Ferdinando Fiumara
Associate Professor
- Department of Neurosciences "Rita Levi Montalcini"
- SSD: BIO/09 - physiology
- ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0715-7863
Contacts
At
- Department of Neurosciences "Rita Levi Montalcini"
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze "Rita Levi Montalcini"
- Corso di Laurea in Infermieristica - A.O.U. Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino
- Corso di Laurea in Tecniche di Radiologia Medica, per Immagini e Radioterapia - Torino
- Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Biotecnologie Mediche - Classe LM-9
- Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino
- Programma MD-PhD della Scuola di Medicina
- PhD in Complex Systems for Quantitative Biomedicine
Selected research products
Select publications:
Marchetti C, Vaglietti S, Rizzo F, Di Nardo G, Colnaghi L, Ghirardi M, Fiumara F. (2022) Heptad stereotypy, S/Q layering, and remote origin of the SARS-CoV-2 fusion core. Virus evolution 7(2) veab097 [DOI PMID]
Vaglietti S, Fiumara F. (2021) PolyQ length co-evolution in neural proteins. NAR genomics and bioinformatics 3(2) lqab032 [DOI PMID]
Pelassa I, Cibelli M, Villeri V, Lilliu E, Vaglietti S, Olocco F, Ghirardi M, Montarolo PG, Cora D, Fiumara F. (2019) Compound Dynamics and Combinatorial Patterns of Amino Acid Repeats Encode a System of Evolutionary and Developmental Markers. Genome biology and evolution 11(11) 3159-3178 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Lilliu E, Villeri V, Pelassa I, Cesano F, Scarano D, Fiumara F. (2018) Polyserine repeats promote coiled coil-mediated fibril formation and length-dependent protein aggregation. Journal of structural biology 204(3) 572-584 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Rajasethupathy P, Antonov I, Kosmidis S, Sossin WS, Kandel ER. (2015) MicroRNA-22 Gates Long-Term Heterosynaptic Plasticity in Aplysia through Presynaptic Regulation of CPEB and Downstream Targets. Cell reports 11(12) 1866-75 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Pelassa I, Fiumara F. (2015) Differential Occurrence of Interactions and Interaction Domains in Proteins Containing Homopolymeric Amino Acid Repeats. Frontiers in genetics 6 345 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Pelassa I, Cora D, Cesano F, Monje FJ, Montarolo PG, Fiumara F. (2014) Association of polyalanine and polyglutamine coiled coils mediates expansion disease-related protein aggregation and dysfunction. Human molecular genetics 23(13) 3402-20 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Fioriti L, Kandel ER, Hendrickson WA. (2010) Essential role of coiled coils for aggregation and activity of Q/N-rich prions and PolyQ proteins. Cell 143(7) 1121-35 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Giachello CN, Fiumara F, Giacomini C, Corradi A, Milanese C, Ghirardi M, Benfenati F, Montarolo PG. (2010) MAPK/Erk-dependent phosphorylation of synapsin mediates formation of functional synapses and short-term homosynaptic plasticity. Journal of cell science 123(Pt 6) 881-93 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Rajasethupathy P, Fiumara F, Sheridan R, Betel D, Puthanveettil SV, Russo JJ, Sander C, Tuschl T, Kandel E. (2009) Characterization of small RNAs in Aplysia reveals a role for miR-124 in constraining synaptic plasticity through CREB. Neuron 63(6) 803-17 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Massobrio P, Tedesco M, Giachello C, Ghirardi M, Fiumara F, Martinoia S. (2009) Helix neuronal ensembles with controlled cell type composition and placement develop functional polysynaptic circuits on Micro-Electrode Arrays. Neuroscience letters 467(2) 121-6 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Milanese C, Corradi A, Giovedi S, Leitinger G, Menegon A, Montarolo PG, Benfenati F, Ghirardi M. (2007) Phosphorylation of synapsin domain A is required for post-tetanic potentiation. Journal of cell science 120(Pt 18) 3228-37 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Leitinger G, Milanese C, Montarolo PG, Ghirardi M. (2005) In vitro formation and activity-dependent plasticity of synapses between Helix neurons involved in the neural control of feeding and withdrawal behaviors. Neuroscience 134(4) 1133-51 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Claverol-Tinture E, Ghirardi M, Fiumara F, Rosell X, Cabestany J. (2005) Multielectrode arrays with elastomeric microstructured overlays for extracellular recordings from patterned neurons. Journal of neural engineering 2(2) L1-7 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Giovedi S, Menegon A, Milanese C, Merlo D, Montarolo PG, Valtorta F, Benfenati F, Ghirardi M. (2004) Phosphorylation by cAMP-dependent protein kinase is essential for synapsin-induced enhancement of neurotransmitter release in invertebrate neurons. Journal of cell science 117(Pt 21) 5145-54 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Ghirardi M, Benfenati F, Giovedi S, Fiumara F, Milanese C, Montarolo PG. (2004) Inhibition of neurotransmitter release by a nonphysiological target requires protein synthesis and involves cAMP-dependent and mitogen-activated protein kinases. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 24(21) 5054-62 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Casadio A, Fiumara F, Sonetti D, Montarolo PG, Ghirardi M. (2004) Distribution of sensorin immunoreactivity in the central nervous system of Helix pomatia: functional aspects. Journal of neuroscience research 75(1) 32-43 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Onofri F, Benfenati F, Montarolo PG, Ghirardi M. (2001) Intracellular injection of synapsin I induces neurotransmitter release in C1 neurons of Helix pomatia contacting a wrong target. Neuroscience 104(1) 271-80 [DOIopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_new]
