Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences

Research products

Selected research products

Pubblicazioni

Seclì L, Avalle L, Poggio P, Fragale G, Cannata C, Conti L, Iannucci A, Carrà G, Rubinetto C, Miniscalco B, Hirsch E, Poli V, Morotti A, De Andrea M, Turco E, Cavallo F, Fusella F, Brancaccio M. Targeting the extracellular HSP90 co-chaperone Morgana inhibits cancer cell migration and promotes anti-cancer immunity. Cancer Res. 2021 Jun 30:canres.3150.2020. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-3150. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34193441

Carrà G, Ermondi G, Riganti C, Righi L, Caron G, Menga A, Capelletto E, Maffeo B, Lingua MF, Fusella F, Volante M, Taulli R, Guerrasio A, Novello S, Brancaccio M, Piazza R, Morotti A. IκBα targeting promotes oxidative stress-dependent cell death. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2021 Apr 16;40(1):136. doi: 10.1186/s13046-021-01921-x. PMID: 33863364

Seclì L, Fusella F, Avalle L, Brancaccio M. The dark-side of the outside: how extracellular heat shock proteins promote cancer. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2021 May;78(9):4069-4083. doi: 10.1007/s00018-021-03764-3. Epub 2021 Feb 5. PMID: 33544155

Gorza L, Sorge M, Seclì L, Brancaccio M. Master Regulators of Muscle Atrophy: Role of Costamere Components. Cells. 2021 Jan 3;10(1):E61. doi: 10.3390/cells10010061. PMID: 33401549.

Seclì L, Sorge M, Morotti A, Brancaccio M. Blocking Extracellular Chaperones to Improve Cardiac Regeneration. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2020 May 26;8:411. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00411. PMID: 32528937; PMCID: PMC7264090.

Andreani G, Carrà G, Lingua MF, Maffeo B, Brancaccio M, Taulli R, Morotti A. Tumor Suppressors in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: From Lost Partners to Active Targets. Cancers (Basel). 2020 Mar 9;12(3). pii: E629. doi: 10.3390/cancers12030629. Review. PubMed PMID: 32182763.

Vitadello M, Sorge M, Percivalle E, Germinario E, Danieli-Betto D, Turco E, Tarone G, Brancaccio M, Gorza L. Loss of melusin is a novel, neuronal NO synthase/FoxO3-independent master switch of unloading-induced muscle atrophy. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2020 Mar 10. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12546. PubMed PMID: 32154658.

Carrà G, Nicoli P, Lingua MF, Maffeo B, Cartellà A, Circosta P, Brancaccio M, Parvis G, Gaidano V, Guerrasio A, Saglio G, Taulli R, Morotti A. Inhibition of bromodomain and extra-terminal proteins increases sensitivity to venetoclax in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. J Cell Mol Med. 2020 Jan;24(2):1650-1657. doi: 10.1111/jcmm.14857. Epub 2019 Dec 10. PubMed PMID: 31821686.

Fusella F, Seclì L, Cannata C, Brancaccio M. The one thousand and one chaperones of the NF-κB pathway. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2019 Dec 6. doi: 10.1007/s00018-019-03402-z. [Epub ahead of print] Review. PubMed PMID: 31811308. 

Brancaccio M, Pirozzi F, Hirsch E, Ghigo A. Mechanisms underlying the cross-talk between heart and cancer. J Physiol. 2019 Jul 6. doi: 10.1113/JP276746.

Gazzano E, Buondonno I, Marengo A, Rolando B, Chegaev K, Kopecka J, Saponara S, Sorge M, Hattinger CM, Gasco A, Fruttero R, Brancaccio M, Serra M, Stella B, Fattal E, Arpicco S, Riganti C. Hyaluronated liposomes containing H2S-releasing doxorubicin are effective against P-glycoprotein-positive/doxorubicin-resistant osteosarcoma cells and xenografts. Cancer Lett. 2019 Apr 29;456:29-39. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2019.04.029. PubMed PMID: 31047947.

Fusella F, Seclì L, Brancaccio M. Escaping NK cells and recruiting neutrophils: How Morgana/NF-κB signaling promotes metastasis. Mol Cell Oncol. 2018 Jan 30;5(3):e1432258. doi: 10.1080/23723556.2018.1432258. eCollection 2018. PubMed PMID: 30250889.

