Linking foods of the Mediterranean basin, their nutrients and nutrient-based metabolites to physiologically-responsive cellular targets (proteins) in the human retina
Interview of John Paul SanGiovanni
Thursday, 23rd June 2022, at Press Room of the Chamber of Deputies, Rome
On Thursday, June 23rd, 2022, a new and innovative spin-off, Magisnat, will be presented via a telematic conference connecting America and Italy. The event will be hosted in the Press Room of the Italian Chamber of Deputies (Rome, Italy).
Several topics will be discussed at this conference, such as the importance of promoting the Mediterranean diet, of scientific research on natural molecules, of developing food supplements to help those who are unable to follow a healthy Mediterranean diet, and of exporting typical products of the Italian culinary culture.
Several American and Italian researchers and professors will attend it, including Professor John Paul SanGiovanni, BIO5 Institute and School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness at University of Arizona (Tucson, USA). The title of his presentation is “Linking foods of the Mediterranean basin, their nutrients and nutrient-based metabolites to physiologically-responsive cellular targets (proteins) in the human retina”.
In particular, Prof. SanGiovanni will talk about the methods he applied to identify chemical-target relationships with the potential for identifying preventive and therapeutic interventions. The foods that provide the chemicals can be examined in GWAS and TWAS studies for associations that point to biologically plausible relationships. It is much more than biophysics and it is necessary to make inferences in the context of physiology, so there are issues related to bioactivity and delivery to the targets. In his presentation he will also give some examples from his work on the role of nutrients in foods of the Mediterranean diet as ligands to nuclear receptors, influencing transcriptional programs of nucleic acid products that in turn influence the pathophysiology of some common retinal diseases. He will speak about the roles of these nutrients as cofactors in enzyme complexes that influence key physiologic events, important for retinal cell rescue and survival.
Moreover, he states that a healthy lifestyle and diet can reduce the likelihood of developing or slow the progress of retinal pathologies that lead to visual impairment. In conclusion, his methods are new and innovatives, and will hopefully yield novel therapies.
Several topics will be discussed at this conference, such as the importance of promoting the Mediterranean diet, of scientific research on natural molecules, of developing food supplements to help those who are unable to follow a healthy Mediterranean diet, and of exporting typical products of the Italian culinary culture.
Several American and Italian researchers and professors will attend it, including Professor John Paul SanGiovanni, BIO5 Institute and School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness at University of Arizona (Tucson, USA). The title of his presentation is “Linking foods of the Mediterranean basin, their nutrients and nutrient-based metabolites to physiologically-responsive cellular targets (proteins) in the human retina”.
In particular, Prof. SanGiovanni will talk about the methods he applied to identify chemical-target relationships with the potential for identifying preventive and therapeutic interventions. The foods that provide the chemicals can be examined in GWAS and TWAS studies for associations that point to biologically plausible relationships. It is much more than biophysics and it is necessary to make inferences in the context of physiology, so there are issues related to bioactivity and delivery to the targets. In his presentation he will also give some examples from his work on the role of nutrients in foods of the Mediterranean diet as ligands to nuclear receptors, influencing transcriptional programs of nucleic acid products that in turn influence the pathophysiology of some common retinal diseases. He will speak about the roles of these nutrients as cofactors in enzyme complexes that influence key physiologic events, important for retinal cell rescue and survival.
Moreover, he states that a healthy lifestyle and diet can reduce the likelihood of developing or slow the progress of retinal pathologies that lead to visual impairment. In conclusion, his methods are new and innovatives, and will hopefully yield novel therapies.