Pier Giorgio Righetti (born 25 April 1941, Forlì, Northern Italy) is a professor emeritus of chemistry. He worked primarily at the University of Milano (1971-1995) and at the Department of Chemistry of the Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy (2005-2011). He has served as the President of the Società Italiana di Proteomica (Italian Proteome Society, IPSo).
A special issue of Electrophoresis was published in Righetti's honor in 2006, recognizing his work developing new methods and techniques for electrophoresis. His contributions have been described as "paramount in the ability to separate biomolecules electrophoretically". Righetti uses those techniques to study proteomes, sets of proteins that are expressed in organisms. He focuses particularly on animals and foods. Proteomics describes the proteins that can exist in a given type of cell and their interactions, form and structure. Proteins can remain intact for hundreds or even thousands of years. One of many applications of Righetti's techniques is the study of historical artifacts, analyzing minute amounts of protein left on them to learn more about their owners and the conditions under which they were used.
Education and career
Righetti attended the University of Pavia in Italy, from which he received a Ph.D in Organic Chemistry in 1965. He also did compulsory military service, in the Mountain Artillery. Between 1966 and 1970 he held postdoctoral positions: first at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for three years and then at Harvard Medical School for one year where he studied electrophoresis with James W. Drysdale. They developed techniques for isoelectric focusing (IEF) using soluble carrier ampholytes and polyacrylamide gels.
In 1971, Righetti accepted a position at the University of Milano as a professor of biochemistry. He remained there for the next 24 years. He then worked for two years at the University of Calabria with Roberto Bartolino, and for another eight years at the University of Verona with Franco Tagliaro and Mahmud Hamdan. Finally he returned to Milan to work at the Politecnico di Milano, where he established a proteomics lab. He became professor emeritus at age seventy, under mandatory retirement laws.
Righetti has consulted with NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency on experiments in microgravity.
Research
In 2012, Righetti was awarded the 2012 Beckman award for "outstanding career achievement in the field of electrodriven separations and technologies with particular consideration given to developments of new methods and techniques in electrophoresis." The methodologies that Righetti developed include isoelectric focusing in soluble buffers and immobilized pH gradients; multicompartment electrolyzers for isoelectric membranes and membrane‐trapped enzyme reactors, and temperature‐programmed capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). In 2017, researchers stated "The work of P.G. Righetti has been paramount in the ability to separate biomolecules electrophoretically, particularly according to isoelectric point."
Righetti has published more than 750 papers, with an H-index of 60. He has created 10 patents and written 11 books. Several of his works are considered classic sources for electrophoretic methods. Righetti was closely involved with the journals Electrophoresis (founded 1980), and its sister journal Proteomics (founded 2001). He served as a member of the editorial board of Electrophoresis from its founding by Bertold J. Radola onwards. He has also worked on the editorial boards of the Journal of Chromatography, the Journal of Capillary Electrophoresis, the Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Methods, BioTechniques, and the Journal of Proteomics.
He has served as the President of the Società Italiana di Proteomica (Italian Proteome Society, IPSo).
Applications
Righetti has applied his methods to biomedical and clinical problems, including the study of hemoglobin and the development of neonatal screening for the inherited blood disorder Beta thalassemia. His work on immobilized pH gradients led to pioneering mapping of human proteins using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. His multicompartment electrolyzer (MCE) for purifying proteins using amphoteric buffering membranes, has been used for pre-fractionation in proteome analysis. His work on capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) supports the identification of DNA point mutations. He has been involved in the development of large hexapeptide libraries for the identification of unique protein sequences, and in combinatorial peptide ligand capture.