Gian Gaetano Tartaglia

Centre de Regulació Genòmica (CRG)

Life & Medical Sciences

* October 2014 - ICREA Research Professor *Jan 2013 ERC Starting Grant * May 2010 - Group Leader, Bioinformatics and Genomics Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona (Spain) * November 2011 - Clare Hall Life Member, University of Cambridge (UK) * 2005-2010 - Postdoctoral Fellow, Clare Hall College, Chemistry Department, University of Cambridge (UK) * 2001-2005 - PhD, Biochemistry Department, University of Zurich, Zurich (CH) * 1996-2000 - MPhil Theoretical Physics, Statistical Mechanics, University la Sapienza, Rome (Italy)


Research interests

My main focus is to understand the role played by RNA molecules in protein networks. Characterizing protein-RNA associations is key to unravel the complexity and functionality of mammalian genomes and will open up therapeutic avenues for the treatment of a broad range of disorders.  My research focuses on associations of coding/non-coding RNAs with proteins involved in i) transcriptional and translational regulation (e.g., X-chromosome inactivation) and ii) neurodegenerative diseases (examples include Parkinson’s a-synuclein, Alzheimer’s disease amyloid protein APP, TDP-43 and FUS).  I aim to discover the involvement of RNA molecules in regulatory networks controlling protein production. More specifically, I am interested in understanding mechanisms whose alteration lead to aberrant aggregation.  We have observed that interaction between proteins and their cognate mRNAs (autogenous associations) induce feedback loops that are crucial in protein homeostasis. In addition to amyloid aggregates, we study the physico-chemical principles leading to formation of protein-RNA granules.

Selected publications

– Botta-Orfila T, Tartaglia GG & Michalon A 2016, ‘Molecular Pathophysiology of Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome and Perspectives for Drug Development’, Cerebellum, 15, 5, 599 – 610.

– Tartaglia GG 2016, ‘The Grand Challenge of Characterizing Ribonucleoprotein Networks’, Front Mol Biosci. 9;3:24.

– Marchese D, de Groot NS, Lorenzo Gotor N, Livi CM & Tartaglia GG 2016, ‘Advances in the characterization of RNA-binding proteins’, Wiley Interdiscip Rev RNA. 7, 6, 793 – 810.

– Bolognesi B, Lorenzo Gotor N, Dhar R, Cirillo D, Baldrighi M, Tartaglia GG* & Lehner B* 2016, ‘A Concentration-Dependent Liquid Phase Separation Can Cause Toxicity upon Increased Protein Expression’, Cell Reports, 16, 1, 222 – 231. (*corresponding authors).

– Lobanov MY, Klus P, Sokolovsky IV, Tartaglia GG* & Galzitskaya OV* 2016, ‘Non-random distribution of homo-repeats: links with biological functions and human diseases’, Scientific Reports, 6, 26941. (* corresponding authors).


Selected research activities

-Participation in editorial boards: Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences; PeerJ; Translational Genetics and Genomics; Current Updates in Bioinformatics.

-Teacher in the doctoral courses at La scuola normale di Pisa, Italy.

– Publication of a layman’s book on Biotechnology: “Biotecnologia, la vida al servicio de la vida”, El Pais December 25th n.38 (Matera).

– Licence of the catRAPID algorithm for protein-RNA interactions (http://technologies.tbdo.crg.eu/technology/21539).