{"id":18220,"date":"2025-03-26T12:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T11:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/?page_id=18220"},"modified":"2025-10-14T16:43:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:43:00","slug":"donatella-delle-cave","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/index.php\/donatella-delle-cave\/","title":{"rendered":"Donatella Delle Cave"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"18220\" class=\"elementor elementor-18220\" data-elementor-settings=\"{&quot;ha_cmc_init_switcher&quot;:&quot;no&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-29d7e4e5 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"29d7e4e5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_ha_eqh_enable&quot;:false}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-39c1933e\" data-id=\"39c1933e\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dc35ed1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-bdt-member\" data-id=\"dc35ed1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;none&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"bdt-member.bdt-phaedra\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"bdt-member skin-phaedra bdt-transition-toggle\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"bdt-member-photo-wrapper\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"bdt-member-photo\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/dellecave-2.jpg\" title=\"dellecave\" alt=\"dellecave\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bdt-member-overlay bdt-overlay-default bdt-position-cover bdt-transition-fade bdt-position-z-index\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"bdt-member-desc bdt-position-center bdt-text-center\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"bdt-member-content bdt-transition-slide-top-small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-66 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-31f45cb9\" data-id=\"31f45cb9\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5301ed90 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5301ed90\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Donatella Delle Cave<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-15ae93db elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"15ae93db\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #006293;\">Researcher<\/span><\/strong><\/h3><p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2318\" src=\"http:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Telefono-icona.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"17\" height=\"17\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Telefono-icona.png 512w, https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Telefono-icona-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Telefono-icona-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Telefono-icona-270x250.png 270w, https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Telefono-icona-510x510.png 510w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 17px) 100vw, 17px\" \/> +39 0816132412 \u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2317\" src=\"http:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/email-icona.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"19\" height=\"19\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/email-icona.png 512w, https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/email-icona-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/email-icona-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/email-icona-270x250.png 270w, https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/email-icona-510x510.png 510w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 19px) 100vw, 19px\" \/>\u00a0 donatella.dellecave@igb.cnr.it<br \/><\/strong><\/p><div><p><strong>Molecular Oncology<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>Keywords: <\/strong><strong><br \/><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0b6e642 e-grid-align-left elementor-shape-rounded elementor-grid-0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-social-icons\" data-id=\"0b6e642\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"social-icons.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-social-icons-wrapper elementor-grid\" role=\"list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\" role=\"listitem\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-github elementor-animation-grow-rotate elementor-repeater-item-771af57\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Github<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-github\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\" role=\"listitem\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-twitter elementor-animation-grow-rotate elementor-repeater-item-6344322\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Twitter<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\" role=\"listitem\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon- elementor-animation-grow-rotate elementor-repeater-item-021f1e1\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"#000000\" viewBox=\"0 0 50 