Activities

Heme (iron protoporphyrin IX) serves as the functional group of various proteins, including hemoglobin, myoglobin, nitric oxide synthase, and cytochromes, and is therefore essential for diverse biologic processes. On the other hand, free heme is a potential toxic molecule as it can promote the generation of reactive oxygen species, causing cellular and tissue damage. Our research is aimed at elucidating the impact of heme metabolism on cell proliferation and differentiation in physiological and pathological conditions.

Ongoing research projects are the following:

• Heme-iron metabolism in physiological and pathological angiogenesis
• Impact of heme/iron metabolism on tumor cell growth and sensitivity to therapy
• Identification and functional characterization of genes involved in heme-iron metabolism

Group

• Prof.ssa Emanuela Tolosano (PI)
• Fiorito Veronica, post-doc
• Petrillo Sara, post-doc
• Allocco Anna Lucia, student 
• Raimondi Carlotta, student
• Mistretta Miriam, student