NEUROMICS
Group Leader: Maria Liguori
Institute of Biomedical Technologies (ITB), Bari Unit
Key words: rare multifactorial neurological disease, circulating biomarker, extracellular vesicle, transcriptomic, bioinformatics
Contact
Maria Liguori
+39.080.592 9663 | +39.331 322 0926
maria.liguori@cnr.it | maria.liguori@ba.itb.cnr.it
Institute
Institute of Biomedical Technologies (ITB), Bari Unit
Via Amendola 122/D, 70125 Bari
Lab Members
Arianna Consiglio
Giovanna Grieco
Giorgio Grillo
Flavio Licciulli
Activities
- Identification of molecular profiles in neurological multifactorial diseases and their phenotypes: in diseases like Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and Dementias (AD) we search for distinctive transcriptomic profiles and related networks, with particular interest in immunological pathways. HT-NGS analysis, in vitro functional validation and bioinformatics/biostatistics evaluations are performed.
- Pharmacogenomics: by longitudinal prospective observations we aim to identify suitable biomarkers (i.e. miRNAs) for monitoring individual response to treatments and the occurrence of side effects in patients with the above-mentioned diseases (Personalized Medicine).
- Molecular studies on Extracellular Vesicles (EV)s: we investigate transcriptomic and proteomic profiles in circulating EVs belonging to patients with MS, AD and other diseases using advanced Omics technologies followed by validation and functional analysis in vitro (reporter assays, gene knock-down, RNA interference) of significant cell-free RNA and vesicular proteins.
Key Publications
- Liguori M, Bianco A, Introna A, Consiglio A, Milella G, Abbatangelo E, D’Errico E, Licciulli F, Grillo G, Simone IL. An early Transcriptomic Investigation in Adult Patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Under Treatment with Nusinersen. J Mol Neurosci. 2024 Sep 26;74(4):89. doi: 10.1007/s12031-024-02251-1.
- Liguori M, Nuzziello N, Licciulli F, Consiglio A, Simone M, Viterbo RG, Creanza TM, Ancona N, Tortorella C, Margari L, Grillo G, Giordano P, Liuni S, Trojano M. Combined microRNA and mRNA expression analysis in pediatric multiple sclerosis: an integrated approach to uncover novel pathogenic mechanisms of the disease. Hum Mol Genet. 2018 Jan 1;27(1):66-79. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddx385.
- Nuzziello N, Liguori M. The MicroRNA Centrism in the Orchestration of Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Cells. 2019 Oct 2;8(10):1193. doi: 10.3390/cells8101193.
- Liguori M, Nuzziello N, Introna A, Consiglio A, Licciulli F, D’Errico E, Scarafino A, Distaso E, Simone IL. Dysregulation of MicroRNAs and Target Genes Networks in Peripheral Blood of Patients With Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Front Mol Neurosci. 2018 Aug 28;11:288. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2018.00288.
- Nuzziello N, Blonda M, Licciulli F, Liuni S, Amoruso A, Valletti A, Consiglio A, Avolio C, Liguori M. Molecular Characterization of Peripheral Extracellular Vesicles in Clinically Isolated Syndrome: Preliminary Suggestions from a Pilot Study. Med Sci (Basel). 2017 Sep 18;5(3):19. doi: 10.3390/medsci5030019.
Project
- PR Puglia FESR FSE+ 2021-2027: Gestire le comorbidità legate alla sarcopenia (GE.CO.SA)
- PRIN 2022 PNRR (P2022ZAHJY): Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy On a STrip to monitor Alzheimer’s disease.
- FOE CNR (DSB.AD010.071.001): Identification of new therapeutic targets in rare neurodegenerative diseases: the role of circulating extracellular vesicles.
- Apulian Regional Council (D.U.P. n.246/2019): Un approccio multidisciplinare per la ricerca di biomarcatori molecolari orientati alla valutazione del profilo rischio/beneficio nel trattamento dell’Atrofia Muscolare Spinale.
Instrument & technologies
The ITB Unit in Bari is part of the following research Infrastructures:
- ELIXIR-CNRBiOmics, the Italian Node of ELIXIR (ELIXIR-IT) of the European Research Infrastructure for Life Science (PIR01_00017).
- ELIXIRNextGenITA, consolidation of the Italian Infrastructure for Omics and Bioinformatics (PNRR_IR0000010).