50\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\"><path d=\"M 25 2 C 12.309534 2 2 12.309534 2 25 C 2 37.690466 12.309534 48 25 48 C 37.690466 48 48 37.690466 48 25 C 48 12.309534 37.690466 2 25 2 z M 25 4 C 36.609534 4 46 13.390466 46 25 C 46 36.609534 36.609534 46 25 46 C 13.390466 46 4 36.609534 4 25 C 4 13.390466 13.390466 4 25 4 z M 21 11 L 11 20 L 17.78125 20 C 17.80125 22.847 19.967531 25.730469 23.769531 25.730469 C 24.129531 25.730469 24.529688 25.690391 24.929688 25.650391 C 24.749688 26.100391 24.560547 26.470078 24.560547 27.080078 C 24.560547 28.230078 25.140391 28.920078 25.650391 29.580078 C 24.020391 29.690078 20.989766 29.879531 18.759766 31.269531 C 16.629766 32.559531 15.980469 34.43 15.980469 35.75 C 15.980469 38.47 18.500469 41 23.730469 41 C 29.930469 41 33.220703 37.510547 33.220703 34.060547 C 33.220703 31.530547 31.779453 30.279922 30.189453 28.919922 L 28.900391 27.890625 C 28.500391 27.570625 27.949219 27.120312 27.949219 26.320312 C 27.949219 25.510313 28.500703 24.989766 28.970703 24.509766 C 30.480703 23.309766 32 21.960234 32 19.240234 C 32 18.197234 31.756203 17.348391 31.408203 16.650391 L 35 13.570312 L 35 17.277344 C 34.405 17.623344 34 18.261 34 19 L 34 25 C 34 26.104 34.896 27 36 27 C 37.104 27 38 26.104 38 25 L 38 19 C 38 18.262 37.595 17.624344 37 17.277344 L 37 12 C 37 11.957 36.980609 11.920906 36.974609 11.878906 L 38 11 L 21 11 z M 24.269531 14.240234 C 27.269531 14.240234 28.820312 18.35 28.820312 21 C 28.820312 21.65 28.739922 22.819922 27.919922 23.669922 C 27.339922 24.259922 26.370938 24.699219 25.460938 24.699219 C 22.370938 24.699219 20.949219 20.620156 20.949219 18.160156 C 20.949219 17.210156 21.14 16.220938 21.75 15.460938 C 22.33 14.710938 23.339531 14.240234 24.269531 14.240234 z M 26.039062 30.609375 C 26.409063 30.609375 26.590859 30.610391 26.880859 30.650391 C 29.620859 32.630391 30.800781 33.620234 30.800781 35.490234 C 30.800781 37.760234 28.97 39.460938 25.5 39.460938 C 21.64 39.460938 19.160156 37.590469 19.160156 34.980469 C 19.160156 32.370469 21.459766 31.499219 22.259766 31.199219 C 23.769766 30.679219 25.719062 30.609375 26.039062 30.609375 z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-grid-item\" role=\"listitem\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-icon elementor-social-icon elementor-social-icon-orcid elementor-animation-grow-rotate elementor-repeater-item-884e7e5\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-screen-only\">Orcid<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-orcid\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-c07cf75 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"c07cf75\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_ha_eqh_enable&quot;:false}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-61dcc4d2\" data-id=\"61dcc4d2\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-23a91b19 elementor-widget elementor-widget-eael-adv-tabs\" data-id=\"23a91b19\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"eael-adv-tabs.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t        <div data-scroll-on-click=\"no\" data-scroll-speed=\"300\" id=\"eael-advance-tabs-23a91b19\" class=\"eael-advance-tabs eael-tabs-horizontal eael-tab-auto-active \" data-tabid=\"23a91b19\">\n            <div class=\"eael-tabs-nav\">\n                <ul class=\"\" role=\"tablist\">\n                                            <li id=\"research-interest\" class=\"inactive eael-tab-item-trigger eael-tab-nav-item\" aria-selected=\"true\" data-tab=\"1\" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"research-interest-tab\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                            \n                            \n                            \n                                                            <span class=\"eael-tab-title title-after-icon\" >Research Interest<\/span>                                                    <\/li>\n                                            <li id=\"selected-publications\" class=\"inactive eael-tab-item-trigger eael-tab-nav-item\" aria-selected=\"false\" data-tab=\"2\" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-controls=\"selected-publications-tab\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                            \n                            \n                            \n                                                            <span class=\"eael-tab-title title-after-icon\" >Selected Publications<\/span>                                                    <\/li>\n                                            <li id=\"professional-experience\" class=\"inactive eael-tab-item-trigger eael-tab-nav-item\" aria-selected=\"false\" data-tab=\"3\" role=\"tab\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-controls=\"professional-experience-tab\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n                            \n                            \n                            \n                                                            <span class=\"eael-tab-title title-after-icon\" >Professional Experience<\/span>                                                    <\/li>\n                                    <\/ul>\n            <\/div>\n            \n            <div class=\"eael-tabs-content\">\n\t\t        \n                    <div id=\"research-interest-tab\" class=\"clearfix eael-tab-content-item inactive\" data-title-link=\"research-interest-tab\">\n\t\t\t\t        <p>Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by a dense, fibrotic tumor microenvironment that drives therapy resistance and metastasis. Our research is focused on deciphering the \u201cmatrisome code\u201d, the network of extracellular matrix proteins secreted by tumor and stromal cells, to understand how it shapes tumor progression. Using multi-omics, CRISPR\/Cas9, patient-derived organoids, and mouse models, we aim to: identify key extracellular matrix components, characterize the metabolic profiles of primary matrisome-secreting cells, inhibit matrisome secretion to enhance chemotherapy efficacy, and validate these findings in preclinical studies to improve patient outcomes.<\/p>                    <\/div>\n\t\t        \n                    <div id=\"selected-publications-tab\" class=\"clearfix eael-tab-content-item inactive\" data-title-link=\"selected-publications-tab\">\n\t\t\t\t        <p><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC12328658\/\">TGF-beta1-mediated downregulation of L1CAM in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma drives upregulation of collagen 17A1 and MMP2, facilitating tumor invasiveness and metastasis.<\/a> <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong> (first and corresponding author), Di Domenico A., Fantuz M., Ciotola M., Mangini M., Buonaiuto S., Corrado B., Corona M., Saracino F., Andolfi G., Di Biase I., Cucciardi A., Carrer A., Sainz B Jr., Pirozzi T., Re DL., Colonna V., Minchiotti G., De Luca AC., Lonardo E. Cell Death Dis. 2025 Aug 6;16(1):592. doi: 10.1038\/s41419-025-07859-8.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC11585298\/\">Hybrid Biosilica Nanoparticles for in-vivo Targeted Inhibition of Colorectal Cancer Growth and Label-Free Imaging<\/a>. <strong>Delle Cave D<\/strong>. (first author), Mangini M., Tramontano C., De Stefano L., Corona M., Rea I., De Luca AC., Lonardo E. Int J Nanomedicine. 2024 Nov 19;19:12079-12098. doi: 10.2147\/IJN.S480168. eCollection 2024.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC11177459\/\">Three-Dimensional Environment Sensitizes Pancreatic Cancer Cells to The Anti-Proliferative <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC11177459\/\">Effect of Budesonide by reprogramming energy metabolism<\/a>. Ibello E., Saracino F., <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong>,Buonaiuto S., Amoroso F., Andolfi G., Corona M., Guardiola O., Colonna V., Sainz B.Jr, Altucci A.,De Cesare D., Cobellis F., Lonardo E., Patriarca E.J., D\u2019Aniello C. and Minchiotti G. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2024, 43:165. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s13046-024-03072-1.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC10855714\/\">Inhibition of the RAF\/MEK\/ERK Signaling Cascade in Pancreatic Cancer: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives.<\/a> Adamopoulos C., <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong> (corresponding author), Papavassiliou AG. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jan 28;25(3):1631. doi: 10.3390\/ijms25031631.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/adhm.202401138\">A 3D Pancreatic Cancer Model with Integrated Optical Sensors for Noninvasive Metabolism Monitoring and Drug Screening<\/a>. Siciliano AC., Forciniti S., Onesto V., Iuele H., <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong>, Carnevali F., Gigli G., Lonardo E., Del Mercato LL. Adv Healthc Mater. 2024 Nov;13(29):e2401138. doi: 10.1002\/adhm.202401138. Epub 2024 Jul 8.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC10089157\/\">Quantifying heterogeneity to drug response in cancer-stroma kinetics.<\/a> Alemanno F., Cavo M., <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong>, Fachechi A., Rizzo R., D&#8217;Amone E., Gigli G., Lonardo E., Barra A., Del Mercato LL. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Mar 14;120(11):e2122352120. doi: 10.1073\/pnas.2122352120. Epub 2023 Mar 10.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/jeccr.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s13046-022-02516-w\">LAMC2 marks a tumor-initiating cell population with an aggressive signature in pancreatic <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/jeccr.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s13046-022-02516-w\">cancer<\/a>. <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong> (first and corresponding author), Buonaiuto S., Sainz B., Fantuz M., Mangini M., Carrer A., Di Domenico A., Iavazzo TT, Andolfi G., Cortina C., Sevillano M., Heeschen C., Colonna V., Corona M., Cucciardi A., Di Guida M., Batlle E., De Luca A., Lonardo E. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Oct 26;41(1):315. doi: 10.1186\/s13046-022-02516-w.