Professor of General Pathology, Dipartimento di Chimica Biologica, Università di Napoli Federico II

Research
1) The effect and molecular mechanisms of new antitumoral drugs in vitro and in vivo, in particular the effect of dimeric ribonucleases.
2) The molecular mechanisms of the pathway by which ribonucleases transmit apoptotic signals to the cell.
3) The in vitro and in vivo effects of immunoRNases as potential anti-cancer drugs.

Selected publications
Spalletti-Cernia D, Sorrentino R, Di Gaetano S, Arciello A, Garbi C, Piccoli R, D’Alessio G, Vecchio G, Laccetti P, Santoro M. Antineoplastic ribonucleases selectively kill thyroid carcinoma cells via caspase-mediated induction of apoptosis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2003;88:2900-7.

Portella G, Laezza C, Laccetti P, De Petrocellis L, Di Marzo V, Bifulco M. Inhibitory effects of cannabinoid CB1 receptor stimulation on tumor growth and metastatic spreading: actions on signals involved in angiogenesis and metastasis. FASEB J 2003;17:1771-3.

Spalletti-Cernia D, Sorrentino R, Di Gaetano S, Piccoli R, Santoro M, D’Alessio G, Laccetti P, Vecchio G. Highly selective toxic and proapoptotic effects of two dimeric ribonucleases on thyroid cancer cells compared to the effects of doxorubicin. Br J Cancer 2004;90:270-7.

De Lorenzo C, Arciello A, Cozzolino R, Palmer DB, Laccetti P, Piccoli R, D’Alessio G. A fully human anti-tumor immunoRnase selective for ErbB2-positive carcinomas. Cancer Res 2004;64:4870-4.

De Lorenzo C, Tedesco A, Terrazzano G, Cozzolino R, Laccetti P, Piccoli R, D’Alessio G. A human, compact, fully functional anti-ErbB2 antibody as novel antitumor agent. Br J Cancer 2004;91:1200-4.