MATTEO CASSANDRI

CURRENT POSITION
Tenure-track Researcher (RTT) - SSD MEDS-26/A Scienze Tecniche di Medicina di Laboratorio
Laboratory of Cellular Biotechnology, Department of Experimental Medicine, SAPIENZA University of Rome
Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161 Rome (Italy)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
01/2018 PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of experimental medicine and surgery, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”
10/2014 Master Degree in Genetic and Molecular Biology, Sapienza University of Rome
12/2012 Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome

EDITORIAL ACTIVITY
- Review Editor, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology– section of Cell Adhesion and Migration
- Guest Editor, International Journal of Molecular Sciences – Special Issue: " Epigenetic and Transcriptional Networks in Soft Tissue Sarcomas"
- Guest Editor, Cells – Special Issue " Novel Insights into Molecular Mechanisms and Therapy of Soft Tissue Sarcomas"
- Frontiers Topic Editor, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology and Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences – Topic: Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory networks in cellular homeostasis and stress response

MEMBERSHIP TO SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES
- Società Italiana Ricerca Traslazionale e Professioni Sanitarie – SIRTEPS
- The European Paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group (EPSSG)
- American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
- European Association for Cancer Research (EACR)

PUBLICATIONS (ORCID: 0000-0002-2919-676X)

1. Pomella, S., D'Archivio, L., Cassandri, M., Aiello, F. A., Melaiu, O., Marampon, F., Rota, R., Barillari, G. (2025). The HIV Protease Inhibitor Ritonavir Reverts the Mesenchymal Phenotype Induced by Inflammatory Cytokines in Normal and Tumor Oral Keratinocytes to an Epithelial One, Increasing the Radiosensitivity of Tumor Oral Keratinocytes. Cancers, 2025
2. Patrizi, S., Vallese, S., Barresi, S., Cassandri, M., Giovannoni, I., Pedace, L., Abballe, L., Vinciarelli, F., Antonacci, C., Stracuzzi, A., Mancini, B., Russo, I., Di Giannatale, A., Rota, R., Alaggio, R., Locatelli, F., Milano, G. M., & Miele, E. (2025). Age-linked DNA methylation and gene expression patterns in parameningeal head and neck alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma reveal CDK9 as a promising therapeutic target. Pharmacological research 2025
3. Gerini G, Traversa A, Cece F, Cassandri M, Pontecorvi P, Camero S, Nannini G, Romano E, Marampon F, Venneri MA, Ceccarelli S, Angeloni A, Amedei A, Marchese C, Megiorni F. Deciphering the Transcriptional Metabolic Profile of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells During Osteogenic Differentiation and Epigenetic Drug Treatment. Cells. 2025
4. Codenotti S, Asperti M, Poli M, Lorenzi L, Pietrantoni A, Cassandri M, Marampon F, Fanzani A. Synthetic inhibition of SREBP2 and the mevalonate pathway blocks rhabdomyosarcoma tumor growth in vitro and in vivo and promotes chemosensitization. Molecular Metabolism. 2025
5. Pezzella M, Quintarelli C, Quadraccia MC, Sarcinelli A, Manni S, Iaffaldano L, Ottaviani A, Ciccone R, Camera A, D'Amore ML, Di Cecca S, Sinibaldi M, Guercio M, Aurigemma M, De Falco P, Fustaino V, Rota R, Pomella S, Cassandri M, Di Giannatale A, Agrati C, Bordoni V, Guarracino F, Massa M, Del Baldo G, Becilli M, Milano GM, Del Bufalo F, Locatelli F, De Angelis B. Tumor-derived G-CSF induces an immunosuppressive microenvironment in an osteosarcoma model, reducing response to CAR.GD2 T-cells. J Hematol Oncol. 2024
