{"id":5,"date":"2022-02-14T17:14:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T17:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/?page_id=5"},"modified":"2026-05-14T10:38:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T10:38:03","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-larger-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The macromolecular determinants of nuclear shape<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Our primary objective is the investigation of the structural organisation and conformational adaptations (molecular plasticity) of protein complexes ruling nuclear architecture and shape in situ in physiological or pathological conditions. High-resolution details will help us to understand the molecular basis underlying nuclear remodelling. Mutations and alterations in these protein complexes are frequently associated with disease states (ageing, cancer, developmental disorders) and nuclear deformations have been shown to impact nuclear transport and gene expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">To investigate the universal principles determining nuclear architecture and shape, we have been using two different human model systems where the nucleus is being drastically remodelled in response to mechanical and biochemical cues: sperm cells and somatic migratory cells. We aim to elucidate the higher-order nucleus-cytoskeleton architectures required for differentiation and cell migration across various human cell types, including cancer \/ immune cells with enhanced migration capabilities. We employ <em>in-cell <\/em>structural biology techniques, integrated with complementary structural and cell biology methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Some questions we are interested:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-large-font-size\">Which are the macromolecular determinants of nuclear shape \/ function?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-large-font-size\">How is mechanical force transmitted to the nucleus via the cytoskeleton?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-large-font-size\">How can we streamline high-resolution in situ structural determination?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-large-font-size\">Which are the macromolecular bases underlying the enhanced migratory capabilities of cancer cells?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"884\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/09\/bafkreiby77ux4c7as3gzjaf6yfawk7xoj4ox3lkcffzfah5gib772k2keu-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/09\/bafkreiby77ux4c7as3gzjaf6yfawk7xoj4ox3lkcffzfah5gib772k2keu-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/09\/bafkreiby77ux4c7as3gzjaf6yfawk7xoj4ox3lkcffzfah5gib772k2keu-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/09\/bafkreiby77ux4c7as3gzjaf6yfawk7xoj4ox3lkcffzfah5gib772k2keu-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/09\/bafkreiby77ux4c7as3gzjaf6yfawk7xoj4ox3lkcffzfah5gib772k2keu.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-larger-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">nucleo-cytoskeleton interaction in fibroblasts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The macromolecular determinants of nuclear shape Our primary objective is the investigation of the structural organisation and conformational adaptations (molecular plasticity) of protein complexes ruling nuclear architecture and shape in situ in physiological or pathological conditions. High-resolution details will help us to understand the molecular basis underlying nuclear remodelling. Mutations and alterations in these protein [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-5","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":983,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions\/983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/groups\/allegretti\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}