1,721,075 research outputs found
Bridging the gap between basic science and clinical curricula: lessons from SARS-COV-2 pandemic
No full textWe read with great interest the inspiring collection of papers Education in Anatomy (Volume 43, issue 4, April 2021), and we wish to share our scientific view on this topic. Everybody knows that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread to become a global pandemic. From studies on Neanderthal’s gene clusters associated with severe COVID-19 [5], to vaccine and therapeutics development, histopathological examination of patient’s tissues, and structural basis of virus protein’s antigenicity, the worldwide research community is spending tremendous efforts in understanding COVID-19 disease. Can we exploit all this knowledge to make anatomy more relevant for the future
Anatomy at the threshold: Teaching the human body in a hybrid age
No full textAs emerging technologies reshape both the body and how we represent it, anatomical education stands at a threshold. Virtual dissection tools, AI-generated images, and immersive platforms are redefining how students learn anatomy, while real-world bodies are becoming hybridized through implants, neural interfaces, and bioengineered components. This Viewpoint explores what it means to teach human anatomy when the body is no longer entirely natural, and the image is no longer entirely real. Based on recent evidence and educational reflections, it suggests that anatomy can serve as a critical human science, one that goes beyond structural knowledge, encouraging students to develop visual literacy, structural reasoning, and ethical awareness. As experiences with donated bodies are replaced with digital models, students risk losing contact with the lived, variable, and vulnerable aspects of the human form. Yet, rather than resisting change, anatomists can respond by integrating new tools within a pedagogical model grounded in presence and meaning. In an age where biology and technology are converging with unexpected speed, anatomy offers a powerful lens to question not only how bodies work, but what bodies mean. The role of the anatomist is therefore both conservative and visionary: to hold the line of deep biological knowledge, while opening the door to critical engagement with the hybrid human condition
Reclaiming Anatomy as Method: From Morphological Reasoning to Clinical Relevance
No full textIn recent decades, molecular biology and omics technologies have profoundly reshaped biomedical research, with genomics, proteomics, and other high-throughput approaches dominating scientific agendas and funding priorities. Within this molecular paradigm, however, the anatomical sciences face an epistemic and institutional tension: morphology, historically grounded in the study of form, structure, and spatial relationships, is increasingly framed as merely descriptive or obsolete. This Viewpoint moves beyond the familiar narrative of a “decline of anatomy” to argue for its strategic reinvention as a core scientific method. Anatomy is not simply a body of knowledge but a way of seeing and reasoning that remains essential for understanding biological systems. Morphological thinking—linking structure to function in situ—provides integrative insights that cannot be derived from molecular data alone. Based on historical perspectives, epistemology, and recent advances in imaging and integrative methodologies, we show how anatomy continues to drive hypothesis generation, biomedical innovation, and clinical decision-making. Using the Italian academic system as a case study, we highlight the growing institutional disconnect between anatomical teaching and morphologically grounded research, exacerbated by metric-driven evaluation frameworks. Finally, we propose a roadmap for embedding morphology within emerging platforms such as spatial biology, high-resolution imaging, and AI-assisted analysis, reclaiming anatomy as a methodological compass for navigating biological complexity and clinical translation
Seeing structure, losing sight: The case for morphological thinking in the age of integration
No full textIn the age of genomics, artificial intelligence (AI), and systems biology, morphology risks becoming an invisible discipline, present in the background, but often unacknowledged in its interpretative power. Biology, however, remains spatial, structured, and shaped. From subcellular compartments to complex organ systems, form continues to inform function. The ability to recognize, describe, and interpret structures across biological scales is a foundational scientific competence. Morphology is not merely descriptive; it is integrative. Morphological sciences bridge developmental, cellular, and evolutionary biology, revealing how gene activity, signaling dynamics, and mechanical forces influence biological architecture. Morphological thinking enables scientists to contextualize molecular processes within the spatial complexity of cells, tissues, and organs. Paradoxically, while technological tools for visualizing structures are expanding rapidly, the number of scientists trained in morphological reasoning is shrinking. If left unaddressed, this erosion threatens to undermine both the scientific depth and translational relevance of biological research. This commentary argues that rediscovering morphology is not a nostalgic act, but a necessary one. We must affirm morphological thinking as a core scientific competence, reframe educational practices to sustain spatial reasoning, and integrate morphology into the evolving world of AI-driven imaging and systems biology
An easy and reliable way to preoperatively identify the auriculo-temporal nerve in migraine surgery
No full textImaging Endocytosis Dynamics in Health and Disease
No full textEndocytosis is a critical process for cell growth and viability. It mediates nutrient uptake, guarantees plasma membrane homeostasis, and generates intracellular signaling cascades. Moreover, it plays an important role in dead cell clearance and defense against external microbes. Finally, endocytosis is an important cellular route for the delivery of nanomedicines for therapeutic treatments. Thus, it is not surprising that both environmental and genetic perturbation of endocytosis have been associated with several human conditions such as cancer, neurological disorders, and virus infections, among others. Over the last decades, a lot of research has been focused on developing advanced imaging methods to monitor endocytosis events with high resolution in living cells and tissues. These include fluorescence imaging, electron microscopy, and correlative and super-resolution microscopy. In this review, we outline the major endocytic pathways and briefly discuss how defects in the molecular machinery of these pathways lead to disease. We then discuss the current imaging methodologies used to study endocytosis in different contexts, highlighting strengths and weaknesses
Microscopy Research and Technique virtual issue:“Correlative light and electron microscopy”
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Interactions between Glycine and Glutamate through Activation of Their Transporters in Hippocampal Nerve Terminals
No full textEvidence supports the pathophysiological relevance of crosstalk between the neurotransmitters Glycine and Glutamate and their close interactions; some reports even support the possibility of Glycine–Glutamate cotransmission in central nervous system (CNS) areas, including the hippocampus. Functional studies with isolated nerve terminals (synaptosomes) permit us to study transporter-mediated interactions between neurotransmitters that lead to the regulation of transmitter release. Our main aims here were: (i) to investigate release-regulating, transporter-mediated interactions between Glycine and Glutamate in hippocampal nerve terminals and (ii) to determine the coexistence of transporters for Glycine and Glutamate in these terminals. Purified synaptosomes, analyzed at the ultrastructural level via electron microscopy, were used as the experimental model. Mouse hippocampal synaptosomes were prelabeled with [3H]D-Aspartate or [3H]Glycine; the release of radiolabeled tracers was monitored with the superfusion technique. The main findings were that (i) exogenous Glycine stimulated [3H]D-Aspartate release, partly by activation of GlyT1 and in part, unusually, through GlyT2 transporters and that (ii) D-Aspartate stimulated [3H]glycine release by a process that was sensitive to Glutamate transporter blockers. Based on the features of the experimental model used, it is suggested that functional transporters for Glutamate and Glycine coexist in a small subset of hippocampal nerve terminals, a condition that may also be compatible with cotransmission; glycinergic and glutamatergic transporters exhibit different functions and mediate interactions between the neurotransmitters. It is hoped that increased information on Glutamate–Glycine interactions in different areas, including the hippocampus, will contribute to a better knowledge of drugs acting at “glycinergic” targets, currently under study in relation with different CNS pathologies
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