Courses
- ANATOMIA E FISIOLOGIA UMANA (MED2823)
Corso di Laurea in Tecniche di Radiologia Medica, per Immagini e Radioterapia - Torino - Fisiologia (D.M. 270/04) (MED2823B)
Corso di Laurea in Tecniche di Radiologia Medica, per Immagini e Radioterapia - Torino - Fisiologia - D.M. 270/04 - (Canale A) (MED3032C)
Corso di Laurea in Infermieristica - A.O.U. Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino - Fisiologia (canale A) (SME0721A)
Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino - Fisiologia (canale A) (SME0721)
Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino - Fisiologia (canale B) (SME0721A)
Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino - Fisiologia (canale B) (SME0721)
Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino - Fisiologia (canale C) (SME0721)
Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino - Fisiologia (canale C) (SME0721A)
Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino - Fisiologia (canale D) (SME0721A)
Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino - Fisiologia (canale D) (SME0721)
Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia - sede di Torino - Funzionamento del corpo umano (Canale A) - D.M. 270/04 - (MED3032)
Corso di Laurea in Infermieristica - A.O.U. Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino - TIROCINIO di NEUROBIOLOGIA E GENETICA MOLECOLARE (SME0873)
Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Biotecnologie Mediche - Classe LM-9
Research topics
Activity
Our lab is currently developing two main lines of research.
Memory-related synaptic plasticity
One research line focuses on the molecular mechanisms of different forms of short- and long-term synaptic plasticity underlying learning and memory. We are interested in the processes by which neurons can vary neurotransmitter release at their synapses over both short- and long-term time scales. We invesigate these mechanisms through a combination of molecular, biochemical, electrophysiological, and imaging approaches. In particular, we focus on post-translational modifications of synapsins, a family of synaptic phosphoproteins, in the modulation of evoked neurotransmitter release and short-term homoynaptic plasticity. Furthermore, we are interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying the long-term maintenance of synaptic plasticity through self-sustaining dynamics of translational and non-translational regulation involving micro-RNAs and the synaptic proteome.
Neurological and muscular genetic diseases
A parallel research line concerns the structural, molecular and cellular mechanisms of genetic diseases characterized by polyglutamine (polyQ) or polyalanine (polyA) expansions in proteins, such as Huntington's disease (HD), cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) and oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD). Furthermore, we are investigating fundamental physiopathological mechanisms underlying the molecular pathogenesis of Rett syndrome (RTT) and NEDAMSS, two neurodevelopmental disorders. Our research integrates bioinformatics, evolutionary, structural, molecular, and cell biological analyses through a multidisciplinary approach that is essential to unravel the complexity of these genetic diseases.
Funding agencies
Our work has also been funded by:
ERC Sectors:
LS2_10 - Bioinformatics
LS2_6 - Molecular genetics, reverse genetics and RNAi
LS5_11 - Neurological disorders (e.g. Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease)
LS5_2 - Molecular and cellular neuroscience
Publications
Select publications:
Vaglietti S, Villeri V, Dell'Oca M, Marchetti C, Cesano F, Rizzo F, Miller D, LaPierre L, Pelassa I, Monje FJ, Colnaghi L, Ghirardi M, Fiumara F. (2023) PolyQ length-based molecular encoding of vocalization frequency in FOXP2 iScience. 26(10):108036. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108036. PMID: 37860754.
Windheim J, Colombo L, Battajni NC, Russo L, Cagnotto A, Diomede L, Bigini P, Vismara E, Fiumara F, Gabbrielli S, Gautieri A, Mazzuoli-Weber G, Salmona M, Colnaghi L. (2022) Micro- and Nanoplastics' Effects on Protein Folding and Amyloidosis. Int J Mol Sci. 23(18):10329. doi: 10.3390/ijms231810329. PMID: 36142234.
Marchetti C, Vaglietti S, Rizzo F, Di Nardo G, Colnaghi L, Ghirardi M, Fiumara F. (2021) Heptad stereotypy, S/Q layering, and remote origin of the SARS-CoV-2 fusion core. Virus Evolution 7(2):veab097. doi: 10.1093/ve/veab097. PMID: 35039783.
