Research Groups
Molecular Hematology
Group Leader
Research Interests and DescriptionGroup Members
Montertondo Outstation
Molecular Hematology Laboratory
Monterotondo Outstation
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
CNR Campus "Adriano Buzzati-Traverso"
Via E. Ramarini 32
I-00016 Monterotondo Scalo (Rome)
ITALY
E-mail: efremov@icgeb.org
Tel: +39-06-90091300
Fax: +39-06-90091260
Education
Faculty of Medicine, University of St. Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, Macedonia, MD, 1986State exam and license for Medical practice, 1989
University of Limburg, Maastricht, The Netherlands, PhD., 1994
Faculty of Medicine, Univ. St. Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, Macedonia, Specialist in Internal Medicine-Hematology, 1999
Career History
Since 2004, Staff Scientist and Head of the ICGEB Molecular Hematology Group at the Monterotondo Outstation, Rome, Italy.Since 2001, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, Skopje, Macedonia.
1998-2001, Assistant Professor, Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, Skopje, Macedonia.
1994-1997, Assistant Research Scientist, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Trieste, Italy.
1993, Visiting Scientist, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Ga, USA.
1992, Post-doctoral fellow, ICGEB, Trieste, Italy.
1990-1992, Resident, Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, Skopje, Macedonia.
1988-1989, Research Associate, Research Center for New Technologies, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje.
1987, Visiting Scientist, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Ga, USA.
Teaching Activity
Since 2004, external lecturer at the School for Specialization in Hematology, Catholic University Hospital "A. Gemelli", Rome.Since 2001, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Skopje, Macedonia.
1998-2002, lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies in Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, University "St. Cyril and Methodius", Skopje.
1998-2001, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Skopje.
Scientific Activity
His research interests encompass many aspects of hematological and immunological disorders, especially hematological malignancies, autoimmune cytopenias and the thalassemias. Most of the current research is related to the investigation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing the development and progression of B-cell neoplasms, in particular chronic lymphocytic leukemia and B-cell lymphomas. Novel biologic prognostic markers and therapeutic strategies are also an area of major interest.Other Activities
Member of several international associations and expert groups, including the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the UNESCO expert committee for scientific cooperation in Southeast Europe, the National Committee for Registration of Medicines and the MASA committee on the National strategy for the development of the health sector in the Republic of Macedonia, and the Editorial Board of the Balkan Journal of Medical Genetics. Served also as consultant physician for the European Commission office in Macedonia.Selected publications
Carsetti, L., Laurenti, L., Gobessi, S., Longo, P.G., Leone, G., Efremov, D.G. 2009. Phosphorylation of the activation loop tyrosines is required for sustained Syk signaling and growth factor-independent B-cell proliferation. Cell Signal. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2009.03.007Tolusso, B., De Santis, M., Bosello, S., Gremese, E., Gobessi, S., Cuoghi, I., Totaro, M.C., Bigotti, G., Rumi, C., Efremov, D.G., Ferraccioli, G. 2009. Synovial B cells of rheumatoid arthritis express ZAP-70 which increases the survival and correlates with the inflammatory and autoimmune phenotype. Clin Immunol. 131, 98-108
Gobessi, S., Laurenti, L., Longo, P.G., Carsetti, L., Berno, V., Sica, S., Leone, G., Efremov, D.G. 2009. Inhibition of constitutive and BCR-induced Syk activation downregulates Mcl-1 and induces apoptosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia B-cells. Leukemia. 23, 686-697
Bomben, R., Dal Bo, M., Capello, D., Forconi, F., Maffei, R., Laurenti, L., Rossi, D., Del Principe, M.I., Zucchetto, A., Bertoni, F., Rossi. F.M., Bulian, P., Cattarossi, I., Ilariucci, F., Sozzi, E., Spina, V., Zucca, E., Degan, M., Lauria, F., Del Poeta, G., Efremov, D.G., Marasca, R., Gaidano, G., Gattei, V. 2009. Molecular and clinical features of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia with stereotyped B cell receptors: results from an Italian multicentre study. Br J Haematol. 144, 492-506
Laurenti, L., Tarnani, M., Innocenti, I., Savino, G., Battendieri, R., Larocca, L.M., Chiusolo, P., Sorà, F., Sica, S., Efremov, D., Leone, G. 2008. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia With Eyelid Involvement Responding to Alemtuzumab. J Clin Oncol. 26, 5299-5301
Laurenti, L., Tarnani, M., De Padua, L., Efremov, D.G., Zini, G., Garzia, M., Piccirillo, N., Chiusolo, P., Sorà, F., Innocenti, I., Sica, S., Leone, G. 2008. Oral fludarabine and cyclophosphamide as front-line chemotherapy in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The impact of biological parameters in the response duration. Ann Hematol. 87, 891-898
