CURRICULUM VITAE_October_2012

CINZIA TESAURO
University of Roma “Tor Vergata”
Department of Biology, laboratory 358
Via della Ricerca Scientifica, snc
00133 Roma Italy.
Phone: +39 06 72 59 4358
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Born in Turin, Italy on December 1st 1979
Italian Citizen
Sex female
EDUCATION
01/13/2011: Ph.D in Nanostructures and Nanotechnologies.
Thesis title: “Development of a novel Plasmodium falciparum Topoisomerase I specific
biosensor for diagnosis of malaria”.
Brief synopsis of research: Malaria transmission has declined worldwide due to the
introduction of rapid-diagnostic-tests (RDTs) and preventive means. Therefore, accurate
diagnoses of low-density parasitaemia are becoming increasingly important. Current
RDTs perform well for high-density infections with P. falciparum but are unreliable for
other species and low-density parasitaemia, which occurs frequently in low-transmission
areas. More reliable methods such as light-microscopy or PCR require skilled personnel
and high-technological equipments. The work presents an attractive new Plasmodium
detection system with high potential of being implemented as a fast easy-to-use and
reliable pan-malaria test for low-density parasitaemia. This is achieved via isothermal
conversion of single DNA cleavage-ligation events catalyzed by Plasmodium topoisomerase I
to detectable micrometer-sized products.
My thesis represented an optimization of the pTopI REEAD (Rolling-Circle-EnhancedEnzyme-Activity-Detection) technique and it’s under review as a publication with title:
”Towards the development of a highly sensitive point-of-care pan malaria test based on
enzyme activity detection”. Submitted to Nature biotechnology.
07/05/2007: Degree in Molecular Biology “110/110 cum laude” Department of Biology,
University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2011-present: post-doc at the University of Roma Tor Vergata (with a FIRC, Italian
Federation for Cancer Research, fellowship).
2008-2011: Graduate Ph.D student in the laboratory of Prof. Alessandro Desideri,
Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy.
08/17/2009-02/28/2010 AND 08/16/2010-10/31/2010: Visiting Ph.D student in the
laboratory of Prof. Birgitta Ruth Knudsen, Department of Molecular Biology, University of
Aarhus, Denmark.
2005-2007: Undergraduate student in the laboratory of Prof. Alessandro Desideri,
Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy.
RESEARCH TOPICS
My main studies have been centered in understanding the molecular mechanism of
human DNA Topoisomerase I (hTopI).
I studied different mutants which showed resistance or hypersensitivity to camptothecin
anticancer drug family in order to elucidate the interaction of the enzyme with the drug
that may lead to the engineering of new hTopI poisons with increased efficiency.
I’m also interested in understanding the new topoisomerase drug’s inhibition mechanism
and the interaction between hTopI and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP).
Poly(ADP-ribose) may counteract the effects of the cancer therapeutic drug camptothecin
and contribute to drug resistance. Thus, the efficacy of camptothecin-mimetic drugs can be
enhanced by combination with PARP inhibitors.
In the latest two years I’m also working on a bead-based assay proposed for highly
sensitive single molecule hTopIB activity’s detection for diagnostic purposes.
Summarizing from 2008 I´m working on:
- Single molecule detection of Topoisomerase´s activity in small biological sample.
- Characterization of new compounds that inhibits human Topoisomerase IB.
- Investigation of poly(ADP-rybosil)ation sites of human Topoisomerase IB.
EXPERTISES
PCR, site direct mutagenesis, bacterial and yeast growth and trasformation, yeast cell
viability assay (spot test), preparation of plasmidic DNA, cloning, gel electrophoresis,
DNA restriction digestion, protein expression and purification, affinity chromatography,
SDS page, western blotting, enzymatic assays, TCA preparation, cellular colture,
mammalian cellular grow inhibition assays, preparation of cellular nuclear extracts, blood
nuclear extraction, assays with radiolabeled (32P) oligos (cleavage, equilibrium and
religation assays of human Topoisomerase), sequencing denaturing gels, electrophoretic
mobility shift assay (EMSA), single molecule detection of DNA Topoisomerase’s activity,
rolling circle amplification assays, fluorescence microscopy, confocal microscopy (analysis
of data), sepharose and magnetic beads functionalization, q-nano device (I-zone).