Vaglietti S, Fiumara F. (2021) PolyQ length co-evolution in neural proteins. NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics. 3(2):lqab032. doi: 10.1093/nargab/lqab032. PMID: 34017944.
Pelassa I, Cibelli M, Villeri V, Lilliu E, Vaglietti S, Olocco F, Ghirardi M, Montarolo PG, Cora D, Fiumara F. (2019) Compound Dynamics and Combinatorial Patterns of Amino Acid Repeats Encode a System of Evolutionary and Developmental Markers. Genome biology and evolution 11(11) 3159-3178 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Lilliu E, Villeri V, Pelassa I, Cesano F, Scarano D, Fiumara F. (2018) Polyserine repeats promote coiled coil-mediated fibril formation and length-dependent protein aggregation. Journal of structural biology 204(3) 572-584 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Rajasethupathy P, Antonov I, Kosmidis S, Sossin WS, Kandel ER. (2015) MicroRNA-22 Gates Long-Term Heterosynaptic Plasticity in Aplysia through Presynaptic Regulation of CPEB and Downstream Targets. Cell reports 11(12) 1866-75 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Pelassa I, Fiumara F. (2015) Differential Occurrence of Interactions and Interaction Domains in Proteins Containing Homopolymeric Amino Acid Repeats. Frontiers in genetics 6 345 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Pelassa I, Cora D, Cesano F, Monje FJ, Montarolo PG, Fiumara F. (2014) Association of polyalanine and polyglutamine coiled coils mediates expansion disease-related protein aggregation and dysfunction. Human molecular genetics 23(13) 3402-20 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Fioriti L, Kandel ER, Hendrickson WA. (2010) Essential role of coiled coils for aggregation and activity of Q/N-rich prions and PolyQ proteins. Cell 143(7) 1121-35 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Giachello CN, Fiumara F, Giacomini C, Corradi A, Milanese C, Ghirardi M, Benfenati F, Montarolo PG. (2010) MAPK/Erk-dependent phosphorylation of synapsin mediates formation of functional synapses and short-term homosynaptic plasticity. Journal of cell science 123(Pt 6) 881-93 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Rajasethupathy P, Fiumara F, Sheridan R, Betel D, Puthanveettil SV, Russo JJ, Sander C, Tuschl T, Kandel E. (2009) Characterization of small RNAs in Aplysia reveals a role for miR-124 in constraining synaptic plasticity through CREB. Neuron 63(6) 803-17 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Massobrio P, Tedesco M, Giachello C, Ghirardi M, Fiumara F, Martinoia S. (2009) Helix neuronal ensembles with controlled cell type composition and placement develop functional polysynaptic circuits on Micro-Electrode Arrays. Neuroscience letters 467(2) 121-6 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Milanese C, Corradi A, Giovedi S, Leitinger G, Menegon A, Montarolo PG, Benfenati F, Ghirardi M. (2007) Phosphorylation of synapsin domain A is required for post-tetanic potentiation. Journal of cell science 120(Pt 18) 3228-37 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Leitinger G, Milanese C, Montarolo PG, Ghirardi M. (2005) In vitro formation and activity-dependent plasticity of synapses between Helix neurons involved in the neural control of feeding and withdrawal behaviors. Neuroscience 134(4) 1133-51 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Claverol-Tinture E, Ghirardi M, Fiumara F, Rosell X, Cabestany J. (2005) Multielectrode arrays with elastomeric microstructured overlays for extracellular recordings from patterned neurons. Journal of neural engineering 2(2) L1-7 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Giovedi S, Menegon A, Milanese C, Merlo D, Montarolo PG, Valtorta F, Benfenati F, Ghirardi M. (2004) Phosphorylation by cAMP-dependent protein kinase is essential for synapsin-induced enhancement of neurotransmitter release in invertebrate neurons. Journal of cell science 117(Pt 21) 5145-54 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Ghirardi M, Benfenati F, Giovedi S, Fiumara F, Milanese C, Montarolo PG. (2004) Inhibition of neurotransmitter release by a nonphysiological target requires protein synthesis and involves cAMP-dependent and mitogen-activated protein kinases. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 24(21) 5054-62 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Casadio A, Fiumara F, Sonetti D, Montarolo PG, Ghirardi M. (2004) Distribution of sensorin immunoreactivity in the central nervous system of Helix pomatia: functional aspects. Journal of neuroscience research 75(1) 32-43 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Fiumara F, Onofri F, Benfenati F, Montarolo PG, Ghirardi M. (2001) Intracellular injection of synapsin I induces neurotransmitter release in C1 neurons of Helix pomatia contacting a wrong target. Neuroscience 104(1) 271-80 [DOIopen_in_newopen_in_new PMIDopen_in_newopen_in_new]
Research groups
Academic bodies
Academic positions pro-tempore
Membro della Commissione Ricerca del DipartimentoMembro della Giunta di Dipartimento