Much progress has been made in the past decade in elucidating the physiological, pathophysiological and pharmacological role of Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S). Recently a function of H2S virtually in every tissue of the human organism has emerged. However, the H2S-mediated regulation of bone homeostasis has been scarcely investigated. Despite a recent increased interest in the field, many fundamental issues remain indeterminate. The main objective of this study was to increase the basic knowledge on the role of H2S in bone through in vitro and in vivo studies and develop novel therapeutic strategies for bone diseases. Ex vivo experiments revealed that H2S-generating enzymes (Cystathionine-β-synthase, CBS; Cystathionine-γ-lyase, CSE) are expressed in human bone tissues and human bone-derived cells. In vitro experiments evidenced that CBS and CSE expression is a distinctive feature of the transition of mesenchymal stromal cells (h-MSCs) toward mature osteoblast. Furthermore, loss of function experiments on CBS and CSE during osteogenic differentiation of h-MSCs revealed an impaired mineralization ability. In vivo experiments in mice highlighted the role of CBS, CSE and H2S in the maintenance of bone homeostasis and CBS, CSE and H2S were found to be depleted in post-menopausal osteoporosis. Furthermore, our in vitro and in vivo data validated the use of H2S-donors as novel potential candidates for the treatment of bone pathologies. In particular H2S administration prevented and reversed ovariectomy-induced bone loss in mice. Based on these evidences, we firstly developed an H2S-releasing hybrid drug (DM-22) by modifying a clinically relevant anti-resorptive drug in order to improve the therapy of bone loss. DM-22 displayed improved biological properties compared to the parent drug; in particular, it increased the osteogenic differentiation ability of h-MSCs. Secondly, we developed an H2S-releasing scaffold to improve bone regeneration which was permissive for h-MSCs colonization and supported their osteogenic differentiation.

L’importanza del microambiente nella progressione metastatica iniziò a delinearsi sin dalla fine del XIX secolo attraverso la teoria del “seed and soil”, proposta dal chirurgo inglese Stephen Paget (1855-1926), secondo la quale determinati tumori sono in grado di formare metastasi in organi specifici, proprio come un seme trova il terreno giusto per poter attecchire. In termini molecolari, Paget intuì come la cellula tumorale potesse esprimere molecole riconosciute solo in determinati tessuti. Negli stessi anni, il patologo americano James Ewing (1866-1943) elaborò una teoria complementaria, la “anatomical-mechanical hypothesis”, suggerendo l’idea che i sistemi linfatico e vascolare svolgessero un ruolo preponderante nella diffusione passiva delle cellule verso un determinato sito anatomicamente accessibile. Nel 1982, Bissell delineò la teoria moderna secondo cui, alla base dello sviluppo del tumore, sia il microambiente sia le mutazioni genetiche svolgono un ruolo fondamentale. Negli ultimi decenni, infatti, accanto alla definizione di cancro come malattia genetica, si è delineata l’importanza fondamentale delle interrelazioni che intercorrono tra l'epitelio tumorale e il microambiente tissutale nel processo di tumorigenesi. Il tumore è da tempo considerato un tessuto complesso, le cui cellule mutate non agiscono da sole durante la progressione del cancro, ma reclutano le normali cellule circostanti come collaboratori attivi per instaurare un fenotipo neoplastico. Se da un lato l’instabilità genomica dei tumori garantisce loro un vantaggio evolutivo continuo, permettendo a cellule sempre più resistenti e aggressive di sopravvivere alle terapie, dall’altro la loro natura malleabile ha evidenziato la necessità di attuare strategie multiple: molti studi pre-clinici e clinici hanno suggerito l’efficacia di terapie combinate che abbiano come target non solo le cellule tumorali, ma anche le componenti del microambiente e, in particolare, quelle dello stroma. / The relevance of the microenvironment in metastatic progression began to take shape since the late nineteenth century through the theory of the "seed and soil", given by the English surgeon Stephen Paget (1855-1926), according to which certain cancers are able to form metastases in specific organs, just like a seed finds the right soil to take root. In molecular terms, Paget understood as cancer cell could express molecules recognized only in certain tissues. In the same years, the American pathologist James Ewing (1866-1943) developed a complementary theory, "anatomical-mechanical hypothesis ", suggesting that the lymphatic and vascular systems could play a predominant role in the passive diffusion of cells toward a particular site anatomically accessible. In 1982, Bissell delineated the modern theory that, at the basis of tumor growth, both the microenvironment and the genetic mutations play a key role. In recent decades, in fact, next to the definition of cancer as a genetic disease, it has outlined the fundamental importance of the interrelationships that exist between the tumor epithelium and tissue microenvironment in the process of tumorigenesis. The tumor has long been considered a complex tissue, the cells of which do not act alone during the progression of cancer, but they can recruit normal surrounding cells as active collaborators to establish a neoplastic phenotype. While the genomic instability of tumors guarantees them a continuous evolutionary advantage, allowing more and more aggressive and resistant cells to survive the therapies, their malleable nature has highlighted the need to implement multiple strategies: many pre-clinical and clinical studies have suggested the efficacy of combination of therapies targeting not only the tumor cells, but also the components of the microenvironment, in particular those of the stroma.