PUBLICATIONS
1)
Juul,
Sissel;
Nielsen,
Christine;
Labouria,
Rodrigo;
Roy,
Amit;
Tesauro,
Cinzia;
Jensen,
Pia;
Harmsen,
Charlotte;
Kristoffersen,
Emil;
Chiu,
Ya‐Ling;
Frøhlich,
Rikke;
Fiorani,
Paola;
Cox,
Janet;
Tordrup,
David;
Koch,
Jørn;
Bienvenu,
Anne
Lise;
Desideri,
Alessandro;
Picot,
Stephane;
Petersen,
Eskild;
Leong,
Kam;
Ho,
Yi‐Ping;
Stougaard,
Magnus;
Knudsen,
Birgitta
“A Droplet Microfluidics Platform for Highly Sensitive and Quantitative Detection of
Malaria Causing Plasmodium Parasites Based on Enzyme Activity Measurement.”ACS
Nano November 2012 in press
2) Tesauro, Cinzia; Juul, Sissel; Arnò, Barbara; Nielsen, Christine J. F.; Fiorani, Paola;
Frohlich, Rikke F.; Andersen, Félicie F.; Desideri, Alessandro; Stougaard, Magnus;
Petersen, Eskild and Knudsen, Birgitta R. “Specific detection of Topoisomerase I from the
malaria causing P. falciparum parasite using isothermal rolling circle amplification”. Conf.
Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2012 in press.
3) Castelli, Silvia; Coletta, Andrea; D’Annessa, Ilda; Fiorani, Paola; Tesauro, Cinzia and
Alessandro Desideri. “Interaction between natural compounds and human topoisomerase
I”. Biological Chemistry 2012; Oct 393(11): 1327-1340.
4) D'Annessa, Ilda and Tesauro, Cinzia; Fiorani, Paola; Chillemi, Giovanni; Castelli, Silvia;
Vassallo, Oscar; Capranico, Giovanni and Desideri, Alessandro. “Role of Flexibility in
Protein-DNA-Drug Recognition: The Case of Asp677Gly-Val703Ile Topoisomerase Mutant
Hypersensitive to Camptothecin”. Journal of Amino Acids. Epub 2012 Jan 19.
5) Tesauro, Cinzia; Fiorani, Paola; D’Annessa Ilda; Chillemi, Giovanni; Turchi, Gino and
Desideri, Alessandro. "Erybraedin C, a natural compound from the plant Bituminaria
bituminosa, inhibits both the cleavage and religation activities of human Topoisomerase I”.
Biochem. J. 2010 Jan 15; 425(3): 531-9.
6) Fiorani, Paola and Tesauro, Cinzia; Mancini, Giordano; Chillemi, Giovanni; D'Annessa,
Ilda; Graziani, Grazia; Tentori, Lucio; Muzi, Alessia and Desideri, Alessandro. “Evidence
of the crucial role of the linker domain on the catalytic activity of human Topoisomerase I
by experimental and simulative characterization of the Lys681Ala mutant”. Nucleic acid
research. 2009 Nov; 37(20): 6849-58.
7) Morozzo della Rocca, Blasco; Smith, C.I.; Tesauro, Cinzia; Desideri, Alessandro and
Weightman, P. “Adsorption of the cysteine–tryptophan dipeptide at the Au(110)/liquid
interface studied using reflection anisotropy spectroscopy.” Surface Science. 2010 604:
2170-2176.
