Paolo Sassone-Corsi

Picture of Paolo Sassone-Corsi
Director, Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (joint with BioSci)
School of Medicine
Donald Bren Professor, Biological Chemistry
School of Medicine
Joint Appointment, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
School of Medicine
Joint Appointment, Pharmaceutical Sciences
College of Health Sciences
Ph.D., University of Naples, Italy, 1979
Phone: (949) 824-4540
Fax: (949) 824-2078
Email: psc@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
Department of Biological Chemistry
324 Sprague Hall
Mail Code: 1700
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
signal transduction, gene expression, oncogenesis, circadian clock
Academic Distinctions
1977 - Philips European Award for Young Investigators

1990 - Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization

1994 - EMBO Gold Medal

1996 - Rosen Prize (Fondation de la Recherche Médicale), France

1997 - Grand Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour la Recherche, France

2001 - Segerfalk Award Lecture, Lund University, Sweden

2003 - Grand Prix Charles-Léopold Mayer de l’Académie des Sciences, France

2003 - ISI Highly Cited

2004 - Edwin B. Astwood Award Lecture of The Endocrine Society, USA

2004 - The Umesono Memorial Award Lecture, The Salk Institute, San Diego, USA

2004 - CNRS Silver Medal, France

2010 - Athalie Clarke Achievement Award, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine

2010 - Appointed Donald Bren Professor

2011 - Roy O. Greep Award Lecture, 2011 Laureate Award by The Endocrine Society, USA

2011 - The Ipsen Award in Endocrinology, France

2011 - External Member, Max Planck Society, Germany

2012 - Transatlantic Medal of The Society for Endocrinology, UK

2013 - Dr. Henry Friesen Plenary Lecture Award, Canada

2014 - Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, USA

2015 - August and Marie Krogh Medal, Denmark

2016 - Leonardo da Vinci Gold Medal, FMSI Federation, Rome, Italy

2017 - Albert Hogan Memorial Award Lecture, University of Missouri

2019 - Distinguished Faculty Award for Research, University of California, Irvine
Research Abstract
Dr. Sassone-Corsi's major interest is concentrated on the mechanisms of signal transduction able to modulate nuclear functions and, in particular gene expression, chromatin remodeling and epigenetic control. These events have important consequences for the understanding of cellular proliferation, oncogenesis and differentiation. The stimulation of intracellular pathways and the activation of specific protein kinases lead to transcriptional regulation by changes in the phosphorylation state of nuclear factors. These act as final targets of different pathways and modulate expression from specific regulatory sites. The strength of these studies is particularly evident within physiological settings that have been investigated by this lab, the molecular control of circadian rhythms and the differentiation of male germ cells.
Available Technologies
Publications
Relevant Publications:

Doi, M., Hirayama, J., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2006) Circadian regulator CLOCK is a histone acetyltransferase. Cell. 125:497-508.

Hirayama, J., Sahar, S., Grimaldi, B., Tamaru, T., Takamatsu, K., Nakahata, Y., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2007) CLOCK-mediated acetylation of BMAL1 controls circadian function. Nature. 450:1086-1090.

Nakahata, Y., Kaluzova, M., Grimaldi, B., Sahar, S., Hirayama, J., Chen, D., Guarente, L. P., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2008) The NAD+-dependent deacetylase SIRT1 modulates CLOCK-mediated chromatin remodeling and circadian control. Cell. 134:329-340.

Borrelli, E., Nestler, E. J., Allis, C. D., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2008) Decoding the epigenetic language of neuronal plasticity. Neuron. 60:961-974.

Nakahata, Y., Sahar, S., Astarita, G., Kaluzova, M., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2009) Circadian control of the NAD+-salvage pathway by CLOCK-SIRT1. Science. 324:654-657.

Tamaru, T., Hirayama, J., Isojima, Y., Nagai, K., Norioka, S., Takamatsu, K., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2009) CK2a phosphorylates BMAL1 to regulate the mammalian clock. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 16:446-448.

Eckel-Mahan, K. and Sassone-Corsi, P. (2009) Metabolism control of the circadian clock and vice versa. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 16:462-467.

Sahar, S. and Sassone-Corsi, P. (2009) Metabolism and cancer: the circadian clock connection. Nat Rev Cancer. 9:886-896. Review.

