Curriculum S. Piersanti

Born in Rome, 17th of December 1973

Italian citizen

Work address: Department of Biology and Biotechnology "C. Darwin", University of Rome “La Sapienza”, ex Institute of Genetics, p.le Aldo Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

Phone number: +390649912470

E-mail :  stefania.piersanti@uniroma1.it

FAX: +39 064456866

EDUCATION

2005: PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology, Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”. PhD Title of thesis: ”Adenovirus-integrin interaction. Molecular characterization and functional exploitation for the production of a new gene transfer vector”. Group Leader: Prof. Isabella Saggio

2000: Master Degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology . Score 110/110 cum laude

Dept. of Genetics and Molecular Biology, University “La Sapienza”, Rome. Title of thesis: “Library of mutants of Adenoviral Penton base. Construction, characterization and applications”. Group Leader: Prof. Isabella Saggio

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

2010-today: Post-doctoral research activity in the field of gene therapy and viral vectors at the University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Biology and Biotechnology.

2010: Travelling grant award of Journal of Cell Science and The Company of Biologists Limited

2005-2008: Temporary professor in Genetics at the University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”.

2005-2009: Post-doc, Telethon research fellowship at the Scientific Park of Rome “San Raffaele”, Institute of Tissue engineering and cellular biology, Rome. Group leaders, Prof Isabella Saggio and Prof Paolo Bianco

2003: Stage in flow cytometry techniques at the “Center of excellence in Molecular Medicine (MolMed)”, Lodz (Poland) and research activity in the field of the apoptosis of tumoral cells in hematological diseases. Group leaders Dr. Piotr Smolewski and Prof. Czeslaw Cierniewski.

2001: Research scolarship of Pasteur Institute- Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti of Rome, in the field of virus-cell interaction. Group leader Prof I. Saggio.

2000: Post-lauream training at the Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Rome La Sapienza, in the field of phage display technology.

LABORATORY SKILLS

Protein Extraction , Western Blotting- Lentiviral vector preparation, titration and transduction– Adenoviral vectors preparation, titration and transduction- M13/Lambda Phage display technology -Cell cultures of primary, stem cells and cell lines. Differentiation of stem cells-Cell Transfection -Bacterial Transformation -Microbiology tecniques - RT-PCR - Real Time PCR - RNA extraction from cells and tissues and retrotranscription - Cloning Techniques - Plasmid DNA Purification (Maxiprep, Midiprep, Miniprep) -Genomic DNA isolation from cells and tissues -Cytological Preparation and analysis- Immunoflurescence- Cytofluorimetry analysis- ELISA- enzyme assays.

COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE

Microsoft Office package - GeneAmp7000 - Adobe Photoshop CS4- WinMDI- Cell Quest- Scion Image- DNAMan- Bioconductor microarray package- Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software- TM4-MeV-Gene-E- Smart Draw- MiniTab 13- Sigma Plot- MetaMorph image analysis software-EndNote9- GenoPro- EASE- Primer Express-

POSTERS

M.Di Giovine, B. Salone, Y. Martina, V. Amati, S. Piersanti, V.Lanza,C.M. Failla, I.Saggio. Studio della base pentonica di adenovirus mediante l'impiego della tecnologia fagica. Presentazione poster, 1o Convegno FISV, Riva del Garda (TN), October 1999.

B.Salone, K. Benihoud,S. Esselin, M.Di Giovine, Y. Martina, S. Piersanti, I.Saggio. Studio sull'inibizione delle citochine infiammatorie per il miglioramento del trasferimento genico mediante vettori adenovirali. Presentazione poster, 1o Convegno FISV, Riva del Garda (TN), Ottobre 1999.

