Dott.ssa Chiara Mozzetta

Ricercatore CNR IBPM

Heterochromatin-nuclear lamina interactions regulate cell fate plasticity during skeletal muscle repair

24/05/2022 – ore 14:00

Abstract: 

Cellular identity is specified by cell-specific transcription factors and maintained by epigenetic mechanisms. Beyond restricted activation of lineage-specific genes, alternative transcriptional programs must be repressed to specify a defined differentiation path. H3K9 methylation maintains cell identity orchestrating stable silencing and anchoring of alternate fate genes within the heterochromatic compartment underneath the nuclear lamina (NL). However, how this is achieved in a cell-specific manner is poorly understood. H3K9 methyltransferases (KMTs) are generally ubiquitously expressed and if, and how, they impede direct cell conversion in adult stem cells is still rather unexplored.
Here, we addressed this issue in a population of mesenchymal, multipotent, stromal cells, named Fibro-Adipogenic Progenitors (FAPs), whose developmental plasticity has been linked to skeletal muscle pathological phenotypes. We provide evidence of a druggable mechanism of heterochromatin perinuclear sequestration exploitable to reprogram FAPs in vivo. We show that pharmacological inhibition of H3K9 methylation can revert FAPs’ pathological fibro-adipogenic differentiation observed in diseased muscles, improving their regenerative capacity.

INFO : seminari.irib@irib.cnr.it

Dott.ssa Marta Di Carlo

Primo Ricercatore CNR IRIB

Farewell Seminar
Laboratorio 544: Sviluppo e Degenerazione

30/05/2022 – ore 15:00

Abstract: 

Il seminario sarà un overview dell’attività di ricerca di Marta Di Carlo percorrendo le tappe più significative; si partirà dagli studi sulla biologia dello sviluppo del riccio di mare e dalla scoperta della presenza di messaggeri materni localizzati in una regione della cellula uovo e si arriverà, con un inaspettato fil rouge, agli studi sui meccanismi alla base dei processi neurodegenerativi nei mammiferi. Da questo si fa derivare il nome del laboratorio “544: Sviluppo e Degenerazione”; una particolare attenzione verrà data alla malattia di Alzheimer (MA) e dal legame esistente con le malattie metaboliche (Diabete tipo 2, obesità) considerate, assieme all’invecchiamento, uno dei principali fattori di rischio per la sua insorgenza. Verrà analizzato, inoltre, l’”antagonismo” tra la beta amiloide e l’insulina e come quest’ultima potrebbe essere un potenziale farmaco per la cura della MA, soprattutto se somministrato per via intranasale e con uno specifico sistema di delivery. Verranno esaminati gli effetti dell’alimentazione sulla resistenza all’insulina sistemica e cerebrale che si instaura in seguito a dismetabolismo e verrà prospettata la possibilità di utilizzare la nutraceutica o i cibi funzionali per prevenire o rallentare le patologie neurodegenerative indotte da quelle metaboliche. Infine, l’attenzione verrà posta sui mitocondri, la cui disfunzione è uno degli eventi iniziali della MA in quanto altera i processi respiratori, il controllo di qualità, ed modula stress ossidativo, autofagia e apoptosi.

INFO : seminari.irib@irib.cnr.it

Dott. Alberto Montesanto, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor in Genetics

Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences

University of Calabria

Forensic DNA Phenotyping

09/06/2022 – ore 14:00

Abstract: 

La capacità di prevedere l’aspetto fisico di un individuo direttamente dalle tracce biologiche rinvenute sulla scena del crimine rappresenta una nuova frontiera della Genetica Forense nota come Forensic DNA Phenotyping. Le informazioni ottenute mediante questo tipo di indagine permettono di ricostruire un identikit di un donatore sconosciuto – una persona scomparsa o deceduta o magari un criminale – a partire dall’analisi di alcuni marcatori del DNA. Le caratteristiche fisiche che oggi è possibile predire con notevole precisione sono quelle legate alla pigmentazione (colore degli occhi, della pelle e dei capelli), il genere e l’età anagrafica. Altre caratteristiche per cui sono in corso ricerche per la definizione di modelli predittivi riguardano la determinazione della morfologia facciale e dell’alopecia androgenetica (calvizie). Non si esclude che nei prossimi anni anche tali caratteristiche potranno essere utilizzate per la definizione di un identikit “biologico”.

INFO : seminari.irib@irib.cnr.it

Dott.ssa Claudia Ghigna

Ricercatore CNR IGM

Istituto di Genetica Molecolare “Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza”

Pavia

Post-transcriptional regulation of angiogenesis in development and cancer

30/06/2022 – ore 14:00

Abstract: 

Alternative splicing (AS) is the molecular process generating multiple mRNAs from a single gene, thus producing different protein isoforms. By affecting gene expression and proteome diversity, AS regulates tissue development, cell differentiation and homeostasis. Altered expression of specific AS regulators leads to the production of AS isoforms involved in neoplastic transformation, cancer progression or resistance to therapeutic treatments. Given that many AS variants are cancer-specific, they are particularly relevant for the diagnosis, prognosis, and targeted cancer therapy.
The role of aberrant AS regulation in tumor angiogenesis has begun to be revealed only recently. In this regard, we showed that Nova2, a splicing factor previously considered neural cell-specific, is also expressed in endothelial cells (ECs) of different human tissues, but not other cell types within the tissue. By combining in vivo and in vitro loss-of-function with genome-wide approaches, we found that Nova2 is crucial for vascular development. Moreover, we identified novel transcripts regulated by Nova2-mediated AS in ECs and we characterized the vascular role of several of them.
During my talk, I will summarize our recent results showing that Nova2 has a prognostic value in cancer, is required for tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth, and that Nova2 and Nova2-mediated AS play a relevant role in the phenotypic and functional aberrancies of cancer blood vessels.

