Ph. D. Student
Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Villa Comunale
80121 Napoli - Italia
Tel.: +39 0815833255
E-mail: lorenza.rusciano(at)szn.it
Director of Studies: Maria Ina Arnone
External Supervisor: Arnau Sebé-Pedrós
Program: Open University, XXV cycle
Research Interests
The pancreas is an exclusive organ of vertebrates, and it is responsible for the production of digestive enzymes and hormones involved in metabolic homeostasis. It is both an endocrine and exocrine gland. Pdx1, the pancreatic and duodenal homeobox gene-1, is fundamental for the differentiation of pancreatic cells, and it is also required for the maintenance of β-endocrine cells, and the production of insulin in the latter. For such reasons, the deregulation of Pdx1 results as a causal factor for diabetes in humans. Despite lacking a proper organ, pancreatic-like cell types can be found in the gut of several deuterostomes, with highly conserved Pdx1 expression. The evolutionary origin of the organ pancreas remains largely unknown, and my research focuses on reconstructing the evolutionary trajectory of pancreatic cell types. My PhD project aims to identify and characterize pancreatic-like cell types in the Echinoderm larvae Paracentrotus lividus (Echinozoa) and Patiria miniata (Asterozoa) with state-of-the-art technologies such as scRNA-seq, confocal microscopy, and in vivo gene perturbation approaches. Moreover, my project finally aims to compare at a single-cell transcriptomics level the pancreatic cell types between non-chordate deuterostomes such as sea urchins and sea stars, and chordate mammals such as mice and humans. This study will highlight the role of an organ identity gene, Pdx1, on the origin of endocrine pancreatic functions.
