Nicola Zamboni
Group leader at ETH Zurich's Institute of Molecular Systems Biology who develops mass spectrometry methods to measure hundreds of metabolites at once, used in many collaborations on cell metabolism
Group leader, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zurich (since 2005) · postdoc, Stanford Genome Technology Center (2004) · PhD, Institute of Biotechnology, ETH Zurich, Jay Bailey group (2003)
Portrait: ETH Zurich, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology
Nicola Zamboni is a co-author of two Atlas studies that measured cell metabolism. GEI2016 tracked metabolites and proteins in activated human T cells and found that the amino acid L-arginine drops sharply after activation; raising L-arginine pushed the cells toward oxidative metabolism, made them live longer and improved their anti-tumor activity in a mouse model. DEM2026 found that losing the enzyme IDH3A in leukemic stem cells of acute myeloid leukemia slows the citric acid cycle and raises citrate, which switches on AMPK, turns down mTORC1 and makes the cells more sensitive to the drug venetoclax.
In both studies the key data came from metabolomics, the large-scale measurement of small molecules in cells. Zamboni earned a PhD at ETH Zurich in 2003 in the group of Jay Bailey at the Institute of Biotechnology, working on metabolic engineering and 13C flux analysis, a method that follows carbon atoms from a labelled nutrient to see which metabolic routes a cell uses. A postdoc at the Stanford Genome Technology Center from 2004 added mass spectrometry and metabolomics in eukaryotic cells.
Zamboni returned to ETH Zurich in 2005 and leads a group at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology. The lab builds mass spectrometry, metabolomics and stable-isotope tracer methods, together with software for analysing the data, to measure how whole metabolic networks respond inside living cells. More than 30 papers are shared with Uwe Sauer, a systems biologist at the same institute, and many others are collaborations in microbiology, immunology, aging and cancer biology.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | M | L-Arginine Modulates T Cell Metabolism and Enhances Survival and Anti-tumor Activity GEI2016 Co-author: contributed metabolomics to the study showing that raised L-arginine shifts activated T cells to oxidative metabolism and improves their survival. |
| 2026 | M | IDH3 regulates citrate homeostasis to control metabolic fitness and venetoclax resistance of AML stem cells DEM2026 Co-author: contributed metabolite measurements to the study linking IDH3A loss, citrate build-up, AMPK activation and lower mTORC1 activity in AML stem cells. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 4
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Nicola Zamboni.
ShowHide
- Antonio Lanzavecchia Human immunologist known for work on antigen presentation, memory T and B cells and methods for isolating human monoclonal antibodies; senior author of the study showing that L-arginine changes T-cell metabolism and survival independently of mTOR.
- Aykut Demir Leukaemia researcher at Heidelberg University and first author of the 2026 study showing that the enzyme IDH3 keeps acute myeloid leukaemia stem cells metabolically fit and resistant to venetoclax
- Roger Geiger Studies how metabolism regulates T-cell responses against tumours; first author of the study showing that raising L-arginine shifts human T cells towards oxidative metabolism and longer survival, an effect the authors found to be independent of mTOR.
- Simon Raffel Studies metabolic vulnerabilities of leukemia stem cells; senior author on a 2026 Blood paper on IDH3, citrate and mTORC1 in AML stem cell drug resistance
Every researcher with a profile →
Thank you. That helps us know which pages have been read by someone who knows the work.
Thank you. We will check it and correct the page.
Thank you. Your answer was counted anonymously.