European Frontiers in Neurosciences EFN: Lettura Magistrale Prof. Francesco Di Virgilio

Lettura Magistrale Prof. Francesco Di Virgilio
Aula A, Torre Biologica Biometec
21 novembre 2022 ore 17:00

Giorno 21 novembre, ore 17:00 presso l' Aula A della Torre Biologica Biometec si terrà il seminario del Professore Francesco Di Virgilio  dal titolo:

“Extracellular ATP and purinergic receptors: a novel, and yet ancient, pro-inflammatory pathway”

Tale seminario rientra nell'ambito dell'European Frontiers Neurosciences 2022-2023, (EFN) organizzato dai Proff. Filippo Drago e  Claudio Bucolo.

Per partecipare alla Lecture è necessario iscriversi  cliccando qui

Per ogni giornata verrà rilasciato a tutti i partecipanti che lo richiederanno un attestato di partecipazione.

Nucleotides play a crucial role in extracellular signaling across species boundaries. All the three kingdoms of life (Bacteria, Archea and Eukariota) are responsive to extracellular ATP (eATP) and many release this and other nucleotides. Thus, eATP fulfills different functions, many related to danger-sensing or avoidance reactions. Basically all living organisms have evolved sensors for eATP and other nucleotides with very different affinity and selectivity, thus conferring a remarkable plasticity to this signaling system. Likewise, different intracellular transduction systems were associated during evolution to different receptors for eATP. In mammalian evolution, control of intracellular ATP (iATP) and eATP homeostasis has been closely intertwined with that of Ca2+, whether in the extracellular milieu or in the cytoplasm, establishing an inverse reciprocal relationship, i.e. high extracellular Ca2+ levels are associated to negligible eATP, while  low intracellular Ca2+ levels are associated to high eATP concentrations. This inverse relationship is crucial for the messenger functions of both molecules. Extracellular ATP is sensed by specific plasma membrane receptors of widely different affinity named P2 receptors (P2Rs) of which 17 subtypes are known. This confers a remarkable plasticity to P2R signaling. Immune cells are a privileged site for purinergic signaling as most express multiple P2Rs. Accruing evidence suggests that eATP is a fundamental constituent of the inflammatory milieu and that modulation of its concentration nay have important effects on inflammation.