1986: Received (Diploma di Maturità Classica)
1992: University of Naples Federico II, Medical School, M.D. cum laude
1996: Ph.D. in Biochemical Sciences at the University of Naples "Federico II"
1996-2000: Post-doctoral fellow in Arthur L. Beaudet laboratory
1997-2000: Instructor (Ricercatore) at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Molise
2000-2001: Assistant Professor at the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
2001-2005: Associate Professor at the School of Biotechnological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II
2004-now: Group Leader at CEINGE-Biotecnologie Avanzate, Naples, Italy
2005-now: Full Professor at the Medical School, University of Naples Federico II
2005-now: Professor at the European School for Molecular Medicine (SEMM), University of Naples Federico II and University of Milan.
2006-now: Member of the Interdepartmental Center for Research in Biomaterials (CRIB)
2008-now: Vice-President of the Fondazione CEINGE
2009-now: Director of the Centro di ricerca per lo studio di malattie genetiche (ereditarie ed acquisite) dell'uomo e loro modelli cellulari e animali

License: Italian Medical License

Honors:
- University of Naples Medical School - M.D. with honors, special mention and publication of the dissertation
- Award from the Consorzio Napoli Ricerche for the M.D. thesis
- Award for the presentation "Development of a set of multiplex polymerase chain for a rapid diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy"
- Award for the presentation "Molecular analysis of the R-type pyruvate kinase gene for mutation screening"
- Lyndon B. Johnson Award for the project R0060002Y (Helper-dependent adenoviral vectors expressing apolipoprotein A-I for atherosclerosis gene therapy) evaluated as best research project in its category funded by the American Heart Association, Texas Affiliate, in the year 2000.
- Nunzio Pascale Award for young investigators, 2006

Membership in scientific association:
1998-now: Member of the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT)
2001-now: Member of the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SIBIOC)
2004-now: Member of the European Society of Gene Therapy (ESGT)

Gene therapy for familial hypercholesterolemia:
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of mortality in western countries; one of the major predisposing factors is the increase of pro-atherogenic lipoproteins..
We have recently observed that PEGylation of HD-Ad vectors decreases host response leading to a toxicity profile compatible to clinical application and to the possibility of vector re-administration. We are currently evaluating PEGylated helper-dependent adenoviral vectors expressing hLDLR and hApoA-I for systemic gene therapy in an animal model of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) which is one of the best characterized genetic hyperlipidemias due to a mutation in the LDL receptor (LDLR); we expect that the combination of the vectors expressing hLDLR and hApoA-I will be able not only to inhibit atherosclerosis progression but also to reduce the size pre-formed lesions in the treated mice. These studies constitute the pre-clinical evaluation of the application of gene transfer to FH.

Cell therapy of discontinuous bone defects:
Bone regeneration is a particularly difficult procedure in reconstructive surgery. Most used approaches include autologous or heterologous transplantation of bone tissue to reconstruct degenerated or traumatized bones. Tissue engineering is a possible alternative to these procedures for bone regeneration. To effectively regenerate bone it is necessary to isolate stem cells and commit them to an osteoblastic differentiation; in addition, it is necessary to supply an appropriately designed scaffold with a structural function.
We have recently demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells infected with an adenoviral vector expressing BMP-4 are capable to efficiently induce bone regeneration in vitro and in an in vivo rabbit model of discontinuous bone defect (manuscript in preparation). We are currently investigating the possibility to couple other biological signals to further improve the bone regeneration process.

Aloia L, Parisi S, Fusco L, Pastore L, Russo T. (2010) Differentiation of ESCs 1 (Dies1) is a component of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) signaling pathway required for proper differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells. J Biol Chem. 285(10):7776-83.

Balestrieri ML, Lu SJ, de Nigris F, Giovane A, Williams-Ignarro S, D'Armiento FP, Feng Q, Fiorito C, Testa G, Pastore L, Cacciatore F, Mancini FP, Servillo L, De Rosa G, Pagliarulo C, Rienzo M, Minucci PB, Farzati B, Salvatore F, Rengo F, Ignarro LJ, Giordano A, Baker A, Lanza R, Napoli C. (2010) Therapeutic angiogenesis in diabetic apolipoprotein E-deficient mice using bone marrow cells, functional hemangioblasts and metabolic intervention. Atherosclerosis 209(2):403-14.

Cipolletta E, Monaco S, Maione AS, Vitiello L, Campiglia P, Pastore L, Franchini C, Novellino E, Limongelli V, Bayer KU, Means AR, Rossi G, Trimarco B, Iaccarino G, Illario M. (2010) Calmodulin-dependent kinase II mediates vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and is potentiated by extracellular signal regulated kinase. Endocrinology 151(6):2747-59.

Tarantino C, Paolella G, Cozzuto L, Minopoli G, Pastore L, Parisi S, Russo T. (2010) miRNA 34a, 100, and 137 modulate differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells. FASEB J. Epub ahead of print

Wonganan P, Clemens CC, Brasky K, Pastore L, Croyle MA. (2010) Species Differences in the Pharmacology and Toxicology of PEGylated Helper-Dependent Adenovirus. Mol Pharm. Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20822161.

Testa G, Tarantino C, Parisi S, Galizia G, Passaro F, Della-Morte D, Abete P, Rengo F, Salvatore F, Pastore L. (2010) Serum withdrawal after embryoid body formation does not impair cardiomyocyte development from mouse embryonic stem cells. Cytotherapy [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20873992.

Parisi S, Cozzuto L, Tarantino C, Passaro F, Ciriello S, Aloia L, Antonini D, De Simone V, Pastore L, Russo T. (2010) Direct targets of Klf5 transcription factor contribute to the maintenance of mouse embryonic stem cell undifferentiated state. BMC Biol. 8:128.

Martinelli R, Nardelli C, Pilone V, Buonomo T, Liguori R, Castanò I, Buono P, Masone S, Persico G, Forestieri P, Pastore L, Sacchetti L. (2010) miR-519d overexpression is associated with human obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring) 18(11):2170-6.

Caiazzo M, Colucci-D'Amato L, Volpicelli F, Speranza L, Petrone C, Pastore L, Stifani S, Ramirez F, Bellenchi GC, di Porzio U. (2011) Krüppel-like factor 7 is required for olfactory bulb dopaminergic neuron development. Exp Cell Res 317(4):464-73.

Project Title: