Responsible: Adrianna Ianora

Activities

The Biotechnology Laboratory is a multidisciplinary lab that uses and develops different approaches dedicated to the study of marine drug discovery. Research activities include sampling, isolation and maintenance of marine species of biotechnological interest (especially microalgae), preparation of chemical extracts, testing the potential bioactivity at the gene and protein levels of extracts on human cells and model marine organisms.

Experimental Systems

• Molecular and chemical facilities applied to marine biotechnology.
• Human cell culture chambers (biological hood type 1, incubator for human cells, microscopes).
• Rooms for microalgal growth.
• Room with 2 Bioreactors.

Analysis

• Isolation and maintenance of microalgae for potential biotechnological applications.
• Cultivation of microalgae at the small (flasks), medium (10L carboys) and large scale (photobioreactors 100 L).
• Genotyping of new species by DNA sequencing.
• Bioassays testing biological activity of extracts, fractions and pure compounds on marine model species and human cell lines.
• Antiproliferative and clonogenic bioassays against aggressive tumor cell lines.
• Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory bioassays on normal cell lines.
• Cellular senescence (anti-aging)bioassays.
• Chronic human diseases (diabetes, Alzheimer's, Crohn's disease) bioassays.
• Molecular studies at the gene and protein levels to identify specific pathways activated by bioactive compounds on human cells (retroviral transfection, PCR array, immunoblot, ELISA).
• Transcriptome analysis of microalgal species.

Equipment

• Basic instrumentation for molecular biology and protein analysis (PCR, centrifuges, electrophoresis apparatus, transilluminator, thermostatic baths, spectrophotometer, pH meter, transblot).
• Biological Type 2 hood for micralgal cultures.
• Chemical hood.
• Microscopes.
• 2 photobioreactors (100 L).

Reference: Anna Palumbo

Laboratory equipped for studies of the biochemistry of marine organisms including adaptive responses and immune system.

It includes an area for analysis of proteins and nucleic acids, and classic and basic biological laboratory equipments.

Systems for the experimentation

• UV Spectrophotometer UV, recording spectra of UV/visible and enzyme kinetics.
• electrophoresis on polyacrylamide and agarose gel.
• Centrifuges.
• Chromatography.

Analysis

• Measure of the response of marine organisms (adult and embryonic and larval stages) to environmental factors.
• Morphological characterization and evaluation of biochemical parameters (doses of enzyme activities, evaluation of the cellular redox state).
• Gene Expression, proteins and post-translational modifications induced by stress.
• Purification and biological characterization of proteins and metabolites from marine organisms.

AmphioxusNOS - Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG)

Corbel - Coordinated Research Infrastructures Building Enduring Life-science Services

EvoCell - Animal evolution from a cell type perspective: multidisciplinary training in single-cell genomics, evo-devo and in science outreach

FIRB, MIUR-Cineca - Non-Coding RNA Explosion: Novel Implications in Neurotrophin Biology

MouZeCLINIC - Empowering an integrated platform for the study of human diseases with great impact by means of system phenotyping of model animals: mouse and zebrafish clinic

Neptune - Multidisciplinarity training in evo-devo and neurobiology of marine animal models

PANTRAC - Gut patterning and PANcreas development in evolution and disease: a TRAnsCriptomic approach

Reference: Graziano Fiorito

Analysis of the behavior of marine organisms and its adaptive plasticity.

It includes apparata for image and video analysis, video recordings, morphological and morpho-functional analysis of the nervous system and other organs and systems.

Classic and basic biological laboratory equipments are also provided.

Systems for the experimentation

• Technologies for the observation and measurement of behavior.
• Systems for the morpho-functional analysis.
• Anterograde and retrograde transport in nerve fibers. Electrophysiology as applied to nervous system.
• Ultrasound and sonography.

Analysis and approaches

• Morfo-functional characterization of neural systems as applied to marine invertebrates.
• Biological, cellular and physiological analysis of learning and memory recall.
• Neural modulation.
• Assessment of variability of behavioral responses.
• Analysis sensory-motor systems.

Equipment

• Ultrasound devices.
• Sliding and rotary microtomes, cryostat.
• Video cameras and video-recording systems (digital and analogue).