GIAN LUCA RAMPIONI VINCIGUERRA

Gian Luca Rampioni Vinciguerra
Curriculum Vitae

General Information

Full Name Gian Luca Rampioni Vinciguerra
Place of Birth Rome
Citizenship Italian
E-mail gianluca.rampionivinciguerra@uniroma1.it
Spoken Languages Italian, English
Current Position Assistant Professor, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
Medical Staff, Histology and Pathology Unit, Sant’Andrea Hospital of Rome, Italy

Education

• 11/2017 - 12/2020. PhD Program in Oncology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy.
Final Dissertation entitled: “The role of p27 in the response to CDK-inhibitors in KRAS mutated colorectal cancer”.
Supervisor: Prof. Andrea Vecchione. Final degree mark: cum laude.
Hosting institutions:
- 1/2020 - 12/2020. Laboratory of Dr. Carlo M. Croce, Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics. The Ohio State University, Columbus (OH), USA.
- 11/2017 - 1/2020. Laboratory of Dr. Gustavo Baldassarre, Division of Molecular Oncology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO), IRCCS, National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy.
• 07/2012 - 07/2017. Residency Program in Pathology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy. Thesis entitled: “Role of miR-9 in the response to radiotherapy and EGFR-inhibitors in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma”.
Supervisor: Prof. Andrea Vecchione. Final degree mark: 70/70 cum laude.
Hosting institutions:
- 01/2017 - 07/2017. Laboratory of Dr. Gustavo Baldassarre, Division of Molecular Oncology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO), IRCCS, National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy.
- 07/2012 - 01/2017. UOC Anatomia Patologica, Santo Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy.
• 10/2005 - 07/2011. Master’s degree in Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy. Thesis entitled “microRNA expression profiling of preneoplastic lesions of the breast”.
Supervisor: Prof. Andrea Vecchione. Final degree mark: 110/110 cum laude.
• 09/2000 - 07/2005. High school diploma in Classical Studies, Liceo Ginnasio Statale G.Mameli, Rome, Italy. Final degree mark: 100/100.

Appointments

• From 01/2023 – (current position). Assistant Professor (RTDB). Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology. University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy. Supervisor: Prof. Andrea Vecchione
• From 05/2024 – (current position). Medical Staff. Unit of Histology and Pathology, Sant’Andrea Hospital of Rome, Italy. Director: Prof. Andrea Vecchione
• From 01/2023 - 11/2023. Visiting Scholar. Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics. The Ohio State University, Columbus (OH), USA. Supervisor: Prof. Carlo M. Croce.
• From 12/2020 - 01/2023. Postdoctoral Researcher. Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics. The Ohio State University, Columbus (OH), USA. Supervisor: Prof. Carlo M. Croce.
• From 07/2017 - 10/2017. Fellow. Division of Molecular Oncology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO), IRCCS, National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy. Supervisor: Dott. Gustavo Baldassarre.

Job Related Skills

Autopsy technique, human histopathology, FFPE tissue preparation, H&E, immunohistochemical staining, light, confocal, electron and stereotaxic microscopy.
Cellular transfection/transduction, DNA/RNA extraction and electrophoresis, PCR, qRT-PCR, protein extraction (total or differential lysis), immunoprecipitation, chromatin-immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence, WB analysis, luciferase assay.
Cell cultures and techniques of cellular biology for analysis of in vitro proliferation (growth curves, kill curve, colony assay, MTS assay, FACS analysis, soft agar assay, inclusion in 3D-matrix), bacterial transformation, plasmid preparation, gene cloning.
Handling of immunodeficient mice (nude, NOD/SCID and NSG mice) and genetically engineered mouse models. Injection techniques (intraperitoneal, subcutaneous), drug administration, surgical procedures and murine histopathology.

