Neurophysiology of Neurodegenerative and Psychiatric disorders

Principal Investigator: Filippo Tempia

Group members:

• Filippo Tempia (Principal investigator)
• Eriola Hoxha (Principal investigator)
• Francesca Montarolo (Postdoc)
• Anita Maria Rominto (PhD Student)

Address and contacts:

• Filippo Tempia, 011-6706609, filippo.tempia@unito.it

External website link

• https://www.nico.ottolenghi.unito.it/Ricerca/Gruppi-di-ricerca/Neurofisiologia-delle-malattie-neurodegenerative

Main research activities of the research group
The experiments of our laboratory are aimed at discovering the mechanisms responsible for some neurologic and psychiatric disorders. The main focus of our laboratory are the electric signals of single neurons involved in:

• ataxias, a series of pathologic diseases leading to a progressive deterioration of motor coordination, eventually impairing locomotion;
• mood disorders, depression and bipolar disorder.

List of 10 main publications

• Hoxha E, Boda E, Montarolo F, Parolisi R, Tempia F. 2012 Excitability and synaptic alterations in the cerebellum of APP/PS1 mice. PLoS ONE 7(4): e34726 (13 pages) (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034726).
• Hoxha E, Tonini R, Montarolo F, Croci L, Consalez GG, Tempia F. 2013 Motor dysfunction and cerebellar Purkinje cell firing impairment in Ebf2 null mice. Mol Cell Neurosci 52: 51-61. (doi: 10.1016/j.mcn.2012.09.002).
• Montarolo F, Parolisi R, Hoxha E, Boda E, Tempia F. 2013 Early enriched environment exposure protects spatial memory and accelerates amyloid plaque formation in APPSwe/PS1L166P mice. PLoS ONE 8(7): e69381. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069381).
• Tempia F, Hoxha E, Negro G, Alshammari MA, Alshammari TK, Panova-Elektronova N and Laezza F. 2015 Parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synaptic impairment in a mouse model of spinocerebellar ataxia type 27. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 9:205. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2015.00205
• Hoxha E*, Gabriele RMC, Balbo I, Ravera F, Masante L, Zambelli V, Albergo C, Mitro N, Caruso D, Di Gregorio E, Brusco A, Borroni B and Tempia F. 2017 Motor Deficits and Cerebellar Atrophy in Elovl5 Knock Out Mice. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 11:343. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2017.00343.
• Hoxha E, Balbo I, Miniaci MC, Tempia F. 2018 Purkinje cell signaling deficits in animal models of ataxia. Front. Synaptic Neurosci. 10:6 (17 pages). eCollection 2018. Review. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsyn.2018.00006.
• Mancini C*, Hoxha E*, Iommarini L, Brussino A, Richter U, Montarolo F, Cagnoli C, Parolisi R, Gondor Morosini DI, Nicolò V, Maltecca F, Muratori L, Ronchi G, Geuna S, Arnaboldi F, Donetti E, Giorgio E, Cavalieri S, Di Gregorio E, Pozzi E, Ferrero M, Riberi E, Casari G, Altruda F, Turco E, Gasparre G, Battersby BJ, Porcelli AM, Ferrero E, Brusco A*, Tempia F*. 2019 Mice harbouring a SCA28 patient mutation in AFG3L2 develop late-onset ataxia associated with enhanced mitochondrial proteotoxicity. *contributed equally. Neurobiol Dis. 124: 14-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2018.10.018.
• Balbo I, Montarolo F, Boda E, Tempia F and Hoxha E. 2021 Elovl5 Expression in the Central Nervous System of the Adult Mouse. Front. Neuroanat. 15:669073. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnana.2021.669073.
• Hoxha, E., Balbo, I., Parolisi, R., Audano, M., Montarolo, F., Ravera, F., Guglielmotto, M., Muratori, L., Raimondo, S., DiGregorio, E., Buffo, A., Brusco, A., Borroni, B., Mitro, N., Caruso, D., & Tempia, F. 2021 Elovl5 is required for proper action potential conduction along peripheral myelinated fibers. Glia 69: 2419-2428. https://doi.org/10.1002/glia.24048.
• Balbo I, Montarolo F, Genovese F, Tempia F, Hoxha E. 2022 Effects of the administration of Elovl5-dependent fatty acids on a spino-cerebellar ataxia 38 mouse model Behav Brain Funct 18,8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12993-022-00194-4.