Caterina Missero

Transcription factors driving cell proliferation and cancer stemness in carcinomas

 Abstract:  Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are aggressive malignancies that arise from a variety of epithelial tissues, including esophagus, lung, head and neck, and skin. SCCs cause more than 1 million cancer-related deaths worldwide each year, and there is a lack of effective targeted therapies for SCC patients. In addition to SCC, a switch to a more basal cell-like squamous epithelial program in adenocarcinomas results in a more aggressive phenotype in lung and pancreatic cancers.

Among the p53 family members, the transcription factor p63 is a recognized master regulator of the basal cell/squamous program in the above-mentioned tumors, where it is amplified or overexpressed. In my talk, I will discuss the signaling pathways and gene network established by p63 and its family members in squamous cell carcinoma using transcriptomics, epigenomics both in relevant human cells and in mouse models recapitulating SCC. Our data have broader implications than originally anticipated for the design of future therapeutic interventions in human carcinomas.

Biosketch:  Caterina Missero is currently full Professor of Molecular Biology at the Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II. She trained at Yale University as a post-doc and subsequently at the Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Medical School as Research Scientist. In 2000, she joined the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM – Naples) as a Principal Investigator and devoted her studies to the transcriptional regulation in skin diseases. In 2006 she moved to CEINGE, where she is currently Principal Investigator and head of the facility of Advanced Light Microscopy at CEINGE (https://www.ceinge.unina.it/en/advanced-light-microscopyalm-facility). She has been board member of Italian Society of Molecular Biology (SIBBM) and of the European Society of Dermatological Research (ESDR). Prof. Missero is an expert in the molecular mechanisms required for gene expression in skin in health and disease, as testified by more than 60 original articles published in top international journals. Her research is funded by several national and international funding agency, and is currently funded by AIRC, Telethon and the Ministry of Education (PRIN).