PIUBELLI LUCIANO

Macrosector
LS1_2 Biochemistry
LS9_1 Applied biotechnology

Education/Training
Luciano Piubelli graduated with honor in Biological Sciences at University of Milan in 1991 and earned a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the same University in 1994. From October 1995 to September 1997 he worked as post-doc fellow in the laboratory of Prof. H.R. Bosshard (Biochemistry Institute, University of Zurich) and subsequently, from October 1997 to May 1999 again at the University of Milan as post-doc fellow. From June 1999 to November 2018 he was Assistant Professor (Biochemistry) at the Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences at the University of Insubria and from December 2018 is Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the same University.

Scientific activities
The scientific career of Prof. Piubelli focused on the investigation of the structure-function relationships in enzymatic proteins (ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase, glutamate synthase, D-amino acid oxidase, cholesterol oxidase) by the use of a multidisciplinary methodological approach: steady state and pre-steady state kinetics, reaction mechanism studies (substrate specificity, chemical modification), studies on redox properties and on protein folding/unfolding. Most of these investigations have been carried out on enzymes produced by protein engineering techniques (heterologous overexpression and site-directed mutagenesis). In the last years, his scientific interest focused on the optimization of production of recombinant proteins in E. coli for industrial and biomedical biotechnological applications (i.e. to develop novel biosensors, to investigate the molecular basis of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, for the production of a novel recombinant vaccine) and in their structural and functional characterization. Recently, he dealt with the analytical determination (by HPLC) of L- and D-aspartic acid and L- and D-serine levels in human serum samples, in the contest of a project aimed to the identification of precocious biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease.
During the years, Prof. Piubelli earned a wide experience in protein biochemistry techniques, DNA recombinant technologies, molecular biology and protein engineering techniques as well as in the production of recombinant proteins in microorganisms.
Prof. Piubelli was member of the Organizing Committees of SIB symposia and schools and of IDAR2017, the 3rd International Conference of D-Amino Acid Research.

Membership
Member of the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SIB) since 1993.
Member of the Teaching Board of the Ph.D. Courses in Cellular and Molecular Biology (2007-2013), Biotechnology, Biosciences and Surgical Technology (2015-2017) and Life Sciences and Biotechnology (2017-present), all at University of Insubria.

Bibliometric indicators
Web of Science
h-index: 21
Citations: 1212
Scopus
h-index: 22
Citations: 1248
Google Scholar
h-index: 23
Citations: 1656
i10-index: 38
Total IF: 169.25

Publications
44 papers on peer-review international journals;
12 papers on books;
16 papers on national journals;
70 communications to national and international meetings;
Oral communication at “Workshop on VATUB Project” (XI National Congress of Biotechnology – CNBXI (June, 27 – 29, 2012, Varese). Title: “A recombinant vaccine against tuberculosis: high-level production in E. coli of antigenic proteins”;
Supervisor or co-supervisor of 20 thesis (Bachelor and Master degree in Biological Sciences and Biotechnology) and 2 PhD dissertation in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Current supervisor of a third PhD student in Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Previous projects
PRIN2017 (Dissecting serine metabolism in the brain), participant
REGIONE LOMBARDIA:
2016 (Clarissimo), participant
2011 (Nepente), participant
2010 (IstanSensor), participant
2010 (Approccio biotecnologico alla progettazione razionale di vaccini: nuovo vaccino antiTB, VATUB), participant
2015 Fondazione Comunitaria Varesotto (D-Amino acidi e patologie umane: un approccio multidisciplinare), partecipant
2013 Fondazione Cariplo-Regione Lombardia 2013 (BioRefill), partecipant
2018 Grantholder of a post-doc fellowship (“assegno di ricerca”) from University of Insubria (Human 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase and serine metabolism: a biochemical study)