Gliomas are the most common malignant brain tumors with limited therapeutic options and poor patient prognosis. Despite the tremendous efforts that have been made to understand the biology of these tumors, the molecular bases of glioma formation are still largely unknown.

Notch signaling has a crucial role in the maintenance and function of neural stem cells and aberrant Notch activity has been implicated in the development of numerous diseases including tumors. The role of Notch in glioma is still controversial and may be context-dependent and differ between glioma subtype and stage of tumor progression. Recently, we identified a tumor suppressor function of Notch signaling in glioma mouse models (Giachino et al., 2015) and mutations inactivating Notch receptors have been found in some forms of human glioma.

I aim to elucidate the role of Notch signaling and the underlying molecular mechanisms during gliomagenesis.


Publications:

1. Parmigiani E, Ivanek R, Rolando C, Hafen K, Turchinovich G, Lehmann FM, Gerber A, Brkic S, Frank S, Meyer SC, Wakimoto H, Günel M, Louvi A, Mariani L, Finke D, Holländer G, Hutter G, Tussiwand R, Taylor V, Giachino C♦ (2022) Interferon-γ resistance and immune evasion in glioma develop via Notch-regulated co-evolution of malignant and immune cells. Developmental Cell 57:1–19

2. Kantzer CG*, Parmigiani E*, Cerrato V, et al. ACSA-2 and GLAST classify subpopulations of multipotent and glial restricted cerebellar precursors. Accepted in J Neurosci Res. doi:10.1002/jnr.24842

3. Nato G, Corti A, Parmigiani E, Jachetti E, Lecis D, Colombo MP, Delia D, Buffo A, Magrassi L. Immune-tolerance to human iPS-derived neural progenitors xenografted into the immature cerebellum is overridden by species-specific differences in differentiation timing. Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 12;11(1):651. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79502-9

4. Parmigiani E, Taylor V, Giachino C. Oncogenic and Tumor-Suppressive Functions of NOTCH Signaling in Glioma. Cells. 2020 Oct 15;9(10):2304. doi:10.3390/cells9102304

5. Cerrato V*, Parmigiani E*, Figueres-Oñate M, Betizeau M, Aprato J, Nanavaty I, Berchialla P, Luzzati F, de'Sperati C, López-Mascaraque L, Buffo A. Multiple origins and modularity in the spatiotemporal emergence of cerebellar astrocyte heterogeneity. PLoS Biol. 2018 Sep 27;16(9):e2005513. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2005513

6. Zamboni V, Armentano M, Berto G, Ciraolo E, Ghigo A, Garzotto D, Umbach A, DiCunto F, Parmigiani E, Boido M, Vercelli A, El-Assawy N, Mauro A, Priano L, Ponzoni L, Murru L, Passafaro M, Hirsch E, Merlo GR. Hyperactivity of Rac1-GTPase pathway impairs neuritogenesis of cortical neurons by altering actin dynamics. Sci Rep. 2018 May 8;8(1):7254. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-25354-3.

7. Azzalin A, Nato G, Parmigiani E, Garello F, Buffo A, Magrassi L. Inhibitors of GLUT/SLC2A Enhance the Action of BCNU and Temozolomide against High-Grade Gliomas. Neoplasia. 2017 Apr;19(4):364-373. doi: 10.1016/j.neo.2017.02.009.

8. Parmigiani E, Taylor V, Giachino C. Tenascin-C induces expression of the Notch ligand Jagged1 to promote glioma growth. Transl Cancer Res. 2017;6. doi:10.21037/tcr.2017.07.21

9. Leto K, Arancillo M, Becker EB, Buffo A, Chiang C, Ding B, Dobyns WB, Dusart I, Haldipur P, Hatten ME, Hoshino M, Joyner AL, Kano M, Kilpatrick DL, Koibuchi N, Marino S, Martinez S, Millen KJ, Millner TO, Miyata T, Parmigiani E, Schilling K, Sekerková G, Sillitoe RV, Sotelo C, Uesaka N, Wefers A, Wingate RJ, Hawkes R. Consensus Paper: Cerebellar Development. Cerebellum. 2016 Dec;15(6):789-828. doi: 10.1007/s12311-015-0724-2

10. De Luca A, Cerrato V, Fucà E, Parmigiani E, Buffo A, Leto K. Sonic hedgehog patterning during cerebellar development. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2016 Jan;73(2):291-303. doi: 10.1007/s00018-015-2065-1

11. Parmigiani E, Leto K, Rolando C, Figueres-Oñate M, López-Mascaraque L, Buffo A, Rossi F. Heterogeneity and Bipotency of Astroglial-Like Cerebellar Progenitors along the Interneuron and Glial Lineages. J Neurosci. 2015 May 13;35(19):7388-402. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5255-14.2015

12. Fratangeli A*, Parmigiani E*, Fumagalli M, Lecca D, Benfante R, Passafaro M, Buffo A, Abbracchio MP, Rosa P. The regulated expression, intracellular trafficking, and membrane recycling of the P2Y-like receptor GPR17 in Oli-neu oligodendroglial cells. J Biol Chem. 2013 Feb 15;288(7):5241-56. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.404996

13. Leto K, Bartolini A, Di Gregorio A, Imperiale D, De Luca A, Parmigiani E, Filipkowski RK, Kaczmarek L, Rossi F. Modulation of cell-cycle dynamics is required to regulate the number of cerebellar GABAergic interneurons and their rhythm of maturation. Development. 2011 Aug;138(16):3463-72. doi: 10.1242/dev.064378

* equal contribution


Grants:

2020 Forschungsfonds Nachwuchsforschende from the University of Basel
2021 Start-up grant from Stiftung Tumorforschung Kopf-Hals