diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/gcat/profile/ISProfile.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/gcat/profile/ISProfile.java
index f3fd5fc..1a710fc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/gcat/profile/ISProfile.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/gcat/profile/ISProfile.java
@@ -1,16 +1,31 @@
 package org.gcube.gcat.profile;
 
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.StringWriter;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+import java.util.regex.PatternSyntaxException;
 
+import javax.ws.rs.BadRequestException;
 import javax.ws.rs.InternalServerErrorException;
 import javax.ws.rs.NotAuthorizedException;
 import javax.ws.rs.NotFoundException;
 import javax.ws.rs.WebApplicationException;
+import javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext;
+import javax.xml.bind.JAXBException;
+import javax.xml.bind.Unmarshaller;
 
+import org.gcube.com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import org.gcube.com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ArrayNode;
 import org.gcube.common.resources.gcore.GenericResource;
 import org.gcube.common.resources.gcore.Resources;
+import org.gcube.datacatalogue.metadatadiscovery.bean.jaxb.MetadataField;
+import org.gcube.datacatalogue.metadatadiscovery.bean.jaxb.MetadataFormat;
+import org.gcube.datacatalogue.metadatadiscovery.bean.jaxb.MetadataValidator;
+import org.gcube.datacatalogue.metadatadiscovery.bean.jaxb.MetadataVocabulary;
 import org.gcube.datacatalogue.metadatadiscovery.reader.MetadataFormatDiscovery;
 import org.gcube.datacatalogue.metadatadiscovery.reader.QueryForResourceUtil;
 import org.gcube.gcat.api.roles.Role;
@@ -29,9 +44,6 @@ import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
 
-import org.gcube.com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
-import org.gcube.com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ArrayNode;
-
 /**
  * @author Luca Frosini (ISTI - CNR)
  */
@@ -169,7 +181,61 @@ public class ISProfile {
 		}
 	}
 	
-	public boolean createOrUpdate(String name, String xml) throws SAXException {
+	public static MetadataFormat getMetadataFormat(String xml) throws JAXBException {
+		JAXBContext jaxbContext = JAXBContext.newInstance(MetadataFormat.class);
+	    Unmarshaller unmarshaller = jaxbContext.createUnmarshaller();
+	    InputStream stream = new ByteArrayInputStream(xml.getBytes());
+	    MetadataFormat metadataFormat = (MetadataFormat) unmarshaller.unmarshal(stream);
+	    return metadataFormat;
+	}
+	
+	public static void checkRegex(String regex, String text) {
+		try {
+			Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(regex);
+			if(text!=null) {
+		    	Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(text);
+		    	if(!matcher.find()) {
+		    		throw new RuntimeException();
+		    	}
+		    }
+		} catch (PatternSyntaxException e) {
+			throw e;
+		} catch (RuntimeException e) {
+			throw e;
+		}
+
+	}
+	
+	public static void validateMetadataFormat(MetadataFormat metadataFormat) throws BadRequestException {
+		List<MetadataField> metadataFields = metadataFormat.getMetadataFields();
+		for(MetadataField metadataField : metadataFields) {
+			String defaultValue = metadataField.getDefaultValue();
+			
+			MetadataValidator metadataValidator = metadataField.getValidator();
+			if(metadataValidator!=null) {
+				String regularExpression = metadataValidator.getRegularExpression();
+				if(regularExpression!=null && regularExpression.length()>0) {
+					try {
+						checkRegex(regularExpression, defaultValue);
+					} catch (PatternSyntaxException e) {
+						throw new BadRequestException("The regular expression provided for metadata field '" + metadataField.getFieldName() + "' (i.e. '" + regularExpression + "') is not valid." );
+					} catch (RuntimeException e) {
+						throw new BadRequestException("The default value provided for metadata field '" + metadataField.getFieldName() + "' (i.e. '" + defaultValue + "') does not match the regular expression defined (i.e. '" + regularExpression + "')");
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			
+			MetadataVocabulary metadataVocabulary = metadataField.getVocabulary();
+			if(metadataVocabulary!=null && defaultValue!=null) {
+				List<String> vocabularyFields = metadataVocabulary.getVocabularyFields();
+				if(!vocabularyFields.contains(defaultValue)) {
+					throw new BadRequestException("The default value provided for metadata field '" + metadataField.getFieldName() + "' (i.e. '" + defaultValue + "') does not match the vocabulary (i.e. '" + vocabularyFields.toString() + "')");
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	
+	public boolean createOrUpdate(String name, String xml) throws Exception {
 		try {
 			CKANUser ckanUser = CKANUserCache.getCurrrentCKANUser();
 			if(ckanUser.getRole().ordinal()<Role.EDITOR.ordinal()) {
@@ -177,7 +243,12 @@ public class ISProfile {
 			}
 			MetadataUtility metadataUtility = new MetadataUtility();
 			metadataUtility.validateProfile(xml);
-			if(metadataUtility.getMetadataFormat(name) == null) {
+			
+			MetadataFormat newMetadataFormat = getMetadataFormat(xml);
+			validateMetadataFormat(newMetadataFormat);
+			
+			MetadataFormat oldMetadataFormat = metadataUtility.getMetadataFormat(name);
+			if(oldMetadataFormat == null) {
 				createGenericResource(name, xml);
 				return true;
 			} else {