Nerviano Medical Sciences: the SIF - Farmindustria prize for pharmacological research awarded to Paolo Cappella

Nerviano, Italy 14th October 2009 - A young researcher at Nerviano Medical Sciences (NMS), Paolo Cappella, has been awarded one of the "Prizes for Pharmacological Research" set up by SIF (Italian Society of Pharmacology)  and Farmindustria (Italian Association for the Pharmaceutical Industry). Paolo Cappella, senior researcher in the Flow Cytometry unit of the NMS Department of Cell Biology, was awarded the prize for his studies in the field of multiplex analysis that have led to the identification of a novel in vitro assay for cell diagnosis.
"The awarding of this prize marks the recognition of the worthiness of industrial research carried out by Nerviano Medical Sciences and its high potential for innovation" states Prof. Umberto Rosa - President of NMS .
A singular feature of cancer cells is their ability to proliferate in an uncontrolled manner. The traditional method used to study cell proliferation in research labs quantifies DNA duplication in proliferating cells, but the methods employed destroy cell proteins, thus rendering multiplex analysis, i.e. the simultaneous analysis of different parameters within a single cell, impossible. 
The method set up by Dr Paolo Cappella in the laboratories of the Nerviano Research Centre overcomes these limitations of the traditional method used to investigate cell proliferation. Through use of a reagent known as 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine and a specific antibody, it is now possible to determine simultaneously and simply in a single cell not only cell proliferation, but also other parameters inherent to the characterization of cancer cells, such as the presence of tumour markers or other cell proteins that previous methods were not capable of investigating simultaneously.  
The cell proliferation quantification assay set up by Paolo Cappella has provided a highly significant scientific contribution, proving more effective than traditional assays in view of the possibility of performing multiplex analysis and is also accompanied by a higher degree of sensitivity and reproducibility. Moreover, in addition to applications in the field of oncology, the method may also be applied in studies related to other diseases involving cell proliferation, such as immune and inflammatory diseases.
The results of the above studies have recently been published in the journal "Cytometry" and in "Current Protocols of Cytometry". The award ceremony will take place October 14^th at the opening session of the 34th National Congress of SIF in Rimini.

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