Molecular Neurobiology
Principal Investigator: Ferdinando di Cunto
Group members:
- Ferdinando Di Cunto (Principal Investigator)
- Christian Pritz (Postdoc)
- Giorgia Iegiani (PhD Student)
- Giada Onorato (PhD Student)
Address and contacts:
- Ferdinando Di Cunto, 011-6706616, ferdinando.dicunto@unito.it
External website link
Main research activities of the research group
Our group studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms that determine brain development, with particular attention to genes mutated in primary microcephaly. These studies are focused not only on understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms of microcephaly, but also on the possibility of using the same genes and the proteins they encode for the development of innovative therapies against highly malignant brain tumors. Recently, we have begun to use the genetically tractable model of C. elegans to analyze the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative pathologies, in relation to pathogenic events of a genetic nature and the response to situations of particular environmental stress, such as those characterizing aerospace flight.
List of 10 main publications
- Pallavicini G, Gai M, Iegiani G, Berto GE, Adrait A, Couté Y, Di Cunto F. 2021 Goldberg-Shprintzen syndrome protein KIF1BP is a CITK interactor implicated in cytokinesis. J Cell Sci. Jun 1;134(11):jcs250902. doi: 10.1242/jcs.250902.Epub 2021 PMID: 34100550.
- Pallavicini G, Iegiani G, Berto GE, Calamia E, Trevisiol E, Veltri A, Allis S, Di Cunto F. 2020 CITK Loss Inhibits Growth of Group 3 and Group 4 Medulloblastoma Cells and Sensitizes Them to DNA-Damaging Agents. Cancers (Basel). doi: 3390/cancers12030542. PMID: 32111106; PMCID: PMC7139701.
- Onorato G, Di Schiavi E, Di Cunto F. 2020 Understanding the Effects of Deep Space Radiation on Nervous System: The Role of Genetically Tractable Experimental Models. Front. Phys. Sec. Medical Physics and Imaging. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2020.00362 (part of the Research Topic Applied Nuclear Physics at Accelerators)
- Pallavicini G, Sgrò F, Garello F, Falcone M, Bitonto V, Berto GE, Bianchi FT, Gai M, Chiotto AMA, Filippi M, Cutrin JC, Ala U, Terreno E, Turco E, Di Cunto F. 2018 Inactivation of Citron Kinase Inhibits Medulloblastoma Progression by Inducing Apoptosis and Cell Senescence. Cancer Res. 78(16):4599-4612. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-4060
- Bianchi FT, Gai M, Berto GE, Di Cunto F. 2017 Of rings and spines: The multiple facets of Citron proteins in neural development. Small GTPases. 29:1-9. doi: 10.1080/21541248.2017.1374325.
- Gai M, Bianchi FT, Vagnoni C, Verni F, Bonaccorsi S, Pasquero S, Berto GE, Sgro F, Chiotto AM, Annaratone L, Sapino A, Bergo A, Landsberger N, Bond J, Huttner WB, Di Cunto F. 2016. ASPM and CITK regulate spindle orientation by affecting the dynamics of astral microtubules. EMBO Rep 17:1396-1409
- Bianchi FT, Tocco C, Pallavicini G, Liu Y, Verni F, Merigliano C, Bonaccorsi S, El-Assawy N, Priano L, Gai M, Berto GE, Chiotto AM, Sgro F, Caramello A, Tasca L, Ala U, Neri F, Oliviero S, Mauro A, Geley S, Gatti M, Di Cunto F. 2017. Citron Kinase Deficiency Leads to Chromosomal Instability and TP53-Sensitive Microcephaly. Cell Rep 18:1674-1686
- Sgrò F, Bianchi FT, Falcone M, Pallavicini G, Gai M, Chiotto AM, Berto GE, Turco E, Chang YJ, Huttner WB, Di Cunto F. 2015 Tissue-specific control of midbody microtubule stability by Citron kinase through modulation of TUBB3 phosphorylation. Cell Death Differ.
- Camera, P., Da Silva, J. S., Griffiths, G., Giuffrida, M. G., Ferrara, L., Schubert, V., Imarisio, S., Silengo, L., Dotti, C. G. and Di Cunto, F. 2003 Citron-N is a neuronal Rho-associated protein involved in Golgi organization through actin cytoskeleton regulation. Nature Cell Biology 5, 1071-1078.
- Di Cunto, F., Imarisio, S., Hirsch, E., Broccoli, V., Bulfone, A., Migheli, A., Atzori, C., Turco, E., Triolo, R., Dotto, G. P., Silengo, L. and Altruda, F. 2000 Defective neurogenesis in citron kinase knockout mice by altered cytokinesis and massive apoptosis. Neuron 28, 115-127.