Upcoming DISIT Seminars

Conventional 2D cell cultures remain essential tools in biomedical research but fail to reproduce the cellular complexity, spatial organization, and dynamic interactions of human tissues. Animal models provide a more integrated biological context, yet interspecies differences can limit their ability to predict human responses and clinical outcomes. Human organoids and assembloids, as part of the emerging New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), offer a promising bridge between conventional in vitro systems and animal models by recapitulating key features of human tissue architecture, cellular heterogeneity, and function within a physiologically relevant 3D environment. Their increasing complexity is opening new opportunities for disease modelling, drug testing, toxicology, and regenerative medicine, while also highlighting challenges related to maturation, reproducibility, standardization, and scalability. In this presentation, these opportunities and limitations will be discussed through our experience in developing and applying human organoid and assembloid platforms, with a particular focus on pancreatic and lung models (1-5).

References

1. Iachini MC, Coglot A, Tace D, Rusconi F, Cosentino F, Elia N, Scarpa E, Crosti MC, Lopez G, D’Amore A, Miceli V, Rosso L, Lazzari L. Generation of human 3D airway assembloids for advanced modeling. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 21:6234-6251, 2025, doi: 10.7150/ijbs.113920
2. Cherubini A, Pistoni C, Iachini MC, Mei C, Rusconi F, Peli V, Barilani M, Tace D, Elia N, Lepore F, Caporale V, Piemonti L, Lazzari L. R-spondins secreted by human pancreas-derived mesenchymal stromal cells support pancreatic organoid proliferation. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 82:125, 2025. doi: 10.1007/s00018-025-05658-0
3. Cherubini A, Rusconi F, Piras R, Wächtershäuser KN, Dossena M, Barilani M, Mei C, Hof L, Sordi V, Pampaloni F, Dolo V, Piemonti L, Lazzari L. Exploring human pancreatic organoid modelling through single-cell RNA sequencing analysis. Communications Biology 7:1527, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07193-3
4. 4Winkler AS, Cherubini A, Rusconi F, Santo N, Madaschi L, Pistoni C, Moschetti G, Sarnicola ML, Crosti M, Rosso L, Tremolada P, Lazzari L, Bacchetta R. Human airway organoids and microplastic fibers: A new exposure model for emerging contaminants. Environment International 163:107200, 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107200
5. Dossena M, Piras R, Cherubini A, Barilani M, Dugnani E, Salanitro F, Pampaloni F, Piemonti L, Lazzari L. Standardized GMP-compliant scalable production of human pancreas organoids. Stem Cell Research and Therapy 11:94, 2020. doi: 10.1186/s13287-020-1585-2

SEMINAR FLYER

The issue of critical raw materials has become increasingly important in recent years. This is due to several factors, foremost among them the continuous and increasingly intensive exploitation of natural resources, which has surged and grown exponentially since the middle of the last century. Added to this is a more recent factor related to the materials needed for the increasingly widespread information and communication technologies (ICT), as well as those required for the energy system’s transition to a novel system based on renewable energy. Some of the chemical elements used in new technologies are scarce or have already been heavily exploited in the past. For some of them, there is a risk of depletion in the not-too-distant future. For this reason, the issue of the intelligent use of these precious resources is urgent and must be based on the concept of reusing and recycling every possible material. We will address this complex issue from a chemical perspective, starting with the elements of Mendeleev’s periodic table and their abundance. However, it is impossible to ignore the geological implications that determine the actual availability of a given element and the economic and geopolitical issues that determine the overall availability of a given raw material. We will address this complex picture by concluding with some specific examples related to elements that are particularly interesting such as lithium, gold, rare earths and phosphorous.

References

1. E. Giamello, Materie prime che muovono il mondo: rare, critiche, contese, 2026, Il Mulino, Bologna

SEMINAR FLYER

Our research examines how plant-derived bioactive compounds and endogenous regulators influence inflammation, oxidative stress and metabolism in disease.

Our bench-to-table approach combines cellular studies, animal models and nutritional interventions. Lupin protein hydrolysates show anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and lipid-lowering effects, reducing cholesterol, visceral adiposity and fatty liver changes. This work extends to fermented beverages and hydrolysates obtained from food-production by-products, targeting obesity, dyslipidaemia, gut dysbiosis and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

This work led us to examine whether bioactive peptides could act together with melatonin. Although best known for regulating sleep and circadian rhythms, melatonin also influences immune responses, oxidative balance and cellular protection. We currently study the combined effects of lupin peptides and melatonin on obesity, metabolic dysfunction and fatty liver disease through animal models and clinical research.

This connection extends to multiple sclerosis. In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, melatonin reduces immune-cell infiltration into the central nervous system, limits Th1 and Th17 responses, promotes regulatory immunity and enhances corticosteroid effects. These results supported MELATOMS-1, a clinical trial of melatonin with ocrelizumab in primary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Our newest collaboration with Valentina Audrito’s group investigates NAMPT, a molecule that connects metabolism and inflammation. Inside cells, NAMPT maintains NAD production; outside cells, it can act as an inflammatory signal. By selectively inhibiting its intracellular activity or neutralizing its extracellular actions, we aim to determine how each function contributes to immune activation, neurological disability and central nervous system damage in EAE.

Together, these lines trace a continuous path from nutrition to immunometabolism and neuroinflammation, opening opportunities for collaboration across biology, chemistry, data science and quantitative modelling.

SEMINAR FLYER