Medicinal Chemistry

Giuseppe Maurizio Campo

Giuseppe Maurizio Campo
Aggregate Professor of Biochemistry and Medical Chemistry School of Medicine
University of Messina
Italy

Biography

Dr. Giuseppe Maurizio Campo was born in Novara di Sicilia, Italy, September the 16th, 1963. He followed doctoral Degree Courses in Biological Sciences at the University' of Messina from 1987 to 1998 he attended the Institute of Pharmacology, School of Medicine at the University' of Messina. In years 1990-1992 he worked as scientific adviser of the FIDIA Research Laboratories of Abano Terme and the Cifa-gesco Consortium of Rome for the study and development of new drugs. In the October 1992 he obtained the Specialization Degree in "Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry" at the University' of. Messina. In the year 1993 he obtained a postdoctoral scholarship of the CNR for a stage at the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences and Technology, at the Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. In 1994 he got the PhD in "Experimental Medicine", at the University' of Messina. Since December 1998 Dr. Campo is Aggregate Professor of Biochemistry at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Messina.

Research Interest

The scientific researches of Prof. Giuseppe Maurizio Campo are focalised on the physiopathological study of the glycosaminoglycans into the more common human pathologies and in pathological experimental models in animals. He has been set up several pathological experimental models in rodents such as acute cirrhosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hepatic fibrosis and pancreatitis in order to study and to evaluate the effective role of glycosaminoglycans with the aim to apply these studies in humans. The role of glycosaminoglycans and their antioxidant activity is also studied on human skin fibroblast cultures and the evaluation of glycosaminoglycans interactions with MMPs and TIMPs. He also assessed the direct action of the glycosaminoglycans of transcription factors such as NF-kB and initiators of apoptosis such as caspases. Other research has been conducted on the increased synthesis of hyaluronic acid, by fibroblast in culture medium after treatment with certain growth factors and cytokines, and the synergic action exerted by oxidative stress. Several experiments to assess the different action of hyaluronic acid, according to its molecular weight, of normal cells or treated with pro-inflammatory agents, and modulating its activity on receptors such as CD44 and TLRs. With particular interest is currently being investigated the role of glycosaminoglycans, Hyaluronic acid especially, in experimental arthritis, both in vivo and in vitro together with all the mediators related to the inflammatory process.