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REDOX BIOCHEMISTRY, PHYSIOLOGY & PHARMACOLOGY

Welcome

The oxygen-, nitrogen- and sulfur-containing reactive species (respectively known as ROS, RNS and RSS) are subject to a tuned control in normal cells and tissues, where they play a role in the maintenance of redox homeostasis. An unbalance in these reactive species is a fingerprint of several diseases, including chronic infections, inflammatory disorders, vascular failure, neurodegeneration and cancer.

Biological activity of antioxidant molecules is crucial to counteract the overflow of reactive species in response to pro-oxidant insults; however, recent findings highlighted the Janus-faced properties of both free radicals and antioxidants, owing to the complexity of the cellular machinery involved in the response to oxidative stress.

The upgrade from in vitro studies to potential therapeutic applications of natural or synthetic antioxidants proved not to be straightforward, due to several aspects ranging from inefficient delivery and assimilation to paradoxical effects, revealing how challenging pharmacological recovery from an unbalanced redox homeostasis can be.

Deepening our knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying the modulation of ROS, RNS and RSS bioavailability, their crosstalk and interaction with antioxidant compounds is key to figure out how to sustain and possibly enhance the cell response to redox unbalance.

Finally, the identification of the key players in cell redox pathways and of new biological markers of oxidative stress is paramount to develop innovative diagnostic tools or pharmacological interventions against pathological conditions associated to persistent oxidative stress, with a view of criticism toward current trends of massive antioxidant consumption.

These topics will be addressed in a series of webinars where scientists actively working in the field will have the opportunity to share their recent research progresses.

LAST WEBINAR

NRF2 and Neuroinflammation

June 12, 2023
15:00-17:00
Central European Summer Time (CEST= GMT+2= UTC+2)

Participation is free of charge but registration is compulsory.
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Organising Committee

Marzia Arese

Sapienza University of Rome
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Brigitta Buttari

Istituto Superiore di Sanità
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Antonio Cuadrado

Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
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Alessandro Giuffrè

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - CNR
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Mauro Maccarrone

University of L'Aquila
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Luciano Saso

Sapienza University of Rome
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IN COOPERATION WITH

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Marzia Arese

Marzia Arese (marzia.arese@uniroma1.it) is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Department of Biological Sciences “A. Rossi Fanelli”, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. She was awarded her PhD in Biochemistry in 1999. She is the author of 38 peer-reviewed scientific papers (H-index: 21; total IF: 138). She is a member of the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular biology (SIB) and attended several international scientific conferences with oral and poster presentations. Her main research topics include the investigation of nitric oxide (NO) signaling, nitro-oxidative stress and the regulation of the mitochondrial function and bioenergetics. She teaches Chemistry and Introduction to Biochemistry at the Medicine and Surgery Master’s Degree and Biochemistry at the Nursing degree, faculty of Medicine and Psychology and of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome.

Brigitta Buttari

Brigitta Buttari (brigitta.buttari@iss.it) is a Researcher at Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS- Italian National Institute of Health), Dept. of Cardiovascular and Endocrine-metabolic Diseases, and Aging, in Rome, Italy. She was awarded Specialty in Applied Biotechnology in 2003 and PhD in Medical Microbiology and Immunology in 2008. Her main research interest is the study of cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in initiation and progression of age-related diseases as atherosclerosis. A special research interest include the investigation of the functional spectrum of macrophage polarization state and the modulation of the M1/ M2 macrophage balance towards an anti-inflammatory and reparative profile. Recently her interests have extended to natural compounds as modulators of oxidative stress and cellular processes such as apoptosis, autophagy to prevent cell damage and to suppress inflammation through modulation of the Keap1-NRF2 signalling pathway. She teaches Pharmacovigilance of Nutraceutical products at the Master’s Degree in “Stress, Sport and Nutrition” at Sapienza University of Rome. She attended several international scientific conferences with oral and poster presentations. Currently, she has signed around 80 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, with an H-index of 31.

