EDUCATION
2015: PhD Degree in Medical Biotechnology, University of Siena.
2009: MSc Degree in Biotechnology for Industry and Scientific Research, University of Palermo. 2007: BSc Degree in Biotechnology, University of Palermo.
SCIENTIFIC POSITIONS AND ACTIVITIES
2022-present:Postdoctoral fellowship, CNR-Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM), Rome. Project (AFM-Telethon): “Phenotypic evaluation of microtubules network as prognostic and predictive marker in response to spastin elevating approaches in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia type 4”.
2019-2022:Postdoctoral fellow, CNR-Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM), Rome. Project (AFM-Telethon): “The HIPK2 kinase/spastin axis in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia”.
2018-2019:EMBO Short-Term fellow, Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience - University of Sheffield (UK).
Project: “The HIPK2 kinase/spastin axis in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP)”.
2017-2018:Postdoctoral fellow, CNR-Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM), Rome.
Project (Telethon): “The role of HIPK2 kinase in regulation of the spastin protein in proliferating cells and in neurons”.
2014-2016:Postdoctoral fellow, Dept. of Molecular Medicine, University La Sapienza, Rome.
Project (AIRC): “Role of the DNA damage response in hedgehog-MYCN dependent proliferation of cerebellar stem cells and granule precursor cells”.
2010-2014:PhD student, Dept. of Molecular Medicine, University La Sapienza, Rome.
PhD Thesis project: “The MRN complex controls MYCN-dependent replication stress and is a potential therapeutic target for MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma”.
2009-2010:Post-graduate research training, CNR-Institute of Biomedicine and Molecular Immunology (IBIM) Palermo.
Project:“The effects of the novel NF-?B inhibitor dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ) in combination with the selective COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib, in human hepatoma cells”.
FUNDING AWARDS
2021:A.I.Vi.P.S ETS research award “Microtubule cytoskeleton organization as biomarker to develop new therapeutic perspectives for Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia type 4 (HSP-SPG4)”.
2021:AFM-Telethon Postdoctoral fellowship “Phenotypic evaluation of microtubules network as prognostic and predictive marker in response to spastin elevating approaches in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia type 4” (letter of notification rif N°23786).
2021:Adolf-Struempell-Prize for the manuscript Sardina et al., LSA 2020; doi: 10.26508/lsa.202000799.
PUBLICATIONS
1-Sardina F (corresponding author), Valente D, Fattorini G, Cioffi E, Zanna GD, Tessa A, Trisciuoglio D, Soddu S, Santorelli FM, Casali C, Rinaldo C. New cellular imaging-based method to distinguish the SPG4 subtype of hereditary spastic paraplegia. Eur J Neurol. 2023 Jun;30(6):1734-1744. doi: 10.1111/ene.15756.
2-Sardina F, Conte A, Paladino S, Pierantoni GM, Rinaldo C. HIPK2 in the physiology of nervous system and its implications in neurological disorders. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Res. 2023 Jun;1870(5):119465. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2023.119465. Epub 2023 Mar 20. PMID: 36935052; PMCID: PMC10236203.
3-Sardina F (co-corresponding author), Pisciottani A, Ferrara M, Valente D, Casella M, Crescenzi M, Peschiaroli A, Casali C, Soddu S, Grierson AJ, Rinaldo C. Spastin recovery in hereditary spastic paraplegia by preventing neddylation-dependent degradation. Life Sci Alliance. 2020 Oct 26;3(12):e202000799. doi: 10.26508/lsa.202000799.
4-Sardina F, Monteonofrio L, Ferrara M, Magi F, Soddu S, Rinaldo C. HIPK2 Is Required for Midbody Remnant Removal Through Autophagy-Mediated Degradation.Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Sep 15;8:572094. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.572094.
5-Petroni M, Sahùn Roncero M, Ramponi V, Fabretti F, Nicolis Di Robilant V, Moretti M, Alfano V, Corsi A, De Panfilis S, Giubettini M, Di Giulio S, Capalbo C, Belardinilli F, Coppa A, Sardina F, Colicchia V, Pedretti F, Infante P, Cardinali B, Tessitore A, Canettieri G, De Smaele E, Giannini G. SMO-M2 mutation does not support cell-autonomous Hedgehog activity in cerebellar granule cell precursors. Sci Rep. 2019 Dec 23;9(1):19623. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-56057-y.