6. Cassandri M, Porrazzo A, Pomella S, Noce B, Zwergel C, Aiello FA, Vulcano F, Milazzo L, Camero S, Pajalunga D, Spada M, Manzi V, Gravina GL, Codenotti S, Piccione M, Tomaciello M, Signore M, Barillari G, Marchese C, Fanzani A, De Angelis B, Quintarelli C, Vakoc CR, Chen EY, Megiorni F, Locatelli F, Valente S, Mai A, Rota R, Marampon F. HDAC3 genetic and pharmacologic inhibition radiosensitizes fusion positive rhabdomyosarcoma by promoting DNA double-strand breaks. Cell Death Discov. 2024
7. Camero S, Milazzo L, Vulcano F, Ceccarelli F, Pontecorvi P, Pedini F, Rossetti A, Scialis ES, Gerini G, Cece F, Pomella S, Cassandri M, Porrazzo A, Romano E, Festuccia C, Gravina GL, Ceccarelli S, Rota R, Lotti LV, Midulla F, Angeloni A, Marchese C, Marampon F, Megiorni F. Antitumour effects of SFX-01 molecule in combination with ionizing radiation in preclinical and in vivo models of rhabdomyosarcoma. BMC Cancer. 2024
8. Codenotti S, Sandrini L, Mandracchia D, Lorenzi L, Corsetti G, Poli M, Asperti M, Salvi V, Bosisio D, Monti E, Mitola S, Triggiani L, Guescini M, Pozzo E, Sampaolesi M, Gastaldello S, Cassandri M, Marampon F, Fanzani A. Statin-Sensitive Akt1/Src/Caveolin-1 Signaling Enhances Oxidative Stress Resistance in Rhabdomyosarcoma. Cancers. 2024
9. Porrazzo A*, Cassandri M*, D'Alessandro A, Morciano P, Rota R, Marampon F, Cenci G. DNA repair in tumor radioresistance: insights from fruit flies genetics. Cell Oncol. 2024
10. Silvia Pomella*, Matteo Cassandri*, Cristina Cossetti, Doris Phelps, Clara Perrone, Michele Pezzella, Antonella Cardinale, Marco Wachtel, Marta Colletti, Zoë S Walters, Prethish Sreenivas, Angela Di Giannatale, Giuseppe Maria Milano, Francesco Marampon, Cristiano De Stefanis, Rita Alaggio, Sonia Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Nadia Carlesso, Christopher R. Vakoc, Enrico Velardi, Beat W. Schafer, Ernesto Guccione, Susanne A. Gatz, Ajla Wasti, Marielle Yohe, Javed, Khan, Myron Ignatius, Concetta Quintarelli, Janet Shipley, Lucio Miele, Peter J. Houghton, Berkley E. Gryder, Biagio De Angelis, Franco Locatelli, Rossella Rota. A MYOD-SKP2 axis boosts tumorigenesis in fusion negative rhabdomyosarcoma by preventing differentiation through p57Kip2 targeting. Nature Communications (2023)
11. Alessio Butera , Matteo Cassandri , Francesca De Nicola , Maurizio Fanciulli, Lorenzo D’Ambrosio , Laura Falasca , Roberta Nardacci , Lu Wang , Mauro Piacentini , Eleonora Candi , Richard A. Knight , Wei Jia , Qiang Sun , Yufang Shi , Ying Wang , Massimiliano Agostini, Gerry Melino. ZFP750 affects the cutaneous barrier through regulating lipid metabolism. Science Advances (2023)
12. Pomella, S.; Cassandri, M.; Antoniani, F.; Crotti, S.; Mediani, L.; Silvestri, B.; Medici, M.; Rota, R.; Rosa, A.; Carra, S. Heat Shock Proteins: Important Helpers for the Development, Maintenance and Regeneration of Skeletal Muscles. Muscles (2023)
13. Silvia Pomella*, Matteo Cassandri*, Ombretta Melaiu, Francesco Marampon, Marco Gargari, Vincenzo Campanella, Rossella Rota, Giovanni Barillari. DNA damage response gene signature as potential treatment markers for oral squamous cell carcinoma. Internation Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).
14. Clara Perrone*, Silvia Pomella*, Matteo Cassandri*, Michele Pezzella, Stefano Giuliani, Tecla Gasperi, Antonella Porrazzo, Anna Alisi, Anna Pastore, Silvia Codenotti, Alessandro Fanzani, Giovanni Barillari, Libenzio Adrian Conti, Biagio De Angelis, Concetta Quintarelli, Paolo Mariottini, Franco Locatelli, Francesco Marampon, Rossella Rota, Manuela Cervelli. Spermine oxidase induces DNA damage and sensitizes Fusion Negative Rhabdomyosarcoma cells to irradiation. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2023).
