Ricerc@Sapienza

molecular mechanisms controlling cell plasticity. In particular focused  on mechanisms controlling cell differentiation, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and tumour onset and dissemination.  In three recent studies, we unveiled  the role and regulation of a lncRNA, HOTAIR, in the progression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Specifically, we found that  this lncRNA binds to the chromatin, together with the transcriptional factor Snail, in order to recruit chromatin modifiers on the promoters of epithelial genes. With respect to its transcriptional regulation, we demonstrated that is mainly mediated by the  transcriptional factor, HNF4a, that binds to its promoter and enhancer and modifies a higher-order chromatin structure promoting HOTAIR transcription. More recently we developed  a strategy to counteract HOTAIR function in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition through an RNA-based approach counteracting HOTAIR-Snail interaction and chromatin modifications on the promoter regions of Snail-target epithelial genes.

In parallel , weare involved in a  project related to the identification of RNA-binding proteins interacting with microRNAs and responsible for microRNAs loading inside extracellular vesicles, specifically into exosomes.