Research Activities

• From 01/2023 to the present. I am currently serving as Assistant Professor at The University of Rome Sapienza. I have been investigating the role of the transcription factor Fra-2 as a key regulator of the TME remodeling in lung and pancreatic cancer. My research focuses on understanding how the crosstalk between neoplastic and non-neoplastic cells eventually alters the drug sensitivity in cancer. Additionally, I am studying the relationship between autophagy activity and the mTOR pathway, exploring their combined impact on the establishment and progression of pancreatic cancer.
• From 01/2023 – 11/2023 Visiting Scholar, The Ohio State University. I explored how diet could alter the response to targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer. I provided evidence showing that the expression of specific microRNAs can be induced by modifying the protein intake in mouse model of pancreatic cancer. In turn, these microRNAs regulate the expression of key genes for the response to receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Collected results led to the following publications (Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, et al. Nature Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 2024, and Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, et al. Nature Cell Death and Differentiation 2024).
• 2021 – 2022 Post-Doctoral Researcher. At the Ohio State University (USA), in Dr. Carlo M. Croce’s Lab, I investigated the insurgence of cisplatin resistance in lung cancer (Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, et al. Nature Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 2023). We discovered that miR-301a can be used as biomarker to stratify patients who better respond to cisplatin. Importantly, we provided a clear rationale for the development of a novel combined schedule with AP-1 inhibitors and cisplatin in resistant/refractory patients.
• 2017 – 2020 PhD in Oncology Program. I carried on a project aiming to define predictive markers of resistance to CDK4/6 kinase-inhibitors in colorectal cancer (Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, et al. Nature Cell Death and Disease 2021), (Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, et al. Frontiers in Oncology 2022). In this context, I explored the role of p27kip1 as a marker of resistance to Palbociclib (Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, et al. Cell Division 2019). I also contributed to other studies focusing on the molecular mechanisms of oncogenesis and resistance to oncological therapies, particularly in breast cancer (Segatto I, et al. Cancer Research 2019), (Citron F, et al. Cancer Research 2020) and ovarian cancer (Califano D, Gallo D, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, et al. Cancers 2021), (Sonego M, et al. Science Advances 2019), (Sonego M, et al. Cells 2019).
• 2013 – 2017 Pathology Residency Program. I focused on the possibility to stratify outcome of patients affected by different solid tumors according to the histological features. In particular, I studied the distribution of ALK/ROS1 translocation respect to the age of lung cancer patients (Scarpino S, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, et al. Lung Cancer 2016) and the use of immunohistochemical staining as a reliable test to identify ALK overexpressing tumors in routinary histological analysis (Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, et al. Virchow Archiv 2017). I worked on an experimental thesis, actively contributing to the study of miR-9 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma response to radiotherapy and EGFR-inhibitors (Citron F, et al. EMBO Molecular Medicine 2021).

Active Personal Grant Support:

• Fra2 and cell stress response: exploring novel mechanisms of progression and therapeutic approaches in pancreatic cancer
AIRC Start-Up Grant 2024
• StressPDAC project
FIS-2 grant award 2023, Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca
• Deciphering the roles of miR-301a and Fra-2 in non-small cell lung cancer tumor microenvironment reprogramming
Intramural Grant of Sapienza University 2024
• Exploring the nexus between mTOR activation and autophagy in the stress response and tumor progression of PDAC
Intramural Grant of Sapienza University 2023

Summary of Attended National and International Scientific Meetings

• ABCD Special Interest Group Meeting
17-19 October 2024, Bologna, Italy
Oral Presentation “Fra-2 regulates the stress response to nutrient deprivation in miR-15a downmodulated PDAC”
• Pancreatic Cancer Symposium of the Italian Pancreatic Cancer Community
11-12 April 2024, Padova, Italy
Poster presentation “Nutrient-restriction activated Fra-2 promotes tumor progression via IGF1R in miR-15a downmodulated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma”
• 24th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Ohio State University
12 October 2023, Columbus, OH, USA
Poster presentation “Nutrient restriction-activated Fra-2 promotes tumor progression via IGF1R in miR-15a downmodulated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma”
• AACR Annual Meeting 2023
14-19 April 2023, Orlando (FL), USA
Poster presentation “The novel miR-15a/Fra-2/IGF1R axis drives response to starvation-induced cell stress in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma”
• 62nd Annual Meeting of the Italian Cancer Society (SIC)
16-18 November 2022, Venice, Italy
Oral Presentation “Role of the miR-301a/Fra-2/GLIPR1 axis in lung cancer cisplatin resistance”
• Cancer Biology and Genetics Retreat of The Ohio State University
23 September 2022, Columbus, USA
Oral Presentation “Dissecting the Role of miR-301a in the platinum response of non-small cell lung cancer”
• Associazione di Biologia Cellulare e del Differenziamento (ABCD) National Congress
19-21 September 2019, Bologna, Italy
Oral Presentation and Poster Session “p27kip1 regulates hematopoiesis by inducing Notch signaling pathway”.
• 9th triennial Congress of the Societa’ Italiana di Anatomia Patologica e Citologia (SIAPEC)
16-19 October 2019, Turin, Italy
Oral Presentation and Poster Session “immunohistochemical expression of p27kip1 is a predictive marker of response to cdk4/6 inhibitors in colorectal carcinoma”.
• 60th Annual Meeting of the Italian Cancer Society (SIC)
19-22 September 2018, Milan, Italy
Poster Session “Exploring miR-9 driven resistance to gamma-radiation and EGFR inhibitors in HNSCC”.
• 7th triennial Congress of Societa’ Italiana di Anatomia Patologica e Citologia (SIAPEC)
23-26 November 2016, Genova, Italy
Poster Session “High prelevance of ALK+/ROS1+ cases in pulmonary adenocarcinoma of adolescents and young adults” and “Routine IHC with D5F3 mAb is an efficient and cheap tool for identification of ALK+ lung adenocarcinomas: a prospective study of 234 cases”.

