Gianluca Petris si è laureato in biotecnologie mediche presso l’Università di Trieste; ha quindi conseguito un dottorato in scienze della vita e biomolecolari conferito dalla Open University (Milton Keynes, UK), lavorando presso l’International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) di Trieste.
Dopo il dottorato ha continuato la sua carriera presso il CIBIO dell’Università di Trento, sviluppando tecniche di editing del genoma e applicandole alla terapia genica.
Nel 2019 ha lavorato al Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology di Cambridge (UK) grazie a una borsa di studio Marie Skłodowska-Curie, diventando poi Principal Scientist presso il Wellcome Sanger Institute, sempre a Cambridge. Qui ha sviluppato tecnologie innovative per la creazione di genomi sintetici, applicate alla biologia sintetica e all’espansione del codice genetico.
Nel 2024 Petris è rientrato in Italia per unirsi al Dipartimento di medicina dell’Università di Udine e alla Fondazione Italiana Fegato ONLUS, dove ha fondato una nuova unità di ricerca dedicata alla biotecnologia e alla genetica applicata alla lotta contro il cancro, la Genome Engineering & Biotechnology Unit – GEB Unit
Attivita scientifiche:
- Sviluppo e applicazione di tecnologie CRISPR nel contesto delle malattie genetiche e dei virus
– Carrozzo et., Functional rescue of F508del-CFTR through revertant mutations introduced by CRISPR base editing. Molecular Therapy (2025) Jan 9:S1525-0016(25)00015-2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2025.01.011.
– Prakasam et al., LSD1/PRMT6-targeting gene therapy to attenuate androgen receptor toxic gain-of-function ameliorates spinobulbar muscular atrophy phenotypes in flies and mice. Nature Communications (2023), 14 (1):603. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36186-9.
– Ambrosini et al., Translational enhancement by base editing of the Kozak sequence rescues haploinsufficiency. Nucleic Acids Research (2022), 50 (18):10756-10771. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkac799.
– Papa et al., CRISPR-Csy4 mediated genome editing of rotavirus dsRNA genome. Cell Reports (2020), 32 (13), 108205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108205.
– Maule et al., Allele specific repair of splicing mutations in Cystic Fibrosis through AsCas12a genome editing. Nature Communications (2019), 10, 3556. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11454-9.
– Montagna et al., VSV-G Enveloped vesicles for traceless delivery of CRISPR-Cas9. Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids (2018), 12, 453-462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtn.2018.05.010.
– Casini et al., A highly specific SpCas9 variant is identified by in vivo screening in yeast. Nature Biotechnology (2018), 36, 265-271. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4066.
– Petris et al., Hit and go CAS9 delivered through a lentiviral based self-limiting circuit. Nature Communications (2017), 8, 15334. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15334.
- Metodi e applicazioni della Biologia Sintetica e Generativa
– Zürcher et al., Continuous synthesis of E. coli genome sections and Mb-scale human DNA assembly. Nature (2023), 619 (7970):555-562. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06268-1.
– Tang et al., Mechanism-based traps enable protease and hydrolase substrate discovery. Nature (2022), 602 (7898):701-707. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04414-9.
– Zürcher et al., Refactored genetic codes enable bidirectional genetic isolation. Science (2022), 378 (6619):516-523. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.add8943.
– Rubio-Sánchez et al., Thermally Driven Membrane Phase Transitions Enable Content Reshuffling in Primitive Cells. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2021), 143 (40):16589-16598. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c06595.
– Petris. Curing Genetic Diseases through Genome Reprogramming. Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science (2021), 182. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1877-1173(21)00133-2.
– Grazioli & Petris. Synthetic genomics for curing genetic diseases. Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science (2021), 182, pp. 477–520. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pmbts.2021.02.002.
- Ricerca sul cancro
– Alaimo et al., Calcium cytotoxicity sensitizes prostate cancer cells to standard-of-care treatments for locally advanced tumors. Cell Death & Disease (2020), 11 (12), 1039. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-020-03256-5.