15. Sara Vaccaro, Alessandra Rossetti, Antonella Porrazzo, Simona Camero, Matteo Cassandri, Silvia Pomella, Miriam Tomaciello, Giampiero Macioce, Francesca Pedini, Giovanni Barillari, Cinzia Marchese, Rossella Rota,Giovanni Cenci, Mario Tombolini, Robert A. Newman, Peiying Yang, Silvia Codenotti, Alessandro Fanzani, Francesca Megiorni, Claudio Festuccia, Giuseppe Minniti, Giovanni Luca Gravina, Francesca Vulcano, Luisa Milazzo, Francesco Marampon. The botanical drug PBI-05204, a supercritical CO2 extract of Nerium oleander, sensitizes alveolar and embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma to radiotherapy in vitro and in vivo. Frontiers in Pharmacology (2022).
16. Silvia Pomella, Antonella Porrazzo , Matteo Cassandri , Simona Camero , Silvia Codenotti, Luisa Milazzo, Francesca Vulcano, Giovanni Barillari, Giovanni Cenci, Cinzia Marchese, Alessandro Fanzani, Francesca Megiorni, Rossella Rota, Francesco Marampon. Translational Implications for Radiosensitizing Strategies in Rhabdomyosarcoma. Internation Journal of Molecular Sciences (2022).
17. Camero Simona*, Matteo Cassandri*, Pomella Silvia*, Milazzo Luisa, Vulcano Francesca, Porrazzo Antonella, Barillari Giovanni, Marchese Cinzia, Codenotti Silvia, Tomaciello Miriam, Rota Rossella, Fanzani Alessandro, Megiorni Francesca, Marampon Francesco. Radioresistance in rhabdomyosarcomas: much more than a question of dose. Frontiers in Oncology (2022).
18. Codenotti Silvia, Zizioli Daniela, Mignani Luca, Rezzola Sara, Tabellini Giovanna, Parolini Silvia, Giacomini Arianna, Asperti Michela, Poli Maura, Mandracchia Delia, Vezzoli Marika, Bernardi Simona, Russo Domenico, Mitola Stefania, Monti Eugenio, Triggiani Luca, Tomasini Davide, Gastaldello Stefano, Cassandri Matteo, Rota Rossella, Marampon Francesco, Fanzani Alessandro. Hyperactive Akt1 signaling increases tumor progression and DNA repair in embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma RD line and confers susceptibility to glycolysis and mevalonate pathway inhibitors. Cells (2022).
19. Menna Martina, Fiorentino Francesco, Marrocco Biagina, Lucidi Alessia, Tomassi Stefano, Cilli Domenica, Romanenghi Mauro, Cassandri Matteo, Pomella Silvia, Pezzella Michele, Del Bufalo Donatella, Rota Rossella, Trisciuoglio Daniela, Minucci Saverio, Mattevi Andrea, Rotili Dante, Mai Antonello. Novel non-covalent LSD1 inhibitors endowed with anticancer effects in leukemia and solid tumor cellular models. Eur. J. Med. Chem. (2022)
20. Clara Perrone*, Silvia Pomella*, Matteo Cassandri*, Cristina Cossetti, Michele Pezzella, Marta Colletti, Giulia Pericoli, Angela Di Giannatale, Emmanuel Andre Albert De Crespin De Billy, Maria Vinci, Stefania Petrini, Francesco Marampon, Concetta Quintarelli, Riccardo Taulli, Josep Roma, Soledad Gallego, Simona Camero, Paolo Mariottini, Manuela Cervelli, Roberta Maestro, Lucio Miele, Biagio De Angelis, Franco Locatelli, Rossella Rota. MET Inhibition Sensitizes Rhabdomyosarcoma Cells to NOTCH Signaling Suppression. Frontiers in Oncology (2022).
21. Silvia Pomella*, Matteo Cassandri*, Maria Rita Braghini, Francesco Marampon, Anna Alisi, Rossella Rota. New Insights on the Functions and Targeting of FAK in Cancer. Internation Journal of Molecular Sciences (2022).
