Dr Claudio Raimondi

Profile

Dr Raimondi started his career in science in the cancer field as a master student in Palermo, Italy.

Dr Raimondi continued his studies in the cancer field during his PhD in Prof Marco Falasca at Queen Mary University of London and he was awarded a PhD in 2011.

After his PhD, Dr Raimondi joined Professor Ruhrberg's lab at UCL to investigate the role of the transmembrane protein Neuropilin-1 in cell-cell adhesion in endothelial cells. To continue his studies in the vascular field, Dr Raimondi successfully applied for a BHF immediate postdoctoral fellowship that gave him the opportunity to lead his research project on Neuropilin-1 signalling in the angiogenic vasculature.

Dr Raimondi research contributed to discovering new Neuropilin-1-dependent signalling pathways activated by extracellular matrix components that regulate physiological and pathological angiogenesis.

To continue to investigate Neuropilin-1-dependent signalling pathways and in adult vasculature homeostasis, Dr Raimondi successfully applied for a BHF intermediate basic science research fellowship to join the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College.

More recently, Dr Raimondi joined the William Harvey Research Institute (WHRI) to investigate the interplay of NRP1 signalling, mitochondria homeostasis and EC metabolism in endothelial cell homeostasis.

Research

Group members

Miss Emy Bosseboeuf (Technician)

Summary

Dr Raimondi’s group focuses on identifying and investigating the signalling pathways regulating cellular senescence, oxidative stress and mitochondria homeostasis in endothelial cells and their relevance in vascular homeostasis and vascular diseases.

The group has a long-standing interest in Neuropilin-1 (NRP1), with a particular focus on the recently discovered functions of NRP1 (Issitt et al., 2019 iScience) in regulating premature senescence, iron homeostasis and mitochondrial function in endothelial cells.

The group is also interested in understanding the effect of shear stress on endothelial cell metabolism.

Key Publications

Full list of publications

• Issitt T, Bosseboeuf E, De Winter N, Gestri G, Dufton N, Senatore V, Chikh A, Randi AM, Raimondi C. Neuropilin-1 promotes endothelial function by regulating mitochondrial activity and iron-dependent oxidative stress via ABCB8. iScience 2018 Dec 11;11:205-223. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2018.12.005
• Raimondi C, Brash J, Fantin A, Ruhrberg C. NRP1 function and targeting in neurovascular development and eye disease. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research; 2016 May;52:64-83. doi: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2016.02.003
• Raimondi C, Fantin A, Ruhrberg C. Imatinib may be ABL to improve anti-angiogenic therapy. Molecular & Cellular Oncology; 2015 Feb 24;2(1):e968034. doi: 10.4161/23723548.2014.968034
• Raimondi C - Neuropilin-1 enforces extracellular matrix signalling via ABL1 to promote angiogenesis. Biochemical Society Transaction; 2014 Oct;42(5):1429-34. doi: 10.1042/BST20140141.
• Fantin A, Lampropoulou A, Gestri G, Raimondi C, Senatore V, Ruhrberg C (2015).  NRP1 regulates CDC42 activation to promote filopodia formation in endothelial tip cell. Cell Reports 16;11(10):1577-90. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.05.018.
• Raimondi C, Fantin A, Lampropoulou A, Chikh A, Ruhrberg C (2014). Imatinib inhibits VEGF-independent angiogenesis by targeting NRP1-dependent ABL1 activation in endothelial cells. Journal of Experimental Medicine 211(6):1167-83. doi: 10.1084/jem.20132330
• Raimondi C, Calleja V, Ferro R, Riley AM, Potter BVL, Larijani B, Falasca M. A small molecule inhibitor of PDK1/PLCγ1 interaction blocks cancer cell invasion (2016). Scientific Report 2016 May 20;6:26142. doi: 10.1038/srep26142.

Collaborators

Internal
Prof Amrita Ahluwalia (WHRI); Dr Katiuscia Bianchi (BCI)

External 
Prof Michael Duchen (UCL); Dr Christina Warboys (RVC); Prof Justin Mason (Imperial College)