Longo, P., Laurenti, L., Gobessi, S., Sica, S., Leone, G., Efremov, D.G. 2008. The Akt/Mcl-1 pathway plays a prominent role in mediating antiapoptotic signals downstream of the B-cell receptor in chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells. Blood 111, 846-855
Efremov, D.G., Gobessi, S., Longo, P.G. 2007 Signaling pathways activated by antigen-receptor engagement in chronic lymphocytic leukemia B-cells. Autoimmun Rev. 7, 102-108
Deaglio, S., Vaisitti, T., Aydin, S., Bergui, L., D'Arena, G., Bonello, L., Omede, P., Scatolini, M., Jaksic, O., Chiorino, G., Efremov, D., Malavasi, F. 2007. CD38 and ZAP-70 are functionally linked and mark CLL cells with high migratory potential. Blood 110, 4012-4021
Laurenti, L., Tarnani, M., Efremov, D.G., Chiusolo, P., Lai, M., De Padua, L., Sica, S., Leone, G. 2007. Efficacy and safety of low-dose alemtuzumab as treatment of autoimmune hemolytic anemia in pretreated B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Leukemia 21, 1819-1821
Bomben, R., Dal-Bo, M., Capello, D., Benedetti, D., Marconi, D., Zucchetto, A., Forconi, F., Maffei, R., Ghia, E.M., Laurenti, L., Bulian, P., Del Principe, M.I., Palermo, G., Thorsélius, M., Degan, M., Campanini, R., Guarini, A., Del Poeta, G., Rosenquist, R., Efremov, D.G., Marasca, R., Foà, R., Gaidano, G., Gattei, V. 2007. Comprehensive characterization of IGHV3-21-expressing B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: an Italian multicenter study. Blood 109, 2989-2998
Gobessi, S., Laurenti, L., Longo, P.G., Sica, S., Leone, G., Efremov, D.G. 2007. ZAP-70 enhances B-cell receptor signaling despite absent or inefficient tyrosine kinase activation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and lymphoma B-cells. Blood 109, 2032-2039
Longo, P., Laurenti, L., Gobessi, S., Petlickovski, A., Pelosi, M., Chiusolo, P., Sica, S., Leone, G., Efremov, D.G. 2007. The Akt signaling pathway determines the different proliferative capacity of chronic lymphocytic leukemia B-cells from patients with progressive and stable disease. Leukemia 21, 110-120
Panovska-Stavridis, I., Ivanovski, M., Siljanovski, N., Cevreska, L., Efremov, D.G. 2007. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with a V1-69 gene rearrangement do not have inferior survival with respect to patients that express other unmutated V(H) genes. Leuk Res. 31, 245-248
Laurenti, L., Piccioni, P., Tarnani, M., De Padua L, Garzia M, Efremov DG, Piccirillo N, Chiusolo P, Sica S, Leone G. Low-dose thalidomide in combination with oral fludarabine and cyclophosphamide is ineffective in heavily pre-treated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Leuk Res. 2007; 31:253-6.
Yan, X.J., Albesiano, E., Zanesi, N., Yancopoulos, S., Sawyer, A., Romano, E., Petlickovski, A., Efremov, D.G., Croce, C.M., Chiorazzi, N. 2006. B cell receptors in TCL1 transgenic mice resemble those of aggressive, treatment-resistant human chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103, 11713-11718
Capello, D., Zucchetto, A., Degan, M., Bomben, R., Dal Bo, M., Efremov, D.G., Laurenti, L., Del Poeta, G., Gaidano, G., Gattei, V. 2006. Immunophenotypic characterization of IgVH3-72 B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL). Leuk Res. 30, 1197-1199
Laurenti, L., Petlickovski, A., Rumi, C., Gobessi, S., Piccioni, P., Tarnani, M., Puggioni, P., Marrietti, S., Sica, S., Leone, G., Efremov, D.G. 2005. Comparison of ZAP-70/Syk mRNA levels with immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene mutation status and disease progression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Haematologica 90, 1533-1540
Petlickovski, A., Laurenti, L., Li, X., Marietti, S., Chiusolo, P., Sica, S., Leone, G., Efremov, D.G. 2005. Sustained signaling through the B-cell receptor induces Mcl-1 and promotes survival of chronic lymphocytic leukemia B-cells. Blood 105, 4820-4827
Laurenti, L., Piccioni, P., Tarnani, M., Efremov, D.G., Fiorini, A., Garzia, M., Sica, S. 2005. Low-dose intravenous alemtuzumab therapy in pretreated patients affected by chronic lymphocytic leukemia. A single center experience. Haematologica 90, 1143-1145
Messmer, B.T., Albesiano, E., Efremov, D.G., Ghiotto, F., Allen, S.L., Kolitz, J., Foa, R., Damle, R.N., Fais, F., Messmer, D., Rai, K.R., Ferrarini, M., Chiorazzi, N. 2004. Multiple distinct sets of stereotyped antigen receptors indicate a role for antigen in promoting chronic lymphocytic leukemia. J. Exp. Med. 200, 519-525
Laurenti, L., Piccioni, P., Cattani, P., Cingolani, A., Efremov, D., Chiusolo, P., Tarnani, M., Fadda, G., Sica, S., Leone, G. 2004. Cytomegalovirus reactivation during alemtuzumab therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia: incidence and treatment with oral ganciclovir. Haematologica 89, 1248-1252
Efremov, D.G., Georgievski, B., Cevreska, L., Pivkova, A., Panovska, I. 2003. Lamivudine treatment for acute hepatitis B virus infection during allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 31, 515-516
Pavkovic, M., Georgievski, B., Cevreska, L., Spiroski, M., Efremov, D.G. 2003. CTLA-4 exon 1 polymorphism in patients with autoimmune blood disorders. Am. J. Hematol. 72, 147-914
