Alessandra Recchia
Alessandra Recchia
e-mail:
affiliation: Università di Modena-Reggio Emilia
research area(s): Molecular Biology, Genetics And Genomics
Course: Molecular and Regenerative Medicine
University/Istitution: Università di Modena-Reggio Emilia
November 1995 to november 1999 PhD in Sperimental Medicine,
University of L'Aquila, Italy
March 1994 Laurea summa cum laude in Biological Science II University of Rome “Tor Vergata”

Biography:
1992-1994
Pre-doctoral fellow Institute of Farmacology, University of "Tor Vergata" Roma Supervisor: Prof. Giuseppe Nistico', Research project: studio in vivo degli effetti neuropatologici del Paraquat a livello biochimico e istopatologico
March 1994
Degree in Biology (110/110 cum laude) University "Tor Vergata", Roma
1994-1995
Postdoc fellow, Institute of Molecular Biology IRBM "P.Angeletti" (Merck Institute) Roma
1995-1999
PhD student, Institute of Molecular Biology IRBM “P. Angeletti” (Merck Institute) Roma
1997
Visiting scientist McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario , CANADA. Supervisor: Prof. F.Graham,
1999-2002
Postdoc TIGET (Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy) H. San Raffaele, Milano. Supervisor : Prof. Fulvio Mavilio
2003 – november 2005
Senior Postdoc Istituto Scientifico H. San Raffaele (DIBIT), Milano
November 2005- current Researcher of Molecular Biology at Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

The projects of the laboratory are:
1)new gene transfer technologies to mediate gene correction for blood disorders and skin diseases. We are approaching Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) technology to obtain site specific integration of the gene of interest or to get knock in or knock out or a chosen gene and Trasposon technology to mediate non viral and safer integration of the gene of interest.
2)investigate the basic mechanisms of retroviral integration into the human genome and the influence of this event on the transcriptosome profiling of blood cells during differentiation
A. Recchia, C. Bonini, Z. Magnani, F. Urbinati, D. Sartori, S. Muraro, E. Tagliafico, A. Bondanza, M. Lupo Stanghellini, M. Bernardi, A. Pescarollo, F. Ciceri, C. Bordignon and F. Mavilio (2006) Retroviral vector integration deregulates gene expression but has no consequence on the biology and function of transplanted T cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 103: 1457-1462

Mavilio F, Pellegrini G, Ferrari S, Di Nunzio F, Di Iorio E, Recchia A, Maruggi G, Ferrari G, Provasi E, Bonini C, Capurro S, Conti A, Magnoni C, Giannetti A, De Luca M (2006). Correction of junctional epidermolysis bullosa by transplantation of genetically modified epidermal stem cells. Nat Med 12 1397-402

Cattoglio C, Facchini G, Sartori D, Antonelli A, Miccio A, Cassani B, Schmidt M, von Kalle C, Howe S, Thrasher AJ, Aiuti A, Ferrari G, Recchia A, Mavilio F (2007). Hot spots of retroviral integration in human CD34+ hematopoietic cells. Blood 110 1770-1778

Felice B., Cattoglio C., Cittaro D., Testa A., Miccio A., Ferrari G., Luzi L., Recchia A. and Mavilio F. (2009) Transcription factor binding site are genetic determinants of retroviral integration in the human genome. PLoS One. 2009;4(2):e4571. Epub 2009 Feb 24.

Maruggi G, Porcellini S, Facchini G, Perna SK, Cattoglio C, Sartori D, Ambrosi A, Schambach A, Baum C, Bonini C, Bovolenta C, Mavilio F, Recchia A. (2009) Transcriptional enhancers induce insertional gene deregulation independently from the vector type and design. Mol Ther. 2009 May;17(5):851-6. Epub 2009 Mar 17.

Cattoglio C, Maruggi G, Bartholomae C, Malani N, Pellin D, Cocchiarella F, Magnani Z, Ciceri F, Ambrosi A, von Kalle C, Bushman FD, Bonini C, Schmidt M, Mavilio F, Recchia A. (2010) High-definition mapping of retroviral integration sites defines the fate of allogeneic T cells after donor lymphocyte infusion. PLoS One 22;5(12):e15688.
Project Title:
Genome-wide analysis of promoter and enhancer usage in hematopoietic stem cell differentiation
Somatic stem cells are the basic tools of regenerative medicine and gene therapy, providing unique opportunities for the therapy of currently untreatable genetic and acquired disorders. These include rare and orphan genetic diseases (immunodeficiencies, thalassemia, skin adhesion defects) inflammatory and degenerative disorders of the central nervous system (multiple sclerosis) and cancer. The molecular mechanisms underlying fundamental characteristics of human somatic stem cells, such as self-renewal, commitment and differentiation, are still poorly understood. A better knowledge of these mechanisms is crucial to the understanding of stem cell biology and to the development of stem cell-based therapies. The rapidly expanding information on the structural and functional characteristics of the human genome allows the development of comprehensive, genome-wide approaches to the understanding of the molecular circuitry wiring stem cell genetic and epigenetic programs.
The objective of this project is to identify transcriptionally active promoters and regulatory sequences (the “regulome”) in HSCs, and lineage-committed erythroid and myeloid precursors. This goal will be achieved by using novel or state-of-the-art, high-throughput technologies (retroviral scanning, CAGE-seq, ChIP-Seq).