Mental disorders account for one of the most prevalent categories of the burden of disease worldwide, with depression expected to be the largest contributor by 2030, closely followed by anxiety. The COVID-19 pandemic possibly exacerbated these challenges, especially amongst adolescents, who experienced isolation, disrupted routines, and limited healthcare access. Notably, the pandemic has been associated with long-term neurological effects known as “long-COVID”, characterized by both cognitive and psychopathological symptoms. In general, psychiatric disorders, including those related to long-COVID, are supposed to be due to widespread inflammation leading to neuroinflammation. Recently, the endocannabinoid system (ECS) emerged as a potential target for addressing depression and anxiety pathophysiology. Specifically, natural or synthetic cannabinoids, able to selectively interact with cannabinoid type-2 receptor (CB2R), recently revealed new therapeutic potential in neuropsychiatric disorders with limited or absent psychotropic activity. Among the most promising natural CB2R ligands, the bicyclic sesquiterpene β-caryophyllene (BCP) has emerged as an excellent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant therapeutic agent. This review underscores BCP’s immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, highlighting its therapeutic potential for the management of depression and anxiety.

Background: Glioblastoma (GB) is the most severe form of brain cancer, with a 12-15 month median survival. Surgical resection, temozolomide (TMZ) treatment, and radiotherapy remain the primary therapeutic options for GB, and no new therapies have been introduced in recent years. This therapeutic standstill is primarily due to preclinical approaches that do not fully respect the complexity of GB cell biology and fail to test efficiently anti-cancer treatments. Therefore, better treatment screening approaches are needed. In this study, we have developed a novel functional precision medicine approach to test the response to anticancer treatments in organoids derived from the resected tumors of glioblastoma patients.Methods: GB organoids were grown for a short period of time to prevent any genetic and morphological evolution and divergence from the tumor of origin. We chose metabolic imaging by NAD(P)H fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to predict early and non-invasively ex-vivo anti-cancer treatment responses of GB organoids. TMZ was used as the benchmark drug to validate the approach. Whole-transcriptome and whole-exome analyses were performed to characterize tumor cases stratification.Results: Our functional precision medicine approach was completed within one week after surgery and two groups of TMZ Responder and Non-Responder tumors were identified. FLIM-based metabolic tumor stratification was well reflected at the molecular level, confirming the validity of our approach, highlighting also new target genes associated with TMZ treatment and identifying a new 17-gene molecular signature associated with survival. The number of MGMT gene promoter methylated tumors was higher in the responsive group, as expected, however, some non-methylated tumor cases turned out to be nevertheless responsive to TMZ, suggesting that our procedure could be synergistic with the classical MGMT methylation biomarker.Conclusions: For the first time, FLIM-based metabolic imaging was used on live glioblastoma organoids. Unlike other approaches, ex-vivo patient-tailored drug response is performed at an early stage of tumor culturing with no animal involvement and with minimal tampering with the original tumor cytoarchitecture. This functional precision medicine approach can be exploited in a range of clinical and laboratory settings to improve the clinical management of GB patients and implemented on other cancers as well.

Pancreatic islet transplantation is a therapeutic option for achieving physiologic regulation of plasma glucose in Type 1 diabetic patients. At the same time, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have demonstrated their potential in controlling graft rejection, the most fearsome complication in organ/tissue transplantation. MSCs can interact with innate and adaptive immune system cells either through direct cell-cell contact or through their secretome including exosomes. In this review, we discuss current findings regarding the graft microenvironment of pancreatic islet recipient patients and the crucial role of MSCs operation as cell managers able to control the immune system to prevent rejection and promote endogenous repair. We also discuss how challenging stressors, such as oxidative stress and impaired vasculogenesis, may jeopardize graft outcomes. In order to face these adverse conditions, we consider either hypoxia-exposure preconditioning of MSCs or human stem cells with angiogenic potential in organoids to overcome islets’ lack of vasculature. Along with the shepherding of carbon nanotubes-loaded MSCs to the transplantation site by a magnetic field, these studies look forward to exploiting MSCs stemness and their immunomodulatory properties in pancreatic islet transplantation.

