Francesco di Virgilio passed away September 2024. It was a remarkable death for a scientist because it happened just after he had taken part in a Symposium in Chengdu, China. It occurred suddenly, during a postcongress excursion to the holy Buddhist mountain of Emei in the province of Sichuan. Of course it is an awfully sad event both for his family (especially for his wife, Dorianna), and for all his friends around the world, but this left his features also untouched and vigorous in our remembrance. (see Figs. 1e6). He was a great figure in the research community interested in ATPsignaling, probably the third important one besides Geoff Burnstock and Alan Richard North, both of which stopped working recently. Geoff died peacefully 2020, aged 91, and Alan retired from his position at Manchester University several years ago. It is unnecessary to mention that Geoff was the “Father of Purinergic Signaling” and Alan cloned numerous P2X receptors (Rs), thereby giving the badly needed boost to ATPresearch in the 1990s of the last century. Francesco devoted his energy to clarifying the role of the P2X7R in immunology and cancer; this receptor is considered by many of us to bethe most important and interesting one of its whole class [1].
In memoriam - Francesco di Virgilio: P2X7 receptors in purinergic pathophysiology
Illes, P.
Primo
;Verkhratsky, A.;Tang, Y.;Adinolfi, E.Ultimo
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2025
Abstract
Francesco di Virgilio passed away September 2024. It was a remarkable death for a scientist because it happened just after he had taken part in a Symposium in Chengdu, China. It occurred suddenly, during a postcongress excursion to the holy Buddhist mountain of Emei in the province of Sichuan. Of course it is an awfully sad event both for his family (especially for his wife, Dorianna), and for all his friends around the world, but this left his features also untouched and vigorous in our remembrance. (see Figs. 1e6). He was a great figure in the research community interested in ATPsignaling, probably the third important one besides Geoff Burnstock and Alan Richard North, both of which stopped working recently. Geoff died peacefully 2020, aged 91, and Alan retired from his position at Manchester University several years ago. It is unnecessary to mention that Geoff was the “Father of Purinergic Signaling” and Alan cloned numerous P2X receptors (Rs), thereby giving the badly needed boost to ATPresearch in the 1990s of the last century. Francesco devoted his energy to clarifying the role of the P2X7R in immunology and cancer; this receptor is considered by many of us to bethe most important and interesting one of its whole class [1].I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
