15/12/2020


In this study we characterised the role of the Aurora-A kinase and its major regulator TPX2 in the control of mitotic spindle orientation in mammalian cells, a process which determines the position and fate of daughter cells. We highlighted a key role of TPX2 in the Aurora-A-mediated regulation of the orientation complex protein NuMA. We also describe opposite, microtubule-dependent, effects following increased Aurora-A or TPX2 levels in non-transformed cells, yielding-respectively- misoriented or “superaligned” spindles. Since high levels of Aurora-A and TPX2 are frequently observed in tumors, this study provides novel information to understand their pro-tumorigenic functions. It also opens the way to the investigation of the roles of the two proteins in other pathological contexts, particularly developmental or neurological disorders associated to defective cell division orientation.
Work was collaboratively carried out by groups at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM) and at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO). Research groups at Sapienza University and at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology (Dortmund, DE) participated to the project.

IBPM reference person: Giulia Guarguaglini

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17/8/2020

 

Link at https://rdcu.be/b6jAd

www.immunophenotype.org

twitter: immunosurveillance@TheCrick


This study identified a “core” immune signature in the peripheral blood of COVID-19 patients. Blood T cells were typically characterized by co-existing lymphopenia and highly activated/proliferative phenotype, especially in severe patients. Some signature traits, including basophil and plasmacytoid dendritic cell depletion, and T cell-cycling, correlated with disease severity. Notably, a triad of molecules — IP-10, interleukin-10 and interleukin-6— anticipated disease worsening.

The study, called COVID-IP, was led by prof. Adrian Hayday (Francis Crick Institute, King’s College London, London, UK). A cohort of 63 hospitalized COVID-19 patients at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals (London, UK) was studied. Dr. Francesca Di Rosa (Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, CNR, Rome, Italy) was a member of the international team. She contributed to the novelty by introducing the innovative T cell assay for cell cycle analysis, that was used for the first time in COVID-19 patients in this study.

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13/7/2020

This study highlights the impact of the noncoding side of the genome on neuronal differentiation. It reveals that the nuclear long noncoding RNA HOTAIRM1 contributes to shape human neurogenesis through a novel regulatory circuit, in which it controls the expression of the master regulator of neuronal fate, NEUROGENIN 2, and its downstream neurogenic cascade.

The identification in living cells of the protein FUS, crucially involved in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), as a direct interactor of HOTAIRM1 in motoneurons, together with the presence of a cytoplasmic isoform of HOTAIRM1 in motoneuron soma and neurites (yellow arrows), open the way for investigating a possible implication of this noncoding transcript in neurodegeneration.

This study derives from a collaboration between the Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM-CNR), the Department of Biology and Biotechnology (Sapienza University of Rome) and the Center for Life Nanoscience @Sapienza (IIT).

IBPM reference researchers: Pietro Laneve and Elisa Caffarelli

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6/12/2019

IBPM at the Book Exhibition "Più libri più liberi": event on the DNA - WATCH THE VIDEO

Documents: PLPL_2019_PROGRAMMA_CNR.pdf

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07/11/2019

In the school-work alternation project led by Maura Cardarelli and Patrizia Brunetti at IBPM, students of the Pascal High School train to use "green" technologies based on plant molecular biology to decontaminate soil from arsenic

12/03/2019

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16/01/2019