Gruppo Morandi
TUMOR BIOCHEMISTRY LAB
Coordinator:
ANDREA MORANDI
Email: andrea.morandi@unifi.it
Twitter: @andMORand
Andrea Morandi is Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Florence. He studied Biotechnology (BSc) and Medical Biotechnology (MSc) at the University of Florence and gained BSc in 2004 and MSc in 2006 both with honors, after a period of research on MAPK signaling in liquid and solid cancers.
Immediately after the MSc, Andrea started a PhD on the role of Tyrosine Kinase Receptors in breast cancer. In 2007, he moved to the Institute of Cancer Research in London in the laboratory of Prof Clare Isacke where he investigated, first as visiting PhD student and then as Worldwide Cancer Research supported postdoctoral fellow, the role of the tyrosine kinase receptor RET in response and resistance to endocrine therapy in breast cancer. In 2013, Andrea was awarded a Fondazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro Fellowship and returned to Florence. In 2018 became Faculty at the University of Florence.
Member of the following Boards
- Member of the CTS (Comitato Tecnico Sanitario) of the Ministero della Salute (https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/ricercaSanitaria/dettaglioContenutiRicercaSanitaria.jsp?lingua=italiano&id=795&area=Ricerca sanitaria&menu=comitato)
- Member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Association of Cancer Research (SIC; https://www.cancerologia.it/)
- Member of the Board of Directors of the Associazione Italiana Colture Cellulari (AICC; https://www.aicc.website/)
- Member of the Committee of the European Network for Breast Development and Cancer (ENBDC; https://enbdc.org/)
Member of editorial board of the following Journals
Editorial Board - Scientific Reports; 2017-
Associate Editor - BMC Cancer; 2017-
Associate Editor - Hormones and Cancer; 2017-
Associate Editor in Molecular and Cellular Oncology - Frontiers; 2019-
Guest Associate Editor in Cancer Metabolism - Frontiers; 2019-
Editorial Board - MDPI - Cancers; 2020-
Editorial Board - Taylor & Francis Online - Molecular and Cellular Oncology; 2020-
Research Team
MARINA BACCI – ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Email: marina.bacci@unifi.it
I obtained my BSc and MSs in Biotechnology and Medical Biotechnology from the University of Florence and a PhD in Life Sciences and Biotechnologies at the University of Sassari. I investigated the role of metabolic reprogramming in endocrine therapy resistance since my PhD and I continued this journey thanks to Pezcoller Foundation and AIRC support. I am now an Assistant Professor in Biochemistry.
NICLA LORITO – POSTOCTORAL FELLOW
Email: nicla.lorito@gmail.com
I received my BSc and MSc in Biotechnology and Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology with honors from the University of Florence. I then moved in the laboratory of Prof Culig at the University of Innsbruck before starting a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of Siena, investigating the role of metabolism in the response and resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors. At present, I am a Fondazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro postdoctoral fellow in the Tumor Biochemistry Team.
ANGELA SUBBIANI – POSTOCTORAL FELLOW
Email: angela.subbiani@unifi.it
I received my BSc and MSc with honors from the University of Florence. I then started a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Oncohematology Lab of the Pediatric Oncology Hospital "Meyer". I am now a postdoctoral fellow supported by the Fondazione Annastaccatolisa working on the role of metabolic reprogramming in triple negative breast cancer
ALFREDO SMIRIGLIA – PHD STUDENT
Email: alfredo.smiriglia@unifi.it
I obtained my BSc and MSc in Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology from the University of Florence, both with honors, working on metabolic reprogramming in breast cancer.
I am now a PhD student in Biomedical Science at the University of Florence investigating the role of metabolic aberration and gender-related differences in the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to hepatocarcinoma.
FRANCESCA BONECHI – PHD STUDENT
Email: francesca.bonechi@unifi.it
I obtained my BSc and MSc in Medical Biotechnology from the University of Florence, both with honors. I then moved to Cologne (CECAD) in the laboratory of Dr Peltzer working on the interaction between lung cancer cells and adipocytes.
I am now a PhD student in Biomedical Science at the University of Florence investigating the role of estrogen in the preneoplastic lesions of the endometrium.
Current research interest
Metabolic reprogramming and deregulation are hallmarks of cancer. These alterations are not exclusively secondary effects of increased energetic and anabolic demands of the proliferating or invasive tumor cells. Instead, these traits alone are able to support and drive tumor initiation and progression. Importantly, metabolic reprogramming has a fundamental role in response and adaptation to anti-cancer therapies.
Our laboratory seeks to understand the contribution of metabolic reprogramming and the molecular mechanisms that drive this deregulation, particularly in the context of anti-cancer therapy resistance.
Indeed, preventing or bypassing drug resistance is arguably the most important unmet medical need in cancer management. Therefore, the identification of biomarker-defined patient populations that will most likely respond to the drugs is essential. Our work has multiple implications: (i) it will provide mechanistic insights involved in therapy response and resistance; (ii) it will apply multi-omics analysis to pre-clinical models to identify bio-markers of therapy response and resistance; (iii) it will generate experimental cellular models to study therapy response and resistance in several solid cancers.
