Clara Nervi received her MD in 1981, specialized in Hematology in 1984, and in 1988 obtained her PhD in Developmental cell biology, at the University of Rome La Sapienza. From 1987 to 1991, she was N.I.H. Visiting Fellow/Associate at Research Triangle Park, NC, USA, and from 1991 to 2001 she was researcher at the Department of Histology and Medical Embryology at Sapienza University of Rome. She has been Associate Professor of Histology at the same Department, since 2001, and she has been directed the Hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis unit at IBCIT at SPR since 2002.
Clara Nervi's main research activities focus on cell and molecular biology, normal and leukemic hematopoiesis, chromatin remodeling, epigenetic therapy (pre-clinical and clinical trials) and microRNA biology.

 

Publications

 

Travaglini L., Vian L., Billi M., Grignani F. and Nervi C. (2009) Epigenetic reprogramming of breast cancer cells by valproic acid occurs regardless of estrogen receptor status. Int J Biochem Cell Biol, 41:225-34.

 

Beissert, T., Hundertmark, A., Kaburova, V., Travaglini, L., Mian, A.A., Nervi, C., and Ruthardt, M. (2008) Targeting of the N-terminal coiled coil oligomerization interface by a helix-2 peptide inhibits unmutated and imatinib-resistant bcr/abl. Int J Cancer 122:2744-52.

 

Fazi F. and Nervi C. (2008) MicroRNA: Basic mechanisms and transcriptional regulatory networks for cell fate determination. Cardiovasc Res 79:553-61.

 

Leone, G., D'Alò F., Zardo, G., Voso, M.T. and Nervi, C. (2008) Epigenetic treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemias. Curr Med Chem 15:1274-1287.

 

Morey L., Brenner C., Fazi F., Villa R., Gutierrez A., Buschbeck M., Nervi C., Minucci S., Fuks F. and Di Croce L. (2008) MBD3, a component of the NuRD complex, facilitates chromatin alteration and deposition of epigenetic marks. Mol Cell Biol. 28:5912-23.

 

Nervi, C., Fazi, F., and Grignani, F. (2008) Oncoproteins, heterochromatin silencing and microRNAs: a new link for leukemogenesis. Epigenetics 3, 1-4.


Zardo, G., Cimino, G. and Nervi, C. (2008) Epigenetic plasticity of chromatin in embryonic and hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells: therapeutic potential of cell reprogramming. Leukemia 22, 1503–1518.

 

Fazi, F., Racanicchi, S., Zardo, G., Starnes, L.M., Mancini, M., Travaglini, L., Diverio, D., Ammatuna, E., Cimino, G., Lo-Coco, F., Grignani, F. and Nervi, C. (2007) Epigenetic silencing of the myelopoiesis regulator microRNA-223 by the AML1/ETO oncoprotein. Cancer Cell 12:457-466.

 

Fazi, F., Zardo, G., Gelmetti, V., Travaglini, L., Ciolfi, A., Di Croce, L., Rosa, A., Bozzoni, I., Grignani, F., Lo-Coco, F., Pelicci, P.G. and Nervi, C. (2007) Heterochromatic gene repression of the retinoic acid pathway in acute myeloid leukemia. Blood 109, 4432-4440.

 

Nervi, C., Fazi, F., Rosa, A., Fatica, A., and Bozzoni, I. (2007) Emerging role for microRNAs in acute promyelocytic leukemia. Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 313, 73-84.

 

Cimino, G., Lo-Coco, F., Fenu, S., Travaglini, L., Finolezzi, E., Mancini, M., Nanni, M., Careddu, A., Fazi, F., Padula, F., Fiorini, R., Aloe Spiriti, M.A., Petti, M.C., Venditti, A., Amadori, S., Mandelli, F., Pelicci, P.G. and Nervi, C. (2006) Sequential Valproic acid/all-trans retinoic acid treatment reprograms differentiation in refractory and high-risk acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer Res. 66, 8903-8911.

 

Guccione E, Martinato F, Finocchiaro G, Luzi L, Tizzoni L, Dall'Olio V, Zardo G, Nervi C, Bernard L, Amati B. (2006) Myc-binding-site recognition in the human genome is determined by chromatin context. Nat Cell Biol. 8, 764-770.

 

Merla, C., Liberti, M., Apollonio, F., Nervi, C. and D'Inzeo, G. (2006) Dielectric Spectroscopy of Blood Cells Suspensions: Study on Geometrical Structure of Biological Cells. Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng Med. Biol. Soc. 1, 3194-3197.

 

De Felice L, Tatarelli C, Mascolo MG, Gregorj C, Agostini F, Fiorini R, Gelmetti V, Pascale S, Padula F, Petrucci MT, Arcese W, Nervi C. (2005) Histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid enhances the cytokine-induced expansion of human hematopoietic stem cells. Cancer Res, 65:1505-13.

