Address book
Contacts
DAVIDE MALFACINI
Position
Ricercatore a tempo det. art. 24 c. 3 lett. A L. 240/2010
Address
LARGO E. MENEGHETTI, 2 -PADOVA
Telephone
I am an assistant professor (RTD-A) at the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences at the University of Padua. My research focuses on the pharmacology of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), with particular attention to the development and characterization of ligands and functional assays. I have solid experience in the molecular pharmacology of opioid receptors, G proteins, and arrestins, contributing to studies on pain, behavior, obesity, and metabolism.
I earned my PhD in Pharmacology and Molecular Oncology at the University of Ferrara, where I worked on the development of new ligands and assays for opioid receptors. My training has been enriched through international research experiences at the University of Leicester (UK), the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Rome), and the University of Bonn (Germany), where I applied techniques such as receptor binding, bioluminescence, transcriptomics, lipolysis assays, second messenger measurements, and label-free technologies. At the University of Bonn, I also worked with tissue-specific knockout animal models and employed CRISPR/Cas9 and lentiviral systems for gene overexpression to investigate the function of specific GPCRs in adipose tissue.
Currently, I am investigating the functional role of various receptors (e.g., NOP, NPSR, PAR2, and ectopic olfactory receptors) in experimental models relevant to diverse physiological and pathological conditions.
Notices
Office hours
email to davide.malfacini@unipd.it
Publications
Ten selected publications
- Malfacini, D., & Pfeifer, A. (2023). GPCR in Adipose Tissue Function-Focus on Lipolysis. Biomedicines, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11020588
- Piekielna-Ciesielska, J., Malfacini, D., Djeujo, F. M., Marconato, C., Wtorek, K., Calo’, G., & Janecka, A. (2023). Functional selectivity of EM-2 analogs at the mu-opioid receptor. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 14, 1133961. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2023.1133961
- Sturaro, C., Malfacini, D., Argentieri, M., Djeujo, F. M., Marzola, E., Albanese, V., Ruzza, C., Guerrini, R., Calo’, G., & Molinari, P. (2022). Pharmacology of Kappa Opioid Receptors: Novel Assays and Ligands. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 13, 873082. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.873082
- Voss, J. H., Nagel, J., Rafehi, M., Guixà-González, R., Malfacini, D., Patt, J., Kehraus, S., Inoue, A., König, G. M., Kostenis, E., Deupi, X., Namasivayam, V., & Müller, C. E. (2021). Unraveling binding mechanism and kinetics of macrocyclic Gαq protein inhibitors. Pharmacological Research, 173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2021.105880
- Malfacini, D., Patt, J., Annala, S., Harpsøe, K., Eryilmaz, F., Reher, R., Crüsemann, M., Hanke, W., Zhang, H., Tietze, D., Gloriam, D. E., Bräuner-Osborne, H., Strømgaard, K., König, G. M., Inoue, A., Gomeza, J., & Kostenis, E. (2019). Rational design of a heterotrimeric G protein subunit with artificial inhibitor sensitivity. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 294(15), 5747–5758. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA118.007250
- Malfacini, D., Simon, K., Trapella, C., Guerrini, R., Zaveri, N. T., Kostenis, E., & Calo, G. (2018). NOP receptor pharmacological profile – A dynamic mass redistribution study. PLoS ONE, 13(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203021
- Grundmann, M., Merten, N., Malfacini, D., Inoue, A., Preis, P., Simon, K., Rüttiger, N., Ziegler, N., Benkel, T., Schmitt, N. K., Ishida, S., Müller, I., Reher, R., Kawakami, K., Inoue, A., Rick, U., Kühl, T., Imhof, D., Aoki, J., … Kostenis, E. (2018). Lack of beta-arrestin signaling in the absence of active G proteins. Nature Communications, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02661-3
- Malfacini, D., Ambrosio, C., Gro’, M. C., Sbraccia, M., Trapella, C., Guerrini, R., Bonora, M., Pinton, P., Costa, T., & Calo’, G. (2015). Pharmacological profile of nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptors interacting with G-proteins and β-arrestins 2. PLoS ONE, 10(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132865
- Miller, R. L., Thompson, A. A., Trapella, C., Guerrini, R., Malfacini, D., Patel, N., Han, G. W., Cherezov, V., Caló, G., Katritch, V., & Stevens, R. C. (2015). The Importance of Ligand-Receptor Conformational Pairs in Stabilization: Spotlight on the N/OFQ G Protein-Coupled Receptor. Structure, 23(12), 2291–2299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2015.07.024
- Perlikowska, R., Malfacini, D., Cerlesi, M. C., Calo’, G., Piekielna, J., Floriot, L., Henry, T., Do-Rego, J. C., Tömböly, C., Kluczyk, A., & Janecka, A. (2014). Pharmacological characterization of endomorphin-2-based cyclic pentapeptides with methylated phenylalanine residues. Peptides, 55, 145–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.peptides.2014.03.001
Research Area
Currently, I am investigating the functional role of various receptors (e.g., NOP, NPSR, PAR2, and ectopic olfactory receptors) in experimental models relevant to diverse physiological and pathological conditions.
Thesis proposals
to be discussed
