Milanesi Riccardo – PhD Student
lab 5011, building U3, tel. +39 02 6448 3513, r.milanesi2@campus.unimib.it

Sara Bonetti - Master student
lab 5011/5013, building U3, tel. +39 02 6448 3513/3521, s.bonetti15@campus.unimib.it

Coccetti’s research activity concerns the study of the molecular mechanisms which regulate signal transduction, cell cycle progression and metabolism by using the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model organism of eukaryotic systems. In recent years, the study has focused mainly on the effects of specific amino acids on intracellular metabolism, mitochondrial functionality as well as cellular proliferation.

New drugs with anti-proliferative activity on colorectal cancer were also studied in the last few years. A series of novel synthesized molecules, deriving from resveratrol, were evaluated for G2/M cell cycle arrest and inhibition of tubulin polymerization. The antitumor and apoptotic activities were studied both in vitro cultures and in a mouse xenograft model of colorectal cancer, opening the route to a new class of potential therapeutic agents.

Currently, the research activity is focused on the study of the role of nutrition to prevent diseases and to reach a healthy aging. Since food has long been considered an important key to promoting well-being and preventing disease, this line of research is aimed at better understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie healthy nutrition. Specific legumes, fungi and purified bioactive components from these edible matrices are actually under study to investigate their effect on the specific pathways which regulate cellular aging and neurodegeneration both in unicellular and pluricellular organisms.

-Milanesi R, Tripodi F, Vertemara J, Renata Tisi R, Coccetti P*. AMPK phosphorylation is controlled by glucose transport rate in a PKA-independent manner. (2021) Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(17), 9483; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22179483.

-Conti M.V, Guzzetti L, Panzeri D, De Giuseppe R, Coccetti P, Labra M, Cena H. Bioactive compounds in legumes: Implications for sustainable nutrition and health in the elderly population. (2021) Trends in Food Science & Technology, In press. doi:10.1016/j.tifs.2021.02.072.

-Tripodi F, Badone B, Vescovi M, Milanesi R, Nonnis S, Maffioli E, Bonanomi M, Gaglio D, Tedeschi G, Coccetti P*. Methionine supplementation affects metabolism and reduces tumor aggressiveness in liver cancer cells. (2020) Cells 9, 2491; doi:10.3390/cells9112491.

-Tripodi F, Lombardi L, Guzzetti L, Panzeri D, Milanesi R, Leri M, Bucciantini M, Cristina Angeloni C, Beghelli D, Hrelia S, Onorato G, Di Schiavi E, Falletta E, Nonnis S, Tedeschi G, Labra M, Coccetti P*. Protective effect of Vigna unguiculata extract against aging and neurodegeneration. (2020) Aging (Albany NY) doi: 10.18632/aging.104069.

-Tripodi F, Fraschini R, Zocchi M, Reghellin V, Coccetti P*. Snf1/AMPK is involved in the mitotic spindle alignment in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. (2018) Sci Rep. 8(1):5853. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-24252-y.

-Tanvi Shekhar-Guturja, G. M. Kamal B. Gunaherath, E. M. Kithsiri Wijeratne, Jean-Philippe Lambert, Anna F. Averette, Soo Chan Lee, Taeyup Kim, Yong-Sun Bahn, Farida Tripodi, Ron Ammar, Katja Döhl, Karolina Niewola-Staszkowska, Lutz Schmitt, Robbie J. Loewith, Frederick P. Roth, Dominique Sanglard, David Andes, Corey Nislow, Coccetti P., Anne-Claude Gingras, Joseph Heitman, A. A. Leslie Gunatilaka, and Leah E. Cowen. Dual action antifungal small molecule modulates multidrug efflux and TOR signaling. (2016) Nat Chem Biol 12(10):867-75. https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.2165

* corresponding author