6-Pisciottani A, Biancolillo L, Ferrara M, Valente D, Sardina F, Monteonofrio L, Camerini S, Crescenzi M, Soddu S, Rinaldo C. HIPK2 Phosphorylates the Microtubule-Severing Enzyme Spastin at S268 for Abscission. Cells. 2019 Jul 5;8(7):684. doi: 10.3390/cells8070684.
7-Petroni M, Sardina F (co-first author), Infante P, Bartolazzi A, Locatelli E, Fabretti F, Di Giulio S, Capalbo C, Cardinali B, Coppa A, Tessitore A, Colicchia V, Sahùn Roncero M, Belardinilli F, Di Marcotullio L, Soddu S, Comes Franchini M, Petricci E, Gulino A, Giannini G. MRE11 inhibition highlights a replication stress-dependent vulnerability of MYCN-driven tumors.Cell Death Dis. 2018 Aug 30;9(9):895. doi: 10.1038/s41419-018-0924-z.
8-Colicchia V, Petroni M, Guarguaglini G, Sardina F, Sahún-Roncero M, Carbonari M, Ricci B, Heil C, Capalbo C, Belardinilli F, Coppa A, Peruzzi G, Screpanti I, Lavia P, Gulino A, Giannini G. PARP inhibitors enhance replication stress and cause mitotic catastrophe in MYCN-dependent neuroblastoma.Oncogene. 2017 Aug 17;36(33):4682-4691. doi: 10.1038/onc.2017.40.
9-Petroni M, Sardina F, Heil C, Sahún-Roncero M, Colicchia V, Veschi V, Albini S, Fruci D, Ricci B, Soriani A, Di Marcotullio L, Screpanti I, Gulino A, Giannini G. The MRN complex is transcriptionally regulated by MYCN during neural cell proliferation to control replication stress.Cell Death Differ. 2016 Feb;23(2):197- 206. doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.81.
10-Cervello M, Bachvarov D, Cusimano A, Sardina F, Azzolina A, Lampiasi N, Giannitrapani L, McCubrey JA, Montalto G. COX-2-dependent and COX-2-independent mode of action of celecoxib in human liver cancer cells. OMICS. 2011 Jun;15(6):383-92. doi: 10.1089/omi.2010.0092.
2015: PhD Degree in Medical Biotechnology, University of Siena.
2009: MSc Degree in Biotechnology for Industry and Scientific Research, University of Palermo. 2007: BSc Degree in Biotechnology, University of Palermo.
SCIENTIFIC POSITIONS AND ACTIVITIES
2022-present:Postdoctoral fellowship, CNR-Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM), Rome. Project (AFM-Telethon): “Phenotypic evaluation of microtubules network as prognostic and predictive marker in response to spastin elevating approaches in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia type 4”.
2019-2022:Postdoctoral fellow, CNR-Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM), Rome. Project (AFM-Telethon): “The HIPK2 kinase/spastin axis in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia”.
2018-2019:EMBO Short-Term fellow, Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience - University of Sheffield (UK).
Project: “The HIPK2 kinase/spastin axis in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP)”.
2017-2018:Postdoctoral fellow, CNR-Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM), Rome.
Project (Telethon): “The role of HIPK2 kinase in regulation of the spastin protein in proliferating cells and in neurons”.
2014-2016:Postdoctoral fellow, Dept. of Molecular Medicine, University La Sapienza, Rome.
Project (AIRC): “Role of the DNA damage response in hedgehog-MYCN dependent proliferation of cerebellar stem cells and granule precursor cells”.
2010-2014:PhD student, Dept. of Molecular Medicine, University La Sapienza, Rome.
PhD Thesis project: “The MRN complex controls MYCN-dependent replication stress and is a potential therapeutic target for MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma”.
2009-2010:Post-graduate research training, CNR-Institute of Biomedicine and Molecular Immunology (IBIM) Palermo.
Project:“The effects of the novel NF-?B inhibitor dehydroxymethylepoxyquinomicin (DHMEQ) in combination with the selective COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib, in human hepatoma cells”.
FUNDING AWARDS
2021:A.I.Vi.P.S ETS research award “Microtubule cytoskeleton organization as biomarker to develop new therapeutic perspectives for Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia type 4 (HSP-SPG4)”.
2021:AFM-Telethon Postdoctoral fellowship “Phenotypic evaluation of microtubules network as prognostic and predictive marker in response to spastin elevating approaches in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia type 4” (letter of notification rif N°23786).
