News / Articles

Elena Levantini

Name: Elena Levantini, Ph.D.
Work Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 330 Brookline Avenue
Center for Life Science 428,
Boston, MA, 02215

Telephone work: 617-735-2214
Fax:  617-735-2222
e-mail: elevanti@bidmc.harvard.edu

Education:

• 1989-1995: B.Sc. University of Pisa (Italy), faculty of Biological Sciences;
• 1993-1995: M. Sc. University of Pisa (Italy), undergraduate training in Electrophysiology;
• 1995-1997: M. Sc. University of Pisa, undergraduate training in Molecular and Developmental Biology and Neurobiology;
• 1998-2002: Ph.D. University of Pisa (Italy), Ph.D. Graduate Program in Molecular Biology and Cellular and Developmental Biophysics;
• 2002-2006: Research Fellow, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
• 2006-: Research Associate Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
• 2006-: Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA 

Awards and Honors:

• 1997-1998: National Research Council of Italy Fellowship;
• 1998-2002: Versilia Association for Stem Cell Research Fellowship (PI Dr. Cristina Magli);
• 1999-2000: National Research Council of Italy International Short Mobility Fellowship;
• 2002: ASH Meeting Travel Award
• 2005: ASH Meeting Travel Award
• 2005- Associate Member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
• 2006: AACR - WICR Brigid G. Leventhal Scholar Award in Cancer Research
• 2006-:Scientific peer advisory and reviewer for the American Institute of Biological Sciences and the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute Program (Molecular Basis of Cancers Associated with Second Hand Smoke Panel)
• 2006-:Board Member of the International Association for BioMedical Research (IABMR) [Forsyth Institute, Boston, MA, USA]
• 2007: WALCE (Women Against Lung Cancer in Europe) Member
• 2007: Vice-President International Association for BioMedical Research (IABMR)
• 2007: Co-chair of the 4th scientific Meeting of the IABMR
• 2008: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Clinical Operations Employees Service Award 

Research Support:

• 2006-2008 International Association of the Study of Lung Cancer
• 2006-2011 FAMRI Young Clinical Investigator Award
• 2008 The Lauri Strauss Leukemia Foundation Discovery grant
• 2009 Nolan Miller Lung Cancer Grant - Doctor’s Cancer Foundation Teaching Experience:
• Tutor of two undergraduate students in Dr. Magli’s laboratory (Institute of Biomedical Technologies, National Research Council of Italy, Pisa, Italy), during their experimental thesis on:

- “Expression of the homeobox-containing gene Otx1 in the hematopoietic murine system (September 1998-April 2000).
- “Effects of Otx1 and Otx2 in the hematopoietic system (September 1999- July 2001).

• Tutor in the Practical Training Course on “Advanced Technologies in Stem Cell Growth and Development” organized by the European Commission and held in Pisa (CNR, Institute of Biomedical Technologies) from May 27th to June 7th, 2002. 

Publications:

Revoltella R.P., Laricchia-Robbio L., Vikinge T., Pardi E., Levantini E., Beffy P.: Human GM-CSF interaction with the a-chain of its receptor studied using surface plasmon resonance. Biosensor & Bioelectronics (1999) 14: 555-567.

Maria Cristina Magli, Elena Levantini and Alessandra Giorgetti: Developmental potential of somatic stem cells in mammalian adults. Journal of Hematotherapy and Stem Cell Research (2000) 9: 961-969.

Elena Levantini, Alessandra Giorgetti, Francesco Cerisoli, Elisabetta Traggiai, Alessandra Guidi, Richard Martin, Dario Acampora, Peter D. Aplan, Gordon Keller, Antonio Simeone, Norman N. Iscove, Trang Hoang, and Maria Cristina Magli. Unsuspected role of the brain morphogenetic gene Otx1 in hematopoiesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. (2003) 100 (18): 10299-10303.

