People

Dr. Giulio Agnetti is an Assistant Professor at the University of Bologna and the founder of the Center for Research on Cardiac Intermediate Filaments (CRCIF). Originally established at Johns Hopkins University within the Division of Cardiology, the CRCIF recently relocated to Bologna and is dedicated to investigating the pathophysiological role of intermediate filaments in cardiovascular disease, with a particular focus on the protein desmin.

Desmin is the main intermediate filament protein in cardiac muscle and is essential for maintaining cardiomyocyte structural integrity. Its cleavage and misfolding are consistent markers of cardiac dysfunction across a range of experimental models and clinical samples. The accumulation of cleaved or misfolded desmin disrupts the highly organized architecture of the cardiac cell, contributing directly to contractile dysfunction. Moreover, protein misfolding is increasingly recognized as a key mechanism in cardiovascular pathology.

Dr. Agnetti’s research combines molecular and cellular biology, advanced biochemical techniques, experimental models of heart disease, and human tissue analysis to explore how desmin's functional loss and toxic gain-of-function can be therapeutically targeted. His team aims to leverage basic science to uncover strategies for preventing or mitigating cardiac dysfunction, while also using cardiac disease models as a “material lab” to better understand the fundamental biology of intermediate filaments.

I am a computational biologist working on advanced proteomics, applied machine learning and dynamical simulation modeling to investigate protein structure and function in complex biological systems.

In particular, my research focuses on desmin and related post-translational modifications influencing proteostasis, gel-like phase transitions and aggregation propensity, which often occur in pathological conditions such as cardiac remodeling and heart failure.

I study the role of desmin and its post-translational modifications in pathological conditions such as heart failure, combining methodological development with data analysis to uncover disease mechanisms. I also have experience with primary cardiomyocyte cultures and work with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which I differentiate into cardiomyocytes to study cardiac biology in physiologically relevant models.