induce cell death and autophagy. Nevertheless, the impact of the ligand str...

The complex alterations of the immune system and the immune-mediated multiorgan injury plays a key role in host response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and in the pathogenesis of COVID-19, being also associated with adverse outcomes. Thymosin alpha 1 (Tα1) is one of the molecules used in the treatment of COVID-19, as it is known to restore the homeostasis...

Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the most frequent cancers in women worldwide. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the extracellular release of TGF-β are phenomena typically associated with different tumorigenic processes, including tumour cell proliferation and metastatization. Specific human microRNAs (miRNAs; miRs) involved in these tu...

Background: Putative pathogenic effects mediated by human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) in neurological and psychiatric disorders in humans have been extensively described. HERVs may alter the development of the brain by means of several mechanisms, including modulation of gene expression, alteration of DNA stability, and activation of immune sy...

A balanced diet is critical for human health, and edible plants play an important role in providing essential micronutrients as well as specific microRNAs (miRNAs) that can regulate human gene expression. Here we present the effects of Moringa oleifera (MO) miRNAs ( mol -miRs) on lipid metabolism. Through in silico studies we identified the potenti...

Due to the presence of the ACE2 receptor in different tissues (nasopharynx, lung, nervous tissue, intestine, liver), the COVID-19 disease involves several organs in our bodies. SARS-CoV-2 is able to infect different cell types, spreading to different districts. In the host, an uncontrolled and altered immunological response is triggered, leading to...

Sensitivity of antigenic test

Background: In the last two years, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has determined radical changes in human behaviors and lifestyles, with a drastic reduction in socialization due to physical distancing and self-isolation. These changes have also been reflected in the epidemiological patterns of common respiratory viruses. For this reason, early discriminat...

The most widely accepted hypothesis for the development of glioblastoma suggests that glioblastoma stem-like cells (GSCs) are crucially involved in tumor initiation and recurrence as well as in the occurrence of chemo- and radio-resistance. Mesenchyme homeobox 2 (MEOX2) is a transcription factor overexpressed in glioblastoma, whose expression is ne...

Background: Sialoadhesin (CD169) has been found to be overexpressed in the blood of COVID-19 patients and identified as a biomarker in early disease. We analyzed CD169 in the blood cells of COVID-19 patients to assess its role as a predictive marker of disease progression and clinical outcomes. Methods: The ratio of the median fluorescence inten...

The Ebola virus disease, formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe and often fatal zoonosis in humans. The 2013-2016 West African Ebola outbreak had distinctive characteristics, and it was the largest and most complex epidemic since the virus discovery in 1976. Although the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Con...

Background: CD169 has been found overexpressed in the blood of COVID-19 patients and identified as a biomarker in the early disease. We have analysed CD169 in blood cells of COVID-19 patients to assess its role as predictive marker of the disease. Methods : The ratio of the CD169 Median median Fluorescence fluorescence Intensity intensity of CD169...

Impact of the endogenous retrovirus HERV-W activation on COVID-19 disease progression “HERV-W ENV" is the protein found highly expressed in the blood of COVID-19 patients in association with severe disease progression. The study was published in the journal EBioMedicine of The Lancet group: "Evidence of the pathogenic HERV-W envelope expression...

Supplementary material from the main publication: Evidence of the pathogenic HERV-W envelope expression in T lymphocytes in association with the respiratory outcome of COVID-19 patients Emanuela Balestrieri, Antonella Minutolo, Vita Petrone, Marialaura Fanelli, Marco Iannetta, Vincenzo Malagnino, Marta Zordan, Pietro Vitale, Benjamin Charvet, Brank...

Previous studies have shown multiple biological properties of Moringa oleifera, a plant native to Africa and Asia. In the present study, potential physiological properties of microvesicles extracted from Moringa oleifera seeds were assessed. For this purpose, we investigated behavioral profile and hematological parameters in a recent rat model char...