INFO : seminari.irib@irib.cnr.it

Dott. Roberto Giambruno

Ricercatore CNR-ITB

Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche

Milano

Discovering host protein interactions specific for SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome

15/09/2022 – ore 14:00

Abstract: 

SARS-CoV-2 is a positive single-stranded RNA virus that interacts with proteins of infected cells at different stages of its life cycle. These interactions are necessary for the host to recognize and block the replication of the virus. Yet, if cells fail to block SARS-CoV-2, host proteins are recruited to translate, transcribe and replicate the genetic material of the virus. To identify the host proteins that bind to SARS-CoV-2 RNA, we adopted the RNA-Protein Interaction Detection coupled to Mass Spectrometry (RaPID-MS) technology, which allows the purification and identification by MS-based proteomics of the proteins associated with a specific RNA of interest expressed in mammalian cells. We specifically investigated proteins associated with the 5′ and 3′ end regions of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. As associations might involve non-physical protein-RNA interactions, we defined a set of reliable protein-RNA interactions by exploiting the predictive power of the catRAPID algorithm that assesses the direct binding potential of proteins to a given RNA region. Among these specific SARS-CoV-2 RNA end interactors, we identified the pseudouridine synthase PUS7 that binds to both 5′ and 3′ ends of viral RNA, which harbor the canonical consensus sequence modified by PUS7. We corroborated our results through SARS-CoV-2 RNA analysis by nanopore direct RNA sequencing. Indeed, these PUS7 consensus regions were found highly modified on viral RNAs, as demonstrated by ionic current features that are significantly different compared to the unmodified in vitro transcribed RNA. Overall, our data map the specific host protein interactions of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and point to a role for cellular pseudouridine synthases and the post-transcriptional pseudouridine modifications in the viral life cycle.

INFO : seminari.irib@irib.cnr.it

Dott. Domenico Nuzzo

Ricercatore CNR-IRIB

Istituto per la Ricerca e  l’Innovazione Biomedica

Palermo

3-8 Ottobre 2022 FESTIVAL DELL’INNOVAZIONE AGROALIMENTARE

Il Festival è un evento online di 6 giorni nato per diffondere le ultime innovazioni a tutti gli stakeholder italiani dell’agrifood

Il Festival è il punto di origine del MOVIMENTO che aggrega i professionisti della ricerca scientifica e dell’industria, che vogliono innovare il settore agroalimentare.

Dott. Luigi Mari

Post Doctoral Research Associate
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Memphis, TN, United States

Understanding Parkin-mediated Cell Death

13/10/2022 – ore 15:00

Abstract: 

Parkin is an E3-ubiquitin ligase with a central role in mitochondrial quality control. Following translocation to the mitochondrial surface, it ubiquitylates several outer mitochondrial membrane proteins, which in turn recruit other proteins to initiate autophagy of damaged mitochondria (mitophagy) and maintain, in this way, cellular homeostasis. Because mutations in Parkin have been associated with genetic forms of early-onset Parkinson Diseases (PD), it has been proposed that a dysregulated mitophagy can cause PD due to the accumulation of defective mitochondria and subsequent loss of neuronal function, thus leading to cell death. However, how Parkin is involved in the regulation of cell death remains to be elucidated.

INFO : seminari.irib@irib.cnr.it

Dott. Nicola Origlia, PhD
Senior Research Scientist

Institute of Neuroscience, CNR – Pisa

Microglial large extracellular vesicles as a vehicle to propagate neurodegeneration

19/01/2023 – ore 14:00

Abstract: 

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are involved in neuron-neuron communication and glia-neuron communication. In neurodegenerative diseases, EVs act as carriers of pathogenic proteins over large distances. Therefore, an intriguing hypothesis is that EVs could be implicated in the progression of neuronal dysfunction between connected regions, contributing to the spreading of neurodegeneration. We have recently demonstrated the involvement of large l EVs, released by microglial cells, in the rise and propagation of early synaptic dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease. We suggest a new mechanism controlling the diffusion of large EVs and their pathogenic signals in the brain parenchyma.

INFO : seminari.irib@irib.cnr.it

Dott. Walter Arancio, PhD
Ricercatore

Istituto per la Ricerca e l’Innovazione Biomedica, CNR-IRIB

Introducing myself: my road towards bioinformatics applied to the epigenetics of aging

07/02/2023 – ore 14:00

Abstract: 

Epigenetics and the activities of DNA repetitive sequences are crucial in cellular homeostasis. Their deregulation is a key event that leads to genomic instability and cellular senescence, which in turn contribute to the process of human aging and aging-related diseases. During the seminar, I will talk about the path that led me to study this complex but fascinating scenario.

INFO : seminari.irib@irib.cnr.it