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Pathology

Houston, Texas

Department of Pathology
Pathology
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Faculty

Dario Marchetti, Ph.D. Professor,
Director CTC Core Facility

Dario Marchetti

Education

  1. Diploma di Maturita' Scientifica, "G. Marinelli" Scientific Liceum, Udine, Italy

  2. Doctor of Biology, Summa Cum Laude thesis in molecular biology, The University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

Specialty

  1. Biology and Diagnostics of CTC (for more information please click link)

  2. Brain-metastatic melanoma

  3. Heparanase

  4. Heparan sulfate processing

Areas of Interest

  1. Cancer invasion and metastasis

  2. Brain metastasis

  3. Angiogenic mechanisms in cancer and other pathologies

Current Position

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

  2. Director, CTC Core Facility, contact : (713) 798-2335

Professional Positions Held

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

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

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

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

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

Other Positions

  1. Director of CTC Core Facility, Baylor College of Medicine, 2008

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

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

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

  5. Teacher Inorganic Chemistry and General Biology, "G. Verga" Scientific Liceum, Pavia, Italy, 1979-1980

  6. Predoctoral Fellow, The University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, 1975-1979

Honors and Awards

  1. Pfizer Award for Research Excellence, LSU-SVM, 2004

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

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

  4. Distinguished Scholar Research Award, LSU-SVM, 2006

  5. Senior Scholar Consultancy Awardee, American-Italian Cancer Foundation, 2006

  6. Honorary Editorial Member, "Tumor Viruses" journal, 2008

  7. Honorary Editorial Member, "Phenotype and Gene Expression" journal, 2008

Membership on professional organizations

  1. Year to Present:

  2. Galveston Chapter of the Society of Neuroscience, 1984

  3. American Society for Neurochemistry, 1984

  4. International Society for Myochemistry, 1985

  5. International Society for Neurochemistry, 1985

  6. Society for Neuroscience, 1986

  7. International Society for Neuro-Immunomodulation, 1989

  8. International Brain Research Organization, 1990

  9. American Association for Cancer Research, 1993

  10. International Society of Developmental Neuroscience, 1993

  11. 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.

  30. Brown, A.J., Alicknavitch, M., D'Souza, S.S., Daikoku, T., Kirn-Safran, C., Marchetti, D., Carson, D.D., and Farach-Carson, M.C.  Heparanase expression and activity influences chondrogenic and osteogenic processes during endochondral bone formation.  Bone, 43(4): 689-699, 2008.

  31. S'Souza D., Yang W., Marchetti, D. , Muir C., Julian J., Farach-Carson M., and Carson D.D.  HIP/RLP29 antagonizes VEGF and FGF2 responses. Journ. of Cell. Biochem., 106(2): 200-209, 2009.