La PKCε e la PKCδ, chinasi ubiquitariamente distribuite e ad azione pleiotropica, sono implicate del differenziamento, sopravvivenza e proliferazione cellulare. Esse sono coinvolte nel processo differenziativo delle cellule staminali ematopoietiche e in fenomeni patologici associati al compartimento sanguigno. In questa tesi sono presentati i risultati riguardanti lo studio in vitro del ruolo di PKCε e PKCδ nel contesto del differenziamento megacariocitario, in particolare si caratterizza l’espressione e la funzione di queste chinasi nel modello umano e nel modello murino di Megacariocitopoiesi, normale e patologica. Confrontando le cinetiche dei due modelli presi in analisi nello studio è stato possibile osservare come in entrambi PKCε e PKCδ dimostrino avere una chiara e specifica modulazione nel progredire del processo differenziativo. Questi dati, se confrontati, permettono di affermare che PKCε e PKCδ presentano un pattern di espressione opposto e, nel modello umano rispetto a quello murino, reciproco: nell’uomo i livelli di PKCε devono essere down-modulati, mentre nel topo, al contrario, i livelli della chinasi risultano up-modulati durante lo stesso processo. Analogamente, le CD34+ in differenziazione presentano una costante e maggiore espressione di PKCδ durante la maturazione MK, mentre nel modello murino tale proteina risulta down-modulata nella fase più tardiva di formazione della piastrina. Le chinasi mostrano in oltre di agire, nei due modelli, attraverso pathways distinti e cioè RhoA nel topo e Bcl-xL nell’uomo. È stato inoltre verificato che l’aberrante differenziamento MK osservato nella mielofibrosi primaria (PMF), è associato a difetti di espressione di PKCε e di Bcl-xL e che una forzata down-modulazione di PKCε porta ad un ripristino di un normale livello di espressione di Bcl-xL così come della popolazione di megacariociti formanti propiastrine. I dati ottenuti indicano quindi che PKCε e PKCδ svolgono un ruolo importante nel corretto differenziamento MK e che PKCε potrebbe essere un potenziale nuovo target terapeutico nelle PMF. / Protein kinases C (PKC) are known to be ubiquitously distributed and to have pleiotropic effects. Isoforms epsilon (PKCε) and delta (PKCδ) are involved in the regulation of cell growth, survival and differentiation; in particular, they have been also investigated for their role in the hematopoiesis and in aberrant processes of differentiation along the erythroid and megakaryocytic lineages. In this PhD thesis, the results of an in vitro study about the role of these two kinases in models of megakaryocytic (MK) differentiation, both normal and pathological, are presented. The observations about PKCε and PKCδ kinetics show how these proteins have a specific modulation during the MK differentiation that results in an opposite pattern of expression and, in the murine model if compared with the human model, also a reciprocal one. In particular, in human megakaryocytopoiesis, PKCε results down-modulated, whereas in mouse its levels increase. Instead, PKCδ shows a high and steady expression in maturing CD34+ MK committed, but it is strongly down-modulated during the latest phases of platelet maturation in the murine model. The study also elucidates the different pathways PKCε and PKCδ work through, being an inhibitory action of PKCε on RhoA during proplatelets (ppt) formation in the mouse model while, in the human MK differentiation, platelets production is regulated by PKCδ through Bcl-xL. In this dissertation it is also demonstrated how in an aberrant megakaryocytopoiesis, as in the pathologic model of primary myeloproliferative neoplasm (PMF), PKCε is strongly deregulated and it results in an altered Bcl-xL expression. A forced down-modulation of this kinase restores a normal MK differentiation and ppt maturation. Therefore, the data presented show that PKCε and PKCδ play a key role in proper megakaryocyte maturation and that PKCε could be a potential new therapeutic target for PMF.

