Dr. Maria Russo

Research Scientist in Institute of Food Sciences National Research Council of Italy. The research activity of Dr Russo is based on the use of preclinical cell models (cell lines derived from solid tumours or leukaemia) or leukaemia cells isolated from patients suffering from acute (AML) or chronic forms of leukaemia (CLL), often resistant to death stimuli, to study the biological effects after treatment with natural molecules or bioactive extracts present in food matrices (polyphenols or carotenoids). In this context, the cellular phenotypes and biochemical pathways are studied in regulating the cell cycle and senescence and in the two forms of genetically programmed death Apoptosis and lethal Autophagy. The main research projects concerned the chemopreventive activity of polyphenols and carotenoids present in food matrices for the study of cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, autophagy, and senescence in preclinical cell models; the pro-apoptotic activity of the natural flavonoid quercetin in cell lines resistant to apoptosis induced by the Death Ligands and BH3 mimetics; the antitumor activity of bioactive compounds isolated from non-plant sources; the regulation of signal transduction pathways by the flavonoid quercetin in human cancer cells; the role of autophagy in preclinical tumour models treated with natural molecules, micronutrients or food matrix enriched in polyphenols or carotenoids.