2021:Adolf-Struempell-Prize for the manuscript Sardina et al., LSA 2020; doi: 10.26508/lsa.202000799.
PUBLICATIONS
1-Sardina F (corresponding author), Valente D, Fattorini G, Cioffi E, Zanna GD, Tessa A, Trisciuoglio D, Soddu S, Santorelli FM, Casali C, Rinaldo C. New cellular imaging-based method to distinguish the SPG4 subtype of hereditary spastic paraplegia. Eur J Neurol. 2023 Jun;30(6):1734-1744. doi: 10.1111/ene.15756.
2-Sardina F, Conte A, Paladino S, Pierantoni GM, Rinaldo C. HIPK2 in the physiology of nervous system and its implications in neurological disorders. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Res. 2023 Jun;1870(5):119465. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2023.119465. Epub 2023 Mar 20. PMID: 36935052; PMCID: PMC10236203.
3-Sardina F (co-corresponding author), Pisciottani A, Ferrara M, Valente D, Casella M, Crescenzi M, Peschiaroli A, Casali C, Soddu S, Grierson AJ, Rinaldo C. Spastin recovery in hereditary spastic paraplegia by preventing neddylation-dependent degradation. Life Sci Alliance. 2020 Oct 26;3(12):e202000799. doi: 10.26508/lsa.202000799.
4-Sardina F, Monteonofrio L, Ferrara M, Magi F, Soddu S, Rinaldo C. HIPK2 Is Required for Midbody Remnant Removal Through Autophagy-Mediated Degradation.Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Sep 15;8:572094. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.572094.
5-Petroni M, Sahùn Roncero M, Ramponi V, Fabretti F, Nicolis Di Robilant V, Moretti M, Alfano V, Corsi A, De Panfilis S, Giubettini M, Di Giulio S, Capalbo C, Belardinilli F, Coppa A, Sardina F, Colicchia V, Pedretti F, Infante P, Cardinali B, Tessitore A, Canettieri G, De Smaele E, Giannini G. SMO-M2 mutation does not support cell-autonomous Hedgehog activity in cerebellar granule cell precursors. Sci Rep. 2019 Dec 23;9(1):19623. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-56057-y.
6-Pisciottani A, Biancolillo L, Ferrara M, Valente D, Sardina F, Monteonofrio L, Camerini S, Crescenzi M, Soddu S, Rinaldo C. HIPK2 Phosphorylates the Microtubule-Severing Enzyme Spastin at S268 for Abscission. Cells. 2019 Jul 5;8(7):684. doi: 10.3390/cells8070684.
7-Petroni M, Sardina F (co-first author), Infante P, Bartolazzi A, Locatelli E, Fabretti F, Di Giulio S, Capalbo C, Cardinali B, Coppa A, Tessitore A, Colicchia V, Sahùn Roncero M, Belardinilli F, Di Marcotullio L, Soddu S, Comes Franchini M, Petricci E, Gulino A, Giannini G. MRE11 inhibition highlights a replication stress-dependent vulnerability of MYCN-driven tumors.Cell Death Dis. 2018 Aug 30;9(9):895. doi: 10.1038/s41419-018-0924-z.
8-Colicchia V, Petroni M, Guarguaglini G, Sardina F, Sahún-Roncero M, Carbonari M, Ricci B, Heil C, Capalbo C, Belardinilli F, Coppa A, Peruzzi G, Screpanti I, Lavia P, Gulino A, Giannini G. PARP inhibitors enhance replication stress and cause mitotic catastrophe in MYCN-dependent neuroblastoma.Oncogene. 2017 Aug 17;36(33):4682-4691. doi: 10.1038/onc.2017.40.
9-Petroni M, Sardina F, Heil C, Sahún-Roncero M, Colicchia V, Veschi V, Albini S, Fruci D, Ricci B, Soriani A, Di Marcotullio L, Screpanti I, Gulino A, Giannini G. The MRN complex is transcriptionally regulated by MYCN during neural cell proliferation to control replication stress.Cell Death Differ. 2016 Feb;23(2):197- 206. doi: 10.1038/cdd.2015.81.
10-Cervello M, Bachvarov D, Cusimano A, Sardina F, Azzolina A, Lampiasi N, Giannitrapani L, McCubrey JA, Montalto G. COX-2-dependent and COX-2-independent mode of action of celecoxib in human liver cancer cells. OMICS. 2011 Jun;15(6):383-92. doi: 10.1089/omi.2010.0092.