8) Castelli, Silvia; Campagna, Alessia; Vassallo, Oscar; Tesauro, Cinzia; Fiorani, Paola;
Tagliatesta, Paola; Oteri, Francesco; Falconi, Mattia; Majumder, Hemanta K. and Desideri,
Alessandro. “Conjugated eicosapentaenoic acid inhibits human topoisomerase IB with a
mechanism different from camptothecin”. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2009 Jun 15; 486(2): 10310.
9) Chillemi, Giovanni; Fiorani, Paola; Bruselles, Alessandro; Castelli, Silvia; Campagna,
Alessia; Sarra, Ofelia; Tesauro, Cinzia; Fiorentini, Monica; Vassallo, Oscar; D'Annessa,
Ilda; Santoleri, Sabrina and Desideri, Alessandro. “Role of flexibility and long range
communication on the function of human topoisomerase I”. Review, Ital. J. Biochem. 2007
Jun; 56(2):110-4.
CONGRESSES PARTICIPATION
- Topo 2011, Taipei, Taiwan. 10/12/2011-10/16/2011: Advances in DNA Topoisomerase
and chromosome dynamics. Winner of a travel fellowship.
- FEBS 2011, Turin, Italy. 06/24/2011-06/30/2011.
- 8th INANO Annual meeting. Aarhus, Denmark. 01/20/2010.
- Nanotech 2009, 09/28/2009-09/30/2009, Berlin.
- 51° National SIB Congress, Riccione, Italy. September 2006.
TALKS
10/12/2011: Taipei, Taiwan: Topo2011 Advances in DNA Topoisomerase and
chromosome dynamics. “Characterization of possible Poly(ADP-ribose) Binding Sites in
Human Topoisomerase I protein”.
12/4/2009: Department of Molecular Biology meeting, University of Aarhus. “Novel
assays and read out formats for the activity´s detection of DNA interacting and modifyng
enzyme at single molecule level”.
POSTERS
- Cinzia Tesauro, Laura Zuccaro, Barbara Arnò, Paola Fiorani, Grazia Graziani and
Alessandro Desideri. ”Characterization of Possible Poly(ADP-ribose) Sites in Human
Topoisomerase I Protein”. Topo, 2011
- Cinzia Tesauro, Laura Zuccaro, Barbara Arnò, Lucia Serafino, Birgitta R. Knudsen, Felicie
F. Andersen, Paola Fiorani and Alessandro Desideri. “Specific and sensitive detection of
DNA Topoisomerase IB activity via a beads-based rolling circle amplification assay”.
FEBS, 2011
- Félicie Faucon Andersen, Cinzia Tesauro, David Paul Tordrup, Magnus Stougaard,
Eskild Petersen, Paola Fiorani, Alessandro Desideri, Jørn Erland, Koch Birgitta R.
Knudsen. “Rolling Circle Amplification-based assay for the specific detection of
Plasmodium topoisomerase I activity on the background of the human cell”.
Conference
Malaria: New Approaches to understanding Host-Parasite Interactions .United
States, Copper Mountain, 11/04/10 -16/04/10
- Felicie F. Andersen, Magnus Stougaard, Cinzia Tesauro, David Tordrup, Sissel Juul,
Simon Bendsen, Christine Nielsen, Stefania Orecchioni, Anni H. Andersen, Jorn Koch and
Birgitta R. Knudsen. “Detection of DNA Topoisomerase I and related enzyme activities at
the single molecule level”. I NANO, 2009.
- Paola Fiorani, Silvia Castelli, Ofelia Sarra, Cinzia Tesauro and Alessandro Desideri. "The
camptothecin-resistant human topoisomerase I Glu418Lys mutant shows a different DNA
sequence specificity." SIB, 2006.
LANGUAGES
Italian (mother language)
English : 8
TECHNICAL SKILLS AND COMPETENCES WITH COMPUTERS.
MAC OS X operating system, Ubuntu 10.10 operating system, Windows operating
systems. Good competence of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power Point,
Adobe illustrator, Adobe photoshop, Inkscape, Gimp, Prism, Image Quant, ImageJ.