Vozzi F, Logrand F, Cabiati M, Cicione C, Boffito M, Carmagnola I, Vitale N, Gori M, Brancaccio M, Del Ry S, Gastaldi D, Cattarinuzzi E, Vena P, Rainer A, Domenici C, Ciardelli G, Sartori S. Biomimetic engineering of the cardiac tissue through processing, functionalization, and biological characterization of polyester urethanes. Biomed Mater. 2018 Jul 3;13(5):055006. doi: 10.1088/1748-605X/aaca5b. PubMed PMID: 29869614.

Boffito M, Di Meglio F, Mozetic P, Giannitelli SM, Carmagnola I, Castaldo C, Nurzynska D, Sacco AM, Miraglia R, Montagnani S, Vitale N, Brancaccio M, Tarone G, Basoli F, Rainer A, Trombetta M, Ciardelli G, Chiono V. Surface functionalization of polyurethane scaffolds mimicking the myocardial microenvironment to support cardiac primitive cells. PLoS One. 2018 Jul 6;13(7):e0199896. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199896. eCollection 2018. PubMed PMID: 29979710.

Penna C, Sorge M, Femminò S, Pagliaro P, Brancaccio M. Redox Aspects of Chaperones in Cardiac Function. Front Physiol. 2018 Mar 16;9:216. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00216. PubMed PMID: 29615920.

Rocca S, Carrà G, Poggio P, Morotti A, Brancaccio M. Targeting few to help hundreds: JAK, MAPK and ROCK pathways as druggable targets in atypical chronic myeloid leukemia. Mol Cancer. 2018 Feb 19;17(1):40. doi:10.1186/s12943-018-0774-4. Review. PubMed PMID: 29455651.

Gazzano E, Rolando B, Chegaev K, Salaroglio IC, Kopecka J, Pedrini I, Saponara S, Sorge M, Buondonno I, Stella B, Marengo A, Valoti M, Brancaccio M, Fruttero R, Gasco A, Arpicco S, Riganti C. Folate-targeted liposomal nitrooxy-doxorubicin: An effective tool against P-glycoprotein-positive and folate receptor-positive tumors. J Control Release. 2018 Jan 28;270:37-52. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2017.11.042. Epub 2017 Dec 2. PubMed PMID: 29191785.

Fusella F, Seclì L, Busso E, Krepelova A, Moiso E, Rocca S, Conti L, Annaratone L, Rubinetto C, Mello-Grand M, Singh V, Chiorino G, Silengo L, Altruda F, Turco E, Morotti A, Oliviero S, Castellano I, Cavallo F, Provero P, Tarone G, Brancaccio M. The IKK/NF-κB signaling pathway requires Morgana to drive breast cancer metastasis. Nat Commun. 2017 Nov 21;8(1):1636. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01829-1. PubMed PMID: 29158506.

Gesmundo I, Miragoli M, Carullo P, Trovato L, Larcher V, Di Pasquale E, Brancaccio M, Mazzola M, Villanova T, Sorge M, Taliano M, Gallo MP, Alloatti G, Penna C, Hare JM, Ghigo E, Schally AV, Condorelli G, Granata R. Growth hormone-releasing hormone attenuates cardiac hypertrophy and improves heart function in pressure overload-induced heart failure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Nov 7;114(45):12033-12038. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1712612114. Epub 2017 Oct 25.

Politano G, Logrand F, Brancaccio M, Di Carlo S. In-silico cardiac aging regulatory model including microRNA post-transcriptional regulation. Methods. 2017 Jun 8. pii: S1046-2023(17)30040-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2017.06.002.

Carrà G, Panuzzo C, Torti D, Parvis G, Crivellaro S, Familiari U, Volante M, Morena D, Lingua MF, Brancaccio M, Guerrasio A, Pandolfi PP, Saglio G, Taulli R, Morotti A. Therapeutic inhibition of USP7-PTEN network in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a strategy to overcome TP53 mutated/deleted clones. Oncotarget. 2017 Mar 17. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.16348.

Fagoonee S, Picco G, Orso F, Arrigoni A, Longo DL, Forni M, Scarfò I, Cassenti A, Piva R, Cassoni P, Silengo L, Tolosano E, Aime S, Taverna D, Pandolfi PP, Brancaccio M, Medico E, Altruda F. The RNA-binding protein ESRP1 promotes human colorectal cancer progression. Oncotarget. 2017 Feb 7;8(6):10007-10024. doi:10.18632/oncotarget.14318.

Morotti A, Rocca S, Carrà G, Saglio G, Brancaccio M. Modeling myeloproliferative neoplasms: From mutations to mouse models and back again. Blood Rev. 2016 Nov 24. pii: S0268-960X(16)30034-0. doi:10.1016/j.blre.2016.11.004.

