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    Ilaria Chiodi

    Cellular mechanical properties constitute good markers to characterize tumor cells, to study cell population heterogeneity and to highlight the effect of drug treatments. In this work, we describe the fabrication and validation of an... more
    Cellular mechanical properties constitute good markers to characterize tumor cells, to study cell population heterogeneity and to highlight the effect of drug treatments. In this work, we describe the fabrication and validation of an integrated optofluidic chip capable of analyzing cellular deformability on the basis of the pressure gradient needed to push a cell through a narrow constriction. We demonstrate the ability of the chip to discriminate between tumorigenic and metastatic breast cancer cells (MCF7 and MDA-MB231) and between human melanoma cells with different metastatic potential (A375P and A375MC2). Moreover, we show that this chip allows highlighting the effect of drugs interfering with microtubule organization (paclitaxel, combretastatin A-4 and nocodazole) on cancer cells, which leads to changes in the pressure-gradient required to push cells through the constriction. Our single-cell microfluidic device for mechanical evaluation is compact and easy to use, allowing for an extensive use in different laboratory environments.
    Heat shock induces the transcriptional activation of large heterochromatic regions of the human genome composed of arrays of satellite III DNA repeats. A number of RNA-processing factors, among them splicing factor SF2/ASF, associate with... more
    Heat shock induces the transcriptional activation of large heterochromatic regions of the human genome composed of arrays of satellite III DNA repeats. A number of RNA-processing factors, among them splicing factor SF2/ASF, associate with these transcription factors giving rise to nuclear stress bodies (nSBs). Here, we show that the recruitment of SF2/ASF to these structures is mediated by its second RNA recognition motif. Amino acid substitutions in the first alpha-helix of this domain, but not in the beta-strand regions, abrogate the association with nSBs. The same mutations drastically affect the in vivo activity of SF2/ASF in the alternative splicing of adenoviral E1A transcripts. Sequence analysis identifies four putative high-affinity binding sites for SF2/ASF in the transcribed strand of the satellite III DNA. We have verified by gel mobility shift assays that the second RNA-binding domain of SF2/ASF binds at least one of these sites. Our analysis suggests that the recruitmen...
    Thermal and chemical ,stresses induce the formation in human ,cells of novel ,and transient nuclear structures called nuclearstress bodies (nSBs). These contain heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) and a specific subset of pre-mRNA processing... more
    Thermal and chemical ,stresses induce the formation in human ,cells of novel ,and transient nuclear structures called nuclearstress bodies (nSBs). These contain heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) and a specific subset of pre-mRNA processing factors. Nuclear stress bodies are assembled,on specific pericentromeric ,heterochromatic ,domains containing satellite III (SatIII) DNA. In response,to stress ,these domains ,change ,their epigenetic status from
    Heat shock triggers the assembly of nuclear stress bodies that contain heat shock factor 1 and a subset of RNA processing factors. These structures are formed on the pericentromeric heterochromatic regions of specific human chromosomes,... more
    Heat shock triggers the assembly of nuclear stress bodies that contain heat shock factor 1 and a subset of RNA processing factors. These structures are formed on the pericentromeric heterochromatic regions of specific human chromosomes, among which chromosome 9. In this article we show that these heterochromatic domains are characterized by an epigenetic status typical of euchromatic regions. Similarly to