Katada, S. and Sassone-Corsi, P. (2010) The histone methyltransferase MLL1 permits the oscillation of circadian gene expression. Nature Struct Mol Biol. 17:1414-1421.

Aguilar-Arnal, L. and Sassone-Corsi, P. (2011) Stem cells: the clock within. Nature. 480:185-187.

Katada, S., Imhof, A., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2012) Connecting threads: epigenetics and metabolism. Cell. 148:24-28.

Patel, V. R., Eckel-Mahan, K., Sassone-Corsi, P., Baldi, P. (2012) CircadiOmics: integrating circadian genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. Nat Methods. 9:772-773.

Sassone-Corsi, P. (2013) Physiology. When metabolism and epigenetics converge. Science. 339:148-150.

Aguilar-Arnal, L., Hakim, O., Patel, V. R., Baldi, P., Hager, G. H., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2013) Cycles in spatial and temporal chromosomal organization driven by the circadian clock. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 20:1206-1213.

Eckel-Mahan, K., Patel, V., de Mateo, S., Orozco-Solis, R., Ceglia, N., Sahar, S., Dilag, S., Dyar, K., Baldi, P., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2013) Reprogramming of the circadian clock by nutritional challenge. Cell. 155:1464-1478.

Masri, S., Rigor, P., Cervantes, M., Ceglia, N., Sebastian, C., Xiao, C., Roqueta-Rivera, M., Deng, C., Osborne, T. F., Mostoslavsky, R., Baldi, P., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2014) Partitioning circadian transcription by SIRT6 leads to segregated control of cellular metabolism. Cell. 158:659-672.

Masri, S. and Sassone-Corsi, P. (2014) Sirtuins and the circadian clock: Bridging chromatin and metabolism. Sci Signal. 7:re6. Review.

Masri, S., Kinouchi, K., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2015) Circadian clocks, epigenetics, and cancer. Curr Opin Oncol. 27:50-56.

Aguilar-Arnal, L., Katada, S., Orozco-Solis, R., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2015) NAD+-SIRT1 control of H3K4 trimethylation through circadian deacetylation of MLL1. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 22:312-318.

Asher, G. and Sassone-Corsi, P. (2015) Time for food: the intimate interplay between nutrition, metabolism, and the circadian clock. Cell. 161:84-92.

Orozco-Solis, R., Aguilar-Arnal, L., Murakami, M., Peruquetti, R., Ramadori, G., Coppari, R., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2016) The circadian clock in the ventromedial hypothalamus controls cyclic energy expenditure. Cell Metab. 23:467-478.

Masri, S., Papagiannakopoulos, T., Kinouchi, K., Liu, Y., Cervantes, M., Baldi, P., Jacks, T., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2016) Lung adenocarcinoma distally rewires hepatic circadian homeostasis. Cell. 165:896-909.

Murakami, M., Tognini, P., Liu, Y., Eckel-Mahan, K. L., Baldi, P., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2016) Gut microbiota directs PPAR-gamma-driven reprogramming of the liver circadian clock by nutritional challenge. EMBO Rep. 17:1292-1303.

Bellet, M. M., Masri, S., Astarita, G., Sassone-Corsi, P., Della Fazia, M. A., Servillo, G. (2016) Histone deacetylase SIRT1 controls proliferation, circadian rhythm, and lipid metabolism during liver regeneration in mice. J Biol Chem. 291:23318-23329.

Aguilar-Arnal, L., Ranjit, S., Stringari, C., Orozco-Solis, R., Gratton, E., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2016) Spatial dynamics of SIRT1 and the subnuclear distribution of NADH species. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 113:12715-12720.

Tognini, P., Thaiss, C. A., Elinav, E., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2017) Circadian coordination of antimicrobial responses. Cell Host Microbe. 22:185-192. Review.

Solanas, G., Peixoto, F. O., Perdiguero, E., Jardí, M., Ruiz-Bonilla, V., Datta, D., Symeonidi, A., Castellanos, A., Welz, P. S., Caballero, J. M., Sassone-Corsi, P., Muñoz-Cánoves, P., Benitah, S. A. Aged stem cells reprogram their daily rhythmic functions to adapt to stress. Cell. 170:678-692.

