Camaioni Antonella

Antonella Camaioni took the degree certificate in Biological Sciences, with honours, in 1983, at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. In 1989 she obtained the Ph.D. in Morphogenetic and Cytological Sciences at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” discussing a thesis on: “Sperm cells as vectors for introducing foreign DNA into eggs: genetic transformation of mice”. During her doctorate and, after that, till 1991, she was studying the process of mammalian fertilization, mainly focusing on eggs and sperm interaction with components of the extracellular matrix. She was also able to set up alternative methods for introducing foreign genetic information in mammalian genome other than microinjection. In this context, she contributed to identify sperm cells as vectors of exogenous DNA in murine embryo by in vitro fertilization. From 1989 to 2002, she was assistant professor in the Department of Public Health and Cell Biology at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. In that position, from 1991 to 1994, she spent a sabbatical period at the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Maryland, USA), in the Proteoglycan Chemistry Section directed by dr. V.C. Hascall. In that period, also in collaboration with Prof. A. Salustri, she was still involved in biology of reproduction studies, above all on the preovulatory mammalian follicle and the characterization of the extracellular matrix that is organized around the oocyte by the cumulus oophorus before ovulation. Her studies were able to better define the interactions between two of the major components of this matrix, synthesized by cumulus cells: hyaluronan and proteoglycans. In 2002, she became associate professor of Histology at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, and this is still her present position. In these last years, she has been involved in studies that are trying to elucidate the characteristics of the cumulus cells during their last steps of differentiation, that occur in vitro as well as in the preovulatory follicle, in close dependence from the oocyte, both in mouse and in pig. Since 2006, she has been also involved in biocompatibility studies on synthetic materials and their use as tridimensional scaffolds for the maintenance and differentiation of embryonic and adult stem cells, to improve in vitro culture conditions by mimicking the characteristics of the extracellular matrix and with the perspective to utilize such bioresorbable scaffolds to facilitate and enhance in vivo tissue regeneration.