How are these principles disrupted in neurodevelopmental disorders and hijacked in brain tumors?
We investigate how cell morphology may causally shape cellular function in brain development, evolution and disease. We are located at Human Technopole in Milan, Italy.
We seek to uncover the cellular logic by which the cerebral cortex is built, with a particular focus on how neural stem cell morphology instructs proliferation, fate and tissue architecture during development and evolution.
Read moreWe focus on understanding how brain tumors exploit cellular programs of growth, plasticity and cell-cell interaction, with a particular focus on the role of cancer stem cell morphology in tumor progression.
Read morecombining cell biology, genomics, microscopy and quantitative analysis applied to basic and translational questions in neuroscience and neuro-oncology.
Neuro-Oncology · 2026
Barelli C., Bonfanti M., Mirabella F., Ricca D., Alizadehmohajer N., Bosotti R., Bertani I., Sokolova V., Campione A., Sicuri G.M., Peano C., Faletti S., Stefini R. and Kalebic N.
Here we link glioblastoma stem cell morphology with clinically relevant functions. We developed CellShape-seq which integrates cell morphology with transcriptomics, revealing three distinct morphoclasses of glioblastoma stem cell linked to invasion, intercellular networking and therapy response. We further show that chemoresistance has morphotype-specific vulnerabilities. Targeting these morphoclass-specific mechanisms sensitizes resistant GSCs to temozolomide, supporting morphology-informed therapeutic strategies for GBM.
DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noag235Nature Genetics · 2026
Francesco Iorio, Mathew J. Garnett, Pedro Beltrao, Maximilian Billmann, Larissa Bless, Christoph Bock, Michael Boutros, Alejandra Bruna, Piero Carninci, Giovanni Ciriello, Isidro Cortés-Ciriano, Giuseppina D’Alessandro, Roberta Esposito, Stefania Faletti, Emanuel Gonçalves, Syed Haider, Nereo Kalebic, Manuel Kaulich, Giuseppe Leuzzi, Nuria Lopez-Bigas, Christopher J. Lord, Evangelia Petsalaki, Stephen Pettitt, Ludovica Proietti, Roland Rad, Nevenka Radic, Colm J. Ryan, Jonathan L. Schmid-Burgk, Sumana Sharma, Andrea Sottoriva, Christopher Tape, Livio Trusolino, Jolanda van Leeuwen, David Walter, Lodewyk Wessels & the PRECISE consortium
Together with 30 other research groups, the Kalebic Lab is part of PRECISE (Predictive Relationships Explaining Cancer Genetic Interactions and Synthetic Essentiality), a pan-European network coordinated by Francesco Iorio from Human Technopole, that aims to combine high-throughput perturbation biology, multimodal profiling and AI-driven inference to predict cancer vulnerabilities in disease-relevant models. The vision and the mission of PRECISE have now been presented in a Nature Genetics commentary.
DOI: 10.1038/s41588-026-02658-z
Mouse cortical neurons and astrocytes grown in 2D cell culture. MAP2 (red), GFAP (white), nuclei (cyan). Acquired by Ilaria Bertani.
Updates on publications, people, awards, and major collaborative efforts.
PUBLICATION
October 21, 2026
Our CellShape-seq study, published in Neuro-Oncology, shows that the shape of glioblastoma stem-like cells reveals their behaviour, how they resist therapy and where they are vulnerable to it.
PhD Vivas
October 17, 2026
Two PhD vivas in one week: congratulations to our two newest doctors, Carlotta Barelli and Emanuele Capra, who both defended their theses brilliantly!
retreat
October 1, 2026
The Kalebic Lab spent three days at a centuries-old monastery on the Ligurian coast, brainstorming new projects, practising yoga by the sea, and cooking together as a team.
For collaborations or scientific questions, contact the lab directly or use official institutional channels.