 

Fazi F, Rosa A, Fatica A, Gelmetti V, De Marchis ML, Nervi C, Bozzoni I. (2005) A mini-circuitry comprising microRNA-223 and transcription factors NFI-A and C/EBPα regulates human granulopoiesis. Cell 123, 819-31.

 

Fazi F, Travaglini L, Carotti D, Palitti F, Diverio D, Alcalay M,  McNamara S, Miller WHJr, Lo Coco F, Pelicci PG, Nervi C. (2005) Retinoic acid targets DNA-methyltransferases and histone deacetylases during APL blast differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Oncogene 24, 1820-30.

 

Insinga A, Monestiroli S, Ronzoni S, Gelmetti V, Marchesi F, Viale A, Altucci L, Nervi C, Minucci S. Pelicci, PG. (2005) Inhibitors of histone deacetylases induce tumor-selective apoptosis through activation of the death receptor pathway. Nat. Med., 11:71-76.

 

Meani N, Minardi S, Licciulli S, Gelmetti V, Lo Coco F, Nervi C, Pelicci PG, Muller H, Alcalay M. (2005) Molecular signature of Retinoic Acid treatment in Acute Promyleocytic Leukemia. Oncogene 24, 3358-68.

 

Puccetti E, Zheng X, Brambilla D, Seshire A, Beissert T, Boehrer S, Nurnberger H, Hoelzer D, Ottmann OG, Nervi C, Ruthardt M. (2005) The Integrity of the Charged Pocket in the BTB/POZ Domain Is Essential for the Phenotype Induced by the Leukemia-Associated t (11;17) Fusion Protein PLZF/RAR alpha. Cancer Res 65:6080-88.

 

Racanicchi S, Maccherani C, Liberatore C, Billi M, Gelmetti V, Panigada M, Rizzo G, Nervi C, Grignani F. (2005) Targeting fusion protein/corepressor contact restores differentiation response in leukemia cells. EMBO J. 24, 1232-42.

 

Zardo G, Fazi F, Travaglini L, Nervi C. (2005) Dynamic and reversibility of heterochromatic gene silencing in human disease. Cell Res 15(9):679-690.

 

Cote S, McNamara S, Brambilla D, Bianchini A, Rizzo G, Del Rincon SV, Grignani F Nervi C, Miller WHJr. (2004) Expression of SMRT{beta} promotes ligand-induced activation of mutated and wild-type retinoid receptors.  Blood, 104:4226-4235.

 

Beissert T, Puccetti E, Bianchini A, Guller S, Boehrer S, Hoelzer D, Ottmann OG, Nervi C, Ruthardt M. (2003) Targeting of the N-terminal coiled coil oligomerization interface of BCR interferes with the transformation potential of BCR/ABL and increases sensitivity to STI571. Blood 102: 2985-2993.


Mangiacasale, R., Pittoggi, C., Sciamanna, I., Careddu, A., Mattei, E., Lorenzini, R., Travaglini, L., Landriscina, M., Barone, C., Nervi, C., Lavia, P., and Spadafora, C. (2003) Exposure of normal and transformed cells to nevirapine, a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, reduces cell growth and promotes differentiation. Oncogene 22, 2750-2761.

 

Di Croce L, Raker VA, Corsaro M, Fazi F, Fanelli M, Faretta M, Fuks F, Lo Coco F, Kouzarides T, Nervi C, Minucci S, Pelicci PG. (2002) Methyltransferase recruitment and DNA hypermethylation of target promoters by an oncogenic transcription factor. Science 295, 1079-1082.

 

Ferrara FF, Fazi F, Bianchini A, Padula F, Gelmetti V, Minucci S, Mancini M, Pelicci PG, Lo Coco F, Nervi C. (2001) Histone deacetylase targeted treatment restores retinoic acid signaling and differentiation in acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer Res. 61, 2-7.

 

Grignani, F, De Matteis, S, Nervi, C, Tomassoni, L, Gelmetti, V, Cioce, M, Fanelli, M, Ruthardt, M. Ferrara, FF, Zamir, I, Seiser, C, Grignani, F, Lazar, MA, Minucci, S, and Pelicci, PG. (1998) Fusion proteins of the retinoic acid receptor-α recruit histone deacetylase in promyelocytic leukaemia. Nature. 391:815-818.

 

Nervi, C., Ferrara, F.F., Fanelli, M., Rippo, M.R., Tomassini, B., Ferrucci, P. F., Ruthardt, M., Gelmetti, V., Gambacorti-Passerini, C., Diverio, D., Grignani, F., Pelicci, P.G. and Testi, R. (1998) Caspases mediate retinoic acid induced degradation of the acute promyelocytic leukemia PML-RARa fusion protein. Blood. 92:2244-2251.