Traditional medicine is often chosen due to its affordability, its familiarity with patient’s cultural practices, and its wider access to the local community. Plants play an important role in providing indispensable nutrients, while specific small RNAs can regulate human gene expression in a cross-kingdom manner. The aim of the study was to evaluat...

Ebola virus disease is a complex zoonosis that is highly virulent in humans. Despite its sorely pathogenic and lethal nature, survivors of this infection and even asymptomatic cases are able to develop both humoral and cellular immunity against several Ebola virus (EBOV) proteins. We aimed at determining immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies level agai...

Background and Purpose The mitochondrial F1Fo‐ATPsynthase is pivotal for cellular homeostasis. When respiration is perturbed, its mode of action everts becoming an F1Fo‐ATPase and therefore consuming rather producing ATP. Such a reversion is an obvious target for pharmacological intervention to counteract pathologies. Despite this, tools to selecti...

Testing HIV-1 RNA in plasma by PCR is universally accepted as the ultimate standard to confirm diagnosis of HIV-1 infection and to monitor viral load in patients under treatment. However, in some cases, this assay could either underestimate or overestimate the replication capacity of a circulating or latent virus. In the present study, we performed...

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by immune-mediated lung injury and complex alterations of the immune system, such as lymphopenia and cytokine storm, that have been associated with adverse outcomes underlining a fundamental role of host response in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and the path...

Adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) can be susceptible, at least transiently, to treatments with azidothymidine (AZT) plus IFNα and/or arsenic trioxide. However, the real role of AZT in this effect is still unclear. In fact, while reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibition could explain reduction of clonal expansion and of renewal of HTLV-1 infected ce...

Human microvesicles are key mediators of cell–cell communication. Exosomes function as microRNA transporters, playing a crucial role in physiological and pathological processes. Plant microvesicles (MVs) display similar features to mammalian exosomes, and these MVs might enhance plant microRNA delivery in mammals. Considering that plant microRNAs h...

Viral hepatitis B and C infections are among the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of knowledge and awareness in the general population as in health care settings may enhance the propagation of these diseases. We aimed at determining the prevalence of HBV and HCV in Ebola survivors and health care workers (HCWs) of the Makeni town...

We collect the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs of 63 subjects with severe symptoms or contacts with COVID-19 confirmed cases to perform a pilot-study aimed to verify the “in situ” expression of SARS-CoV-2 host invasion genes (ACE2, TMPRSS2, PCSK3, EMILIN1, EMILIN2, MMRN1, MMRN2, DPP4). ACE2 (FC = +1.88, p ≤ 0.05) and DPP4 (FC = +3, p < 0.01)...

A significant proportion of HIV-infected patients experiencing a late diagnosis highlights the need to define immunological protocols able to help the clinicians in identifying patients at higher risk for immunological failure. The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of easy cytometric tests in defining the effect of antiretroviral tre...

There is a growing interest in therapeutically targeting the inflammatory response that underlies age-related chronic diseases including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Through integrative small RNA sequencing, we show the presence of conserved plant miR159a and miR156c in dried nuts having high complementarity with the mammalian TNF receptor superfam...

Moringa oleifera Lam. (MO) is one of the most well-known and widely distributed species of the Moringaceae family in African communities, and various preparations of M. oleifera are used for the treatment of several diseases. Due to the extensive worldwide use of MO products, and the use of MO aqueous extract in traditional African medicine, the ai...

Early and rapid diagnosis of highly pathogenic agent such as Ebola virus has always been problematic and challenging for the affected communities especially in the developing world. Most often, effective response to epidemic generated by such virulent pathogens implies establishment of well-structured laboratory systems or networks able to implemen...

Background: Promoting Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a major strategy of the "Science with and for Society" work program of the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. RRI aims to achieve a better alignment of research and innovation with the values, needs, and expectations of society. The RRI s...

Glutathione transferases (GSTs) play an important role in retinal pathophysiology. Within this family, the GSTP isoform is known as an endogenous regulator of cell survival and proliferation pathways and of cellular responses to oxidative stress. In the present study we silenced GSTP in R28 cells, a retinal precursor cell line with markers of both...