Sato, S., Solanas, G., Peixoto, F. O., Bee, L., Symeonidi, A., Schmidt, M. S., Brenner, C., Masri, S., Benitah, S. A., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2017) Circadian reprogramming in the liver identifies metabolic pathways of aging. Cell. 170:664-677.
Hughes, M. E., Abruzzi, K. C., Allada, R., Anafi, R., Arpat, A. B., Asher, G., Baldi, P., de Bekker, C., Bell-Pedersen, D., Blau, J., Brown, S., Ceriani, M. F., Chen, Z., Chiu, J. C., Cox, J., Crowell, A. M., DeBruyne, J. P., Dijk, D. J., DiTacchio, L., Doyle, F. J., Duffield, G. E., Dunlap, J. C., Eckel-Mahan, K., Esser, K. A., FitzGerald, G. A., Forger, D. B., Francey, L. J., Fu, Y. H., Gachon, F., Gatfield, D., de Goede, P., Golden, S. S., Green, C., Harer, J., Harmer, S., Haspel, J., Hastings, M. H., Herzel, H., Herzog, E. D., Hoffmann, C., Hong, C., Hughey, J. J., Hurley, J. M., de la Iglesia, H. O., Johnson, C., Kay, S. A., Koike, N., Kornacker, K., Kramer, A., Lamia, K., Leise, T., Lewis, S. A., Li, J., Li, X., Liu, A. C., Loros, J. J., Martino, T. A., Menet, J. S., Merrow, M., Millar, A. J., Mockler, T., Naef, F., Nagoshi, E., Nitabach, M. N., Olmedo, M., Nusinow, D. A., Ptácek, L. J., Rand, D., Reddy, A. B., Robles, M. S., Roenneberg, T., Rosbash, M., Ruben, M. D., Rund, S., Sancar, A., Sassone-Corsi, P., Sehgal, A., Sherrill-Mix, S., Skene, D. J., Storch, K. F., Takahashi, J. S., Ueda, H. R., Wang, H., Weitz, C., Westermark, P. O., Wijnen, H., Xu, Y., Wu, G., Yoo, S. H., Young, M., Zhang, E. E., Zielinski, T., Hogenesch, J. B. (2017) Guidelines for genome-scale analysis of biological rhythms. Journal of Biological Rhythms. 32(5), 380-393. PMID: 29098954
Tognini, P., Murakami, M., Liu, Y., Eckel-Mahan, K. L., Newman, J., Verdin, E., Baldi, P., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2017) Distinct circadian signatures in liver and gut clocks revealed by ketogenic diet. Cell Metabolism. 26:523-538. PMID: 28877456
Solanas, G., Peixoto, F. O., Perdiguero, E., Jardí, M., Ruiz-Bonilla, V., Datta, D., Symeonidi, A., Castellanos, A., Welz, P. S., Caballero, J. M., Sassone-Corsi, P., Muñoz-Cánoves, P., Benitah, S. A. (2017) Aged stem cells reprogram their daily rhythmic functions to adapt to stress. Cell. 170:678-692. PMID: 28802040
Tognini, P., Murakami, M., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2018) Interplay between microbes and the circadian clock. Cold Spring Harbor. 10(9). PMID: 29038112
Ceglia, N., Liu, Y., Chen, S., Agostinelli, F., Eckel-Mahan, K., Sassone-Corsi, P., Baldi, P. (2018) CircadiOmics: Circadan omic web portal. Nucleic Acids Research. 46(W1)W157-W162. PMID: 29912458
Kwapis, JL., Alaghband, Y., Kramar, E.A., Lopez, A.J., Vogel Ciernia, A., White, A.O., Shu, G., Rhee, D., Michael, C.M., Montellier, E., Liu, Y., Magnan, C.N., Chen, S., Sassone-Corsi, P., Baldi, P., Matheos, D.P., Wood, M.A. (2018) Epigenetic regulation of the circadian gene Per1 contributes to age-related changes in hippocampal memory. Nature. Comm. 9(1):3323. PMID: 30127461
Dyar, K.A., Lutter, D., Artati, A., Ceglia, N., Liu, Y., Armenta, D., Jastroch, M., Schneider, S., Mateo, S.D., Cervantes, M., Abbondante, S., Tognini, P., Orozco-Solís, R., Kinouchi, K., Wang, C., Swerdloff, R.S., Nadeef, S., Masri, S.M., Magistretti, P.J., Orlando, V., Borrelli, E., Uhlenhaut, N.H., Baldi, P., Adamski, J., Tschöp, M.H., Eckel-Mahan, K., & Sassone-Corsi, P. (2018) Atlas of circadian metabolism reveals system-wide coordination and communication between clocks. Cell, 174, 1571-1585.e11. PMID: 30193114
