Developed skills and lines of research
Cristina Cigana is staff scientist at the Infections and Cystic Fibrosis Unit of the IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital (Milan). Her main research interest is the pathogenesis of pulmonary infections by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. She is involved in projects that aim to analyze in detail the innate and adaptive immune response of the host, to study the inflammatory response and tissue remodeling caused by infection, and to identify new mechanisms responsible for lung damage, using in vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo models. This knowledge has been applied for some years in the field of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis. She is the author of more than 90 international publications.
Projects funded by FFC Ricerca as Principal Investigator or as Research Manager
FFC#16/2021
Linking elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor to infections in cystic fibrosis lung disease
FFC#15/2018
Off-target effects of CFTR-modulators in preclinical infection models
FFC#18/2016
Interfering with glycosaminoglycans during Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronic lung infection: pre-clinical exploitation of a novel therapeutic strategy for cystic fibrosis
FFC#14/2013
Pathophysiological relevance of glycosaminoglycans in Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronic lung infections and validation of new therapeutic approaches to modulate inflammation and tissue remodeling
FFC#20/2011
Host Response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa adaptation during airway chronic infection
Publications from FFC Research projects
Yonker LM, Cigana C, Hurley BP, Bragonzi A., Host-pathogen interplay in the respiratory environment of cystic fibrosis. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis 2015, 14(4):431-9
Lorè NI, Cigana C, Riva C, et al., IL-17A impairs host tolerance during airway chronic infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Scientific Reports 2016, 6:25937
Cigana C, Lorè NI, Riva C, et al., Tracking the immunopathological response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa during respiratory infections. Scientific Reports 2016, 6:21465
Cigana C, Lorè NI, Bernardini ML, Bragonzi A., Dampening Host Sensing and Avoiding Recognition in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pneumonia. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology 2011, 2011:852513
Lorè NI, Cystic Fibrosis-Niche adaption of Pseudomonas aeruginosa reduces virulence in multiple infection hosts. PLoS ONE 2012, 7(4):e35648
Lorè NI, Bragonzi A, Cigana C., The IL-17A/IL-17RA axis in pulmonary defence and immunopathology. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 2016, 30:19-27
Lorè NI, Veraldi N, Riva C, et al., Synthesized Heparan Sulfate Competitors Attenuate Pseudomonas aeruginosa Lung Infection. Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Jan 9;19(1). pii: E207. doi: 10.3390/ijms19010207