Sorge M and Brancaccio M. Melusin Promotes a Protective Signal Transduction Cascade in Stressed Hearts. Front Mol Biosci. 2016 Sep 12;3:53. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2016.00053. eCollection 2016.

Brancaccio, M., Rocca, S., Secli, L., Busso, E. and Fusella, F. The double face of Morgana in tumorigenesis. Oncotarget. 2015 Dec 15;6(40):42603-12. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.6058.

Di Savino A, Panuzzo C, Rocca S, Familiari U, Piazza R, Crivellaro S, Carrà G, Ferretti R, Fusella F, Giugliano E, Camporeale A, Franco I, Miniscalco B, Cutrin JC, Turco E, Silengo L, Hirsch E, Rege-Cambrin G, Gambacorti-Passerini C, Pandolfi PP, Papotti M, Saglio G, Tarone G, Morotti A, Brancaccio M. Morgana acts as an oncosuppressor in chronic myeloid leukemia. Blood. 2015 Feb 12. pii: blood-2014-05-575001. Epub 2015 Feb 12.

Tarone G, Brancaccio M. The muscle-specific chaperone protein melusin is a potent cardioprotective agent.Basic Res Cardiol. 2015 Mar;110(2):466. doi: 10.1007/s00395-015-0466-9. Epub 2015 Feb 5.

Penna C*, Brancaccio M*, Tullio F, Rubinetto C, Perrelli MG, Angotti C, Pagliaro P, Tarone G. Overexpression of the muscle-specific protein, melusin, protects from cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury.Basic Res Cardiol. 2014 Jul;109(4):418. doi: 10.1007/s00395-014-0418-9. Epub 2014 May 25. (* co-first authors)

Fusella F, Ferretti R, Recupero D, Rocca S, Di Savino A, Tornillo G, Silengo L, Turco E, Cabodi S, Provero P, Pandolfi PP, Sapino A, Tarone G, Brancaccio M. Morgana acts as a proto-oncogene through inhibition of a ROCK-PTEN pathway. J Pathol. 2014 Oct;234(2):152-63. doi: 10.1002/path.4341. Epub 2014 Aug 6.

Tarone G, Brancaccio M. Keep your heart in shape: molecular chaperone networks for treating heart disease. Cardiovasc Res. 2014 Jun 1;102(3):346-61. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvu049.

Unsöld B, Kaul A, Sbroggiò M, Schubert C, Regitz-Zagrosek V, Brancaccio M, Damilano F, Hirsch E, van Bilsen M, Munts C, Sipido K, Bito V, Detre E, Wagner NM, Schäfer K, Seidler T, Vogt J, Neef S, Bleckmann A, Maier LS, Balligand JL, Bouzin C, Clapier RV, Garnier A, Eschenhagen T, El-Armouche A, Knöll R, Tarone G, Hasenfuß G. Melusin protects from cardiac rupture and improves functional remodelling after myocardial infarction. Cardiovasc Res. 2014 Jan 1;101(1):97-107. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvt235. Epub 2013 Oct 15.

Tarone G, Sbroggiò M, Brancaccio M. Key role of ERK1/2 molecular scaffolds in heart pathology.

Cell Mol Life Sci. 2013 Nov;70(21):4047-54. doi: 10.1007/s00018-013-1321-5. Epub 2013 Mar 27.

Ferretti R, Sbroggiò M, Di Savino A, Fusella F, Bertero A, Michowski W, Tarone G, Brancaccio M. Morgana and Melusin: Two fairies chaperoning signal transduction. Cell Cycle. 2011 Nov 1;10(21):3678-83. doi: 10.4161/cc.10.21.18202. Epub 2011 Nov 1.

Sbroggiò M, Bertero A, Velasco S, Fusella F, De Blasio E, Bahou WF, Silengo L, Turco E, Brancaccio M, Tarone G. ERK1/2 activation in heart is controlled by melusin, focal adhesion kinase and the scaffold protein IQGAP1. J Cell Sci. 2011, 124:3515-24.

Waardenberg AJ, Bernardo BC, Ng DC, Shepherd PR, Cemerlang N, Sbroggiò M, Wells CA, Dalrymple BP, Brancaccio M, Lin RC, McMullen JR. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K(p110alpha)) directly regulates key components of the Z-disc and cardiac structure. J Biol Chem. 2011:30837-46.

