Research themes

Biologia del cancro e studio dei meccanismi molecolari coinvolti nella tumorigenesi con uno speciale focus sul microambiente tumorale. Utilizzo di modelli animali per investigare l’interazione tra tumore e sistema immunitario. Ruolo dei miRNA in patologie oncologiche e croniche. Studio della modulazione dei miRNA in risposta a stimoli esterni come l’inquinamento atmosferico. Connessioni tra miRNA e malattie gastrointestinali croniche. Interazione tra ambiente e salute Effetti dell’inquinamento atmosferico sull’asse polmone-cervello e sull’oncogenesi. Terapie innovative e molecole bioattive. Approcci innovativi per il trattamento del glioblastoma tramite composti naturali. Sensibilizzazione delle cellule staminali tumorali alla chemioterapia tramite modulazione di recettori nucleari. Biogenesi e funzione delle vescicole extracellulari: Studio dei lipid droplet e delle vescicole extracellulari in relazione al metabolismo cellulare e alla comunicazione intercellulare.

Collaborations

• Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
• Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, 15, Strada Le Grazie, 37134 Verona, Italy
• Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council (CNR-ISAC), 00133 Rome, Italy.
• Department of Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Development and One Health, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Rome, Italy.
• Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, 20054 Segrate (Milan), Italy.
• Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, 200954 Segrate, Italy

Selected publications

1.      Effects of particulate air pollution exposure on lung-brain axis and related miRNAs modulation in mouse models
Giammona Alessandro , Terribile Giulia , Rainone Paolo , Pellizzer Chiara , Porro Danilo , Cerasa Antonio , Sancini Giulio , Rashid Ameen-Ur , Belloli Sara , Valtorta Silvia , Lo Dico Alessia , Bertoli Gloria Front. Cell Dev. Biol, Sec. Cancer Cell Biology. Volume 13 -2025| https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2025.1526424
 
2.      Chronic Gastrointestinal Disorders and miRNA-Associated Disease: An Up-to-Date
Alessandro Giammona 1,2,†, Bruno Giovanni Galuzzi 1,2,†, Elena Imperia 3 , Clarissa Gervasoni 1,2 , Sofia Remedia 1,2,4, Laura Restaneo 3 , Martina Nespoli 1,2 , Laura De Gara 3 , Flaminia Tani 1,2 , Michele Cicala 5,6 , Michele Pier Luca Guarino 5,6, Danilo Porro 1,2,7, Antonio Cerasa 1,2 , Alessia Lo Dico 1,2,*, Annamaria Altomare 3,5,‡ and Gloria Bertoli 1,2,* ,‡ Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26, 413. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26010413
 
3.      Lipid droplets and small extracellular vesicles: More than two independent entities
Géraldine C. Genard, Luca Tirinato, Francesca Pagliari, Jessica Da Silva, Alessandro Giammona, Fatema Alquraish, Maria Parra Reyes, Marie Bordas, Maria Grazia Marafioti, Simone Di Franco, Jeannette Janssen, Daniel Garcia-Calderón, Rachel Hanley, Clelia Nistico, Yoshinori Fukasawa, Torsten Müller, Jeroen Krijgsveld, Matilde Todaro, Francesco Saverio Costanzo, Giorgio Stassi, Michelle Nessling, Karsten Richter, Kendra K. Maass, Carlo Liberale, Joao Seco Journal of Extracellular Biology, 3, e162 https://isevjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jex2.162
 
4.      Tumor-derived GLI1 promotes remodeling of the immune tumor microenvironment in melanoma
Alessandro Giammona, Chiara De Vellis, Enrica Crivaro, Luisa Maresca, Roberta Amoriello, Federica Ricci, Giulia Anichini, Silvia Pietrobono, David R. Pease, Martin E. Fernandez-Zapico, Clara Ballerini & Barbara Stecca J Exp Clin Cancer Res 43, 214 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13046-024-03138-0
 
5.      A Novel Strategy for Glioblastoma Treatment by Natural Bioactive Molecules Showed a Highly Effective Anti-Cancer Potential
Alessandro Giammona, Mauro Commisso, Marcella Bonanomi, Sofia Remedia, Linda Avesani, Danilo Porro, Daniela Gaglio, Gloria Bertoli and Alessia Lo Dico∗
Nutrients 2024, 16(15), 2389;  https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16152389 – 23 Jul 2024
 
6.      The miRNA Contribution in Adipocyte Maturation
Giammona, A.1,2,3.; Di Franco, S3.; Lo Dico, A,12.; Stassi, G3.
Non-coding RNA, 2024, 10(3), 35. Doi.10.3390/ncrna10030035
 
7.      The Biological interplay between air pollutants and miRNAs regulation in cancer
Alessandro Giammona, Sofia Remedia, Danilo Porro, Alessia Lo Dico* and Gloria Bertoli*
Front. Cell Dev. Biol, Sec. Cancer Cell Biology. Volume 12 – 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1343385
 
8.      Targeting GLI1 and GLI2 with small molecule inhibitors to suppress GLI-dependent transcription and tumor growth
Maresca L., Crivaro E., Migliorini F., Anichini G., Giammona A., Pepe S., Poggialini F., Vagaggini C., Giannini G., Sestini S., Borgognoni L., Lapucci A., Dreassi E., Taddei M., Manetti F., Petricci E., Stecca B.
Pharmacological research. 2023, Vol.195, p.106858 ISSN: 1043-6618, 1096-1186; DOI:10.1016/j.phrs.2023.106858
 
9.      Emerging Roles of Hedgehog Signaling in Cancer Immunity
Alessandro Giammona 1, Enrica Crivaro 1,2 and Barbara Stecca 1,*
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 1321. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24021321   
 
10.    Niclosamide induces miR-148a to inhibit PXR and sensitize colon cancer stem cells to chemotherapy
Lucile Bansard1,6 Océane Bouvet1,6 ElisaMoutin1 GaétanLe Gall1 Alessandro Giammona1  Elodie Pothin1Marion Bacou1 Cédric Hassen-Khodja2Benoit Bordignon2 Jean François Bourgaux3 Michel Prudhomme3Frédéric Hollande4,5 Julie Pannequin1 Jean Marc Pascussi 1,7 ChrisPlanque 1,7
Stem Cell Reports, 2022, ISSN 2213-6711, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.02.005
 
11.    Combined platelet-rich plasma and lipofilling treatment provides great improvement in facial skin-induced lesion regeneration for scleroderma patients
Francesco Virzì1,2†, Paola Bianca1†, Alessandro Giammona1†, Tiziana Apuzzo, Simone Di Franco1 , Laura Rosa Mangiapane1 , Maria Luisa Colorito1 , Dario Catalano1 , Emanuela Scavo1 , Annalisa Nicotra1 , Antonina Benfante1 , Giuseppe Pistone3 , Valentina Caputo3 , Francesco Dieli4 , Roberto Pirrello2 and Giorgio Stassi1* † Equal contributors
December 2017. Stem Cell Research & Therapy (DOI 10.1186/s13287-017-0690-3)