Francesca Nazio
Cell biologist at the University of Rome Tor Vergata who, in Francesco Cecconi's lab, showed how mTOR keeps autophagy switched off by acting on AMBRA1 and the starter kinase ULK1
Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata (papers to 2026) · Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Cecconi lab (2013)
Autophagy is the cell's recycling system: when food is short, cells wrap up worn-out parts and break them down for raw materials. mTORC1, the growth-control complex, keeps autophagy off when nutrients are plentiful. Francesca Nazio is first author of a 2013 paper from Francesco Cecconi's group at the Dulbecco Telethon Institute in Rome that explained one way it does this (NAZ2013). The kinase ULK1 starts autophagy. To work well it needs the helper protein AMBRA1 and the enzyme TRAF6, which together add ubiquitin chains to ULK1, stabilise it and help it cluster. mTOR phosphorylates AMBRA1 and so blocks this step; when mTOR is switched off, AMBRA1 is freed and autophagy can begin. The experiments were done in cultured cells.
Nazio has stayed at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, with more than 60 papers on PubMed. Recent work includes a 2024 review with Silvia Campello's group on how cancer cells take up mitochondria from healthy neighbours to gain energy and resist treatment, and a 2026 study on how the heme-making enzyme ferrochelatase shapes the metabolism and staying power of CAR T cells used against the childhood cancer neuroblastoma. The current job title could not be confirmed.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | M | mTOR inhibits autophagy by controlling ULK1 ubiquitylation, self-association and function through AMBRA1 and TRAF6 NAZ2013 First author: showed that mTOR blocks autophagy by phosphorylating AMBRA1, preventing TRAF6-driven ubiquitylation, stabilisation and self-association of ULK1. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 2
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Francesca Nazio.
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- Francesco Cecconi Discovered AMBRA1, a regulator of autophagy, and showed how mTOR restrains autophagy by acting on AMBRA1 and ULK1.
- Jörn Dengjel Mass-spectrometry proteomics specialist in autophagy and protein homeostasis; co-author on the TBK1/ULK1–TFEB lysosomal stress pathway and on the spermidine lifespan and cardioprotection study.
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