Mauro Sbroggiò, Daniela Carnevale, Alessandro Bertero, Giuseppe Cifelli, Emanuele De Blasio, Giada Mascio, Emilio Hirsch, Wadie F. Bahou, Emilia Turco, Lorenzo Silengo, Mara Brancaccio, Giuseppe Lembo and Guido Tarone. IQGAP1 regulates ERK1/2 and AKT signaling in the heart and sustains functional remodeling upon pressure overload. Cardiovasc Res. 2011 91:456-64.

Kazuhiko Hanashiro, Mara Brancaccio, Kenji Fukasawa. Activated ROCK II by-passes the requirement of the CDK2 activity for centrosome duplication and amplification. Oncogene. 2011 30:2188-97

Wojciech Michowski, Roberta Ferretti, Marta B. Wisniewska, Mateusz Ambrozkiewicz, Malgorzata Beresewicz, Federica Fusella, Anna Skibinska-Kijek, Barbara Zablocka, Mara Brancaccio, Guido Tarone and Jacek Kuznicki. (2010). Morgana/CHP-1 is a novel chaperone able to protect cells from stress. Biochim Biophys Acta 1803:1043-9.

Roberta Ferretti, Valeria Palumbo, Augusta Di Savino, Silvia Velasco, Mauro Sbroggiò, Paolo Sportoletti, Lucia Micale, Emilia Turco, Lorenzo Silengo, Gioacchino Palumbo, Emilio Hirsch, Julie Teruya-Feldstein, Silvia Bonaccorsi, Pier Paolo Pandolfi, Maurizio Gatti, Guido Tarone, Mara Brancaccio. Morgana/chp-1, a ROCK Inhibitor Involved in Centrosome Duplication and Tumorigenesis. (2010) Dev Cell 18: 486–495.

Valeria Palumbo, Ludovica Segat, Lara Padovan, Antonio Amoroso, Bruno Trimarco, Raffaele Izzo, Giuseppe Lembo, Vera Regiz Zagrosek, Ralph Knoll, Mara Brancaccio, Guido Tarone, and Sergio Crovella. Melusin gene (ITGB1BP2) nucleotide variations study in hypertensive and cardiopathic patients (2009) BMC Med Genet. 10:140

Mara Brancaccio, Emilia Turco, Emilio Hirsch (2008). Tissue-Specific KO of ECM Proteins. In: Charles H. Streuli and Michael E. Grant. Methods in Molecular Biology. vol. 139-parte III, p. 147-178, Totowa: Humana Press Editors, ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-89603-624-6, doi: 10.1385/1-59259-063-2:147

Mauro Sbroggiò, Roberta Ferretti, Elena Percivalle, Malgorzata Gutkowska, Alicja Zylicz, Wojciech Michowski, Jacek Kuznicki, Federica Accornero, Beniamina Pacchioni, Gerolamo Lanfranchi, Jorg Hamm, Emilia Turco, Lorenzo Silengo, Guido Tarone and Mara Brancaccio. The mammalian CHORD-containing protein melusin is a stress response protein interacting with Hsp90 and Sgt1. (2008) FEBS Lett. 582:1788-1794

Gisella Volpe, Alessandro Cignetti, Cristina Panuzzo, Mirela Kuka, Katiuscia Vitaggio, Mara Brancaccio, Giuseppe Perrone, Monica Rinaldi, Giuseppina Prato, Milena Fava, Massimo Geuna, Marisa Pautasso, Claudia Casnici, Emanuela Signori, Giancarlo Tonon, Guido Tarone, Ornella Marelli, Vito M. Fazio and Giuseppe Saglio. Alternative BCR/ABL splice variants in Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemias result in novel tumor-specific fusion proteins that may represent potential targets for immunotherapy approaches. (2007) Cancer Res.;67:5300-7.

Sebastian Brokat, Jenny Thomas, Lars R. Herda, Christoph Knosalla, Reinhard Pregla, Mara Brancaccio, Federica Accornero, Guido Tarone, Roland Hetzer and Vera Regitz-Zagrosek. Altered melusin expression in the hearts of aortic stenosis patients. (2007) Eur J Heart Fail 9, 568-573.