Functional foods include compounds with nutritional and health properties. The human diet could play a stronger role in cancer prevention. Only a few studies have described the presence of plant small RNA, in humans who were fed with plant foods, which demonstrated the ability of these molecules to modulate consumer’s genes and evidenced the existe...

BACKGROUND Promoting Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a major strategy of the “Science with and for Society” work programme of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. RRI aims to achieve a better alignment of research and innovation with the values, needs, and expectations of society. The RRI s...

A serosurvey of anti-Ebola Zaire virus nucleoprotein IgG prevalence was carried out among Ebola virus disease survivors and their Community Contacts in Bombali District, Sierra Leone. Our data suggest that the specie of Ebola virus (Zaire) responsible of the 2013-2016 epidemic in West Africa may cause mild or asymptomatic infection in a proportion...

An Ebola survivor Mobile Health Clinic (MHC) was established to implement lasting changes in communities it operates by providing effective and efficient mobile healthcare. After months of development, the MHC solution was operationalised in February 2015, aiming to provide integrated primary healthcare services to address the medical and psychosoc...

In spite of the consistent benefits for HIV-1 infected patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy, a complete immune reconstitution is usually not achieved. Actually, antiretroviral therapy may be frequently accompanied by immunological unresponsiveness, persistent inflammatory conditions and inefficient cytotoxic T-cell response. Thymosin alpha 1...

HCV life cycle is strictly correlated with the hepatocyte lipid metabolism; moreover, the progression of HCV chronic hepatitis is accelerated by the presence of liver steatosis. Among the steatogenic genes deregulated during the HCV infection one of the most attractive is the Small Heterodimer Protein 1 (SHP1; NR0B2), that is involved in a remarkab...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small noncoding RNAs that act as efficient post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. In 2012, the first cross-kingdom miRNA-based interaction had been evidenced, demonstrating that exogenous miRNAs act in a manner of mammalian functional miRNAs. Starting from this evidence, we defined the concept of cross...

Moringa oleifera is a widespread plant with substantial nutritional and medicinal value. We postulated that microRNAs (miRNAs), which are endogenous, noncoding small RNAs regulating gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, might contribute to the medicinal properties of plants of this species after ingestion into human body, regulating hu...

Sequence analysis workflow. Schematization of the process for the identification of known and novel miRNAs. (TIF)

Quality control analysis after the removal of the sequencing adapter. Quality scores across all bases (Figure A in S1 File). Quality score distribution over all sequences (Figure B in S1 File). Percentage of adapter sequence (Figure C in S1 File). (DOCX)

Known microRNAs in M. oleifera juvenile seed, with additional detailed information. (DOCX)

Complete prediction report of gene target in humans, using COMIR software. (DOCX)

Workflow of miRNA target prediction. Plant targets were predicted using PsRNA Target. Enrichment analysis for all the predicted targets were conducted using Plant GSEA. MirCompare was used to predict cross-kingdom interaction targets in human. (TIF)

Quality control analysis before the removal of the sequencing adapter. Quality scores across all bases (Figure A in S1 File). Quality score distribution over all sequences (Figure B in S1 FIle). Percentage of adapter sequence (Figure C in S1 File). (DOCX)

Thymosin α-1 (Tα1) exploits a specific action on lymphoid cells and is able to induce in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) a strong transcriptional response. CD8 antiviral factor activity plays a role in the control or prevention of HIV-1 infection by a non-cytolytic mechanism. The ability of Tα1 to modulate the release of antiretroviral s...

Poster n. 36

More than one year on, the hold world is under the pressure of what is known today as the Largest Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa.To assess the real extent of Ebola infectionin the District of Bombali, Sierra Leone, we carried out an epidemiological survey and serological analyses among EVD survivors and their household contacts (...