Sato, S., Parr, E. B., Devlin, B. L., Hawley, J. A., & Sassone-Corsi, P. (2018) Human metabolomics reveal daily variations under nutritional challenges specific to serum and skeletal muscle. Molecular Metabolism, 16, 1-11. PMID: 30293576
Masri, S., and Sassone-Corsi, P. (2018) The emerging link between cancer, metabolism, and circadian rhythms. Nature Medicine. 24(12)1795-1803. PMID: 30523327
Kinouchi, L., Magnan, C., Ceglia, N., Liu, Y., Cervantes, M., Pastore, N., Huynh, T., Ballabio, A., Baldi, P., Masri, S., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2018) Fasting imparts a switch to alternative daily pathways in liver and muscle. Cell. Rep. 25(12):3299-3314. PMID: 30566858
Gaucher, J., Montellier, E. and Sassone-Corsi, P. (2018) Molecular Cogs: Interplay between circadian clock and cell cycle. Trends Cell Biology. 28(5):368-379. PMID: 29471986
Cervantes, M., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2019) Modification of histone proteins by serotonin in the nucleus. Nature. 567(7749):464-465 PMID: 30911154
Sato, S., Basse, A.L., Schonke, M., Chen, S., Samad, M., Altintas, A., Laker, R.C., Dalbram, E., Barrés, R., Balid, P., Treeback, J.T., Zierath, J.R., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2019) Time of exercise specifies the impact on muscle metabolic pathways and systemic energy homeostasis. Cell Metabolism. 30(1):92-110. PMID: 31006592
Aras, E., Ramadori, G., Kinouchi, K. Liu, Y., Lorios, R.M., Brenachot, X., Ljubicic, S., Veyrat-Durebex, C., Mannucci, S., Gailé, M., Baldi, P., Sassone-Corsi, P., Copparrai, R. (2019) Light entrains diurnal changes in insulin sensitivity of skeletal muscle via ventromedial hypothalamic neurons. Cell Rep.. 27(8)2385-2398. PMID: 31116983
Pastore, N., Vainshtein, A., Herz, N.J., Huynh, T., Brunetti, L., Klisch, T.J., Mutarelli, M., Annunziata, P., Kinouchi, K., Brunetti-Pierri, N., Sassone-Corsi, P., Ballabio, A. (2019) Nutrient-sensitive transcription factors TFEB and TFE3 couple autophagy and metabolism to the peripheral clock. EMBO. J. 38(12). PMID: 31126958
Welz, P.S., Zinna, V.M., Symeonidi, A., Koronowski, K.B., Kinouchi, K., Smith, J.G., Guillén, I.M., Castellanos, A., Crainiciuc, G., Prats, N., Caballero, J.M., Hidalgo, A., Sassone-Corsi, P., Benitah, S.A. (2019) BMAL1-driven tissue clocks respond independently to light to maintain homeostasis. Cell. 177(6):1436-1447. PMID: 31150620
Koronowski, K.B., Kinouchi, K., Welz, P.S., Smith, J.G., Zinna, V.W., Shi, J., Samad, M. Chen, S., Magnan, C.N., Kinchen, J.M., Li, W., Baldi, P., Benitah, S.A., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2019) Defining the independence of the liver circadian clock. Cell. 177(6)1462-1448. PMID: 31150621
Greco, C.M., and Sassone-Corsi, P. (2019) Circadian blueprint of metabolic pathways in the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 20(2):71-82. PMID: 30559395
Professional Societies
Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization
Member of the European Cellular Biology Organization
Member of the Endocrine Society (USA)
Other Experience
Chair, Department of Pharmacology
University of California, Irvine 2006—2011
Graduate Programs
Cellular and Molecular Biosciences
Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology
Last updated
02/23/2021