Transcriptional Control in Inflammation and Cancer

Gioacchino Natoli
Group Leader
gioacchino.natoli@ieo.it | |
Location | Building 13 Floor 3rd Via Adamello 16, Milano |
The human genome contains more than 20.000 genes whose expression must be accurately controlled in space and time, both during development and in response to external stimuli such as microbes or changes in micro-environmental conditions (e.g. hypoxia). Each cell in a tissue integrates and interprets information coming from a continuously changing micro-environment in order to properly adapt its properties and maximize its fitness. Moreover, responses to microbes or tissue damage, which are essential to restore homeostasis and eventually for organism survival, require rapid changes in gene expression whose control must be accurately tuned. Non-physiological alterations in gene expression determine abnormal cell behaviors in many diseases, including inflammatory disorders and cancer. In fact, some commonly used drugs, such as glucocorticoids, and many others currently under development, work by directly changing gene transcription or by altering chromatin properties.
Our lab uses a combination of genomic, computational and functional approaches to understand molecular mechanisms that control gene expression in inflammation and cancer, with a particular focus on pancreatic cancer, a nearly invariably deadly tumor predicted to become the main cause of cancer deaths by 2030.
Most Relevant Publications
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Austenaa LMI, Piccolo V, Russo M, Prosperini E, Polletti S, Polizzese D, Ghisletti S, Barozzi I, Diaferia GR, Natoli G
A first exon termination checkpoint preferentially suppresses extragenic transcription.
Nat Struct Mol Biol, 2021
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Milan M, Balestrieri C, Alfarano G, Polletti S, Prosperini E, Nicoli P, Spaggiari P, Zerbi A, Cirulli V, Diaferia GR, Natoli G
Pancreatic Cancer Cells Require the Transcription Factor MYRF to Maintain ER Homeostasis.
Dev Cell, 2020
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Comoglio F, Simonatto M, Polletti S, Liu X, Smale ST, Barozzi I, Natoli G
Dissection of acute stimulus-induced nucleosome remodeling in mammalian cells
Genes Dev., 2019
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Balestrieri C, Alfarano G, Milan M, Tosi V, Prosperini E, Nicoli P, Palamidessi A, Scita G, Diaferia GR, Natoli G
Cooptation of tandem DNA repeats for the maintenance of mesenchymal identity
Cell, 2018