Comparative Anatomy and Cytology Laboratory

Referent: Dr. Vittorio Bertone

Researches mainly concern topics of cell biology, with particular reference to differentiation (morpho-phenotypic plasticity) and cytokinetic aspects in cellular systems in vivo and in vitro (cell proliferation epolyploidization, apoptotic death) relating to different tissues and organs of Vertebrates and Humans, with particular reference to the liver parenchyma. Studies are carried on under normal conditions (biological cycles of heterotherms), experimental (exposure to xenobiotics, drugs, radiation and stress from hypoxia and organ perfusion) and pathological (transformation and neoplastic invasion), also analyzing the mechanisms of cellular degeneration on an apoptotic and autophagocytic basis. Main research methodologies are of cyto-histochemical nature using bright field and fluorescence microscopy, with in situ visualization of specific enzymatic protein activities, in situ immunohistochemical marking of different molecules and morphometry through digital image analysis.