L'ingegneria tissutale è un campo multidisciplinare in rapida crescita che si avvale delle scienze fisiche, ingegneristiche e della vita per sviluppare ed ottenere cellule funzionali, tessuti ed organi per riparare, sostituire o migliorare le funzioni biologiche perse a causa di anomalie congenite, traumi, malattie o invecchiamento. Nell’ambito della ricostruzione della cartilagine articolare sono stati fatti notevoli passi in avanti ma la soluzione per il ripristino completo del tessuto sembra ancora essere lontana. Nella prima parte di questo lavoro è stata valutata la capacità di uno scaffold a base di gelatina di indirizzare le ADSCs verso un differenziamento in senso condrogenico. Successivamente, con lo scopo di migliorare il grado differenziamento e diminuire i costi associati all’utilizzo di fattori differenziativi, l’attenzione è stata posta sullo sviluppo di un biomateriale a base di alginato e ioni cobalto in modo da mimare e sfruttare le caratteristiche fisiche della cartilagine piuttosto che il suo intorno chimico. In ultimo, è stato sviluppato un sistema low cost per la produzione di chip microfluidici sfruttabili per la realizzazione di sistemi micrometrici per incapsulazione cellulare. / Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary field that aims at the developmentof biological substitutes that restore, mantain, or improve tissue function. Concerning the articular cartilage many improvments were made, but the complete tissue restoration approach still lacking. In the first part of this work, it was evaluated the ability of a gelatin scaffold to promote the condrogenic differentiation of ADSCs. Successively, in order to obtain a low cost sistem, a based alginate/Cobalt scaffold was designed with the aim to take advantage of the physical features of the cartilage tissue. Finally, it was developted a cost effective method to produce microfluidic chips with the aim to obtain micro-systems for cell encapsulation.

The aim of this study is to investigate on some molecular mechanisms contributing to the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA) and in particular to the senescence of articular chondrocytes. It is focused on understanding molecular events downstream GSK3β inactivation or dependent on the activity of IKKα, a kinase that does not belong to the phenotype of healthy articular chondrocytes. Moreover, the potential of some nutraceuticals on scavenging ROS thus reducing oxidative stress, DNA damage, and chondrocyte senescence has been evaluated in vitro. The in vitro LiCl-mediated GSK3β inactivation resulted in increased mitochondrial ROS production, that impacted on cellular proliferation, with S-phase transient arrest, increased SA-β gal and PAS staining, cell size and granularity. ROS are also responsible for the of increased expression of two major oxidative lesions, i.e. 1) double strand breaks, tagged by γH2AX, that associates with activation of GADD45β and p21, and 2) 8-oxo-dG adducts, that associate with increased IKKα and MMP-10 expression. The pattern observed in vitro was confirmed on cartilage from OA patients. IKKa dramatically affects the intensity of the DNA damage response induced by oxidative stress (H2O2 exposure) in chondrocytes, as evidenced by silencing strategies. At early time point an higher percentage of γH2AX positive cells and more foci in IKKa-KD cells are observed, but IKKa KD cells proved to almost completely recover after 24 hours respect to their controls. Telomere attrition is also reduced in IKKaKD. Finally MSH6 and MLH1 genes are up-regulated in IKKαKD cells but not in control cells. Hydroxytyrosol and Spermidine have a great ROS scavenging capacity in vitro. Both treatments revert the H2O2 dependent increase of cell death and γH2AX-foci formation and senescence, suggesting the ability of increasing cell homeostasis. These data indicate that nutraceuticals represent a great challenge in OA management, for both therapeutical and preventive purposes.

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