ESR1
Study of the molecular mechanism of Endothelial to Mesenchymal Transition during muscle regeneration and crosstalk with the immune system in vivo and in vitro.
I am a PhD student from Translational and Molecular Medicine program in UNIMIB DIMET.
I graduated from Biochemistry and completed my MSc in Medicine and Molecular Oncology by the University of Porto, Portugal.
I am developing my PhD project under Professor Silvia Brunelli supervision in the area of muscle regeneration and aging RENOIR. The research will provide information about EC progenitors during muscle injury in an altered inflammatory environment and the molecular mechanisms involved in endothelial to mesenchymal transition, including their crosstalk with the immune system during muscle regeneration.
University of
Milano – Bicocca
Italy
Partner Profile
University of Milano – Bicocca UNIMIB
UNIMIB was ranked 51st in the world and 2nd in Italy in the Times Higher Education, rankings 2016, dedicated to the best hundred universities with less than 50 years, UNIMIB has extensive experience in managing EC grants. UNIMIB has a great experience in managing national, international and European projects.
Under the Horizon 2020 programme, UNIMIB won 43 projects: it hosts 2 MSCA-IF, is coordinator of 4 MSCA-ITN and beneficiary in 5 actions; it is coordinator of one MSCA-RISE, partner in 4 actions, and coordinates 5 ERC grants.
Therefore, UNIMIB is fully versed in financial management and general administration of these grants.
Furthermore, UNIMIB promotes the translation of research results through technology transfer operations (124 patents). Among its spin-offs, 14 are ready to capture the most promising opportunities from a broad range of technology sectors, with particular expertise in nanomedicine and biotechnology, therapeutic and diagnostic, energy and environment, smart materials and ICT.
At the present, UNIMIB has 69 active agreements with Universities and Research Centres all over the world (16 EU, 15 in the Americas – incl. USA and Canada – and 38 outside EU – including China, Japan, Australia, India). The School of Medicine and Surgery (SMS-UNIMIB) is located in the new Biomedical Campus of UNIMIB and covers various basic and clinical research areas: Biochemistry, Genetics, Immunology, Oncology and Hematology, Clinical Sciences. Activities involve also teaching at Bachelor, Master and PhD level, including the PhD program in Translational and Molecular Medicine, DIMET. DMC members are involved in national and international research programs. Funding is provided by the University, regional and national sources, EU research programmes, research contracts and private foundations.
The ESR will be enrolled in the Ph.D. Programme in Translational and Molecular Medicine (DIMET), University of Milano Bicocca (www.dimet.org).
Website
Topic
Several studies support the emerging concept that inflammation controls stem cell fate/behaviour coordinating tissue repair and this balance is probably skewed in patients with late phases of chronic diseases, like muscle dystrophies.
This project will focus on how the inflammatory and vascular components integrate to coordinate muscle regeneration and how the process of Endothelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EndoMT) contributes to fibrosis in pathological conditions .
To investigate the molecular mechanism of EndoMT in vivo, we will FACS-sort endothelial derived cells and macrophages from endothelial cells (ECs) specific lineage tracing mice in different EndoMT inducing conditions and at different time points.
We will investigate the pathways activated in pathological EndoMT by RNA and protein expression analyses, including RNAseq, and upon specific inhibition to identify new pathways that could serve as potential therapeutic targets.
We will also perform genome-wide epigenetic analyses of EC progenitors and macrophages to gain insight into their chromatin state and into the dynamic changes of chromatin during EndoMT, and correlate this with the transcriptional profile.In addition, we will contribute to the optimization of an in vitro systems to study the interaction between endothelial progenitors and macrophages.
Objectives
- To characterize EC progenitors in vivo during muscle injury in an altered inflammatory environment
To characterize signalling pathways and the chromatin landscape in EC progenitors and macrophages during EndoMT in acute muscle regeneration
To develop new in vitro systems to mimic the vascular niche and macrophage-vascular progenitor interactions to dissect signalling pathways
PHD Program
Translational and Molecular Medicine (DIMET)
University of Milano Bicocca
Supervisor
RENOIR Coordinator, Department of Medicine and Surgery
RENOIR
ESR
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