Laboratory of chemical biology of neurodegeneration
Laboratory of chemical biology of neurodegeneration
Coordinator
Cristina Cecchi
Position: Associate Professor of Biochemistry
e-mail: cristina.cecchi@unifi.it
Telephone number: 0039 055-2751222
Brief Biographical sketch of the Coordinator
1991 M.Sc. degree in Biological Sciences
1995 Specialisation degree of Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Florence
2001 PhD degree (D.Phil) in Biochemistry at the University of Florence
2015 the National Academic Qualification as Full Professor
Member of the Scientific Board the Doctorate/PhD Program in
Biomedical Sciences
Member of the following Scientific Societis
Italian Society of Biochemistry (SIB)
Member of editorial board of the following Journals
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Frontiers in Neuroscience
Research Team
Roberta Cascella, PhD, Associate Professor
Alessandra Bigi, PhD, RTT
Emilio Ermini, PhD, Post-Doc fellow
Current research interest
- Study of the relationship between structure and toxicity of protein aggregates associated with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Study of the protective role of aminosterols, single-domain antibodies, estrogens, molecular chaperones against protein aggregates toxicity
- Projects involve the use of specific protocols to assess cell viability, oxidative stress and calcium dyshomeostasis in animal and cellular models including C. elegans nematodes, rat models, and different types of cultured cells such as primary cultures (hippocampal and cortical neurons from rat brains, skin fibroblasts from familial Alzheimer’s disease patients, human iPSC-derived neurons) and immortalized cell lines (human and murine neuroblastoma cells, hybrid motor neuron-like cells)
Key words
Neurodegeneration, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, protein aggregation, amyloid, toxic oligomers, protein misfolding, amyloid-β peptide, α-synuclein, TDP-43
Current/recent sources of funding
- PNRR 2023 PE12 SPOKE 6 - PNRR_M4.C2_1.3 Next Generation Partenariati estesi 12. A multiscale integrated approach to the study of the nervous system in health and disease
- PRIN 2022 PNRR Title: Trodusquemine as a novel drug against TDP-43-associated proteinopathies: structural, biological and computational investigation (PI Dott.ssa Roberta Cascella)
- PRIN 2022 Title: Decoding distinctive features of extracellular vesicles in TDP-43 proteinopathies
- FAS-salute Regione Toscana 2018-2021 - PRAMA
- Fondi di Ateneo
10 best pubblications of the last 5 years
- Napolitano L, Vadukul DM, Bigi A, Palladino P, Cecchi C, Chiti F, Cascella R, Aprile FA. Engineering a dimeric single-domain antibody for improved detection and neutralization of amyloid-β oligomers. Commun Biol. 2026 Mar 27.
- Bigi A, Conti AC, Napolitano L, Fusco G, De Simone A, Chiti F, Cascella R, Cecchi C. Cellular prion protein and calcium ions trigger the neurotoxicity of α-synuclein aggregates. Cell Biosci. 2025 Dec 9;15(1):166.
- Bigi A, Fani G, Bessi V, Napolitano L, Bagnoli S, Ingannato A, Neri L, Cascella R, Matteini P, Sorbi S, Nacmias B, Cecchi C, Chiti F. Putative novel CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease based on the novel concept of generic protein misfolding and proteotoxicity: the PRAMA cohort. Transl Neurodegener. 2024 Mar 8;13(1):14.
- Bigi A, Napolitano L, Vadukul DM, Chiti F, Cecchi C, Aprile FA, Cascella R. A single-domain antibody detects and neutralises toxic Aβ42 oligomers in the Alzheimer’s disease CSF. Alzheimers Res Ther. 2024 Jan 18;16(1):13.
- Chen SW, Barritt JD, Cascella R, Bigi A, Cecchi C, Banchelli M, Gallo A, Jarvis JA, Chiti F, Dobson CM, Fusco G, De Simone A. Structure-toxicity relationship in intermediate fibrils from α-synuclein condensates. J Am Chem Soc. 2024 Apr 17;146(15):10537-10549.
- Errico S, Lucchesi G, Odino D, Osman EY, Cascella R, Neri L, Capitini C, Calamai M, Bemporad F, Cecchi C, Kinney WA, Barbut D, Relini A, Canale C, Caminati G, Limbocker R, Vendruscolo M, Zasloff M, Chiti F. Quantitative attribution of the protective effects of aminosterols against protein aggregates to their chemical structures and ability to modulate biological membranes. J Med Chem. 2023 Jul 27;66(14):9519-9536.
- Capitini C, Bigi A, Parenti N, Emanuele M, Bianchi N, Cascella R, Cecchi C, Maggi L, Annunziato F, Pavone FS, Calamai M. APP and Bace1: differential effect of cholesterol enrichment on processing and plasma membrane mobility. iScience. 2023; 26(5):106611.
- Cascella R, Banchelli M, Abolghasem Ghadami S, Ami D, Gagliani MC, Bigi A, Staderini T, Tampellini D, Cortese K, Cecchi C, Natalello A, Adibi H, Matteini P, Chiti F. An in situ and in vitro investigation of cytoplasmic TDP-43 inclusions reveals the absence of a clear amyloid signature. Ann Med. 2023; 55(1):72-88.
- Cascella R, Cecchi C. Calcium dyshomeostasis in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis. Int J Mol Sci. 2021, 22: 4914.
- Cascella R, Chen SW, Bigi A, Camino JD, Xu CK, Dobson CM, Chiti F, Cremades N, Cecchi C. The release of toxic oligomers from α-synuclein fibrils induces dysfunction in neuronal cells. Nat Commun. 2021, 12: 1814.
Previous research experiences
- Fas-salute Regione Toscana 2016-2018 - SUPREMAL
- FFABR 2017
- Regione Toscana (POR CRO FSE 2007-2013) – Title: Studio della relazione fra struttura e capacità citotossica di proteine coinvolte nelle malattie da deposizione proteica: sviluppo di un test diagnostico
- AriSLA
- European Project Seventh Framework Programme of European Commission (FP7) (2008-2011) – Title: NANO-MUBIOP – Enhanced Sensitivity Nanotechnology-based Multiplex Bioassay Platform for diagnostic applications.
- PRIN 2008 – Title: Approccio integrato alla relazione esistente tra Aß, danno ossidativo, complesso proteasomale ed autofagia. Effetto di molecole neuroprotettive
- PRIN 2005 – Title: Basi molecolari della citotossicità indotta dai diversi stati di aggregazione di beta amiloide: studio multidisciplinare in vitro, su colture cellulari e su modello animale
- Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Pistoia e Pescia
- Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze
Main scientific contributions
- Identification of the main cytotoxic pathways associated with protein misfolded aggregates
- Identification of the protective effects of aminosterols, single-domain antibodies, estrogens, molecular chaperones as therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and ALS.
Collaborations
- Francesco A. Aprile, Department of Chemistry, Molecular Sciences Research Hub, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Nunilo Cremades, Institute for Biocomputation and Fisics of Complex system, Universitat de Saragoza, Spain
- Paolo Matteini, Istituto di Fisica Applicata, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
- Ryan Limbocker, Department of Chemistry & Life Science, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, USA
- Alfonso De Simone, Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
- Michele Vendruscolo, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge
- Annalisa Relini, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova, Italy
- Serena Carra, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Metaboliche e Neuroscienze, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy
- Daniela Marasco, Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy
Ultimo aggiornamento
14.05.2026