Most notably, he discovered that SIRT1, a histone deacetylase with a critical role in gene expression and metabolism, is able to regulate the activity of the CLOCK protein.
[4] Together with his brother Emilio Sassone-Corsi, they founded the Neapolitan Astronomy Club (Gruppo Astrofili Napoletani)[5] and eventually published a paper on the bands of Saturn.
During his time under Chambon, Sassone-Corsi was drawn to transcription mechanisms and contributed to key work on promoters, enhancers and transactivating factors.
[1] In search of innovation, he and his wife moved to San Diego, United States where he worked as a post-doctoral fellow under Inder Verma at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies from 1986 to 1989.
He started his own independent laboratory at IGBMC and progressed to the director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
Sassone-Corsi's work largely focused on the implementation of molecular approaches for cell signaling, circadian rhythm, epigenetics, and the plasticity of the genome.
[8] Through the study of signal transduction mechanisms, he investigated how they modulate nuclear functions such as gene expression, chromatin remodeling, and epigenetic control.
[1][9] Later, Sassone-Corsi moved to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and made important advancements in understanding the transcriptional autoregulation of the proto-oncogene, fos.
[13] This was important in demonstrating the role of chromatin remodeling in the core clock mechanism and revealed new associations between cellular physiology and histone acetylation.