Education
"Maturita' Classica" Liceo Classico "G. D. Romagnosi", 1976,
Parma, Italy.
Master degree (Laurea) in Biological Science,1980, University of
Parma, Italy, cum laude.
"Diploma" in the School of Specialization on Biochemistry and
Clinical Chemistry, 1984, University of Parma, Italy, cum
laude.
PhD in Molecular Biology and Pathology, 1990, University of
Parma, Italy.
Fellowships.
1983 Post-graduate fellowship from "Accademia dei Lincei", Roma,
on the biochemical and biophysical characterization of active
peptides extracted from amphybian skin (supervisors Prof. Pietro
Melchiorri e Prof. Vittorio Erspamer, Institute of Medical
Pharmacology of "La Sapienza" University of Roma).
1988 Visiting Scientist, Division of Biological Sciences,
National Research Council, Ottawa, Canada, to study flow cytometric
techniques applied to cell biology.
Academical Position
From 1990 Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry "G.
Moruzzi", University of Bologna
Membership of Scientific Societies
SocietÃÆ' Italiana di Biochimica.
International Society for the Development of Research on
Magnesium (SDRM)
Research activity:
1981-1982
Institute of Ecology, University of Parma: research on
phytodepuration of partially treated zootechnical waste-water.
1983-1990
Institute of Biochemistry, University of Parma: spectroscopic
techniques applied to biomolecules and biosystems, in particular on
membrane structure and functions:
i) Study on the molecular dynamic and structural
characterization of plasma and acrosomial membranes of mammal
spermatozoa and on the correlation between their susceptibility to
lipid peroxidation and crioconservation.
ii) Evaluation of the biological activity of peptide hormones
and their interactions with model membranes, under the supervision
of Prof. Vittorio Erspamer, at the Institute of Pharmacology of the
University "La Sapienza" of Rome. This study concerned the bioassay
and the determination of the secondary and tertiary structure of
active amphibian skin peptides, mainly of the bombesin-like
peptides family, and of their synthetic derivatives, and the
conformational modifications induced by their interaction with
natural and artificial membranes.
In particular static and dynamic fluorescence spectroscopy were
used to assess the conformational flexibility of these hormonal
peptides and their interaction with lipids, to understand as the
phospholipid moieties, modulating the protein conformation,
influence hormone-receptor recognition and binding.
From 1990
Department of Biochemistry "G.Moruzzi", University of
Bologna
i) Research on the antiproliferative effects of products of the
lipoperoxidative metabolism, mainly hydroxy-stearic acids, and of
new potential anticancer drugs derived from indoles and
guanilhydrazones. In this field she participated to the
photophysical characterization of fluorescein conjugates of 9- and
10-hydroxystearic acid and to the evaluation of their
cytofluorimetric and confocal microscopy applications.
ii) From 2003 the research mainly concernes the analytical
methods for intracellular magnesium evaluation, in normal and
transformed cell lines and in lymphocytes from normal subjects and
from patients with digestive apparatus diseases. The study is
focused on spectroscopic characterization and biological
applications of new fluorescent dyes for cellular ion fluxes, in
particular on magnesium and zinc biosensors.
From 2013
Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology
1) Study of cellular magnesium homeostasis and of the role
played by this cation in several aspect of cellular biology, mainly
in cell cycle progression od normal and transformed cells,
apoptosis and Multi-Drug Resistance.
2) Study of antiproliferative e MDR revertant effects of
potential anticancer drugs.
