room 3059, building U3-BIOS, tel.: +39 02 6448 3207

lab 4045, building U4, tel. +39 02 6448 3393

mattia.pelizzola@unimib.it

Google Scholar, Linkedin, Twitter (@MattiaPelizzola)

Health

Cancer, Systems Biology

computational biology, transcriptional regulation, cancer genomics, epigenetics, RNA dynamics, RNA metabolism, RNA modifications, single-molecule sequencing, Nanopore sequencing, nascent RNA

I am a computational biologist with a background in biotechnology, trained at the Yale University and Salk Institute. I lead a research group studying how co- and post- transcriptional regulatory mechanisms shape gene expression programs and are altered in cancer. We employ an interdisciplinary approach combining cutting edge experimental and computational methods, including the profiling of nascent and modified RNAs, single molecule Nanopore sequencing, and mathematical modelling.

We study the complex life of RNA molecules, which are continuously synthetized, processed, translated and ultimately degraded. We develop methods to decipher how the combined action of machineries responsible for individual steps of the RNA life cycle shapes gene expression programs.
We aim at deciphering the role of RNA modifications (including, while not limited to, the N6-methyladenosine) as determinant of RNA fate.
Ongoing projects in the group are directed at unravelling the role of RNA modifications in cancer, and in particular in the context of: i) gene expression programs driven by the MYC oncogene, ii) resistance to BET inhibitors, iii) spliceosomal vulnerability.

-2021-present: Principal investigator on a project funded by AIRC (IG2020 ID.24784), focused on the role of RNA modifications in the onset of aberrant gene expression programs in breast cancer.

-2021-present: Supervisor for a 3-years AIRC fellowship to Lucia Coscujuela, focused on the role of RNA modifications in liver cancer drug resistance.

-2022-present: Supervisor for a 3-years AIRC fellowship to Mattia Furlan, focused on the role of RNA modifications in breast cancer spliceosomal vulnerbility.

-Coscujuela Tarrero L, Famà V, D'Andrea G, Maestri S, de Polo A, Biffo S, Furlan M, Pelizzola M. Nanodynamo quantifies subcellular RNA dynamics revealing extensive coupling between steps of the RNA life cycle. Nat. Commun. 15, 7725 (2024). doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51917-2

-Furlan M, de Pretis S, Pelizzola M. Dynamics of transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. Brief Bioinform 22, bbaa389 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1093/bib/bbaa389

-Furlan M, Galeota E, Del Gaudio N, Dassi E, Caselle M, de Pretis S, Pelizzola M. Genome-wide dynamics of RNA synthesis, processing, and degradation without RNA metabolic labeling. Genome Res 30, 1492–1507 (2020). DOI: 10.1101/gr.260984.120

-de Pretis S, Kress TR, Morelli MJ, Sabò A, Locarno C, Verrecchia A, Doni M, Campaner S, Amati, B, Pelizzola M. Integrative analysis of RNA polymerase II and transcriptional dynamics upon MYC activation. Genome Res 27, 1658–1664 (2017). DOI: 10.1101/gr.226035.117.

-Sabò A*, Kress TR*, Pelizzola M*, de Pretis S, Gorski MM, Tesi A, Morelli MJ, Bora P, Doni M, Verrecchia A, Tonelli C, Fagà G, Bianchi V, Ronchi A, Low D, Muller H, Guccione E, Campaner S, Amati B. Selective transcriptional regulation by Myc in cellular growth control and lymphomagenesis. Nature 511, 488–492 (2014).  https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13537

-Eugenio Fornasiero, University Medicine Gottingen, DE [RNA and protein dynamics]
-Francesco Nicassio, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), IT [breast cancer and Nanopore dRNA-seq]
-Stefano Campaner, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), IT [cancer transcriptional regulation]
-Bruno Amati, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia (IEO), IT [MYC oncogene]
-Francesco Lotti, Columbia University, US [m6A dynamics in motor neurons]
-Dario Bonanomi, Ospedale San Raffalele (HSR), IT [m6A dynamics in motor neurons]
-David Bentley, Denver University, US [RNA polymerase II dynamics]
-Alessandro Fatica, Università La Sapienza, IT [m6A dynamics in cancer]

Pelizzola’s Lab – #PelizzolaLab_BtBs
Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze (BtBs) - Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italia
last update: November 2024