Ricerc@Sapienza

Basic and translational research on lung biology has discovered multiple progenitor cell types, specialized or facultative, responsible for turnover, renewal, and repair. Isolation of populations of resident lung progenitor cells (LPCs) has been described by multiple protocols, and some have been successfully applied to healthy human lung tissue. We aimed at understanding how different cell culture conditions may affect, in vitro, the phenotype of LPCs to create an ideal niche-like microenvironment.

High-throughput analysis has improved the knowledge of medulloblastoma (MB), the leading cause of cancer related death in children, allowing a better comprehension of the key molecular pathways in MB pathogenesis. However, despite these advances, 30% of patients still die from the disease and survivors face severe long-term side effects. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a subset of cells that not only drive tumorigenesis, but are also one of the main determinants of chemoresistance. Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a hallmark of cancer and up to now few data is available in MB.