Aims: The present study addresses the issue of enhanced apoptotic response to AZT following co-treatment with an NF-kB inhibitor. Main methods: To investigate this issue, different cell lines were assayed for susceptibility to AZT-mediated apoptosis without or with the addition of the NF-kB inhibitor Bay-11-7085. For further investigation, U937...

Hepatitis C virus infection leads to a wide spectrum of liver diseases ranging from mild chronic hepatitis to end-stage cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. An intriguing aspect of the HCV infection is its close connection with lipid metabolism playing an important role in the HCV life cycle and in its pathogenesis. HCV is known to be a hepatotr...

The important proapoptotic activity of (-)-lentiginosine, the enantiomer of a natural glycosidase inhibitor, associated with its low cytotoxicity, suggests the study of the unknown receptor responsible for the triggering of the proapoptotic cascade. To this purpose derivatives of (-)-lentiginosine 7 and 8, which contain the biotin moiety as an affi...

We have recently found that D(-)lentiginosine, a synthetic iminosugar exerting glucosidase inhibitory activity, but not its natural enantiomer lentiginosine, is endowed with an unexpected, pro-apoptotic activity. Here, we investigated mechanisms involved in apoptosis induced by D(-)lentiginosine in MOLT-3, HT-29 and SH-SY5Y tumour cell lines. The r...

An improved approach for the preparation of enantiopure 3,4-bis-tert-butoxypyrroline N-oxides is presented. Etherification of 1-benzylpyrrolidine-3,4-diol with tBuOAc/HClO4 and subsequent N-debenzylation and pyrrolidine oxidation with oxone affords the cyclic nitrone reliably and in superior yield. The enantiomer derived from D-tartaric acid was ex...

Platinum-(IV)-derivative satraplatin represents a new generation of orally available anti-cancer drugs that are under development for the treatment of several cancers. Understanding the mechanisms of cell cycle modulation and apoptosis is necessary to define the mode of action of satraplatin. In this study, we investigate the ability of satraplatin...

Satraplatin acts as a potent inhibitor of proliferation in castration-resistant prostate cancer, yet the basic and molecular pharmacological mechanisms are still unknown in all types of cancer including colorectal cancer (CRC). In an effort to explain the mechanism of tumour sensitivity to satraplatin, the cytotoxic effects in a panel of CRC cell l...

Diagnosis and therapeutic strategies in Alzheimer's disease (AD) might greatly benefit of the present multidisciplinary approach for studying the molecular pathogenesis of the disorder. Gene expression profile at peripheral level could be a promising tool for pathogenic studies as well as for early diagnosis of AD. A dysregulated inflammatory respo...

Aim Platinum-(IV)-derivative satraplatin represents a new generation of orally available anti-cancer drug which is under development for treatment of several cancers. Understanding the mechanisms on cell cycle modulation and apoptosis is necessary to define its mode of action. In this study, we demonstrate the ability of satraplatin to induce cell...

In this study, we investigated molecular mechanisms underlying low susceptibility to apoptosis induced by the nucleoside analog azidothymidine (AZT) and the role of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation in these phenomena. A preliminary screening in different cell lines indicated U937 monocytic cell line as suitable to this purpose. Treatment of U93...

D-(-)-Lentiginosine [(-)-4], the nonnatural enantiomer of the iminosugar indolizidine alkaloid L-(+)-lentiginosine, acts as apoptosis inducer on tumor cells of different origin, in contrast to its natural enantiomer. Although D-(-)-4 exhibited a proapoptotic activity towards tumor cells at level lower than the chemotherapeutic agent, SN38, it was l...

Thymosin alpha-1 (Talpha1) is a molecule retaining pleiotropic effects toward several pathological conditions, especially acting as a modulator of immune response and inflammation. However, molecular mechanisms underlying the peculiar, wide-range activity of Talpha1 have not been completely elucidated. To get information on the mechanism of action...

In the present study we focused our attention on the effect of AZT, at pharmacological and suprapharmacological concentrations, on some apoptosis-related key events and, particularly, on caspase activation in fresh human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The main results can be summarized as follows: (i) AZT induced a strong, dose-depende...