University of Palermo

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Medicine

Exosomal miRNA Analysis in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Patients' Plasma Through qPCR: A Feasible Liquid Biopsy Tool

Marco Giallombardo^*1,2, Jorge Chacártegui Borrás^*2,3, Marta Castiglia⁴, Nele Van Der Steen³, Inge Mertens^5,6, Patrick Pauwels^7,3, Marc Peeters^8,3, Christian Rolfo^2,3

¹Department of Biopathology and Medical Biotechnology, Section of Biology and Genetics, University of Palermo, ²Phase I-Early Clinical Trials Unit, Oncology Department, Antwerp University Hospital (UZA), ³Center for Oncological Research (CORE), Antwerp University, ⁴Department of Surgical, Oncological and Oral Sciences, Section of Medical Oncology, University of Palermo, ⁵Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), ⁶CORE, Campus Groenenborger, Antwerp University, ⁷Molecular Pathology, Pathology Department, Antwerp University Hospital (UZA), ⁸Oncology Department, Antwerp University Hospital (UZA)

This protocol describes the feasibility to perform miRNA profiling in exosomes, released in plasma of NSCLC patients, through a commercial exosome isolation kit with Proteinase K and RNAse treatments, in order to avoid circulating miRNAs contamination and evaluate their biomarker features in NSCLC.

Bioengineering

A Facile and Eco-friendly Route to Fabricate Poly(Lactic Acid) Scaffolds with Graded Pore Size

Roberto Scaffaro¹, Francesco Lopresti¹, Luigi Botta¹, Andrea Maio¹, Fiorenza Sutera¹, Maria Chiara Mistretta¹, Francesco Paolo La Mantia¹

¹Department of civil, environmental, aerospace, and materials engineering (DICAM), RU INSTM, University of Palermo

In this work, poly(lactic acid)/polyethylene glycol (PLA/PEG) scaffolds were prepared by using a combination of melt mixing and selective leaching. The method herein discussed permitted to develop three-layer scaffolds by highly controlling both porosity and pore size. The mechanical properties were also evaluated in a physiological environment.

JoVE Core

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs

Benjamin MacLellan^*1, Piotr Roztocki^*1, Michael Kues^1,2, Christian Reimer¹, Luis Romero Cortés¹, Yanbing Zhang¹, Stefania Sciara^1,3, Benjamin Wetzel^1,4, Alfonso Cino³, Sai T. Chu⁵, Brent E. Little⁶, David J. Moss⁷, Lucia Caspani⁸, José Azaña¹, Roberto Morandotti^1,9,10

¹Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique - Centre Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications (INRS-EMT), ²School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, ³Department of Energy, Information Engineering and Mathematical Models, University of Palermo, ⁴School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Sussex, ⁵Department of Physics and Material Science, City University of Hong Kong, ⁶State Key Laboratory of Transient Optics and Photonics, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Science, ⁷Centre for Micro Photonics, Swinburne University of Technology, ⁸Institute of Photonics, Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, ⁹Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, ¹⁰National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics

A protocol is presented for the practical generation and coherent manipulation of high-dimensional frequency-bin entangled photon states using integrated micro-cavities and standard telecommunications components, respectively.