Cairns LA*., Moroni E*., Levantini E., Giorgetti A., Klinger FG., Ronzoni S.,  Tatangelo L., Tiveron C., De Felici M., Dolci S., Magli MC., Giglioni B., Ottolenghi S. Kit regulatory elements required for expression in developing hematopoietic and germ cell lineages. Blood (2003) 102(12): 3954-3962. *equal contribution

Pu Zhang*, Junko Iwasaki-Arai*, Hiromi Iwasaki, Maris L. Fenyus, Tajhal Dayaram, Bronwyn M. Owens, Hirokazu Shigematsu, Elena Levantini, Claudia S. Huettner, Julie A. Lekstrom-Himes, Koichi Akashi, and Daniel G. Tenen. Enhancement of hematopoietic stem cell repopulating capacity and self-renewal in the absence of the transcription factor CCAAT Enhancer Binding protein a. Immunity (2004) 21(6): 853-863.*equal contribution

Daniela S. Bassères*, Elena Levantini*, Hongbin Ji, Stefano Monti, Shannon Elf, Tajhal Dayaram, Maris Fenyus, Olivier Kocher, Todd Golub, Kwok-kin Wong, Balazs Halmos, and Daniel G. Tenen. Respiratory failure due to differentiation arrest and expansion of alveolar cells following lung-specific loss of the transcription factor C/EBPα in mice. *equal contribution. Mol. Cell. Biol. (2006) 26(3): 1109-1123.

Kubo S., Levantini E., Kobayashi S., Kocher O., Halmos B., Tenen D.G. and Takahashi M. In vivo three-dimensional magnetic resonance microscopy of pulmonary solitary tumors in transgenic mice Magn. Reson. Med. (2006) 56: 698-703.

Koschmieder S., D’Alo’ F., Radomska H., Schöneich C., Chang J-S., Konopleva M., Kobayashi S., Levantini E., Suh N., Di Roscio A., Voso M.T., Watt J.C., Santhanam R., Sargin B., Kantarijan H., Andreeff M., Sporn M.B., Perrotti D., Berdel W.E., Müller-Tidow C., Serve H., Tenen D.G. CDDO induces granulocytic differentiation of myeloid leukemic blasts through translational upregulation of p42 CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha. Blood (2007) 110(10): 3695-705.

9. Koschmieder S., Halmos B., Levantini E., Tenen DG. A “differentiated” view on cancer: role of C/EBPa. J Clin Oncol. 2009 Feb 1;27(4):619-28. Epub 2008 Dec 15.

10.Peter Yakov, Comellas Alejandro, Levantini Elena, Ingenito Edward P., Shapiro Steven D. Epidermal growth factor receptor and Claudin-2 participate in A549 permeability and remodeling: implications for non-small cell lung cancer tumor colonization. Mol Carcinog. 2009 Jun;48(6):488-97.

11.Florence Guibal, Meritxell Alberich Jorda, Hideyo Hirai, Alexander Ebralidze, Elena Levantini, Annalisa DiRuscio, Pu Zhang, Barbara Santana-Lemos, Donna Neuberg, Amy Wagers, Eduardo Rego, Daniel G Tenen. Identification of a myeloid committed progenitor as the cancer initiating cell in acute promyelocytic leukemia”. Blood, in press. 

Abstracts:


Magli M.C., Bjornson C.R., Levantini E., Giorgetti A., Rietze R.L., Guidi A., Vescovi A. Neurogenesis and hematopoiesis: crossing pathways? International Symposium on Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantations. Melhouse, France, September 5-8, 1999.

Magli M.C., Giorgetti A., Levantini E. Plasticity of adult stem cells: new experimental strategies and clinical applications. The Sixth National Congress of the Società Italiana di Ematologia Sperimentale. Bologna (BO), Italy, September 26-28, 2000. Haematologica 85 (S9), 2000.

Maria Cristina Magli, Lorenzo Castigliego, Francesca Zammarchi, Alessandra Giorgetti and Elena Levantini. Versatility of somatic stem cells in adult tissues. Congrès Club Hématopoièse et Oncogenèse (CHO) sur “Plasticité Cellulaire”. Giens, France, October 1-4, 2000.

Levantini E., Bertolotti F., Cerisoli F., Zammarchi F., Castigliego L., Giorgetti A., Magli M.C. Molecular analysis of OTX genes in hematopoietic cells. Congresso Italiano di Patologia e Diagnostica Molecolare. Palazzo dei Congressi, Pisa, Italy. September 25-28, 2002. Pathologica, 2002.

Bertolotti F., Cerisoli F., Ferri A., Levantini E., Castigliego L., Ottolenghi S., Nicolis SK., Magli MC. Effects of neural gene Sox2 on primitive hematopoietic precurosr cells. 50 th ABCD Meeting on Developmental Regulation, Castiglioncello, Italy, May 7-9, 2004.