Summary. MUC1 is a large surface glycoprotein expressed by epithelial cells, which is overexpressed and aberrantly glycosylated in carcinomas. MUC1 is involved in epithelial cell interactions and appears to function as a signal‐transducing molecule. The finding that MUC1 can also be expressed in the haematopoietic lineages prompted us to further investigate the possible function(s) of this molecule in haematopoietic cells. In bone marrow differentiating cells, MUC1 was strongly and selectively expressed during erythropoiesis; it was also weakly expressed during megakaryocytopoiesis and granulomonocytopoiesis; however, no correlation between MUC1 and differentiation marker expression was observed in these lineages. In vitro CD34⁺ cells, induced towards erythroid differentiation, acquired MUC1 transiently, while expressing increasing levels of the lineage marker glycophorin A. MUC1 was absent in the circulating erythrocytes. During erythropoiesis, MUC1 expression was transcriptionally regulated and the molecule underwent phosphorylation. To investigate the possible role of MUC1 during erythropoiesis, we studied the ability of MUC1 to act as ligand for cell–cell interaction. The sialylated MUC1 glycoforms selectively expressed on erythroid cells were able to bind the macrophage‐restricted molecule sialoadhesin. These results suggest that MUC1 can function as a cross‐talk molecule between the erythroblasts and the surrounding cells during erythropoiesis.

In recent years, advancements in the treatment of hematologic neoplasms have led to more effective and less toxic therapeutic schemes, resulting in prolonged patient life expectancy. However, the success of these treatments has also brought about an increased prevalence of cardiovascular adverse events, becoming a significant concern for the growing population of cancer survivors. Antineoplastic therapies, targeting both tumor and organ vessels, contribute to vascular toxicity, influenced by genetic factors and pre-existing vascular diseases. Chemotherapeutic agents and targeted treatments can induce cardiovascular toxicity by affecting endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes through various mechanisms, including hypoxia, vasculature abnormalities, and direct effects on cardiomyocytes. Cardiovascular adverse events encompass a wide range, from cardiac dysfunction to an elevated risk of arrhythmias. While early cardiac events are well-described in clinical trials, delayed toxicities are gaining relevance due to prolonged patient survival. The review focuses on the cardiac and vascular toxicity of antineoplastic drugs in hematological disorders, providing insights into the molecular physiopathology of cancer therapy-associated cardiotoxicity. Understanding how these drugs interact with the heart and blood vessels is essential for predicting, detecting, and managing chemotherapy-related heart issues.

Aim: to exploit tissue-specific interactions among thymic epithelial tumor (TETs) cells and extra-domain B fibronectin (ED-B FN). Material and methods: The stromal pattern of ED-B FN expression was investigated through tumor specimen collection and molecular profiling in 11 patients with recurrent TETs enrolled in prospective theragnostic phase I/II trials with Radretumab, an ED-B FN specific recombinant human antibody. Radretumab radioimmunotherapy (R-RIT) was offered to patients who exhibited the target expression. Experiments included immunochemical analysis (ICH), cell cultures, immunophenotypic analysis, Western blot, slot-blot assay, and quantitative RT-PCR of two primary thymoma cultures we obtained from patients’ samples and in the Ty82 cell line. Results: The in vivo scintigraphic demonstration of ED-B FN expression resulted in R-RIT eligibility in 8/11 patients, of which seven were treated. The best observed response was disease stabilization (n = 5/7) with a duration of 4.3 months (range 3–5 months). IHC data confirmed high ED-B FN expression in the peripherical microenvironment rather than in the center of the tumor, which was more abundant in B3 thymomas. Further, there was a predominant expression of ED-B FN by the stromal cells of the thymoma microenvironment rather than the epithelial cells. Conclusions: Our data support the hypothesis that thymomas induce stromal cells to shift FN production to the ED-B subtype, likely representing a favorable hallmark for tumor progression and metastasis. Collectively, results derived from clinical experience and molecular insights of the in vitro experiments suggested that R-RIT inefficacy is unlikely related to low target expression in TET, being the mechanism of R-RIT resistance eventually related to patients’ susceptibility (i.e., inherent characteristics), the pattern expression of the target (i.e., at periphery), the biological characteristics of the tumor (i.e., aggressive and resistant phenotypes), and/or to format of the target agent (i.e., 131I-L19-SIP).