CURRICULUM VITAE

Name Date of birth Place of birth Citizenship Current Address Foreign languages

Armando Di Donato 01/01/1958 Napoli Italian Via Ravecca, 16/5 -16128 Genova, Italy English, French

Education

1976-77 1979-82 October 1982 Nov. 1982-Oct. 1987 1983-85 1985-90 Oc. 1987-Dec. 1989 1990-1992 1992-present

Enters the 1st Medical School, University of Napoli Internal fellowship at Institute of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, 1st Medical School, University of Napoli (Prof. G. Illiano) Defends a thesis entitled " Influence of the physical state of the lipidic matrix of the cellular membrane on the catalytic activities of some proteins bound to it". Degree in Medicine with "summa cum laude" Post-doctoral training at Institute of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, 1st Medical School, University of Napoli (Prof. G. Illiano) Residence in Experimental Oncology Defends a thesis entitled "Role of the oncogens in cancer pathogenesis". Specialty in Oncology. Ph.D. (Dottorato di Ricerca) in Biochemical Sciences University of Napoli and University of Bari (coordinator Prof. G. D'Alessio). The Ph.D. thesis is entitled "Influence of the p21-ras on the adenylate cyclase system in mammalian cells and its interaction with the GTPase activating protein (GAP)" Post-doctoral Fogarty fellow at National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health of Bethesda, MD, USA (supervisor: dr. Juan Carlos Lacal; director: dr. Stuart A. Aaronson). Medical Assistant at Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Institute G. Gaslini of Genova (director: Prof. G.Romeo) Medical Assistant at the Laboratory of Nephrology, Institute G. Gaslini of Genova (director: Prof. R. Gusmano)

Research Areas

• Metabolism of cAMP and cGMP; Study of the enzymes adenylic cyclase and cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases. Influence of polycationic molecules (polyamines); bacterial endotoxins (LPS and Porins)
• Physical state of lipidic matrix of the cellular membrane: effects of its modification on membrane-bound enzymes
• Phagocytosis: effects of cAMP on it
• Physiological protein cross-linker, Transglutaminase: modulation of adenylate cyclase catalytic activity in pigeon erythrocytes.
• Adenylate Cyclase System in transformed mammalian cells: rat thyroid epithelial cells (FRTL-5) transformed by Ha-MSV (Harvey ras expressing cell model). S Molecular interaction between p21-ras and its relative GAP: definition of a putative interaction region by mean of monoclonal anti-ras antibodies.
• Role of Lysyl Oxidase in kidney fibrosis: study on Adriamycin induced nephropaty in rats; study on human biopsies from nephropatic patients
• Role of Lysyl Oxidase as cancer suppressor gene: alternative expression to ras genes; effects of lysyl oxidase modified extracellular matrix on ras-transformed cells
  
  

  ---

  
  
  

  Technical Skills

• Protein separation and purification: PAGE, chromatography (ionic exchange, gel filtration, TLC), HPLC, FAST
• Protein analysis: immunoprecipitation, Western Blot
• Enzymatic Assay: adenylate cyclase, cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases, p21/GAP GTPase, radio-immunoassays (cAMP, PKC etc.)
• DNA separation and purification: agarose gel chromatography, purification from agarose gel (DEAE binding, Agarase method, others)
• DNA analysis: restriction mapping, Southern Blot, Northern Blot
• DNA cloning
• Genomic Libraries construction and screening: phage and cosmid libraries
• Recombinant protein expression: in E. Coli
• PCR applications: cloning, mRNA quantitation (quantitative and semi-quantitative RT-PCR)
• Transfection in mammalian cells
  
  

  ---

  
  
  

