Technician
Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Villa Comunale
80121 Napoli - Italia
Tel. +39 081 5833255
Fax: +39 081 7641355
e-mail filomena.caccavale(at)szn.it
Research interests
One of the key objective of our group is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the spherical vision in sea urchin. Sea urchins are able to respond to visual stimuli despite the absence of obvious eye-like structures. In these animals, visual process is charged on their tube feet, distributed over their spherical body, where photoreceptor cells (PRCs) are located. We are tooking advantage of new molecular biology technologies, such as gene editing CRISPR/CAS9 based and single-cell-resolution analysis, for the molecular and functional characterization of the PRC systems and for having a detailed picture of the molecular signature of the cell types involved in the process of vision.
Another important point of our research is to develop appropriate protocols of correlative microscopy in order to correlate gene expression analyses by in situ hybridization with the ultrastructure of the embryo/juvenile stage, not only of sea urchins but also of invertebrate marine organisms in general.
Selected Publications
P.Paganos, J. Ullrich-Lüter, A. Almazán, D.Voronov, J.Carl, AC. Zakrzewski, B. Zemann, M. L. Rusciano, T. Sancerni, M. Schauer, O. Akar, F. Caccavale, M. Cocurullo, G. Benvenuto, J. C. Croce, C. Lüter, M. I. Arnone. Single-nucleus profiling highlights the all-brain echinoderm nervous system. Sci.Adv. 11, eadx7753(2025). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adx7753.
L. Buono, G. Annona, M.S. Magri, S. Negueruela, R.M. Sepe, F. Caccavale, I. Maeso, M.I. Arnone, S. D’Aniello. (2024) Conservation of cis-Regulatory Syntax Underlying Deuterostome Gastrulation. Cells. Jun 28;13(13):1121. doi: 10.3390/cells13131121.
E. Jimenez-Guri, P. Paganos, C. La Vecchia, G. Annona, F. Caccavale, M.D. Molina, A. Ferrández-Roldán, R.D. Donnellan, F. Salatiello, A. Johnstone, M.C. Eliso, A. Spagnuolo, C. Cañestro, R. Albalat, J.M. Martín-Durán, E.A. Williams, E. D'Aniello, M.I. Arnone. (2024) Developmental toxicity of pre-production plastic pellets affects a large swathe of invertebrate taxa. Chemosphere. May;356:141887. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141887.
A. Locascio, G. Annona, F. Caccavale, S. D’Aniello, C. Agnisola, A. Palumbo. (2023) Nitric Oxide Function and Nitric Oxide Synthase Evolution in Aquatic Chordates. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 24: 11182. doi.org/10.3390/ijms241311182.
P. Paganos, F. Caccavale, M. Cocurullo, E. D’Aniello, M.I. Arnone, G. Benvenuto. (2023) Whole animal freeze-fracture scanning electron microscopy: an easy-to-use method to investigate cell type morphology of marine embryos and larvae. Front. Ecol. Evol. 11:1146749. doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1146749.
P. Paganos, E. Ullrich-Lüter, F. Caccavale, A. Zakrzewski, D. Voronov, I. Fournon-Berodia, M. Cocurullo, C. Lüter, M.I. Arnone. (2022) A New Model Organism to Investigate Extraocular Photoreception: Opsin and Retinal Gene Expression in the Sea Urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Cells. 11(17), 2636. doi.org/10.3390/cells11172636.
P. Paganos, F. Caccavale, C. La Vecchia, E. D’Aniello, S. D’Aniello, M.I. Arnone. (2022) FISH for all: a fast and efficient Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) protocol for marine embryos and larvae. Front. Physiol. 13:878062. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.878062.
F. Caccavale, G. Annona, L. Subirana, H. Escriva, S. Bertrand, S. D'Aniello. (2021) Crosstalk between Nitric Oxide and Retinoic Acid pathways is essential for amphioxus pharynx development. eLife. 10:e58295. doi: 10.7554/eLife.58295.
F. Caccavale#, D. Osca#, S. D’Aniello, F. Crocetta (2021) Molecular taxonomy confirms that the northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea harbor a single lancelet, Branchiostoma lanceolatum (Pallas, 1774) (Cephalochordata: Leptocardii: Branchiostomatidae). Plos One 16(5): e0251358. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251358. #First equal authorship
M. Truchado-Garcia, F. Caccavale, C. Grande, S. D’Aniello (2021) Expression Pattern of Nitric Oxide Synthase during Development of the Marine Gastropod Mollusc, Crepidula fornicata. Genes. 12, 314. doi.org/10.3390/genes12020314.
F. Caccavale, U. Coppola, Q. A. Vassalli, C. La Vecchia, A. Palumbo, E. D'Aniello, A. Locascio, F. Ristoratore, S. D'Aniello. (2020) Transphyletic conservation of Nitric oxide synthases regulation in cephalochordates and tunicates. Dev Genes Evol. 230, 329–338. doi.org/10.1007/s00427-020-00668-3.
G. Lettieri, V. Mollo, A. Ambrosino, F. Caccavale, J. Troisi, F. Febbraio, M. Piscopo. (2019). Molecular effects of copper on Mytilus galloprovincialis reproductive system. Mol Reprod Dev. 86, 1357-1368. doi.org/10.1002/mrd.23114.
U. Coppola#, F. Caccavale#, M. Scelzo, F. Ristoratore, S. D’Aniello. (2018). Ran GTPase is an eukaryotic gene novelty involved in amphioxus mitosis. Plos one. 13(10): e0196930. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0196930. #First equal authorship
G. Annona, F. Caccavale, J. Pascual-Anaya, S. Kuratani, P. De Luca, A. Palumbo and S. D’Aniello. (2017). Nitric Oxide regulates mouth development in amphioxus. Sci Rep. 7, 8432. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08157-w.
Q.A. Vassalli#, F. Caccavale#, S. Avagnano, A. Murolo, G. Guerriero, L. Fucci, J. Ausió, M. Piscopo. (2015). New insights into protamine-like component organization in Mytilus galloprovincialis' sperm chromatin. DNA Cell Biol. 34(3):162-9. doi: 10.1089/dna.2014.2631. #First equal authorship