Antonio Cuadrado

Antonio Cuadrado is full professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Department of Biochemistry, Medical School, Autonomous University of Madrid. He obtained his PhD degree in 1985 and enjoyed several postdoctoral stays in the National Cancer Institute-NIH with the help of Fulbright and Fogarty fellowships. He established his independent laboratory as Professor of Biochemistry in 1997 with a main interest on the study of molecular mechanisms involved in initiation and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. For the past years his main lane of research has been the validation of transcription factor NRF2, master regulator of cellular homeostasis, with four main lines of activity: i) The transcription factor NRF2 as a new therapeutic target in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. ii) Role of oxidative stress in neuronal death and neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. iii) Pharmacological regulation of autophagy in the brain as a novel therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative proteinopathies. iv) Development of new NRF2-modulating drugs. Dr. Cuadrado has been awarded several research projects funded by private, local, and governmental agencies to study the molecular basis of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. He has published over 150 primary and review articles, of which more than 80 are related to neuroprotection in preclinical models of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, that have been cited over 12500 times. He is grant and fellowship evaluation consultant for Spanish governmental and autonomic agencies. As a professor, Dr. Cuadrado has participated in multiple teaching activities for the Bachelor degrees of Biochemistry and Medicine, with special focus on research training. Prof. Cuadrado received a Testimonial of Recognition by the Tohoku Medical Society. Sendai, Japan, in 2014. He is Honorary Scientist at “Victor Babes National Institute of Pahtology” Bucharest, Romania since 2017. In 2019, he was invested Doctor Honoris Causa by Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania.

Alessandro Giuffrè

Alessandro Giuffrè (alessandro.giuffre@cnr.it) is a Senior Researcher of the National Research Council of Italy (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – CNR). Since 2020 he is Director of the CNR Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM) in Rome. Since he was awarded his PhD in Biochemistry in 1997, he has investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the metabolism of O2, nitric oxide (NO) and their related reactive species, with the ultimate goal of elucidating the role of these molecules in human physiology and pathophysiology. His research has focused on a variety of microbial and human enzymes able to metabolize O2, NO and related species, as well as on the effects of NO on cellular bioenergetics. More recently his interests have extended also to H2S, another important small gaseous molecule with a key role in cell signaling. Currently, he has signed around 100 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, with an H-index of 35 and more than 3.700 citations.

Mauro Maccarrone

Mauro Maccarrone, Dr. Enzymology and Bio-Organic Chemistry, is Professor and Chair of Biochemistry at the Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L’Aquila (Italy). He is also Head of the Lipid Neurochemistry Unit at the European Center for Brain Research – IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome. For his research activity he has received the “4th Royan International Research Award for Reproductive Biomedicine” (2003), the “2007 IACM (International Association for Cannabis as Medicine) Award for Basic Research”, the “2016 Mechoulam Award”, the “2020 Tu Youyou Award”, and the “2020 International Space Station Research and Development Award” by the American Astronautical Society with NASA and CASIS. Chair of the 2015 Gordon Research Conference on “Cannabinoid Function in the CNS”. Visiting Professor at Leiden University (Leiden Institute of Chemistry, The Netherlands) in 2017, and at University of Cambridge (Department of Psychology, U.K.) in 2019. Faculty member of The Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, since 2019. Visiting Professor of the National University of Rosario (Argentina) in 2021. Published more than 510 full papers, of which 65 with I.F. ≥ 9 (total I.F. > 2600; citations >18000, h-index = 70 according to Scopus). Due to his scientific activity and impact, is included by Stanford University in the “World Top 2% Scientists’ List” of the most-cited authors, where he is in the top 6% of scientists of all disciplines, and in the top 2‰ of biochemists. He is also listed among the “Top Italian Scientists”.

Luciano Saso

Prof. Luciano Saso (luciano.saso@uniroma1.it) is a Member of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy (http://en.uniroma1.it/). He is author of more than 300 original scientific articles published in peer reviewed international journals with impact factor (H-index Google Scholar = 54, H-index SCOPUS = 45) working mainly in the field of pharmacological modulation of oxidative stress. He coordinated several international research projects and has been referee for many national and international funding agencies and international scientific journals in the last 25 years. He has been Editor and Guest Editor of Special Issues of different international journals including ANTIOXIDANTS, JOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACOLOGY, FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY, FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE, MOLECULES, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES. More information is available at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Luciano-Saso.
Prof. Saso has extensive experience in international relations and he has been Vice-Rector at Sapienza University of Rome in the last 7 years. In the last 15 years, he participated in several projects and has been speaker and chair at many international conferences .