Cerisoli F., Bertolotti F., Levantini E., Ferri A.L., Brescia E., Galvagno D., Ottolenghi S., Nicolis SK., Magli M.C. Novel role of the regulatory gene Sox2 in hematopoiesis. XLVI Congresso Nazionale della Societa’ italiana di Cancerologia. Pisa, Italy, October 24-27, 2004.

Levantini E., Bertolotti F., Cerisoli F., Ferri A.L., Brescia E., Galvagno D., Tenen D.G., Ottolenghi S., Nicolis S.K., Magli M.C. New role of the regulatory gene Sox2 in hematopoiesis. 46th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting. San Diego, CA, USA, December 4-7, 2004. Blood 104 (11), 2004.

Okuno Y., Levantini E., Tatestu H., Mitsuya H., Tenen D.G. Both 5’ and 3’ distal regulatory elements are required for human CD34 gene expression. 46th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting. San Diego, CA, USA, December 4-
7, 2004. Blood 104 (11), 2004Martin R., Sanguin-Gendreau V., Tremblay M., Levantini E., Magli M.C., Hoang T. Regulation of scl expression by the homeodomain protein otx-1 and the erythroid transcription factor GATA-1. 46th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting. San Diego, CA, USA, December 4-7, 2004. Blood 104 (11), 2004

10.Daniela S. Basseres, Balazs Halmos, Elena Levantini, Shannon Elf, Maris Fenyus, Tahjal Dayaram, Stefano Monti, Olivier Kocher, Jeffrey Whitsett, Todd Golub, Daniel G. Tenen. Abnormal differentiation and hyperproliferation of alveolar cells in a mouse model of lung-specific loss of the transcription factor C/EBPa. Lung Spore Winter Meeting. San Diego, CA, February 22-23, 2005.

11.Daniela S. Basseres, Balazs Halmos, Elena Levantini, Shannon Elf, Maris Fenyus, Tahjal Dayaram, Stefano Monti, Olivier Kocher, Jeffrey Whitsett, Todd Golub, Daniel G. Tenen. Abnormal differentiation and hyperproliferation of alveolar cells in a mouse model of lung-specific loss of the transcription factor C/EBPa. 96th Annual Meeting American Association Cancer Research (AACR) Anaheim, CA, April 16-20, 2005.

12.Steffen Koschmieder, Francesco D’Alo’, Hanna Radomska, Susumu Kobayashi, Elena Levantini, Nanjoo Suh, Michael B. Sporn, Wolfang E. Berdel, Carsten Müller-Tidow, Hubert Serve, Daniel G. Tenen. CDDO incresease CEBPa function by a translational mechanism. Wilsede Meeting on Acute Leukemias, Wilsede, Germany 2005.

13.Cerisoli F., Bertolotti F., Galvagno D., Antonelli V., Levantini E. and Magli M.C. Role of Otx1 in myelomonocytic progenitors differentiation. 51st ABCD Meeting on Developmental Regulation, Castiglioncello, Italy, May 13-15, 2005.

14.Steffen Koschmieder, Francesco D’Alo’, Hanna Radomska, Susumu Kobayashi, Elena Levantini, Nanjoo Suh, Michael B. Sporn, Wolfang E. Berdel, Carsten Müller-Tidow, Hubert Serve, Daniel G. Tenen. CDDO increases translation of CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha and leads to granulocytic differentiation independent of induction of apoptosis. 47th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting. New Orleans, LA, USA, December 3-6, 2005. Blood 106 (11), 2005.

15.Elena Levantini, Francesco Cerisoli, Francesca Bertolotti, Valentina Antonelli, Daniele Galvagno, Daniel G. Tenen, Trang Hoang, Cristina M. Magli. Role of Otx1 in the differentiation of myelo-monocytic precursors. 47th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting. Atlanta, GA, USA, December 10-13, 2005. Blood 106 (11), 2005.

16.Elena Levantini, Yutaka Okuno, Pu Zhang, Steffen Koschmieder, Hanna S. Radomska, Maris Fenyus, Maureen Guiney, Daniel G. Tenen. 3’ distal regulatory elements required for human CD34 expression in transgenic mice. 47th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting. Atlanta, GA USA, December 10-13, 2005. Blood 106 (11), 2005.

17.Cerisoli F., Levantini E., Hoang T., Magli M.C. Otx genes in hematopoiesis. EMBO/SEMM Workshop on Homeodomain proteins, hematopoietic development and leukemias. Riva del Garda, Italy, March 23-25, 2006.