– Romanel et al., Inherited determinants of early recurrent somatic mutations in prostate cancer. Nature Communications (2017), 8, 48. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00046-0.
- Sviluppo di metodi e tecnologie per lo studio e la riprogrammazione del controllo di qualità e della maturazione delle proteine
– Spagnolli et al., Pharmacological inactivation of the prion protein by targeting a folding intermediate. Communication Biology (2021), 4(1):62. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01585-x.
– Cesarattoet al., BiP/GRP78 mediates ERAD targeting of proteins produced by membrane-bound ribosomes stalled at the STOP-codon. Journal of Molecular Biology (2019), 431, 123-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2018.10.009.
– Cesaratto et al., Tobacco Etch Virus protease: a shortcut across biotechnologies. Journal of Biotechnology (2016), 231:239-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2016.06.012.
– Sasset et al., VCP/p97 and YOD1 proteins have different substrate-dependent activities in endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD). Journal of Biological Chemistry (2015), 290, 28175-88. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M115.656660.
– Cesaratto et al., An engineered Tobacco Etch Virus protease active in the secretory pathway of mammalian cells. Journal of Biotechnology (2015) 212:159-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2015.08.026.
– Petris et al., New Tags for Recombinant Protein Detection and O-Glycosylation Reporters. PLoS ONE 2014, 9 (5): e96700. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0096700.
– Petris G et al., CD4 and BST-2/Tetherin Retro-translocate from ER to Cytosol as Partially Folded and Multimeric Molecules. Journal of Biological Chemistry (2014) 289 (1): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M113.512368.
– Vecchi et al., Selective Targeting of Proteins within the Secretory Pathway for Endoplasmic Reticulum-Associated Degradation. Journal of Biological Chemistry (2012) 287, 20007-15. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M112.355107.
– Petris et al., Efficient detection of proteins retro-translocated from the ER to the cytosol by in vivo biotinylation. PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e23712. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023712.
- Trasferimento tecnologico e attività imprenditoriale
Scienziato con una forte attitudine allo sviluppo tecnologico, il Dr. Petris riconosce l’importanza e l’impatto delle scienze della vita nell’economia e nella società. È inventore di diversi brevetti, concessi in licenza a società nazionali e internazionali (ad esempio Intellia Therapeutics Inc.) ed è co-fondatore della società di editing genetico Alia Therapeutics srl, fondata nel 2019.
– 2022 IT-102022000016884, PCT/IT2023/050194. Genome editing of the Kozak sequence for treating diseases.
– 2019 US-62804591, PCT/IB2020/051089. Cas12a guide RNA molecules and uses thereof.
– 2018 IT-102018000007055, PCT/IB2019/055805. Vesicles for traceless delivery of guide RNA molecules and/or guide RNA molecule/RNA-guided nuclease complex(es) and a production method thereof.
– 2017 IT-102017000016321, PCT/EP2018/053717. High-fidelity Cas9 variants and applications thereof.
– 2016 IT-102016000102542, PCT/EP2017/076129. Self-limiting Cas9 circuitry for enhanced safety (SLiCES) plasmid and lentiviral system thereof.
ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2420-6359
Scopus Author ID: 50262698100
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=TJDlhP0AAAAJ
Collaborazioni attive:
– Leopold Parts, Genomica Sintetica e Generativa, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, United Kingdom.
– Giovanni Sorrentino, Ricerca sul Cancro, Centro Internazione di Ingegneria Genetica e Biotechnologia, Trieste, Italy.
– Julian Sale, Replicazione del DNA, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
– Charles Lee, Genomica Medica, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
– Miriam K Konkel, Genetica Evolutiva, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA.
– Claudio Brancolini, Epigenetica, University of Udine, Italy.
– Gianluca Tell, Vescicole Extracellulari, University of Udine, Italy.
– Andrea Dardis, Terapia Genica e Cellulare, University Hospital of Udine, Italy.