Society memberships

• Member of American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
• Member of European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)
• Member of Societa’ Italiana Cancerologia (SIC)
• Society of Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology (ABCD)
• Member of Societa’ Italiana Anatomia Patologica e Citologia (SIAPeC)

Scientific Recognition

• Guest Editor for the Research Topic “Catch me if you can: cellular plasticity in tumor progression and drug resistance” Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
• Review Editor for: Frontiers in Oncology, Frontiers in Genetics and Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
• Reviewer Board for: Frontiers in Bioscience – Landmark
• Peer Reviewer for: Molecular Cancer, Cancers, and Diagnostics.
• Mention of Merit, Minerva Prize Sapienza Foundation for Research 2023
• Best Oral Presentation Award, Cancer Biology and Genetics Retreat. The Ohio State University
• Student on Honors Program, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, University of Rome “Sapienza”

Summary of Scientific Achievements (2013 – 2024)

• 36 manuscripts published in international peer-reviewed journals
• H-index 13 (according to Scopus, ID 56135926500)
• Total Citations 530

In the last five years (2019-2024), Dr. Rampioni Vinciguerra has been co-author of 21 scientific papers (total IF 250.9, average IF 11.9), including 9 first-author publications (total IF 131.9, average IF 14.7). Scopus ID: 56135926500 ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0739-1668

Publication as first author:

1. Nutrient-restriction activated Fra-2 promotes tumor progression via IGF1R in miR-15a downmodulated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Capece M, Reggiani Bonetti L, Nigita G, Calore F, Rentsch S, Magistri P, Ballarin R, Di Benedetto F, Distefano R, Cirombella R, Vecchione A, Belletti B, Baldassarre G, Lovat F, Croce CM.
Nature Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, 2024,12;9(1):31.
2. Editorial: Catch me if you can: cellular plasticity in tumor progression and drug resistance.
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Segatto I, Carstens JL, Lovisa S.
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2024 Aug 15:12:1470518.
3. Role of Fra-2 in cancer
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Capece M, Scafetta G, Rentsch S, Vecchione A, Lovat F, Croce CM.
Nature Cell Death and Differentiation, 2024, 31(2):136-149.
4. Role of the miR-301a/Fra-2/GLIPR1 axis in lung cancer cisplatin resistance
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Capece M, Distefano R, Nigita G, Vecchione A, Lovat F, Croce CM.
Nature Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, 2023, 8(1), 37.
5. Loss of CDKN1B induces an age-related clonal hematopoietic disorder via Notch2 activity dysregulation
Segatto I*, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL*, Pellarin I, Dall’Acqua A, Berton S, Citron F, D’Andrea S, Mungo G, Viotto D, Musco L, Di Napoli A, Aloe Spiriti MA, Canzonieri V, Gattei V, Vecchione A, Belletti B, Baldassarre G.
(*Co-First Author) Cancer Commun (Lond), 2023, 43(7):844-849.
6. CDK4/6 Inhibitors in combination therapies: better in company than alone
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Sonego M, Segatto I, Dall’Acqua A, Vecchione A, Baldassarre G, Belletti B.
Frontiers in Oncology, 2022, 12, 891580.
7. Evaluation of angiogenesis-related genes as prognostic biomarkers of bevacizumab treated ovarian cancer patients: Results from the phase iv mito16a/mango ov-2 translational study
Califano D*, Gallo D*, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL*, ...Pignata S, Baldassarre G.
(*Co-First Author) Cancers, 2021, 13(20), 5152.
8. p27kip1 expression and phosphorylation dictate Palbociclib sensitivity in KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer.
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Dall’Acqua A, Segatto I, Vecchione A, Belletti B, Baldassarre G.
Cell Death and Disease, 2021, 12(10), 951.
9. p27kip1 at the crossroad between actin and microtubule dynamics.
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Citron F, Segatto I, Belletti B, Vecchione A, Baldassarre G.
Cell Division, 2019, 14(1), 2.
10. Pathologist second opinion significantly alters clinical management of pT1 endoscopically resected colorectal cancer.
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Antonelli G, Citron F, Berardi G, Angeletti S, Baldassarre G, Vecchione A, Di Giulio E, Pilozzi E.
Virchows Arch. 2019 jun 17.
11. Optimized immunohistochemistry using the D5F3 antibody provides a reliable test for identification of ALK-positive lung adenocarcinomas
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Scarpino S, Pini B, Cippitelli C, Fochetti F, Ruco L.
Virchows Archiv, 2017, 471(1), pp. 123–127.
12. Oncocytic variant of medullary thyroid carcinoma: A rare case of sporadic multifocal and bilateral RET wild-type neoplasm with revision of the literature
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Noccioli N, Cippitelli C, Minucci A, Capoluongo E, Bartolazzi A.
Rare Tumors, 2016, 8(4), pp. 166–168, 6537.
13. Diffuse follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma: A case report with a revision of literature
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Noccioli N, Bartolazzi A.
Rare Tumors, 2016, 8(4), pp. 159–161, 6536.
14. Transitional cell carcinoma of the retrorectal space arisen in tailgut cyst: a case report and review of the literature
Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Mercantini P, La Torre M, Pilozzi E, Ziparo V, Vecchione A.
Int J Surg Pathol. 2014, 22(3):280-5.