Salone B.; Martina Y.; Di Giovine M.; Piersanti S.; Cherubini G.; Di Zenzo G.; Failla C.M.; Saggio I. Recombinant bacteriophages as gene delivery vectors for mammalian cells. Oral communication CSH, Gene Therapy day 2001

S. Piersanti, Y. Martina, E. Cundari, B. Salone, G. Cherubini, D. Avitabile, F. Grosso, G. Di Zenzo and I. Saggio. Engineered lambda bacteriophage for efficient transduction of mammalian cells. Poster presentation, 4° Convegno FISV, September 2002

S. Piersanti, Y. Martina, E. Cundari, B. Salone, G. Cherubini, D. Avitabile, F. Grosso, G. Di Zenzo and I. Saggio. Engineered lambda bacteriophage for efficient transduction of mammalian cells. Oral presentation and poster, VI Congresso Nazionale Biotecnologie, June 2003

Stefania Piersanti, Benedetto Sacchetti, Vanessa Velotta, Simonetta Morese, Alessia Funari, Silvia Di Cesare, Desiré Bonci, Cesare Peschle, Mara Riminucci, Paolo Bianco and Isabella Saggio. Lentiviral mediated transduction of human skeletal (stromal, mesenchymal) stem cells. Poster FISV, September 2004

P. Bianco, A. Funari, S. Piersanti, S. Michienzi, I.Saggio, M. Riminucci

Fibrous Dysplasia: models of disease, models of intervention, XIII Convegno Telethon, Poster, March 2005.

S. Piersanti, B. Sacchetti, A. Funari, C. Remoli, S. Michienzi, M. Riminucci, I. Saggio, P. Bianco. Transfer and silencing of a disease gene (R201C-GNAS) in human skeletal stem cells (hSSCs), XXXIII European Symposium on Calcified Tissues (Prague), Poster and oral communication, May 2006

S. Michienzi, A. Funari, B. Sacchetti, S. Cersosimo, S. Piersanti, C. Remoli, I. saggio, M. Riminucci and P. Bianco. FGF-2 and TGFβ-1 have opposite effects on the mural cell phenotype of CD146+ BMSCs. Genostem, 3nd Workshop on Mesenchymal Stem Cells Engineering for Connective Tissue Disorders Poster, Barcellona (Spain) il 7-9 February 2007.

B. Sacchetti, A. Funari, S. Michienzi, G. Giannicola, S. Cersosimo, S. Piersanti, C. Remoli, I. Saggio, P. Robey, M. Riminucci and P. Bianco. Prospective isolation of MCAM/CD146-expressing, clonogenic cells endowed with high spontaneous myogenic activity from the microvasculature of human adult skeletal muscle. Genostem, 3nd Workshop on Mesenchymal Stem Cells Engineering for Connective Tissue Disorders, Poster, Barcellona (Spain) il 7-9 February 2007.

A. Funari, S. Michienzi, B. Sacchetti, S. Cersosimo, S. Piersanti, C. Remoli, I. saggio, M. Riminucci and P. Bianco. The potential role of CD146+ stromal cells in the assembly and remodeling of pseudovascular structures and in the establishment of HSC niche. Genostem, 3nd Workshop on Mesenchymal Stem Cells Engineering for Connective Tissue Disorders, Poster, Barcellona (Spain) il 7-9 February 2007.

P. Bianco, A. Funari, S. Piersanti, S. Michienzi, I. Saggio, M. Riminucci. Fibrous dysplasia, models of disease, models of intervention. XIV Convention Scientific Telethon, Poster, Salsomaggiore Terme – Palazzo dei Congressi, 12-14 March 2007.

Isabella Saggio, Stefania Piersanti, Alessia Funari, Cristina Remoli, Stefania Cersosimo, Benedetto Sacchetti, Stefano Michienzi, Pamela Gehron Robey, Mara Riminucci, Paolo Bianco. Modeling and Correcting Fibrous Dysplasia with Lentiviral Vectors. Poster, ASGT 11th Annual Meeting, May 28–June 1, 2008, Boston, Massachusettes (USA).

S. Piersanti, I. Saggio, A. Funari, C. Remoli, S. Cersosimo, P.G. Robey, M. Riminucci, P. Bianco. Modeling and Correcting Fibrous Dysplasia with Lentiviral Vectors. FISV 2008, Poster e Oral communication, Riva del Garda, 24-27 September 2008.

