A Nutritional Approach to the Prevention of Cancer: from Assessment to Personalized Intervention.

Among lifestyle factors, nutrition is one of the most important determinants of health, and represents a pivotal element of cancer risk. Nonetheless, epidemiological evidences of the relationship between several cancers and specific foods and nutrients is still inadequate, and solid conclusions are missing. Indeed, caloric restriction without malnutrition is associated to cancer prevention. Food may be also the primary route of exposure to contaminants such as metals, persistent organic pollutants, and pesticides. Exposuredisease associations and the interplay with genetic susceptibility requires further studies on genetic variation, environment, lifestyle, and chronic disease in order to eliminate and reduce associated health risks, thus contributing to improve health outcomes for the population. A primary nutritional approach for Active and Healthy Ageing (AHA) has been developed by the Nutrition group of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on AHA. The working group on lifestyles of the Italian Ministry of Health has developed a comprehensive approach to adequate nutrition using a consensus methodology to collect and integrate the available evidences from the literature and from the Italian experiences at the regional level, to raise the interest of other experts and relevant stakeholders to outline and scale-up joint strategies for a primary nutritional approach to cancer prevention.

Sisters Acts: Converging Signaling Between CaMKII and CaMKIV, Two Members of the Same Family.

Calcium (Ca(2+)) is a universal second messenger that regulates a number of diverse cellular processes including cell proliferation, development, motility, secretion, learning and memory1, 2. A variety of stimuli, such as hormones, growth factors, cytokines, and neurotransmitters induce changes in the intracellular levels of Ca(2+). The most ubiquitous and abundant protein that serves as a receptor to sense changes in Ca(2+) concentrations is Calmodulin (CaM), thus mediating the role as second messenger of this ion. The Ca(2+)/CaM complex initiates a plethora of signaling cascades that culminate in alteration of cell functions. Among the many Ca(2+)/CaM binding proteins, the multifunctional protein kinases CaMKII and CaMKIV play pivotal roles in the cell.