Publications as co-author:

1. A comprehensive luminal breast cancer patient-derived xenografts (PDX) library to capture tumor heterogeneity and explore the mechanisms of resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors
Segatto I, Mattevi MC, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Crestan N, Musco L, Favero A, Dall’Acqua A, Di Giustino G, Mungo G, (…), Baldassarre G, Belletti B.
J Pathol. 2024 Dec;264(4):434-447.
2. USP1 deubiquitinates PARP1 to regulate its trapping and PARYlation activity
Nespolo A, Stefenatti L, Pellarin I, Gambelli A, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Karimbayli J, Barozzi S, (…), Baldassarre G, Sonego M.
Sci Adv. 2024 Nov 15;10(46): eadp6567.
3. Platinum-induced upregulation of ITGA6 promotes chemoresistance and spreading in ovarian cancer
Gambelli A, Nespolo A, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Pivetta E, Pellarin I, Nicoloso MS, Scapin C, Stefanatti L, Segatto I, Favero A, D’Andrea S, Mucignat MT, Bartoletti M, Lucia E, Schiappacassi M, Spessotto P, Canzonieri V, Giorda G, Puglisi F, Vecchione A, Belletti B, Sonego M, Baldassarre B.
EMBO Mol Med, 2024,16(5):1162-1192.
4. Loss of the extracellular matrix glycoprotein EMILIN1 accelerates Δ16HER2-driven breast cancer initiation in mice
Favero A, Segatto I, Capuano A, Mattevi MC, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Musco L, D’Andrea S, Dall’Acqua A, Gava C, Perin T, Massarut S, Marchini C, Baldassarre G, Spessotto P, Belletti B.
Nature Breast Cancer, 2024, 6;10(1):5.
5. A novel auxin-inducible degron system for rapid, cell cycle-specific targeted proteolysis
Capece M, Tessari A, Mills J, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Louke D, Lin C, McElwain B, Miles WO, Coppola V, Davies A, Palmieri D, Croce CM.
Nature Cell Death and Differentiation, 2023, 30(9):2078-2091.
6. Clear cell carcinoma of the stomach: a rare tumor variant imparting poor prognosis
Virgilio E, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Lombardi M, Balducci G, Pilozzi E, Cavallini M.
Acta Chir Belg. 2023, 123(1):65-67.
7. EMILIN-1 deficiency promotes chronic inflammatory disease through TGFβ signaling alteration and impairment of the gC1q/α4β1 integrin interaction
Pivetta E, Capuano A, Vescovo M, Scanziani E, Cappelleri A, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Vecchione A, Doliana R, Mongiat M, Spessotto P.
Matrix Biology, 2022, 111:133-152.
8. Pan-Cancer analysis of canonical and modified miRNAs enhances the resolution of the functional miRNAome in cancer
Distefano R, Tomasello L, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Gasparini P, Xiang, Y, ... Croce CM.
Cancer Research, 2022, 82, 3687-3700.
9. miR-9 modulates and predicts the response to radiotherapy and EGFR inhibition in HNSCC
Citron F, Segatto I, Musco L, Pellarin I, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, ... Belletti B, Baldassarre G.
EMBO Molecular Medicine, 2021, 13(7), e12872.
10. CDKN1B mutation and copy number variation are associated with tumor aggressiveness in luminal breast cancer
Viotto D, Russo F, Anania I, Segatto I, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Dall'Acqua A, Bomben R, Perin T, ... Belletti B, Baldassarre G.
J Pathol. 2020 Nov 3.
11. Downregulation of miR-223 expression is an early event during mammary transformation and confers resistance to CDK4/6 inhibitors in luminal breast cancer
