Francesco Caiazza

I studied the signaling pathways activated by estrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ) at the plasma membrane. Specifically, we used a human colon cancer cell line (DLD-1), which only express the ERβ isoform, to study incorporation of radiolabeled palmitate in ERβ and to assess the ability of the receptor to associate with membrane proteins. We discovered that palmitoyl-acyltransferase , the enzyme responsible for ERα palmitoylation, can also promote ERβ palmitoylation with a different, less rapid kinetic. This modification is responsible for ERβ association with the plasma membrane and for the p38/MAPK activation, leading to induction of caspase-dependant cell death. In accordance with our results, a down-regulation of ERβ was recently linked with carcinogenesis in colon, as well as other tissues such as breast, ovary and prostate. Research outputs: this work produced two peer-reviewed papers and one review publication.