Mara Brancaccio, Emilio Hirsch, Antonella Notte, Giulio Selvetella, Giuseppe Lembo, Guido Tarone. Integrin signalling: The tug-of-war in heart hypertrophy. (2006) Cardiovasc Res.,70:422-33

Marika De Acetis, Antonella Notte, Federica Accornero, Giulio Selvetella, Mara Brancaccio, Carmine Vecchione, Mauro Sbroggiò, Federica Collino, Beniamina Pacchioni, Gerolamo Lanfranchi, Alessandra Aretini, Roberta Ferretti, Angelo Maffei, Fiorella Altruda, Lorenzo Silengo, Guido Tarone, Giuseppe Lembo. Cardiac overexpression of melusin protects from dilated cardiomyopathy due to long-standing pressure overload. (2005) Circ Res.,96:1087-94.

Carmine Vecchione, Enrico Patrucco, Gennaro Marino, Laura Barberis, Roberta Poulet, Alessandra Aretini, Angelo Maffei, Maria Teresa Gentile, Marianna Storto, Ornella Azzolino, Mara Brancaccio, Gian Luca Colussi, Umberto Bettarini, Fiorella Altruda, Lorenzo Silengo, Guido Tarone, Mathias P. Wymann, Emilio Hirsch, and Giuseppe Lembo. Protection from angiotensin II-mediated vasculotoxic and hypertensive response in mice lacking PI3Kgamma. (2005), J Exp Med., 201:1217-28.

Enrico Patrucco, Antonella Notte, Laura Barberis, Giulio Selvetella, Angelo Maffei, Mara Brancaccio, Stefano Marengo, Giovanni Russo, Ornella Azzolino, Sergei D. Rybalkin, Lorenzo Silengo, Fiorella Altruda, Reinhard Wetzker, Matthias P. Wymann, Giuseppe Lembo and Emilio Hirsch. PI3Kgamma modulates the cardiac response to chronic pressure overload by distinct kinase-dependent and -independent effects.(2004). Cell,118:274-6.

Anastasi G, Amato A, Tarone G, Vita G, Monici MC, Magaudda L, Brancaccio M, Sidoti A, Trimarchi F, Favaloro A, Cutroneo G. Distribution and localization of vinculin-talin-integrin system and dystrophin-glycoprotein complex in human skeletal muscle. Immunohistochemical study using confocal laser scanning microscopy. (2003) Cells Tissues Organs, 175:151-64.

Guido Tarone , Emilio Hirsch , Mara Brancaccio, Marika De Acetis , Laura Barberis, Fiorella Balzac , Saverio Francesco Retta, Cristina Botta, Fiorella Altruda, Lorenzo Silengo. Integrin function and regulation in development (2000).Int J Dev Biol; 44:725-31.

Mara Brancaccio, Nadia Menini, Daniela Bongioanni, Roberta Ferretti, Marika De Acetis, Lorenzo Silengo, Guido Tarone. Chp-1 and melusin, two CHORD containing proteins in vertebrates (2003).FEBS Lett., 551: 47-52.

Mara Brancaccio, Luigi Fratta, Antonella Notte, Emilio Hirsch, Roberta Poulet, Simona Guazzone, Marika De Acetis, Carmine Vecchione, Gennaro Marino, Fiorella Altruda, Lorenzo Silengo, Guido Tarone & Giuseppe Lembo. Melusin, a muscle-specific integrin β₁–interacting protein, is required to prevent cardiac failure in response to chronic pressure overload (2003). Nat Med; 9:68-75.

Simona Degani, Fiorella Balzac, Mara Brancaccio, Simona Guazzone, Saverio Francesco Retta, Lorenzo Silengo, Alessandra Eva and Guido Tarone.The integrin cytoplasmic domain-associated protein ICAP-1 binds and regulates Rho family GTPases during cell spreading (2002) J Cell Biol; 156:377-87.

Emilio Hirsch, Laura Barberis, Mara Brancaccio, Ornella Azzolino, Dazhong Xu, John M. Kyriakis, Lorenzo Silengo, Filippo G. Giancotti, Guido Tarone, Reinhard Fässler and Fiorella Altruda. Defective Rac-mediated proliferation and survival after targeted mutation of thebeta1 integrin cytodomain (2002). J Cell Biol; 157:481-92.

Laura Barberis, Kishore K. Wary, Giusy Fiucci, Feng Liu, Emilio Hirsch, Mara Brancaccio, Fiorella Altruda, Guido Tarone, and Filippo G. Giancotti. Distinct roles of the adaptor protein Shc and focal adhesion kinase in integrin signaling to ERK (2000). J Biol Chem; 275:36532-40.

Emilio Hirsch, Mara Brancaccio, Fiorella Altruda. Tissue specific KO of ECM proteins. (2000) Methods Mol Biol;139:147-78.