M. Riminucci, I. Saggio, S. Michienzi, C. Remoli, S. Cersosimo, S. Piersanti, A. Di Consiglio, A. Funari, P. Bianco. Fibrous dysplasia: models of disease, models of intervention. Poster and Oral communication, XV CONVENTION SCIENTIFICA TELETHON, Palazzo dei Congressi, Riva del Garda (Trento) 9-11 march 2009

S.Piersanti, L. Astrologo, S.C. Schwarz, J. Schwarz, M. Chillon, E. Kremer, I. Saggio . High-throughput transcriptional analysis of gene therapy viral vectors effects on brain cells. Poster, European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy 2010, (ESGCT) Milano (MI), Italy, 22-25 October 2010.

PUBLICATIONS

1. Salone, B, Martina, Y, Piersanti S, Cundari, E, Cherubini, G, Franqueville, L, Failla, C.M.; Boulanger, P. and Saggio, I. Integrin alpha3beta1 is an alternative cellular receptor for Adenovirus type 5. Journal of Virology, 2003, 77, 13448-54

2. Piersanti S, Cherubini, G, Martina, Y, Salone, B, Avitabile, D, Grosso, F., Cundari, E, di Zenzo, G. and Saggio I.

Mammalian cell transduction and internalization properties of lambda phages displaying the full-length adenoviral penton base or its central domain. Journal of Molecular Medicine, May 19, 2004

3. Piersanti S,Martina Y,Cherubini G, Avitabile D, Saggio I.

Use of DNA microarrays to monitor host response to virus and virus-derived gene therapy vectors. Am. J. Pharmacogenomics. 2004;4(6):345-56.

4. Piersanti S. , Sacchetti, B, Funari, A, Di Cesare, S, Bonci, D, Peschle, C, Riminucci, M, Bianco, P, Saggio, I. Lentiviral transduction of human post-natal skeletal (stromal, mesenchymal) stem cells:in vivo transplantation and gene silencing. Calcified Tissue International, 2006 78:372-384.

5. G.Cherubini, T.Petouchoff, M.Grossi, S.Piersanti, E. Cundari, and I. Saggio

E1B55K-deleted adenovirus (ONYX-015) overrides G1/S and G2/M checkpoints and causes mitotic catastrophe and endoreduplication in p53-proficient normal cells. Cell Cycle, 2006 Oct;5(19):2244-52

6. Martina Y, Avitabile D, Piersanti S, Cherubini G, Saggio I.

Different modulation of cellular transcription by adenovirus 5, DeltaE1/E3 adenovirus and helper-dependent vectors. Virus Research, 2007, Jun 28

7. Benedetto Sacchetti; Alessia Funari; Stefano Michienzi; Silvia Di Cesare; Stefania Piersanti; Isabella Saggio; Enrico Tagliafico; Stefano Ferrari; Pamela Gehron Robey; Mara Riminucci; Paolo Bianco. Self-renewing osteoprogenitors in bone marrow sinusoids can organize a hematopoietic microenvironment. Cell, 2007 Oct 19;131(2):324-36. Erratum in: Cell. 2008 May 30;133(5):92

8. Caruso P, Burla R, Piersanti S, Cherubini G, Remoli C, Martina Y, Saggio I

Prion expression is activated by Adenovirus 5 infection and affects the adenoviral cycle in human cells. Virology, 2009 Jan 10

9. Stefania Piersanti, Cristina Remoli, Isabella Saggio, Alessia Funari, Stefano Michienzi, Benedetto Sacchetti, Pamela Gehron Robey, Mara Riminucci and Paolo Bianco. Transfer, analysis and reversion of the fibrous dysplasia cellular phenotype in human skeletal progenitors. J Bone Miner Res, 2010; 25(5):1103-16 (evaluated score 6 on F1000M http://f1000.com/).

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