Ricerc@Sapienza

The research group is interested in studying the molecular events involved in the activation and regulation of the Notch pathway in female solid tumors (i.e. ovarian cancer), with particular emphasis on the potential identification of early screening markers (to counteract late diagnosis) and novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of tumors that depend on the function of the Notch protein (particularly Notch3) for survival and spread to secondary organs in the most aggressive forms (to improve therapeutic options).

Specifically, the current research lines focus on:

a. Analysis of Notch3 regulation and the role of its post-translational modifications (PTMs) in the interaction with other signaling pathways, aimed at identifying and characterizing the molecular and functional role of potential regulators of the Notch3 protein, potentially becoming drug targets;

b. Study of the role of "Notch3 and its interconnections" in the response to current therapies, with particular reference to drug resistance, thus aiming at designing new combined targeted therapeutic strategies in cancer, through in vitro experiments with patient-specific, immortalized and primary cells, and in vivo experiments using genetically modified mouse models;

c. Definition and characterization of potential "Notch targeting" molecules and evaluation of optimal delivery strategies (also in association with new nanotechnologies) in experiments using different pre-clinical models (patient-derived organoids), xenografts on immunodeficient mice and syngeneic transplants to evaluate the involvement of the immune system (patient-like).

The ultimate goal is the translational applicability of the experimental results obtained from the different research activities that, in close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of specialists, finally converge on the implementation of patient therapeutic management.