AIRC Investigator Grant

In my research group, we use molecular-biology and biochemical techniques to understand what the molecules in our body are made of and how they function. In this project, we focus on two enzyme families responsible for modifying lysine residues in collagen. This is a complex and finely regulated process: there are many different types of collagen and thousands of lysine residues, but not all of them are modified. Even a small decrease or increase in the extent of these modifications can cause serious diseases, and there is a clear association between these alterations and the metastatic progression of many solid tumours. Through this Investigator Grant (2026-2030), we aim to study LH enzymes and their GLT25D partners not as isolated molecules, but by assessing how their interactions and synergies ensure correct function and how their malfunction can promote solid-tumour metastasis. Our laboratory investigations provide fundamental information for understanding some of the mechanisms that drive metastatic progression in many solid tumours. Although our work does not directly involve patients, the data we make available to the scientific community can help improve diagnostic accuracy and provide more precise assessments of disease course. In addition, our drug-discovery studies may ultimately deliver new molecules for the future development of innovative therapeutic strategies against metastasis.

Project details

• Full title: Targeting pro-metastatic collagen lysine post-translational modification enzyme assemblies
• Funding agency: Fondazione AIRC per la Ricerca sul Cancro
• Programme: Investigator Grant
• Project code: 32240
• Total project funding: EUR 689’000.00
• Project period: 2 January 2026 – 1 October 2031
• Institutions involved: University of Pavia (Italy)

Principal Investigator

Federico Forneris

Permanent Staff – Armenise-Harvard Laboratory

Former Lab Members Involved

Matteo De Marco

Lab Alumni – Armenise-Harvard Laboratory