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC8058729\/\">Nodal-induced L1CAM\/CXCR4 subpopulation sustains tumor growth and metastasis in <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC8058729\/\">colorectal cancer derived organoids<\/a>. <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong> (first author), Hernando-Momblona X., Sevillano M., Minchiotti G., Lonardo E. Theranostics. 2021; 11(12):5686-5699. doi:10.21203\/rs.3.rs-48786\/v1;<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/smll.202101711\">SERS quantification of Galunisertib delivery in colorectal cancer cells by plasmonic assisted <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/smll.202101711\">diatomite nanoparticles<\/a>. Manag\u00f2 S., Tramontano C., <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong>, Chianese G., Zito G., De Stefano L., Terracciano M., Lonardo E., De Luca A.C., Rea. Small. 2021; e2101711. doi: 10.1002\/smll.20210171.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC7239770\/\">TGF-\u03b21 secreted by pancreatic stellate cells promotes stemness and tumourigenicity in pancreatic cancer cells through L1CAM downregulation.<\/a> <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong> (first author), Di Guida M., Costa V., Sevillano M., Ferrante L., Heeschen C., Corona M., Cucciardi A., Lonardo E. Oncogene. 2020; 39(21): 4271\u20134285. doi: 10.1038\/s41388-020-1289-1.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC7311540\/\">A synergic approach to enhance long-term culture and manipulation of MiaPaCa-2 pancreatic cancer spheroids<\/a>. Cavo M, <strong>Delle Cave D.<\/strong>, D&#8217;Amone E, Gigli G, Lonardo E, Del Mercato LL. Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 23;10(1):10192. doi: 10.1038\/s41598-020-66908-8.<\/p>                    <\/div>\n\t\t        \n                    <div id=\"professional-experience-tab\" class=\"clearfix eael-tab-content-item inactive\" data-title-link=\"professional-experience-tab\">\n\t\t\t\t        <p>Donatella Delle Cave received her Master\u2019s degree in Industrial and Molecular Biotechnology from the University of Naples Federico II in 2014. She earned her PhD in Biochemical and Biotechnological Sciences from the University Vanvitelli (2014\u20132017), investigating the antiproliferative effects of S-adenosylmethionine and its regulation of microRNAs in breast cancer and osteosarcoma. In 2018, she joined Dr. Enza Lonardo\u2019s Gastrointestinal Cancer Laboratory, studying the crosstalk between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Her postdoctoral research integrates multi-omics, cell biology, CRISPR\/Cas9 gene editing, and preclinical models, demonstrating that stromal TGF-\u03b21 promotes metastasis, stemness, and chemoresistance in PDAC by modulating L1CAM and LAMC2 expression (Cell Death and Disease 2025; Oncogene 2020; JECCR 2022). As a Visiting Scientist at Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Madrid (2021), she investigated metabolic alterations in PDAC. In CRC, using patient-derived organoids, she showed that hypoxia- and Nodal-induced L1CAM\/CXCR4 drive liver metastasis, which can be reduced <em>in vivo<\/em> by combining 5-fluorouracil with Nodal inhibition (Theranostics 2021). She also developed nanosystems for controlled Galunisertib delivery in CRC, functionalized with anti-L1CAM antibodies to target metastatic cells (Int J Nanomedicine 2024; Small 2021). Currently, her research at IGB-CNR is funded by the My First AIRC Grant (MFAG 2024\u20132029) and focuses on the role of the matrisome in PDAC progression and metastasis. Donatella has been awarded four postdoctoral fellowships (from Fondazione Italiana per la Ricerca sulle Malattie del Pancreas &#8211; FIMP &#8211; and Fondazione Umberto Veronesi), as well as competitive grants from FIMP (2023), AIRC (MFAG 2024), DSB-CNR (2024), SEELIFE (2025), and the Novogene Italian Sequencing Project Award (2025). Her honors include the Italian National Scientific Qualification in General Pathology and Applied Biology (2025\u20132037), the Lisa de Conciliis Award for organoid and bioengineering research in CRC (2024), several travel grants, best poster awards, and an Erasmus Traineeship at CIC bioGUNE, Spain (2017). She has also served as Chair at ISCAM conferences (2022, 2025) and as Scientific Secretary for the IGB Workshop (2021).<\/p>                    <\/div>\n\t\t                    <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donatella Delle Cave Researcher +39 0816132412 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 donatella.dellecave@igb.cnr.it Molecular Oncology Keywords: Github Twitter Orcid Research Interest Selected Publications Professional Experience Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by a dense, fibrotic tumor microenvironment that drives therapy resistance and metastasis. Our research is focused on deciphering the \u201cmatrisome code\u201d, the network of extracellular matrix proteins secreted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18220","page","type-page","status-publish","czr-hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18220"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18915,"href":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18220\/revisions\/18915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.igb.cnr.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}