Rosaria Di Martino

Rosaria Di Martino
Current Position:

Researcher

Contacts:

Morpho-functional organisation and regulation of the biosynthetic pathway Lab


Phone: +39 0816132713
Email:
rosaria.dimartino@cnr.it
r.dimartino@ieos.cnr.it

Keywords:
Cell biology, Confocal imaging, Golgi, Secretory pathway

Protein trafficking is a finely tuned process that allows proteins to reach their subcellular destination with high spatiotemporal precision and appropriate post-translational modifications. The Golgi complex plays a fundamental role in the secretory pathway and acts as a “signaling organelle”. In this scenario, cargo proteins that are synthesized, modified and transported through the secretory pathway, act as signaling inputs thus activating specific signaling cascades to optimize their own transport process, giving rise to “autoregulatory circuits”. Our group has previously identified many of these circuits, and they are present at every important step in the secretion process, such as ER export and intra-Golgi transport. My research is focused on identifying and characterizing the signaling circuits that regulate specific steps of the secretory pathway: the processes of TGN export and sorting. This process requires specific molecular machinery depending on the class of proteins that need to be transported, such as apical or basolateral proteins. Indeed, we identified GPRC5A, an orphan GPCR localized in the TGN, as a key molecule for the correct release of basolateral proteins by regulating the recruitment and activation of the PKD signaling pathway. Our results suggest a role of GPRC5A as a “sensor” of basolateral proteins to promote its export from the TGN. It should be noted that dysregulation in the TGN sorting machinery has been associated with several human diseases, including cancer progression and neurodegeneration, so we are investigating the role of our regulatory circuit in both contexts.

Education

  • 2015- PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biotechnology, Second University of Naples (SUN), Naples.
  • 2012- Master degree in Biology (cum laude), University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples.

Positions

  • June 2023-present: TD researcher at the Institute of Endocrinology and Experimental Oncology (IEOS), National Research Council of Italy, Naples.
  • 2022-2023: Post-Doctoral fellow at the Institute of Endocrinology and Experimental Oncology (IEOS), National Research Council of Italy, Naples
  • 2018-2022: Post-Doctoral fellow at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (IBBC) National Council of Research, Naples.
  • 2015-2018: Post-Doctoral fellow at the the Institute of Protein Biochemistry (IBP), National Council of Research (CNR), Naples.
  • 2012-2015: PhD student at the Institute of Protein Biochemistry (IBP), National Council of Research (CNR), Naples.
  • 2011-2012: Undergraduate student at the University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples.
  • Ramazanov BR*, Di Martino R*, Kumar A, Parchure A, Kim Y, Griesbeck O, Schwartz MA, Luini A, von Blume J. Calcium flux through ER-TGN contact sites facilitates cargo export. BioRxiv, 2022. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.19.521097.
  • Liccardo F, Luini A, Di Martino R. Endomembrane-Based Signaling by GPCRs and G-Proteins. Cells, 2022. doi: 10.3390/cells11030528.
  • Del Giudice S, De Luca V, Parizadeh N, Luini A, Di Martino R. Endogenous and exogenous regulatory signaling in the secretory pathway: role of Golgi signaling molecules in cancer. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2022 Mar 23; doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.833663.
  • Di Martino R., Capalbo A., Sticco L, Varavallo A, Kunnathully V, De Luca V, Iyengar NR, Lo Monte M, Henklein P, Cancino J, Luini A. Autoregulatory circuit regulating basolateral cargo export from the TGN: role of the orphan receptor GPRC5A in PKD signaling and cell polarity BioRxiv(2020) ; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.26.114710.
  • Di Martino R., Sticco L., Luini A. Regulation of cargo export and sorting at the trans-Golgi network FEBS Letters (2019) doi: 10.1002/1873-3468.13572.
  • Subramanian A., Capalbo A., Iyengar N.R., Rizzo R., di Campli A., Di Martino R., Lo Monte M., Beccari A., Yerudkar A., Del Vecchio C., Glielmo L., Turacchio G., Pirozzi M., Sang Geon Kim, Henklein P., Cancino J., Parashuraman S., Diviani D., Fanelli F., Sallese M., Luini A. Auto-regulation of Secretory Flux by Sensing and Responding to the Folded Cargo Protein Load in the Endoplasmic Reticulum. Cell (2019) doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.01.035.
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Where we are

Via Pietro Castellino 111
80131 Naples
Tel. 0039 081 6132 579

Links

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