Laurea in Scienze Biologiche (1981). Diploma di Specializzazione in Biochimica Marina (1983). Research Associate (1987-89) presso Ben May Institute for Cancer Research dell'Università di Chicago (USA), dove studia le variazioni dell’espressione genica indotte nella prostata del ratto durante la sua involuzione dovuta a deplezione androgenica. Studia inoltre i rapporti struttura/funzione dei recettori estrogenico e progestinico. Dottore di Ricerca in Biochimica (1990). Si interessa di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare della trasformazione neoplastica, ottenendo borse di studio e finanziamenti da istituzioni pubbliche e private. Nell’ambito del programma di ricerca UE - BIOMED 2 "Gene therapy for prostate cancer” trascorre alcuni periodi presso: YCR Cancer Research Unit, Università di York (U.K.) ; CeRePP - UroGène, Département d'Urologie, Hôpital Saint Louis, Laboratoire de Génétique et Pathobiologie des Tumeurs Prostatiques (France).
INTERESSI DI RICERCA
- Fisiopatologia della ghiandola prostatica; dipendenza della prostata dagli ormoni androgeni; meccanismo d’azione degli ormoni steroidi; funzioni di alcuni geni androgeno-dipendenti nella prostata; omeostasi tissutale della ghiandola prostatica; apoptosi e ciclo cellulare;
- Metabolismo delle poliammine alifatiche;
- Ruolo biologico e regolazione dell’espressione genica del gene Clusterina (Clusterin);
- Caratterizzazione biochimica e molecolare del cancro prostatico, della sua progressione, del meccanismo di androgeno-indipendenza; studio delle alterazioni del ciclo cellulare e dell’apoptosi; identificazione di profili di espressione specifici per il cancro della prostata (gene profiling e identificazione di gene signatures) a scopo diagnostico e prognostico;
- effetti anti-tumorali dei principi attivi del tè verde cinese; ricerca traslazionale e trial clinici per la chemioprevenzione del cancro della prostata umano con estratti di catechine ottenuti dal tè verde cinese.
ATTIVITA' SCIENTIFICA
Key words
Clusterin, Green Tea, Catechins, Polyphenols, EGCG, Prostate Cancer, Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Cancer, Physiology and Pathology of the Prostate, Cell Growth Control, Prostate Metabolism, Androgen Action on Prostate Cells, Polyamines, Epigenetic Regulation of Gene Expression.
Research achievements:
1989, cloning and identification of Clusterin as the major over-expressed gene during castration-induced involution of rat prostate gland; 1991, human Clusterin maps to chromosome 8; 1992-1995, Clusterin is involved in ageing and cellular atrophy in rat prostate; 1999, Clusterin is down-regulated during cell-cycle progression; 2000, Clusterin gene is repressed during prostate cancer progression; 2002, Clusterin controls the growth of immortalized human prostate epithelial cells; 2003, molecular diagnosis and prognosis of human prostate cancer; 2004, down-regulation and tissue localization of Clusterin in human prostate cancer; 2005, identification of nuclear CLU as a pro-apoptotic factor inducing anoikis-death in SV40-immortalized PNT1a and androgen-independent prostate cancer PC-3 cells; CLU is a tumor-suppressor factor for prostate cancer in the TRAMP mice animal model, and in human colon cancer (p21-dependent); 2006, successful chemoprevention of prostate cancer progression in HG-PIN volunteers by administration of Green Tea Catechins extract (GTE); validation of a qPCR method for molecular diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer in the TRAMP mice model; 2007, nCLU disrupt cell cytoskeleton by interaction with α-actinin; 2008, confirmation that the administration of GTE to HGPIN patients results in effective and durable treatment of early lesions in a follow-up study; 2009, CLU is a tumor suppressor in neuroblastoma; 2010, CLU is a tumor suppressor in prostate cancer; 2011, CLU is a marker of prostate damage and inflammation caused by endocrine disruptors (Bisphenol A); 2012, differential regulation of soluble and nuclear clusterin in prostate cancer cells by mda-7/IL-24; nCLU expression sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to paclitaxel; GTE cause collapse of Golgi apparatus in prostate cancer cells; high CLU expression linked to favourable prognosis of lung adenocarcinomas.
Publications:
74 international full papers reviewed by PubMed (average Impact Factor 4.2); ~180 international abstracts. Total Impact Factor: ~300; Citation Index: ~2500; Cites/year: ~81. H-index: 27.
ATTIVITA' COME REVIEWER INTERNAZIONALE
- ACS Chemical Biology
- Advances in Clinical Chemistry
- Agrofood Industry Hi tech journal
- Anti-Cancer Drugs
- Biochemical Journal
- British Journal of Urology (BJU) International
- Cancer Letters
- Carcinogenesis
- Endocrine-Related Cancer
- Environmental Health
- European Journal of Biochemistry
- European Journal of Endocrinology
- Experimental Cell Research
- Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics
- FEBS Letters
- Food and Chemical Toxicology
- Free Radical Biology & Medicine
- Frontiers in Biosciences
- Journal of Biological Chemistry
- Journal of Cellular Biochemistry
- Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
- Journal of Cellular Physiology
- Journal of Experimental Biology
- Journal of Endocrinology
- Journal of Molecular Endocrinology
- Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
- Journal of Urology
- Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences
- International SportMedicine Journal
- International Journal of Cancer
- Life Science
- Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
- Molecular Nutrition and Food Research
- Nature Reviews
- Oncogene
- Pharmacological Research
- Science
- Tissue Antigens
- Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology
- Urology
Editorial Board Member of World Journal of Translational Medicine (2011-2015)
Editorial Board della rivista internazionale Acta Bio Medica.
Ha inoltre svolto attività come revisore di grant internazionali e Carriere Scientifiche per:
- Medical Research Council, sezione Molecular Cellular Medicine UK;
- The Prostate Cancer Charity, London, UK;
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Swindon, UK;
- Spanish Ministry of Health;
- Georgia National Science Foundation, Repubblica della Georgia; - Ben Gurion University, Israele
- MIUR (Monitoraggio progetti FIRB internazionali).
MEMBERSHIPS and AFFILIATIONS:
- Società Italiana di Biochimica (SIB), since 1999.
- Istituto Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi (INBB), Board, since 2001.
- Società di Medicina e Scienze Naturali di Parma, 2002.
- European Society of Urological Research (ESUR), since 2003.
- American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), since 2004.
- European Association of Urology (EAU), since 2006.
- Centre of Molecular and Translational Oncology (COMT), Vice-President, since 2008
Ufficio Didattico: 0521033796 - Segreteria Generale Studenti: 0521033700 
