Vittorio de FranciscisDr. Vittorio de Franciscis is Senior Collaborator at the CNR Institute of Genetic and Biomedical Research (IRGB) in Milan Italy. For more than ten years, the interest of the research has focused on translating the understanding of the molecular basisof neoplastic transformation in the design of selective therapies based on the use of therapeutic RNAs (aptamers, siRNAs, miRNAs). In his laboratory, they demonstrated the possibility of generating aptamers that bind to high affinity and inhibit transmembrane receptors involved in cancer progression (including, EGFR, AXL, PDGFR, IR, Eph). For the selection of aptamers they have developed a variant of the SELEX technology that makes use of living cells as a complex target. They have recently shown that such RNA aptamers against RTK can be used as targeting moieties for the selective delivery of therapeutic miRNAs and anti-miRs, against tumor cells and tissues. Read More Read Less