Laboratory of Cancer and
Stem Cell Biology
OUR RESEARCH
Our research is focused on dissecting, at multiple levels, the complex and still largely unexplored interplay between cell metabolism and mechanotransduction, in the context of tumor microenvironment and stem cell niches.
By integrating our expertise in the fields of cancer, stem cells and bioengineering we aim to explore and understand the basic principle of tumor initiation and development. We are also interested in studying the biology of tissue-resident epithelial stem cells, in order to design innovative regenerative medicine strategies.
To address our basic biomedical questions, we adopt an integrative approach combining dietary-induced and genetically engineered mouse models, tissue engineering techniques, as well as 3D organotypic cultures (hepatic and intestinal organoids).
Giovanni Sorrentino, PhD
He studied Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Ferrara (Italy). In 2014 he obtained his PhD in Molecular Biomedicine at the University of Trieste (Italy), working under the supervision of Prof. Giannino Del Sal. From 2014 to 2017, he did his first postdoctoral training funded by a FIRC fellowship at the National Laboratory CIB, Area Science Park, Trieste. In 2017, he received a prestigious FEBS long-term postdoctoral fellowship to join the Laboratory of Metabolic Signaling at the Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) led by Prof. Kristina Schoonjans. In 2020, thanks to a generous support from AIRC (Start Up Grant), he returned to Italy to lead an independent research group at the Department of Life Science, University of Trieste.
His scientific studies have mainly focused on understanding how cancer cells perceive mechanical signals from their microenvironment and how this perception integrates with cellular metabolism to promote cancer stem cell traits.
CONTACT US
Sorrentino Lab is based at the Department of Life Science, University of Trieste (Italy)
Contact:
Sorrentino Lab
Via Valerio 28/1 - Ed. RA - 34127, Trieste (TS), Italy
Giovanni Sorrentino: giovanni.sorrentino@units.it
