Chiara Zurzolo

Fully polarized, mature cysts incubated with the mix of SHA31 (green) and SAF32 (red) antibodies. After fixation, cysts were permeabilized and stained with secondary antibodies, phalloidin-Alexa647 (gray) and DAPI (blue). (Arkhipenko A et al., 2016)

Primary Neuron labeled with MAP2 (647), LAMP1 (488) a-syn fibrils (ATTO)

TNT-connected CAD cells transfected with GFP-Rab8a (green). Cell membrane labeled with WGA-Alexa594 (magenta) to highlight TNTs, and DAPI to label nucleus (blue). (Zhu et al., 2018) (Issue cover)

Transmission electron tomogram of individual TNTs connecting CAD cells.

Granule cells in the cerebellum of a developing mouse

Elucidating the molecular basis of cell polarity and mechanisms of intracellular trafficking are fundamental goals in cell biology, not only for the understanding of basic cell function but also because alteration of these processes underlies many diseases. The work in our lab is focused on the study of the molecular mechanisms regulating protein sorting and intracellular trafficking in polarized epithelial cells and neuronal cells, and on the mechanisms of protein(s) and organelle(s) exchanges between cells, with the aim of understanding how these pathways contribute to/are altered in diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.

To unravel these questions we have applied different approaches including molecular biology, protein/lipid biochemistry, biophysics, mathematical modeling, quantitative high resolution and live imaging in four projects listed below:

Project 1.: Mechanisms of GPI-anchored protein apical sorting and plasma membrane organization in polarized epithelial cells.

Project 2.: Prion-like proteins spreading in neurodegenerative diseases (NDs): role of Tunneling Nanotubes (TNTs).

Project 3.: Role of TNTs in tumor networking, heterogeneity, and resistance to therapy.

Project 4.: Unraveling the structure/function of TNTs in vitro and in vivo.