3. RESEARCH
The main objective is to bring togheter
investigators with different scientific
backgrounds to facilitate an
interdisciplinary approach to biomedical
research
Basic research
Applied research
Technology transfer
5. STAFF SCIENTISTS:
Silvio AIME Full Prof. of Inorganic Chemistry
Fiorella ALTRUDA Full Prof. of Molecular Genetics
Mara BRANCACCIO Research Scientist of Cell Biology
Benedetta BUSSOLATI Associated Prof. of Pharmacology
Sara CABODI Research Scientist of Cell Biology
Enzo CALAUTTI Research Scientist of Cell Biology
Raffaele CALOGERO Associated Prof. of Molecular Biology
Giovanni CAMUSSI Full Prof. of Nephrology
Enzo CALAUTTI Research Scientist of Cell Biology
Federica CAVALLO Associated Prof. of Immunology
Paola DEFILIPPI Full Prof. of Cell Biology
Ferdinando DI CUNTO Associated Prof. of Molecular Biology
Guido FORNI Full Prof. of Immunology
Emilio HIRSCH Full Prof. of Molecular Genetics
Giorgio MERLO Research Scientist of Cell Biology
Valeria POLI Full Prof. of Molecular Biology
Paolo PROVERO Research Scientist of Bioinformatics
Massimo SANTORO Research Scientific of Molecular Biology
Lorenzo SILENGO Full Prof. of Molecular Biology
Guido TARONE Full Prof. of Cell Biology
Daniela TAVERNA Associated Prof.of Molecular Biology
Enzo TERRENO Associated Prof. of Inorganic Chemistry
Emanuela TOLOSANO Associated Prof. of Molecular Genetics
Emilia TURCO Associated Prof. of Genetics
6. 2013
Researchers (faculty, postdocs, predoctoral fellows,
technicians): 204
Average age : 32
26 % man – 74 % women
Geographic area: 88 % Italian – 12 % Foreigners
8. STEM CELLS
GPSC generation and differentiation for cell therapy.
CARDIOVASCULAR
Hypertrophic response of cardiac muscle cells and repair or heart damage in mouse
mutants in melusin and PI3K genes. Shape the cardiovascular system and regulate
vascular angiogenesis and myogenesis.
ONCOLOGY
Regulation of proliferation and invasiveness of tumor cells in mouse mutants in p140,
p130 and PI3K.
Role of cytokines in the immune recognition of tumors and the potential of DNA vaccine
to prevent cancer progression.
INFLAMMATION
Role of the enzyme phosphatidyl-inositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and of the transcription factor
StAT3 in leukocyte migration and proliferation during an inflammatory process.
Characterization of mechanisms of heme-iron recovery under physiologic and pathologic
conditions
NEUROBIOLOGY
Molecular pathways that control the cross-talk between intracellular membranes and
cytoskeleton, in biological processes as different as neuronal differentiation and
cytokinesis.
9. MOLECULAR IMAGING
Magnetic resonance and optical imaging to visualize differentiation both in the
mouse and the zebrafish models, at the cellular level.
BIOINFORMATICS
A series of new and innovative algorithms capable to integrate the enormous mass
of data available in public repositories and data bank have been developed
10. Center for Molecular Imaging
Technology Transfer
Center for in vivo Functional Genomics
11. FACILITIES:
§ Animal House for mice (12.000) and Rabbits (15)
§ Generation of Transgenic and Knockout mice
§ Molecular Imaging
§ Production and purification of recombinant proteins in Prokaryotes and
Eukaryotes
§ Production and characterization of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies
§ Functional Genomics
§ Zebrafish facility
12. RESEARCH GRANTS FUNDING FROM:
European Community
Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC)
Telethon for Genetic Diseases
Human Frontieres Science Project
FIRB (Italian Ministry of University and Research)
PRIN (Italian Ministry of University and Research)
Italian Ministry of Health.
RESEARCH CONTRACTS WITH INDUSTRY:
Bracco
Serono
Glaxo SmithKline
Fresenius
BiPCa
RiboVax Bitechnologies
NiCox Research Institute
CureTech
IrX Therapuetics
Agennix Inc,
Nanogen
Bioline
13.
14. EDUCATIONAL
In the Biotechnology School we develop the
teaching program:
Degree in Biotechnology
Master in BioHealth Computing
Master in Bioinformatics
PhD program in Molecular Biotechnology
PhD program in Cell Biology
15.
16.
17. The Technology Transfer (TT) Center, also named the “hatchery for business ideas”,
of the MBC provides fully equipped laboratories together with the scientific support
knowledge and competence needed to develop applications, investment and
business plans.
18. ONCOGENESIS AND TUMOR IMMUNOLOGY
B. Bussolati, S. Cabodi, G. Camussi, F. Cavallo, P. Defilippi, G. Forni, V. Poli, F. Retta.
Buttiglieri S, Deregibus MC, Bravo S, Cassoni P, Chiarle R, Bussolati B, Camussi G. Role of Pax2 in
apoptosis resistance and proinvasive phenotype of Kaposi's sarcoma cells.
J Biol Chem. 2004; 279: 4136-43.