Research Projects:
1. Metabolic reprogramming in endocrine therapy response and resistance in breast cancer
2. Metabolic reprograming in triple negative breast cancer
3. Metabolic determinants of CDK4/6 inhibitors resistance in breast cancer
4. Characterization of NAFLD to HCC progression: a gender approach with a focus on estrogen
5. The role of estrogen signalling in the progression of preneoplastic lesion of the endometrium
Key words
BREAST CANCER, METABOLIC REPROGRAMMING, SIGNALLING, RECEPTOR TYROSINE KINASE, CANCER METABOLISM, THERAPY RESISTANCE, HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA, NUCLEAR RECEPTOR, ENDOCRINOLOGY, BIOMARKERS
Current sources of funding of Andrea Morandi
AIRC IG 2020-2024 – Principal Investigator
Gender Medicine 2020-2021 - Principal Investigator
Pezcoller Foundation-SIC 2021 – Scientific Supervisor/Host of Dr Bacci
AIRC 2022 fellowship – Scientific Supervisor/Host of Dr Lorito
Annastaccatolisa 2022 fellowship - Scientific Supervisor/Host of Dr Subbiani
AIRC – Fondazione CR Firenze 2016-2020 – Group Leader
Fondi di Ateneo (ex 60%)
Selected publications
1. De Santis MC, Gozzelino L, Margaria JP, Costamagna A, Ratto E, Gulluni F, Di Gregorio E, Mina E, Lorito N, Bacci M, Lattanzio R, Sala G, Cappello P, Novelli F, Giovannetti E, Vicentini C, Andreani S, Delfino P, Corbo V, Scarpa A, Porporato PE, Morandi A, Hirsch E, Martini M. Lysosomal lipid switch sensitises to nutrient deprivation and mTOR targeting in pancreatic cancer. Gut. 2023 Feb;72(2):360-371. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2021-325117.
2. Meattini I, Livi L, Lorito N, Becherini C, Bacci M, Visani L, Fozza A, Belgioia L, Loi M, Mangoni M, Lambertini M, Morandi A. Integrating radiation therapy with targeted treatments for breast cancer: From bench to bedside. Cancer Treat Rev. 2022 Jul;108:102417. doi: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2022.102417.
3. Bacci M*, Lorito N*, Smiriglia A, Morandi A. Fat and Furious: Lipid Metabolism in Antitumoral Therapy Response and Resistance. Trends Can. 2020 Dec. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2020.10.004. Review. *co-first authors
4. Kowalik MA, Puliga E, Cabras L, Sulas P, Petrelli A, Perra A, Ledda-Columbano GM, Morandi A, Merlin S, Orrù C, Sanchez-Martin C, Fornari F, Gramantieri L, Parri M, Rasola A, Bellomo SE, Sebastian C, Follenzi A, Giordano S, Columbano A. Thyroid hormone inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma progression via induction of differentiation and metabolic reprogramming. J Hepatol. 2020 Jun;72(6):1159-1169. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2019.12.018.
5. Lorito N*, Bacci M*, Smiriglia A, Mannelli M, Parri M, Comito G, Ippolito L, Giannoni E, Bonechi M, Benelli M, Migliaccio I, Malorni L, Chiarugi P, Morandi A. Glucose Metabolic Reprogramming of ER Breast Cancer in Acquired Resistance to the CDK4/6 Inhibitor Palbociclib. Cells. 2020 Mar 10;9(3). doi: 10.3390/cells9030668. (IF2020: 6.600) *co-first authors
6. Bacci M, Lorito N, Ippolito L, Ramazzotti M, Luti S, Romagnoli S, Parri M, Bianchini F, Cappellesso F, Virga F, Gao Q, Simões BM, Marangoni E, Martin LA, Comito G, Ferracin M, Giannoni E, Mazzone M, Chiarugi P, Morandi A. Reprogramming of Amino Acid Transporters to Support Aspartate and Glutamate Dependency Sustains Endocrine Resistance in Breast Cancer. Cell Rep. 2019 Jul 2;28(1):104-118.e8. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2019.06.010.
7. Chen J, Guccini I, Di Mitri D, Brina D, Revandkar A, Sarti M, Pasquini E, Alajati A, Pinton S, Losa M, Civenni G, Catapano CV, Sgrignani J, Cavalli A, D'Antuono R, Asara JM, Morandi A, Chiarugi P, Crotti S, Agostini M, Montopoli M, Masgras I, Rasola A, Garcia-Escudero R, Delaleu N, Rinaldi A, Bertoni F, Bono J, Carracedo A, Alimonti A. Compartmentalized activities of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex sustain lipogenesis in prostate cancer. Nat Genet. 2018 Feb;50(2):219-228. doi: 10.1038/s41588-017-0026-3.
8. Andreucci E, Francica P, Fearns A, Martin LA, Chiarugi P, Isacke CM, Morandi A. Targeting the receptor tyrosine kinase RET in combination with aromatase inhibitors in ER positive breast cancer xenografts. Oncotarget. 2016 Dec 6;7(49):80543-80553. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.11826.
9. Kowalik MA*, Guzzo G*, Morandi A*, Perra A, Menegon S, Masgras I, Trevisan E, Angioni MM, Fornari F, Quagliata L, Ledda-Columbano GM, Gramantieri L, Terracciano L, Giordano S, Chiarugi P, Rasola A, Columbano A. Metabolic reprogramming identifies the most aggressive lesions at early phases of hepatic carcinogenesis. Oncotarget. 2016 May 31;7(22):32375-93. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.8632. *co-first authors
10. Bacci M, Giannoni E, Fearns A, Ribas R, Gao Q, Taddei ML, Pintus G, Dowsett M, Isacke CM, Martin LA, Chiarugi P, Morandi A. miR-155 Drives Metabolic Reprogramming of ER+ Breast Cancer Cells Following Long-Term Estrogen Deprivation and Predicts Clinical Response to Aromatase Inhibitors. Cancer Res. 2016 Mar 15;76(6):1615-26. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-2038.
Full Publication list: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1JM7xFr2A8y56/bibliography/public/
Ultimo aggiornamento
13.03.2023