Researcher
Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms Department
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Villa Comunale
80121 Naples - Italy
Tel.: +39 081 5833238
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Contatto Skype: hhhenryyy
Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AuhkTPMAAAAJ&hl=it
ERC sectors - Epigenetics and gene regulation (LS2_8), Development, developmental genetics, pattern formation and embryology in animals (LS3_9)
Settori scientifico-disciplinari - Biologia molecolare (BIO/11), Anatomia comparata e citologia (BIO/06)
Lab Members
La Vecchia Claudia
Carrannante Arianna
Salatiello Federica
Morgillo Antonio
Research Interests
Trained as a developmental biologist I later specialized also in cell biology. During my PhD at the Open University of London at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn and my first year of postdoc, I had the opportunity to build the base foundation in evolutionary developmental biology. Specifically, I focused on understanding conserved gene regulatory networks in neural tissue using the basal chordate, Ciona robusta. Later, I moved for my second postdoc at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital (USA) where I focused my studies on the role of Retinoic Acid and its receptors during cardiomyocyte specification in the vertebrate model system, zebrafish. I then moved for my third postdoc at the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (CNR) in Pozzuoli, Italy. Given my expertise on Nuclear Receptors gained during my postdoc in the USA, I started to work on the role of natural compounds in the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and their role in lipid metabolism using different vertebrate cell lines. Specifically, I focused my attention on two marine natural compounds Caulerpin and Muqubilin extracted respectively from the invasive marine alga Caulerpa cylindracea and the sponge Diacarnus erythraeanus and different phytocannabinoids extracted from Cannabis sativa. Recently, I became first a tenure track and then a permanent researcher at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn. From my start at Stazione, I introduced the marine mollusc Mytilus galloprovincialis as a new model system for developmental biology study in the Department of Biology and Evolution of marine organisms. Currently, my lab is focusing on the role of DNA methylation during Mytilus development and the effects of specific emerging contaminants after exposure to Mytilus embryos by using Methyl-Rad sequencing. Furthermore, I also started to work again with Ciona robusta with the goal to investigate the evolutionary role of Retinoic Acid in basal chordate during cardiomyocyte specification. Very recently, I started also new projects based on the evolutionary conservation and role of Retinoic Acid Signalling and Biogenic Amines in the mollusk Mytilus galloprovincialis. Finally, I am also focusing my interest on the isolation of secondary metabolites from Halophila stipulacea and exploring their potential antifouling activity using Mytilus galloprovincialis and Ciona robusta as macrofouler species.
Selected Publications
Gerdol, M., La Vecchia, C., Strazzullo, M., De Luca, P., Gorbi, S., Regoli, F., Pallavicini, A., & D’Aniello, E. (2021). Evolutionary history of DNA methylation related genes in bivalvia: new insights from Mytilus galloprovincialis. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 698561.
D'Aniello, E., Fellous, T., Iannotti, F.A., Gentile, A., Allarà, M., Balestrieri, F., Gray, R., Amodeo, P., Vitale, R.M., & Di Marzo, V. (2019). Identification and characterization of phytocannabinoids as novel dual PPARα/γ agonists by a computational and in vitro experimental approach. Biochimica et Biophysica, 1863(3), 586-597.
Vitale, R.M.*, D’Aniello, E.*, Gorbi, S.*, Martella, A., Silvestri, C., Giuliani, M.E., Fellous, T., Gentile, A., Carbone, M., Cutignano, A., Grauso, L., Migliozzi, L., Polese, G., D’Aniello, B., Defranoux, F., Felline, S., Terlizzi, A., Calignano, A., Regoli, F., Di marzo, V., Amodeo, P., & Mollo, E. (2018). Fishing for targets of alien metabolites: a novel peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonist from a marine pest. Marine Drugs, 16(11), 431. *co-first authors
D'Aniello, E., Rydeen, A.B., Anderson, J.L., Mandal, A., & Waxman, J.S. (2013). Depletion of retinoic acid receptors initiates a novel positive feedback mechanism that promotes teratogenic increases in retinoic acid. PLoS Genetics, 9(8), e1003689.
D'Aniello, E.*, Pezzotti, M.R., Locascio, A., & Branno, M.* (2011). Onecut is a direct neural-specific transcriptional activator of Rx in Ciona intestinalis. Developmental Biology, 355(2), 358-371. *co-corresponding author