18.Elena Levantini, Daniela S. Bassères, Hongbin Ji, Stefano Monti Carla Bender Kim, Shannon Elf, Chris Hetherington, Olivier Kocher, Todd Golub, Tyler Jacks, Kwok-kin Wong, Balazs Halmos, and Daniel G. Tenen. The transcription factor C/EBPa in lung development and cancer. 97th Annual Meeting American Association Cancer Research (AACR) Washington, DC, April 1-5, 2006.

19.Takahashi M., Kubo S., Levantini E., Kobayashi S., Kocher O., and Tenen D.G. Three-dimensional magnetic resonance microscopy of pulmonary solitary tumors in transgenic mice. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Seattle, WA, May 6-12, 2006.

20.Elena Levantini, Daniela S. Bassères, Hongbin Ji, Stefano Monti Carla Bender Kim, Shannon Elf, Chris Hetherington, Olivier Kocher, Todd Golub, Tyler Jacks, Kwok-kin Wong, Balazs Halmos, and Daniel G. Tenen. The transcription factor C/EBPa in lung development and cancer. HSCI Retreat, Cambridge, MA, June 16th, 2006.

21.Koschmieder S., D’Alo’ F., Radomska H., Schöneich C., Chang J-S., Konopleva M., Kobayashi S., Levantini E., Suh N., Di Roscio A., Voso M.T., Andreeff M., Perrotti D., Sporn M.B., Berdel W.E., Müller-Tidow C., Serve H., Tenen D.G. CDDO induces granulocytic differentiation through translational upregulation of C/EBPa. International Conference on Differentiation Therapy, Versailles, France, November 4-8th, 2006.

22.Elena Levantini, Daniela S. Bassères, Hongbin Ji, Stefano Monti Carla Bender Kim, Shannon Elf, Chris Hetherington, Olivier Kocher, Todd Golub, Tyler Jacks, Kwok-kin Wong, Balazs Halmos, and Daniel G. Tenen. The transcription factor C/EBPa in lung development and cancer. The 3rd IABMR Annual Scientific Meeting on “Dynamic Biomedical Research”, Boston, MA, USA, December 7th, 2006.

23.Britta Will, Claudia Scholl, Ulrich G. Steidl, Elena Levantini, Claudia S. Huettner, Heike L. Pahl, and Daniel G. Tenen. Role of Nuclear factor-erythroid derived 2 (NF-E2) in normal and malignant hematopoiesis. EHA, Vienna, Austria, June  2007.

24.Koschmieder S., D’Alo’ F., Radomska H., Schöneich C., Chang J-S., Konopleva M., Kobayashi S., Levantini E., Suh N., Di Roscio A., Voso M.T., Watt J.C., Santhanam R., Sargin B., Kantarijan H., Andreeff M., Sporn M.B., Perrotti D., Berdel W.E., Müller-Tidow C., Serve H., and Tenen D.G. CDDO induces granulocytic differentiation of myeloid leukemic blasts through translational upregulation of p42 CCAAT enhancer binding protein alpha. Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der Deutschen, Österreichischen und Schweizerischen Gesellschaften für Hämatologie und Onkologie. Basel, Switzerland, October 2007.

25.Yakov Peter, John J Reilly, Elena Levantini, Steven D Shapiro, Edward P Ingenito. Donor lung reparative cells integrate into the murine alveolus. The 4th IABMR Annual Scientific Meeting on “Dynamic Biomedical Research on Cancer”, Boston, MA, USA, December 6th, 2007.

26.Elena Levantini, Claudia S Huettner, Yutaka Okuno, Brendan Harley, Pu Zhang, Daniela Basseres, Junyan Zhang, Leslie E Silberstein, Daniel G. Tenen. Generation of a transgenic inducible system to target the hematopoietic stem cells. The 4th IABMR Annual Scientific Meeting on “Dynamic Biomedical Research on Cancer”, Boston, MA, USA, December 6th, 2007.

27.Brendan A. Harley, John E. Mahoney, Elena Levantini, Shin-Young Park, Yi Le, John P. Manis, Steffen Massberg, Uli von Andrian, Daniel G. Tenen, Alexei Protopopov, Leslie E. Silberstein. Image cytometry analysis of HSC niches and B-cell development in the bone marrow. The 4th IABMR Annual Scientific Meeting on “Dynamic Biomedical Research on Cancer”, Boston, MA, USA, December 6th, 2007.