Citron F, Segatto I, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Musco L, Russo F, Mungo G, D'Andrea S, Mattevi MC, Perin T, Schiappacassi M, Massarut S, Marchini C, Amici A, Vecchione A, Baldassarre G, Belletti B.
Cancer Res. 2020 Mar 1;80(5):1064-1077.
12. Usp1 links platinum resistance to cancer cell dissemination by regulating snail stability
Sonego M, Pellarin I, Costa A, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Coan M, Kraut A, D'andrea S, Dall'acqua A, Castillo-Tong Dc, Califano D, Losito S, Spizzo R, Couté Y, Vecchione A, Belletti B, Schiappacassi M, Baldassarre G.
Sci Adv. 2019 May. 8;5(5).
13. TIMP-1 is overexpressed and secreted by platinum resistant epithelial ovarian cancer cells
Sonego M, Poletto E, Pivetta E, Nicoloso MS, Pellicani R, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Citron F, Sorio R, Mongiat M, Baldassarre G.
Cells. 2019, 18;9(1):6.
14. Stathmin is required for normal mouse mammary gland development and Δ16HER2-driven tumorigenesis
Segatto I, De Marco Zompit M, Citron F, D’Andrea S, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Perin T, Berton S, Mungo G, Schiappacassi M, Marchini C, Amici A, Vecchione A, Baldassarre G and Belletti B.
Cancer Res. 2019 Jan 15;79(2): 397-409.
15. Sleeping beauty genetic screen identifies miR-23b::BTBD7 gene interaction as crucial for colorectal cancer metastasis
Grisard E, Coan M, Cesaratto L, Rigo I, Zandonà L, Paulitti A, Andreuzzi E, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Poletto E, (...), Baldassarre G, Mongiat M, Spizzo R, Nicoloso MS.
EBioMedicine. 2019 Aug;46:79-93.
16. Exploring the role of fallopian ciliated cells in the pathogenesis of high-grade serous ovarian cancer
Coan M, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Cesaratto L, Gardenal E, Bianchet R, Dessi E, Vecchione A, Baldassarre G, Spizzo R, Nicoloso MS.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2018, 19(9), 2512
17. Mice with reduced expression of the telomere-associated protein ft1 develop p53-sensitive progeroid traits
La Torre M, Merigliano C, Burla R, Mottini C, Zanetti G, Del Giudice S, Carcuro M, Virdia I, Bucciarelli E, Manni I, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, ... Vernì F, Soddu S, Gatti M, Saggio I.
Aging Cell. 2018 Aug;17(4):e12730.
18. Hyperandrogenism in a postmenopausal woman. a rare case of ectopic adrenal cortical gland
Guarino A, Di Benedetto L, Giovanale V, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Stoppacciaro A, Bellati F, Caserta D.
Gynecol Endocrinol. 2017, 33(3):185-187.
19. Influence of perineural invasion in predicting overall survival and disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer
Aurello P, Berardi G, Tierno S, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Socciarelli F, Laracca G, Giulitti D, Pilozzi E, Ramacciato G.
American Journal of Surgery, 2017, 213(4), pp. 748–753
20. High prevalence of ALK+/ROS1+ cases in pulmonary adenocarcinoma of adoloscents and young adults
Scarpino S, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Di Napoli A, Fochetti F, Uccini S, Iacono D, Marchetti P, Ruco L.
Lung Cancer. 2016, 97:95-8.
21. Inhibition of breast cancer local relapse by targeting p70s6 kinase activity
Segatto I, Berton S, Sonego M, Massarut S, D'andrea S, Perin T, Fabris L, Armenia J, Rampioni Vinciguerra GL, Lovisa S, Schiappacassi M, Colombatti A, Bristow Rg, Vecchione A, Baldassarre G, Belletti B.
J Mol Cell Biol. 2013 dec;5(6):428-31.