Marco Ragusa
Keywords
MicroRNAs Regulating Thrombospondin 1 in Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma
DNA Transport via Extracellular Vesicles in Uveal Melanoma
Since 2000, Marco Ragusa has worked, first as an undergraduate, then as a PhD student in the PhD program in Endocrine Sciences (graduating in 2007), and finally as a postdoc, within the research group coordinated by Professor Michele Purrello, focusing on Complex Systems Genomics. In 2008, he joined the School of Chemistry in Edinburgh to study microsphere-based RNA delivery systems. In 2011, he became a researcher at the G.F. Ingrassia Department, and in 2018, he became an Associate Professor at BIOMETEC. Since 2009, he has taught "Biology and Genetics" and "Applied Biology" in various degree programs at the University, and has been involved as a lecturer in numerous Master's programs. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the PhD program in Complex Systems. His research activity over the last 15 years has focused on the study of non-coding RNAs in human diseases.
Professor Ragusa's research focuses primarily on understanding the molecular mechanisms through which noncoding RNAs (e.g., microRNAs, long noncoding RNAs, circRNAs) regulate genome function. These experimental studies are conducted on human pathological models, such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, to understand the etiopathogenetic involvement of noncoding RNA dysregulation. The methodological approach to this research combines computational and experimental biology methods, the latter based on high-throughput techniques for gene expression analysis, RNA interference, and functional assays for the analysis of biological processes. These experimental activities are conducted both on biopsy samples (ex vivo model) and cell cultures (in vitro model). The role of non-coding RNAs is investigated both 1) at the cellular level, in order to understand the functioning of these molecules and their potential use as pharmacological targets, but 2) also at the extracellular level (e.g., human biological fluids, exosomes) with the aim of identifying new mechanisms of extracellular RNA-based signaling, and investigating a possible use of these molecules as non-invasive markers of pathology.