Biography
Francesca is a molecular and cellular biologist keen to understand the mechanisms that drive intestinal diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease by using human epithelial intestinal organoids (hIEOs) as an in vitro model. The main focus of her research is on epigenetic mechanisms orchestrating gene expression in disease.
In addition, she is currently working on generating modified hIEOs by using CRISPR-Cas9 technology to identify new disease prognostic biomarkers.
Francesca is also improving the culture system of hIEOs, to make them a better representation of the in vivo human tissue. Harnessing next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies like single cells RNA sequencing and Single Cell Multiome (ATAC + Gene Expression), she aims to analyse the transcriptional and chromatin profiles of hIEOs at a single-cell level to further validate human intestinal organoids as an in vitro model reflecting the in vivo counterpart.
Publications
• Edgar, R.D.*, Perrone, F.* et al. (2022). "Culture Associated DNA Methylation Changes Impact on Cellular Function of Human Intestinal Organoids". Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2022 Aug 26 . *Contributed equally.
• Perrone, F. and Zilbauer, M. (2021). "Biobanking of human gut organoids for translational research", Experimental & Molecular Medicine, 53, 1451–1458.
• Sun, D., Evan, L., Perrone, F., et al. (2021). "A functional genetic toolbox for human tissue-derived organoids" , eLife, 2021 Oct 6;10:e67886.
• Elmentaite, R.,...Perrone, F., et al.(2021). "Cells of the human intestinal tract mapped across space and time", Nature, 597, 250–255.
• Ross, A.D.B., Perrone, F., et al.(2021). "Obtaining purified human intestinal epithelia for single-cell analysis and organoid culture", STAR Protocols, 2021, 2(2), 100597.