Mara Brancaccio, Simona Guazzone, Nadia Menini, Elena Sibona, Emilio Hirsch, Marco De Andrea, Mariano Rocchi, Fiorella Altruda, Guido Tarone, Lorenzo Silengo. Melusin is a new muscle-specific interactor for b1 integrin cytoplasmic domain. (1999) J. Biol. Chem 274:29282-29288.

Emilio Hirsch, Mara Brancaccio. Gli animali transgenici: frontiera tra la ricerca fondamentale e applicata. (1999) Biotech 2: 17-25.

Mara Brancaccio, Sara Cabodi, Alexey M. Belkin, Ginetta Collo, Victor E. Koteliansky, Daniela Tomatis, Fiorella Altruda, Lorenzo Silengo e Guido Tarone. Differential onset of expression of alpha7 and beta1D integrin during mouse heart and skeletal muscle development.(1998) Cell Adhesion and Communication 5: 193-205.

Courses

• ADE La segnalazione recettoriale nei processi pato-fisiologici (MED3303)
  Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino
• BIOLOGIA CELLULARE (INT0642)
  Corso di Laurea in Biotecnologie
• Basi biologiche (canale A) (SME0881A)
  Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino
• Basi biologiche, molecolari e di genetica umana (canale A) (SME0881)
  Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino
• Biologia Applicata (MED3112)
  Corso di laurea in Tecniche Audiometriche
• Biologia Applicata (MED3176B)
  Corso di laurea in Tecniche Audioprotesiche
• Biologia Applicata (NEU0214B)
  Corso di laurea in Tecniche di Neurofisiopatologia
• FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS (BIO0167 Pds 309-MCTB)
  Master Program in Molecular Biotechnology
• Molecular Dynamics of Cellular Processes (BIO0167A Pds 309-MCTB)
  Master Program in Molecular Biotechnology
• Molecular pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases. Instructor prof. Mara Brancaccio
  Programma MD-PhD della Scuola di Medicina
• SCIENZE BIOMEDICHE (MED3112)
  Corso di laurea in Tecniche Audiometriche
• SCIENZE BIOMEDICHE (MED3176)
  Corso di laurea in Tecniche Audioprotesiche
• SCIENZE BIOMEDICHE (NEU0214)
  Corso di laurea in Tecniche di Neurofisiopatologia
• TIROCINIO di BIOLOGIA CELLULARE E MOLECOLARE APPLICATA ALLO STUDIO DELLA TUMORIGENESI E DELLE PATOLOGIE CARDIACHE (SME0565)
  Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Biotecnologie Mediche - Classe LM-9

Research topics

Durante il mio dottorato di ricerca ho clonato alcuni nuovi geni che codificano per proteine che interagiscono con l'integrina b1 nel muscolo cardiaco. Uno di questi geni codificava per una proteina al tempo sconosciuta che ho chiamato melusina. Melusina si è rivelata essere una proteina chaperone espressa solo nel muscolo scheletrico e cardiaco (Brancaccio et al., 1999). Con studi successivi abbiamo dimostrato che melusina gioca un ruolo cruciale nel rimodellamento compensatorio del ventricolo sinistro in risposta al sovraccarico di pressione (Brancaccio et al., 2003a). Analisi in banca dati hanno rivelato la presenza di una proteina omologa a melusina, chiamata chp-1 e ora ribattezzata morgana, che possiede un’identità del 42% con melusina e contiene domini simili. Abbiamo scoperto che morgana, a differenza di melusina, è una proteina espressa in modo ubiquitario (Brancaccio et al., 2003b). Abbiamo compreso che morgana svolge un ruolo nella duplicazione dei centrosomi e nella stabilità genomica (Ferretti et al., 2010). Inoltre, i nostri studi hanno dimostrato che l'aploinsufficienza di morgana causa una neoplasia mieloproliferativa in modelli preclinici (Di Savino et al., 2015). Il mio interesse di ricerca è attualmente focalizzato sullo studio del ruolo delle proteine chaperone in due diversi contesti: crescita e progressione del tumore (Fusella et al., 2017) e rimodellamento del miocardio indotto da condizioni di stress.

Gruppi di ricerca

Chaperone proteins in cancer growth and progression

Chaperone proteins in cardioprotection

Activities in agenda

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Academic bodies

• Consiglio di Dipartimento
• MBC_ Composizione Comitato Scientifico

• Collegio Docenti

Office hours