22. Simona Camero, Giulia Vitali, Paola Pontecorvi, Simona Ceccarelli, Eleni Anastasiadou, Francesca Cicchetti, Elisabetta Flex, Silvia Pomella, Matteo Cassandri, Rossella Rota, Francesco Marampon, Cinzia Marchese, Amalia Schiavetti, Francesca Megiorni. DNMT3A and DNMT3B targeting as an effective radiosensitizing strategy in embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Cells (2021)
23. Matteo Cassandri*, Silvia Pomella*, Alessandra Rossetti*, Francesco Petragnano*, Luisa Milazzo, Francesca Vulcano, Simona Camero, Silvia Codenotti, Francesca Cicchetti, Roberto Maggio, Claudio Festuccia, Giovanni Luca Gravina, Alessandro Fanzani, Francesca Megiorni, Cinzia Marchese, Vincenzo Tombolini, Franco Locatelli, Rossella Rota, Francesco Marampon. MS-275 (Entinostat) Promotes Radio-sensitivity in PAX3- FOXO1 Rhabdomyosarcoma cells. Int. J. Mol. Sci (2021).
24. Rossetti A., Petragnano F., MilazzoL., Vulcano F., Macioce G., Codenotti S., Cassandri M., Pomella S., Cicchetti F., Fasciani I., Antinozzi C., Di Luigi L., Maggio R., Festuccia C., De Felice F., Vergine M., Fanzani A., Rota R., Polimeni A., Tombolini V., Gravina G.L., Marampon F. Romidepsin (FK228) fails in counteracting the transformed phenotype of rhabdomyosarcoma cells but efficiently radiosensitizes, in vitro and in vivo, the alveolar phenotype subtype. Int. J. Radiat. Biol. (2021).
25. Tiago T., Hummel B., Galli V., Vinet J., Morelli F., Basile V., Mediani L., Antoniani F., Pomella S., Cassandri M., Garone MG, Silvestri B., Cimino M., Mouly V., Poser I., Rosa A., Alberti S., Rota R., Ben-Zvi A., Sawarkar A., Carra S. HSPB3 is a specialized nuclear chaperone engaged in muscle cell differentiation by acting on LBR and gene expression. Cell Death Dis. (2021).
26. Pomella, S., Sreenivas, P., Gryder, B.E., Wang, L., Cassandri, M., Baxi, K., Hensch, N.R., Carcarino, E., Song, Y., Yohe, M., Amadio, B., Caruana, I., De Stefanis, C., De Vito, R., Locatelli, F., Chen, Y., Chen, E.Y., Houghton, P., Khan, J., Rota, R., and Ignatius, M.Y.. Interaction between SNAI2 and MYOD enhances oncogenesis and suppresses differentiation in Fusion-Negative Rhabdomyosarcoma. Nat. Commun. (2021).
27. Perrone, C.*, Pomella, S.*, Cassandri, M.*, Braghini, M.R., Pezzella, M., Locatelli, F., Rota, R. FAK signalling in Rhabdomyosarcoma. Int. J. Mol. Sci (2020).
28. Cassandri, M., Fioravanti, R., Pomella, S., Valente, S., Rotili, D., Del Baldo, G., De Angelis, B., Rota, R., and Mai, A.. CDK9 as a Valuable Target in Cancer: From Natural Compounds Inhibitors to Current Treatment in Pediatric Soft Tissue Sarcomas. Front. Pharmacol. 11 (2020).
29. Butera A., Cassandri M., Rugolo F., Agostini M., Melino G. The ZNF750-RAC1 axis as potential prognostic factor for breast cancer. Cell Death Discovery (2020).
30. Cassandri, M., Butera, A., Amelio, I., Lena, A.M., Montanaro, M., Mauriello, A., Anemona, L., Candi, E., Knight, R.A., Agostini, M., and Melino G.. ZNF750 represses breast cancer invasion via epigenetic control of prometastatic genes. Oncogene (2020).
31. Cassandri, M., Smirnov, A., Novelli, F., Pitolli, C., Agostini, M., Malewicz, M., Melino, G., and Raschellà, G.. Zinc-finger proteins in health and disease. Cell Death Discovery. (2017).