Elena De Falco

Biographical Sketch

elena.defalco@uniroma1.it

Academic Appointments:

  • 1. Associate Professor (06/A2 MED/05)- Full Time University of Rome “Sapienza”, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, C.so della Repubblica 79, 04100 Latina, Italy
  • 2. Head of Pathologist, Clinical Pathology Unit (UOC), Sapienza University of Rome Istituto Chirurgico Ortopedico Traumatologico ICOT Latina, Italy

Honors and Awards:

1. Erasmus and International Credit Mobility at Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers at Rutgers University, USA

Scientific interests

Professor Elena De Falco’s research focuses on the regenerative and pathological roles of the stromal fraction of both cardiac and adipose origin. She has demonstrated their plasticity, the potential to differentiate into cardiovascular cells and how they control cardiac fibrosis, including by the mean of human platelet lysate-based products for cardiovascular repair. Her work also explores how oxidative stress affects endothelial function and vascular aging by epigenetic mechanisms and the link to diabetes and the beneficial role of dietary antioxidants. Additionally, she revealed that the stromal fraction from cancer patients can mimic tumor-supporting environments and highlighted escaping mechanisms in breast cancer, the development of innovative therapeutic strategies such as the thermal physics and molecular mechanisms underlying cancer progression mediated by tumor microenvironment. Recently, she is investigating the combination of drugs targeting epigenetic mechanisms (i.e. allosteric activators of sirtuins) with cardiovascular drugs, as well as the potential use of anthelmintics for cancer treatment.

5 Selected publications:

  • 1. Remote adipose tissue-derived stromal cells of patients with lung adenocarcinoma generate a similar malignant microenvironment of the lung stromal counterpart. De Falco E., Bordin S., Menna C, Dhori X, Picchio V., Cozzolino C., De Marinis E, Floris E., Giorgiano NM, Rosa P., Rendina EA., Ibrahim M., Calogero A. Journal of Oncology vol. 2023, Article ID 1011063, 15 pages, 2023. doi.org/10.1155/2023/1011063
  • 2. Bordin A, Chirivì M, Francesca Pagano F, Milan M, Iuliano M, Scaccia E, Fortunato O, Mangino G, Dhori X, De Marinis E, D’Amico A, Miglietta S, Picchio V, Rizzi R, Romeo G, Pulcinelli F, Chimenti I, Frati G, De Falco E. Human platelet lysate derived extracellular vesicles enhance angiogenesis through miR-126. Cell proliferation Cell Prolif. 2022 Aug 9:e13312. doi: 10.1111/cpr.13312.
  • 3. Margariti A, Zampetaki A, Xiao Q, Zhou B, Karamariti E, Martin D, Yin X, Mayr M, Li H, Zhang Z, De Falco E, Hu Y, Cockerill G, Xu Q, Zeng L.  Histone Deacetylase 7 Controls Endothelial Cell Growth through Stabilization of β-Catenin. Circ Res. 2010 Apr 16;106(7):1202-11. Doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.109.213165.
  • 4. De Falco E, Porcelli D, Torella AR, Straino S, Iachininoto MG, Orlandi A, Truffa S, Biglioli P, Napolitano M, Capogrossi MC, Pesce M. SDF-1 involvement in endothelial phenotype and ischemia-induced recruitment of bone marrow progenitors cells. Blood 2004;104(12):3472-82.
  • 5. De Falco E, Avitabile D, Totta P, Straino S, Spallotta F, Cencioni C, Torella AR, Rizzi R, Porcelli D, Zacheo A, Di Vito L, Pompilio G, Napolitano M, Melillo G, Capogrossi MC, Pesce M. Altered SDF-1 mediated differentiation of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells in diabetes mellitus. J Cell Mol Med. 2009 Sep;13(9B):3405-14. Doi: 10.1111/j.1582-4934.2009.00655.x

On-going Grants

Project Title Funding source Amount (Euros) Period Role of the PI
New molecular mechanisms underlying BRAFi/MEKi-induced cardiotoxicity: a multidisciplinary research project from bench to bedside Sapienza University of Rome 70.020 2024-2026 As Co-PI (10%)
Advanced and automated innovation labs for diagnostic and therapeutic biopharma solution. Linea di ricerca 3: Targeting autophagy and fibrosis-related Epigenetic Regulators in Cardiovascular Diseases ECS 0000024 Rome Technopole, CUP B83C22002820006, PNRR Missione 4 Componente 2 Investimento 1.5”, funded by the European Union—Next GenerationEU. Spoke 1, Flagship 7 191250 € Start date 19/06/2022 end date 30/06/2025 30% ECS 0000024 Rome Technopole, CUP B83C22002820006, PNRR Missione 4 Componente 2 Investimento 1.5”, funded by the European Union—Next GenerationEU. Spoke 1, Flagship 7 191.250 19/06/2022-30/06/2025 30%
Novel insights on the repurposing of the anthelminthic Mebendazole: identifying the anticancer properties of the chiral forms of reduced Mebendazole in a monitored environment of triple negative breast cancer 3D heterotypic spheroids Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti 40.000 01/03/2025-28/02/2027 30%

Complete list of published work in MyBibliography:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=de+falco+e

 KEYWORDS:

Platelet lysate, tissue regeneration, cancer, 3D stem cell niches, angiogenesis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and fibrosis, oxidative stress, endothelial cells, extracellular vesicles, mesenchymal stem cells, molecular oncology, drug repurposing.

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