Gaetano "Nino" Salvatore (28 July 1932 – 25 June 1997) was an Italian

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

known for his extensive research on the

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

gland. He spent the majority of his career in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Stazione Zoologica The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn is a research institute in Naples, Italy, devoted to basic research in biology. Research is largely interdisciplinary involving the fields of evolution, biochemistry, molecular biology, neurobiology, cell bio ...

and the

University of Naples Federico II The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...

, while also spending periods at the American

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

and in France.

Life and career

Salvatore studied medicine at the

and, after graduating, travelled to Paris to work at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

with the endocrinologist Jean Roche. During his time in Paris from 1956 to 1958, he developed an interest in endocrinology and particularly the

gland. He returned to Naples in 1959 and continued to collaborate with Roche on research into thyroid diseases at the

. In 1961, he moved to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

before relocating again in 1962 to the United States, where he worked in Jacob Robbins and Joseph Edward Rall's laboratory at the

(NIH) in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

, until 1964. Salvatore returned to Naples in 1964, where he hosted many foreign investigators, and continued to visit laboratories across Europe and the United States. He intermittently spent time at the NIH in Bethesda, where he was a professor of general pathology between 1972 and 1974, and received a NIH Fogarty Scholarship in 1977. He headed the Centre of Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology of the Italian

National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...

(CNR) from 1972 to 1997 and served as dean of the University of Naples Federico II medical school from 1981 to 1997. He was also president of Stazione Zoologica from 1987 and chair of the CNR Committee for Biotechnology from 1994, both until his death in 1997. He successfully advocated for the introduction of

iodised salt Iodised salt ( also spelled iodized salt) is table salt mixed with a minute amount of various salts of the element iodine. The ingestion of iodine prevents iodine deficiency. Worldwide, iodine deficiency affects about two billion people and is t ...

to prevent

endemic goitre Endemic goiter is a type of goitre that is associated with dietary iodine deficiency. Cause Some inland areas where soil and water lacks in iodine compounds and consumption of marine foods is low are known for higher incidence of goitre. In such ...

and universal

newborn screening Newborn screening (NBS) is a public health program of screening in infants shortly after birth for conditions that are treatable, but not clinically evident in the newborn period. The goal is to identify infants at risk for these conditions e ...

for

congenital hypothyroidism Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is thyroid hormone deficiency present at birth. If untreated for several months after birth, severe congenital hypothyroidism can lead to growth failure and permanent intellectual disability. Infants born with con ...

in Italy.

Research

Salvatore's early research at the NIH focused on the synthesis and structure of

thyroglobulin Thyroglobulin (Tg) is a 660 kDa, dimeric glycoprotein produced by the follicular cells of the thyroid and used entirely within the thyroid gland. Tg is secreted and accumulated at hundreds of grams per litre in the extracellular compartment ...

. He discovered in the 1960s that thyroid hormones can be found in the lowest classes of vertebrates and invertebrates. At the NIH, he and his collaborators developed a method for purifying and isolating thyroid iodoproteins (proteins containing iodine) and subsequently discovered a new iodoprotein named 27S thyroglobulin. In the 1980s, he developed the FRTL-5 cell line of rat thyroid cells that was adopted worldwide for performing various functions of the thyroid gland in ''in vitro'' experiments. He also contributed to the discovery of the ''RET'' proto-oncogene's role in thyroid cancer and the role of various other genes in thyroid development. His last research paper, published posthumously, covered the synthesis of thyroid hormones within the thyroglobulin molecule.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salvatore, Nino 1932 births 1997 deaths Italian endocrinologists Italian medical researchers Physicians from Naples University of Naples Federico II alumni Academic staff of the University of Naples Federico II National Institutes of Health faculty National Research Council (Italy) people