Dottorato in GENETICA E BIOLOGIA MOLECOLARE

email: lucia.piacentini@uniroma1.it

Education and Academic Record

2020 to present, Associate Professor of Genetics (SSD BIO/18), Department of Biology and Biotecnology C.Darwin , Sapienza, University of Rome

2018 National Scientific Qualification (ASN - "Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale") to function as Associate Professor in Italian Universities (SC 05/I1-Genetics)

2007-2020 Researcher (SSD BIO/18), Department of Biology and Biotecnology C.Darwin , Sapienza, University of Rome

2006 School on applied Genetics, University of Rome. Research topic: HP1 and transcriptional activation in Drosophila melanogaster: identification of euchromatic target genes

2005 AGI Award for the best PhD Thesis in Genetics

2005 Member of Italian Association of Genetics (AGI) and member of Italian Federation of Life Science (FISV)

2004 PhD in Genetics and molecular Biology, University of Rome. Research topic: Genetic and functional analysis of HP1(Heterochromatin Protein 1) in Drosophila euchromatin.

1999 Laurea cum laude, University of Rome. Research topic: Position Effect Variegation (PEV) in Drosophila: cytological analysis of Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) encoded by Su(var)2-5 gene

Research activity

The research activity is mainly focused on several aspects of the chromosome biology, with particular emphasis on the pericentromeric and telomeric heterochromatin formation and organization (Perrini et al., 2004; Fanti et al., 2008; Piacentini et al., 2019), the epigenetic regulation of gene expression (Piacentini et al., 2003; Piacentini et al., 2009; Piacentini and Pimpinelli, 2010; Casale et al., 2019), the genomic organization of transposons and regulation of their activity in relation to environmental stress and neurodegenerative diseases (Specchia et al., 2010; Piacentini et al., 2014; Fanti et al., 2017; Cappucci et al., 2018; Cappucci et al., 2019; Pimpinelli and Piacentini, 2020). Over the last period, the research has focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington s (HD) and Alzheimer (AD) diseases (Laneve et al., 2017; Mattioli et al., 2018).
Drosophila melanogaster is the elective experimental model for these researches in terms of genetic, cytogentic and molecular approaches and for the study of conserved biological processes also in superior organisms like human. The scientific production is attested by the publication in international journals. The results of these studies are been presented in both national and international meetings and have been highlighted in the Sapienza University s home page (https://www.uniroma1.it/it/notizia/adattati-se-ti-vuoi-evolvere; https://www.uniroma1.it/it/notizia/stress-e-danni-alla-salute-scoperta-u... https://www.uniroma1.it/it/notizia/oltre-la-selezione-darwiniana-leredit...)

Teaching activity

Teaching assignments:
Epigenetics for the Masters Degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Aging Genetics for the Masters Degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Animal Models in Genomic Research for the Masters Degree in Genomic, Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Genetics for bachelor's degree in Biology at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

Editorial Activity

Editorial board member for the sections Epigenomics and Epigenetics in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology and Frontiers in Genetics (https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/791653/overview)
Reviewer for international scientific journals (Chromosoma; Genome Research; Epigenetics; Nucleic Acids Research; Integrative and Comparative Biology)

Relevant publications of last 10 years

Pimpinelli S and Piacentini L. Environmental changes and evolution of genomes: transposons as translators of the phenotypic plasticity into genotypic variability. Functional Ecology, 2020; 34(2), 428 441. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13497
IF2018-2019: 5.037

Cappucci U, Noro F, Casale AM, Fanti L, Berloco M, Alagia AA, Grassi L, Le Pera L, Piacentini* L, Pimpinelli S. The Hsp70 chaperone is a major player in stress-induced transposable element activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Sep 3;116(36):17943-17950. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1903936116. Epub 2019 Aug 9. * co-corresponding author.
IF2018-2019: 9.5804

Piacentini L, Marchetti M, Bucciarelli E, CasaleAM, Cappucci U, Bonifazi P, Renda F, Fanti L. Arole of the Trx-G complex in Cid/CENP-A deposition at Drosophila melanogaster centromeres. Chromosoma. 2019 Jun 16. doi: 10.1007/s00412-019-00711-x.
IF2018: 3.530

Casale AM, Cappucci U, Fanti L, Piacentini L. Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) is intrinsically required for post-transcriptional regulation of Drosophila Germline Stem Cell (GSC) maintenance. Sci Rep. 2019 Mar 13;9(1):4372. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40152-1.
IF2018-2019: 4.011

Cappucci U, Torromino G, Casale AM, Camon J, Capitano F, Berloco M, Mele A, Pimpinelli S, Rinaldi A, Piacentini L. Stress-induced strain and brain region-specific activation of LINE-1transposons in adult mice. Stress. 2018 Nov;21(6):575-579. doi: 10.1080/10253890.2018.1485647.
IF2018: 2.168

Fanti* L, Piacentini* L, Cappucci U, Casale AM, Pimpinelli S. Canalization by Selection of De Novo-Induced Mutations. Genetics. 2017 Aug; 206(4):1995-2006. doi: 10.1534/genetics.117.201079. Epub 2017 Jun 1. * first co-author and co-corresponding author.
IF2017: 4.075

Laneve* P, Piacentini* L, Casale AM, Capauto D, Gioia U, Cappucci U, Di Carlo V, Bozzoni I, Di Micco P, Morea V, Di Franco CA, Caffarelli E. Drosophila CG3303 is an essential endoribonuclease linked to TDP-43-mediated Neurodegeneration. Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 31; 7:41559. doi: 10.1038/srep41559. * first co-author.
IF2017: 4.122

Piacentini L, Fanti L, Specchia V, Bozzetti MP, Berloco M, Palumbo G, Pimpinelli S. Transposons, environmental changes, and heritable induced phenotypic variability. Chromosoma. 2014 Aug;123(4):345-54. doi: 10.1007/s00412-014-0464-y.
IF2014: 4.602

Specchia V, Piacentini L, Tritto P, Fanti L, D'Alessandro R, Palumbo G, Pimpinelli S, Bozzetti MP. Hsp90 prevents phenotypic variation by suppressing the mutagenic activity of transposons. (2010) Nature 463(7281):662-5. doi: 10.1038/nature08739.
IF2010: 36.104