Luca Gessa, MSc

Luca Gessa completed the bachelor degree at the University of Sassari in Biological Sciences in Italy. Then he completed the master degree in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Oslo, Norway, with the thesis: Characterization of an evolutionary conserved human methyltransferase. The result obtained during the master thesis are included in a manuscript published in 2021 (doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab088).

He has joined the Integrated Structural Biology lab at ICTER in March 2021. His research will focus on the structure and the functions the proteins involved in the visual cycle.

Kaushik V, Gessa L, Kumar N, Fernandes H. “Towards a New Biomarker for Diabetic Retinopathy: Exploring RBP3 Structure and Retinoids Binding for Functional Imaging of Eyes In Vivo.” Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 23;24(5):4408.
Małecki JM, Odonohue MF, Kim Y, Jakobsson ME, Gessa L, Pinto R, Wu J, Davydova E, Moen A, Olsen JV, Thiede B, Gleizes PE, Leidel SA, Falnes PØ. Human METTL18 is a histidine-specific methyltransferase that targets RPL3 and affects ribosome biogenesis and function. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 Apr 6;49(6):3185-3203.

Research groups

Research aims to elucidate the mechanisms of vision, particularly proteins of the phototransduction pathway and the visual cycle, at an atomic and molecular level.

Projects

17.12.2024

Bridging biology and optics

Two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF) is emerging as a powerful imaging technique with superior penetration power in scattering media, allowing for functional imaging of biological tissues at a subcellular level. TPEF is commonly used in cancer diagnostics, as it enables the direct observation of metabolism within living cells. The technique is now widely used in various […]

17.12.2024

Searching new biomarkers of Diabetic retinopathy (DR)

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a severe disease with a growing number of afflicted patients, which places a heavy burden on society, both socially and financially. While there are treatments available, they are not always effective and are usually administered when the disease is already at a developed stage with visible clinical manifestation. However, homeostasis at […]