  PUBLICATIONS

  
  1. Illiano G., Di Donato A., Galderisi R., Chiosi E., Paolisso G., Draetta G. F. Membrane stabilizing factors and membrane lipid microviscosity: the effects of the local anesthetics
  Ital. J. Biochem., 29, 463, 1980.
  2. Illiano G., Di Donato A, Paolisso G, Galderisi R., Chiosi E., Laurenza A. The effects of the membrane stabilizing factors on the membrane bound adenylate cyclase activity
  Ital. J. Biochem. 29, 465, 1980.
  3. Illiano G., Chiosi E., Di Donato A., Galderisi R., Laurenza A. Hydrolyzing activities on cAMP in E. Coli incubated in presence of polyamines.
  Intern. J. Biochem., 14, 247-250, 1982.
  4. Utili R., Di Donato A., Paolisso G., Abernathy C.O.,Illiano G. Endotoxin inhibits the fluoride stimulated adenylate cyclase activity of rat liver plasma membrane enriched with bile canaliculi
  Experientia, 38, 831-833, 1982
  5. Porta R., De Santis A., Draetta G. F., Di Donato A., Illiano G. A proposed role for the transglutaminase-mediated reactions in the modulation of pigeon erythrocyte adenylate cyclase activity
  Advances in Polyamines in Biomedical Science, ed. by C.M. Caldarera and U. Bachrach, CLUEB, Bologna (Italy), 23, 1983
  6. Porta R., Di Donato A., Draetta G.F., De Santis A., Illiano G. Are the transglutaminase and adenylate cyclase in pigeon erythrocyte membranes functionally related ?
  Ital. J. Biochem., 33, 34a, 1984
  7. Porta R., Di Donato A., Draetta G.F., De Santis A., Illiano G. Correlation between the membrane physical state and the post-translational covalent modifications of the membrane-bound proteins: effects of the transglutaminase catalyzed reactions in pigeon erythrocytes
  Ital. J. Biochem, 33, 199 a , 1984
  8. Illiano G., Galderisi R., Di Donato A., Paolisso G., Draetta G.F., The effects of lidocaine and procainamide on the sarcolemmal membrane high affinity cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase of rat myocardium"
  General Pharm., 16, 115-119, 1985
  9. Di Donato A., Draetta G.F., Illiano G., Tufano M.A., Sommese L., Galdiero F. Do porins inhibit the macrophage phagocyting activity by stimulating the adenylate cyclase ?
  J. Of Cyclic Nucleotide and Protein Phosphorilation Res., 11, 87-97, 1986
  10. Porta R., De Santis A., Esposito C., Draetta G.F., Di Donato A., Illiano G. Inhibition of adenylate cyclase by transglutaminase-catalyzed reaction in pigeon erythrocyte ghosts
  Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 138, 596-603, 1986
  11. Spina A., Di Donato A., Colella G., Illiano G., Berlingieri M.T., Fusco A., Grieco M. Increased adenylate cyclase activity in rat thyroid epithelial cells expressing viral ras genes
  Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 142, 527-35, 1987
  12. Srivastava S.K., Di Donato A., Lacal J.C. H-ras mutants lacking the epitope for the neutralizing monoclonal antibody Y13-259 show a decreased biological activity and are deficient in GTPase-activating protein interaction
  Mol. Cell. Biol., 4, 1779-1783, 1989
  13. Di Donato A., Srivastava S.K., Lacal. J.C. Analysis of the biochemical and biological activities of deletion mutants of H-ras p21 protein suggest that GAP is an essential component of its effector function
  The Guanine-Nucleotide Binding Proteins, edited by L. Bosch, B. Kraal and A. Parmeggiani. Plenum Pub. Corp., pp 179-190, 1989
  14. Ceccherini I., Matera I., Sbrana M., Di Donato A., Lin Y., Romeo G. Radiation hybrids for Mapping and cloning DNA sequences of distal 16p
  Somatic Cell and Molecular Genetics, 18, 319-324, 1992
  15. Caridi G., Pezzolo A., Bertelli R., Gimelli G., Di Donato A., Candiano G., Ghiggeri G.M. Mapping of Human Col5A1 gene to chromosome 9q34.3
  Human Genetics, 90, 174-176, 1992
  16. Di Donato, A., Jivotenko, E., Di Duca, M., Ghiggeri, G., Acinni, R., Campolo, J., Ginevri, F., and Gusmano, R. (1997). Lysyl oxidase expression and collagen cross-linking during chronic adriamycin nephropathy.
  Nephron 76, 192-200.
  17. Di Donato, A., Lacal, J., Di Duca, M., Giampuzzi, M., Ghiggeri, G., and Gusmano, R. (1997). Micro-injection of recombinant lysyl oxidase blocks oncogenic p21-Ha-Ras and progesterone effects on Xenopus laevis oocyte maturation. FEBS Lett 419, 63-68.

  ---