28.Gang Huang, Pu Zhang, Alexander Ebralidze, Jun-Yan Zhang, Christopher J. Hetherington, Florence Guibal, Britta Will, Elena Levantini, Daniel G. Tenen. Unique and cooperative roles of AML1 and PU.1 on PU.1 –14 kb upstream regulatory element. The 4th IABMR Annual Scientific Meeting on “Dynamic Biomedical Research on Cancer”, Boston, MA, USA, December 6th, 2007.

29.Daniela Basseres, Elena Levantini, William Funkhouser, Scott Randell and Albert Baldwin. The NF-kB subunit p65/RelA limits tumor-associated inflammation in K-Ras-mediated lung cancer. AACR 2008.

30.Elena Levantini, Daniela S. Bassères, Chris Hetherington, Olivier Kocher, Sima Zacharek, Karen O’Brien, Carla Kim, Tyler Jacks, Balazs Halmos, and Daniel G. Tenen. The transcription factor C/EBPa in lung development and cancer. FAMRI Symposium, Boston, MA, May 11-14th, 2008.

31.Daniela Basseres, Elena Levantini, William Funkhouser, Scott Randell and Albert Baldwin. The NF-kB subunit p65/RelA limits tumor-associated inflammation in K-Ras-mediated lung cancer. FAMRI Symposium, Boston, MA, May 11-14th, 2008.

32.Elena Levantini, Claudia S Huettner, Yutaka Okuno, Brendan Harley, Pu Zhang, Daniela Basseres, Junyan Zhang, Leslie E Silberstein, Daniel G. Tenen. Generation of a transgenic inducible system to target the hematopoietic stem cells. HSCI Retreat, Cambridge, MA, June 20th, 2008.

33.Brendan A. Harley, Elena Levantini, John E. Mahoney, Cesar Nombela Arrieta, Daniel G. Tenen, Alexei Protopopov, Leslie E. Silberstein. In vitro stem cell analog development: Image cytometry analysis of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in the bone marrow. AIChE Meeting, Phildalelphia, November 16-21st, 2008.

34.Pu Zhang, Gang Huang, Alexander Ebralidze, Jun-Yan Zhang, Annalisa DiRuscio, Christopher Hetherington, Elena Levantini, Daniel G. Tenen. Genetics and epigenetics of PU.1 URE-AML sites in PU.1 URE is critical for AML/ETO9a induced Leukemia. ASH Meeting 2008, San Diego, CA, USA.

35.Cesar Nombela-Arrieta, Brendan Harley, Elena Levantini, John E Mahoney, Gregory Pivarnik, Alexei Protopopov, Daniel G Tenen and Leslie E Silberstein. Spatial analysis of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in the bone marrow. ASH Meeting 2008, San Diego, CA, USA.

36. Elena Levantini, Daniela S. Bassères, Carla Bender Kim, JunYan Zhang, Chris Hetherington, Gottfried Von Keudell, Karen O’Brien, Pu Zhang, Olivier Kocher, Tyler Jacks, Balazs Halmos, and Daniel G. Tenen. C/EBPa in lung development and cancer. C/EBPa in lung development and cancer. Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, May 6th, 2009.

37.Elena Levantini, Daniela S. Bassères, Carla Bender Kim, JunYan Zhang, Chris Hetherington, Pu Zhang, Olivier Kocher, Tyler Jacks, Kwok-kin Wong, Balazs Halmos, and Daniel G. Tenen The transcription factor C/EBPa in lung development and cancer. FAMRI Symposium, Boston, MA, May 11-13th, 2009.

38.Florence C. Guibal, Hideyo Hirai, Alexander Ebralidze, Meritxell Alberich-Jorda, Elena Levantini, Pu Zhang, Barbara A.Santana-Lemos, Donna Neuberg, Eduardo M. Rego, Daniel G. Tenen. Identification of a myeloid committed progenitor as the cancer initiating cell in murine acute promyelocytic leukemia. International Society Stem Cell Research, Barcelona, Spain, July 7-11, 2009.

39.Elena Levantini, Daniela S. Bassères, Carla Bender Kim, JunYan Zhang, Chris Hetherington, Gottfried Von Keudell, Karen O’Brien, Pu Zhang, Olivier Kocher, Tyler Jacks, Balazs Halmos, and Daniel G. Tenen. C/EBPa in lung development and cancer. International Society Stem Cell Research, Barcelona, Spain, July 7-11, 2009.