Personale docente

Scientific interests (key words): Clusterin (CLU), Prostate Cancer (PCa), Green Tea, Catechins, Polyphenols, EGCG, Chemoprevention, Biology of Cancer, Prostate, Cell Growth, Metabolism, Androgen Action, Polyamines, Gene expression, Epigenetic Regulation of Gene Expression. Research achievements: 1989, cloning and identification of CLU as the major over-expressed gene during castration-induced involution of rat prostate gland; 1991, human CLU maps to chromosome 8; 1992-1995, CLU is involved in ageing and atrophy in rat prostate; 1999, CLU is down-regulated during cell-cycle progression; 2000, CLU gene is repressed during PCa progression by Nothern Blot analyses; 2002, CLU controls the growth of immortalized human prostate epithelial cells; 2003, identification of a gene signature for diagnosis and prognosis of human PCa; 2004, down-regulation and tissue localization of CLU in human PCa; 2005, identification of nuclear CLU as a pro-apoptotic factor inducing anoikis-death in prostate cancer cells; CLU is a tumor-suppressor factor for PCa in the TRAMP mice model, and in human colon cancer (p21-dependent); 2006, phase II clinical trial for chemoprevention of PCa progression in HG-PIN volunteers by administration of Green Tea Catechins extract (GTE); validation of a qPCR method for molecular diagnosis and prognosis of PCa in the TRAMP model; 2007, nCLU disrupt cell cytoskeleton by interaction with α-actinin; 2008, follow-up clinical trial for confirmation of effective and durable treatment of PCa early lesions by administration of GTE to HGPIN patients; 2009, generation of the TRAMP-CLU KO and MYCN-CLU KO transgenic models: CLU is a tumor suppressor in PCa and in Neuroblastoma; 2011, CLU is a marker of prostate damage and inflammation caused by endocrine disruptors (Bisphenol A); 2012, differential regulation of soluble and nuclear CLU in PCa cells by mda-7/IL-24; nCLU expression sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to paclitaxel; GTE cause collapse of Golgi apparatus in PCa cells; 2013, high CLU expression linked to favourable prognosis of lung cancer; 2014, GTE induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and kills immortalized PNT1a cells by anoikis, tumorigenic PC3 by necroptosis; 2015, discovery and functional characterization of the novel human P2 promoter of CLU; 2018, GTE improves cardiomycytes functions and calcium dynamics; 2019, CLU silencing induces matrix metalloproteinases and promote carcinogenesis by an NF-kB-dependent mechanism.