The research topic of our group concerns the study of transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms of regulation of gene expression in cells of the immune system. The general goal is to extend our knowledge of the mechanisms that regulate immune cell differentiation, proliferation and functions and to disclose networks of interaction between epigenetic modifications, transcription factors, microRNAs (miRNAs) and their targets.

Epigenetic and epitranscriptomic modifications are covalent modifications of the genomic DNA and the mRNA that contribute to the regulation of gene expression. For instance, we found that the deletion of Dnmt3a, an enzyme responsible for DNA methylation, leads to the hyper-activation of cells of the immune system, which in turn can lead to tissue damage and disease (Leoni C. et al. PNAS 2017). In general, we are interested in uncovering mechanisms that are on the one hand important for proper immune cell function, but on the other hand may lead to excessive cell proliferation or inappropriate, damaging responses, for example in the context of autoimmune diseases (Emming, Bianchi, Polletti et al. Nature Immunology 2020; Chirichella, Bianchi, Dzafo et al. PLoS Biology 2022).

Currently, we are interested in mechanisms of post-transcriptional regulation involving RNA methylation and RNA-binding proteins, as well as in understanding the mechanism of action of transcription factors that are specifically associated to inflammatory T cell responses.