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Pathology

Houston, Texas

Department of Pathology
Pathology
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Faculty

Dario Marchetti, Ph.D. Professor

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Education

  • Diploma di Maturita' Scientifica, “G. Marinelli” Scientific Liceum, Udine, Italy

  • Doctor of Biology, The University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

Specialty

  • Brain-metastatic melanoma

  • Heparanase

  • Heparan sulfate processing

Area of Interest

  • Cancer invasion and metastasis

  • Brain metastasis

  • Angiogenic mechanisms in cancer and other pathologies

Current Position

  • Professor, Departments of Pathology and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine

Professional Positions Held

  • Professor and Director Tumor Biology Laboratories, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, LA, 2005-2007

  • Associate Professor and Director Tumor Biology Laboratories, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, LA, 2001-2005

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas - Houston, Houston, TX, 1999-2001

  • Instructor, Department of Tumor Biology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 1996-1999

  • Research Associate, Department of Tumor Biology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 1991-1996

Other Positions

  • Director, Scientific Development, Apocell Inc., Houston, TX, 2007

  • Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 1989-1991

  • Research Scientist, The University of Texas (M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center), Houston, TX, 1986-1989

  • Teacher Inorganic Chemistry and General Biology, “G. Verga” Scientific Liceum, Pavia, Italy, 1979-1980

  • Predoctoral Fellow, The University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, 1975-1979

Honors and Awards

  • Pfizer Award for Research Excellence, LSU-SVM, 2004

  • N.I.H. Ad Hoc Grant Reviewer, “Cancer Drug Development and Therapeutics“ Study Section, 2005

  • Phi Kappa Phi Award for Research Excellence, The Honor Society, LSU-Baton Rouge, 2005

  • Distinguished Scholar Research Award, LSU-SVM, 2006

  • Senior Scholar Consultancy Awardee, American-Italian Cancer Foundation, 2006

Membership on professional organizations

  • Year to Present:

  • Galveston Chapter of the Society of Neuroscience, 1984

  • American Society for Neurochemistry, 1984

  • International Society for Myochemistry, 1985

  • International Society for Neurochemistry, 1985

  • Society for Neuroscience, 1986

  • International Society for Neuro-Immunomodulation, 1989

  • International Brain Research Organization, 1990

  • American Association for Cancer Research, 1993

  • International Society of Developmental Neuroscience, 1993

  • Society for Neuro-Oncology, 1999

Representative Publications

  1. Marchetti, D., and Perez-Polo, J. R. Nerve growth factor receptors in human neuroblastoma cells. Journ. Neurochem., 49: 475-486, 1987.

  2. Marchetti, D., Stach, R. W., Saneto, R. P., de Vellis, J., and Perez-Polo, J. R. Binding constants of soluble nerve growth factor receptors in rat oligodendrocytes and astrocytes in culture. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 147: 422-427, 1987.

  3. Linthicum, D. S., Bolger, M. B., Kussie, P. H., Albright, A., Linton, A., Combs, S., and Marchetti, D. Analysis of idiotypic and anti-idiotypic antibodies as models of receptor and ligand. Clin. Chem., 33: 1676-1680, 1988.

  4. Marchetti, D., Van, N. T., Gametchu, B., Thompson, E. B., Kobayashi, Y., Watanabe, F., and Barlogie, B. Flow cytometric analysis of glucocorticoid receptor using monoclonal antibody and fluoresceinated ligand probe. Cancer Research, 49: 863-969, 1989.

  5. Kussie, P. H., Marchetti, D., Sherman , M., and Linthicum, D. S. Molecular analysis of monoclonal idiotypes and anti-idiotypes. Methods Enzymology, 178: 91-107, 1989.

  6. McManaman, J. L., Oppenheim, R. W., Prevette, D., and Marchetti, D. Rescue of motoneurons from naturally occurring cell death by a purified skeletal muscle polypeptide: In vivo and in vitro effects of the choline acetyltransferase development factor (CDF). Neuron, 4: 891-898, 1990.

  7. Marchetti, D. , and McManaman, J. L. Characterization of nerve growth factor binding to embryonic rat spinal cord neurons. Journ. Neurosci. Res., 27: 211-218, 1990.

  8. Marchetti, D., Haverkamp, L. J., Clark, R. C., and McManaman, J. L. Ontogeny of high- and low-affinity nerve growth factor receptors in the lumbar spinal cord of the developing chick embryo. Developmental Biology, 148: 306-313, 1991.

  9. Marchetti, D., Menter, D. G., Jin, L., Nakajima, M., and Nicolson, G. L. Nerve growth factor effects on human melanoma cell invasion. Int. Journ. Cancer, 55: 692-699, 1993.

  10. Herrmann, J. L., Menter, D. G., Marchetti, D. , Hamada, J.-I., Nakajima M., and Nicolson, G. L. Mediation of NGF-stimulated extracellular matrix invasion by the human melanoma low-affinity p75 neurotrophin receptor: melanoma p75 functions independently of trkA . Mol. Biol. Cell, 4(11): 1205-1216, 1993.