Bussolati B, Deambrosis I, Russo S, Deregibus MC, Camussi G. Altered angiogenesis and survival in
human tumor-derived endothelial cells.
FASEB J. 2003; 17: 1159-61.
Cabodi S, Tinnirello A, Di Stefano P, Bisaro B, Ambrosino E, Castellano I, Sapino A, Arisio R, Cavallo F,
Forni G, Glukhova M, Silengo L, Altruda F, Turco E, Tarone G, Defilippi P. p130Cas as a new regulator of
mammary epithelial cell proliferation, survival, and HER2-neu oncogene-dependent breast
tumorigenesis.
Cancer Res. 2006; 66: 4672-80
Defilippi P, Di Stefano P, Cabodi S. p130Cas: a versatile scaffold in signaling networks.
Trends Cell Biol. 2006; 16: 257-63
Nanni P, Nicoletti G, De Giovanni C, Landuzzi L, Di Carlo E, Cavallo F, Pupa SM, Rossi I, Colombo MP,
Ricci C, Astolfi A, Musiani P, Forni G, Lollini PL. Combined allogeneic tumor cell vaccination and
systemic interleukin 12 prevents mammary carcinogenesis in HER-2/neu transgenic mice.
J Exp Med. 2001; 194: 1195-205.
Lollini PL, Cavallo F, Nanni P, Forni G. Vaccines for tumour prevention.
Nat Rev Cancer. 2006; 6: 204-16.
19. CARDIAC HYPERTROPHY IN HEART FAILURE
L. Barberis, M. Brancaccio, E. Hirsch and G. Tarone
Brancaccio M, Fratta L, Notte A, Hirsch E, Poulet R, Guazzone S, De Acetis M, Vecchione C,
Marino G, Altruda F, Silengo L, Tarone G, Lembo G. Melusin, a muscle-specific integrin
beta1-interacting protein, is required to prevent cardiac failure in response to chronic
pressure overload.
Nat Med. 2003;9: 68-75
Crackower MA, Oudit GY, Kozieradzki I, Sarao R, Sun H, Sasaki T, Hirsch E, Suzuki A, Shioi
T, Irie-Sasaki J, Sah R, Cheng HY, Rybin VO, Lembo G, Fratta L, Oliveira-dos-Santos AJ,
Benovic JL, Kahn CR, Izumo S, Steinberg SF, Wymann MP, Backx PH, Penninger JM.
Regulation of myocardial contractility and cell size by distinct PI3K-PTEN signaling
pathways.
Cell. 2002; 110: 737-49.
Patrucco E, Notte A, Barberis L, Selvetella G, Maffei A, Brancaccio M, Marengo S, Russo G,
Azzolino O, Rybalkin SD, Silengo L, Altruda F, Wetzker R, Wymann MP, Lembo G, Hirsch E.
PI3Kgamma modulates the cardiac response to chronic pressure overload by distinct
kinase-dependent and -independent effects.
Cell. 2004; 118: 375-87.
20. STEM CELLS
B. Bussolati, E. Calautti, G. Camussi, and F. Di Cunto
Herrera MB, Bruno S, Buttiglieri S, Tetta C, Gatti S, Deregibus MC, Bussolati B,
Camussi G. Isolation and characterization of a stem cell population from adult
human liver.
Stem Cells. 2006 Aug 31
Bussolati B, Bruno S, Grange C, Buttiglieri S, Deregibus MC, Cantino D, Camussi G.
Isolation of renal progenitor cells from adult human kidney.
Am J Pathol. 2005; 166: 545-55.
Calautti E, Li J, Saoncella S, Brissette JL, Goetinck PF. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase
signaling to Akt promotes keratinocyte differentiation versus death.
J Biol Chem. 2005; 280: 32856-65.
Camera P, da Silva JS, Griffiths G, Giuffrida MG, Ferrara L, Schubert V, Imarisio S,
Silengo L, Dotti CG, Di Cunto F. Citron-N is a neuronal Rho-associated protein
involved in Golgi organization through actin cytoskeleton regulation.
Nat Cell Biol. 2003; 5: 1071-8.
21. BIOINFORMATICS
F. Di Cunto, P. Provero and L. Silengo
Pellegrino M, Provero P, Silengo L, Di Cunto F. CLOE: identification of putative
functional relationships among genes by comparison of expression profiles
between two species.
BMC Bioinformatics. 2004; 5: 179.
Cora D, Herrmann C, Dieterich C, Di Cunto F, Provero P, Caselle M. Ab initio
identification of putative human transcription factor binding sites by
comparative genomics.
BMC Bioinformatics. 2005 May 2;6:110.
23. MBC- Molecular Biotechnology Center
FACILITIES:
§ Animal House for mice (15.000) and rabbits (15)
§ Generation of Transgenic and Knockout mice
§ Production and purification of recombinant proteins
in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes
§ Production and characterization of monoclonal and
polyclonal antibodies
• 6 main scientific area of interest:
• Inflammatory diseases
• Oncogenesis and tumor immunology
• Cardiac hypertrophy in heart failure
• Stem cells
• Coupled with Interfaculty Biotechnology School
• More than 200 scientists
• Neurobiology
• Bioinformatics
• Molecular Imaging
