The purely endoscopic endonasal technique may provide a minimally invasive and safe approach to radically resect selected tumors involving the ITF and UPS. Larger case series and longer follow-up are needed to validate the reproducibility and efficacy of this technique.

Snail mucus is a mixture of active substances commonly thought to have healthy properties for the treatment of skin disorders. Although snail mucus is an ingredient of several cosmetic and para-pharmaceutic products, a comprehensive characterization of chemical composition and biological effects is still missing. Crude purified extracts from Helix aspersa muller mucus (HelixComplex) were prepared and, after chemical characterization, tested on in vitro experimental models. Differently from what expected, HelixComplex was characterized by the presence of small amounts of glycolic acid and allantoin. By using different in vitro assays on fibroblast cultures, we found that HelixComplex lacked of cytotoxicity, protected cells from apoptosis (p < 0.05) and, importantly, was able to significantly induce cell proliferation and migration through direct and indirect mechanisms. These effects were associated to morphological changes, cytoskeleton re-organization and release of cytokines. In conclusion, our findings suggest that snail mucus biological effects are attributable to cell proliferation and migration, and pave the way for further investigating snail mucus potential as therapeutic agent.

Alterations in the abundance or activities of alternative splicing regulators generate alternatively spliced variants that contribute to multiple aspects of tumor establishment, progression and resistance to therapeutic treatments. Notably, many cancer-associated genes are regulated through alternative splicing suggesting a significant role of this post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism in the production of oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Thus, the study of alternative splicing in cancer might provide a better understanding of the malignant transformation and identify novel pathways that are uniquely relevant to tumorigenesis. Understanding the molecular underpinnings of cancer-associated alternative splicing isoforms will not only help to explain many fundamental hallmarks of cancer, but will also offer unprecedented opportunities to improve the efficacy of anti-cancer treatments.

Vascular lumen formation is a fundamental step during angiogenesis; yet, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are poorly understood. Recent studies have shown that neural and vascular systems share common anatomical, functional and molecular similarities. Here we show that the organization of endothelial lumen is controlled at the post-transcriptional level by the alternative splicing (AS) regulator Nova2, which was previously considered to be neural cell-specific. Nova2 is expressed during angiogenesis and its depletion disrupts vascular lumen formation in vivo. Similarly, Nova2 depletion in cultured endothelial cells (ECs) impairs the apical distribution and the downstream signalling of the Par polarity complex, resulting in altered EC polarity, a process required for vascular lumen formation. These defects are linked to AS changes of Nova2 target exons affecting the Par complex and its regulators. Collectively, our results reveal that Nova2 functions as an AS regulator in angiogenesis and is a novel member of the ‘angioneurins' family.