  11. Cohen, I. R., Murdoch, A. D., Naso, M. F., Marchetti D. , Bernd, D., and Iozzo, R. Abnormal expression of perlecan proteoglycan in metastatic melanoma. Cancer Research, 54: 5771-5774, 1994.

  12. Marchetti, D., McCutcheon, I. , Ross, M. I., and Nicolson, G. L. Inverse expression of neurotrophin receptors and neurotrophins at the invasion front of brain-metastatic human melanoma tissues. Int. Journ. Oncology, 7: 87-94, 1995.

  13. Marchetti, D., McQuillan, D., Spohn W. C., Carson, D. D. , and Nicolson, G. L. Neurotrophin stimulation of human melanoma cell invasion: selected NT enhancement of heparanase activity and heparanase degradation of specific heparan sulfate subpopulations. Cancer Research, 56(2): 2856-2863, 1996.

  14. Marchetti, D. , Shouchun, L., Spohn, W. C., and Carson, D. D. Inhibition of heparanase activity by heparan sulfate interacting peptide (HIP) and reciprocal HIP binding blocking to cell-surface heparan sulfate subpopulations due to heparanase action. The Journ. of Biol. Chemistry, 272(25): 15891-15897, 1997.

  15. Marchetti, D., and Nicolson, G. L. Heparanase in tumor metastasis: degradation of specific heparan sulfate subpopulations due to heparanase action. Adv. Enzyme Reg. 37: 111-134, 1997.

  16. Marchetti, D., Parikh, N., Sudol, M., and Gallick, G. E. Stimulation of the protein tyrosine kinase c-Yes but not c-Src by neurotrophins in human brain-metastatic melanoma cells. Oncogene, 16 (25): 3253-3260, 1998.

  17. Walch, E.T., Albino, A.P., and Marchetti, D. Over-expression of the low-affinity p75 neurotrophin receptor correlates with augmented invasion and heparanase production in human malignant melanoma cells. Int. Journ. Cancer, 82: 112-120, 1999.

  18. Walch, E.T., and Marchetti, D. Role of neurotrophins and neurotrophin receptors in the in vitro invasion and heparanase production of human prostatic cancer cells. Clin. & Exp. Metastasis, 17(4): 307-314, 1999.

  19. Marchetti, D., Li, J., and Shen, R-J. Astrocytes contribute to the brain-metastatic specificity of melanoma cells by producing heparanase. Cancer Research, 60: 4767-4770, 2000.

  20. Marchetti, D., and Nicolson, G.L. Human heparanase: a molecular determinant of invasion and angiogenesis. Adv. Enzyme Reg., 41: 343-360, 2001.

  21. Marchetti, D., Reiland, J., Erwin, B., and Roy , M. Inhibition of heparanase activity and heparanase-induced angiogenesis by suramin analogues. Int. Journ. Cancer, 104(2): 167-174, 2003.

  22. Reiland, J., Sanderson, R. D., Waguespack, M., Barker, S., Long, R., Carson, D. D. , and Marchetti, D. Heparanase degrades syndecan-1 and perlecan heparan sulfate: functional implications for tumor cell invasion. Journ. of Biol. Chemistry, 279(9): 8047-8055, 2004.

  23. Aucoin, R., Reiland, J., Roy , M., and Marchetti, D. Dominant-negative CREB inhibits heparanase functionality and melanoma cell invasion. Journ. Cell. Biochem., 93(2): 215-223, 2004.

  24. Roy, M., Reiland, J., Chouljenko, V., Kousoulas, K.G., and Marchetti, D. Antisense mediated suppression of heparanase gene inhibits melanoma cell invasion. Neoplasia, 7(3): 253-262, 2005.

  25. Murry, B.P., Greiter-Wilke, A., Paulsen, D.B., Hiatt, K.M., Beltrami, C.A., and Marchetti, D. Selective heparanase localization in malignant melanoma cancers. Int. Journ. Oncology, 26: 345-352, 2005.

  26. Murry, B.P., Blust, B., Singh, A., Foster, T., and Marchetti, D.    Heparanase mechanisms of melanoma metastasis to the brain: development and use of a brain slice model.  Journ. Cell. Biochem., 97(2): 217-225, 2006.

  27. Sinnappah-Kang, N., Mrak, R.E., Paulsen, D.D., and Marchetti, D. Prognostic implications of heparanase and TrkC/p75 NTR expression in human medulloblastoma. Clin. & Exp. Metastasis, 23: 55 -63, 2006.

  28. Moretti, M.*, Sinnappah-Kang, N*, Toller, M., Curcio, F, and Marchetti, D. Heparanase functionality in olfactory neural cells. Journ. Neurosci. Res., 83: 694-701, 2006. *These Authors contributed equally well.

  29. Reiland, J., Kempf, D., Roy , M., Denkins, Y., and Marchetti, D. FGF2 binding, signaling, and angiogenesis are modulated by heparanase in metastatic melanoma cells. Neoplasia, 8(7): 596-606, 2006.