Giacomo Masserdotti

Current GSN students: Fabio Laredo

Keywords:
Direct reprogramming; astrocytes; neurons; 3D culture; disease modelling

Research methods:
primary cultures; transduction; immunofluorescence; microscopy; RNA-seq (bulk, single cell); patch-sea; molecular biology, 3D bioprinting.

Brief research description:
My research focuses on investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying direct reprogramming of different cell types (astrocytes, OPCs, fibroblasts) of different origin (human and mouse) into functional neurons. This is achieved by isolating, culturing and reprogramming differentiated cells and analyse their response at the molecular level. This includes not only the morphological changes occurring over time, but also the transcriptional, proteomic and metabolic changes that trigger or prevent the successful conversion into neurons. This will be further expanded into new in vitro 3D models to mimic the in vivo environment, to improve the reprogramming efficiency and the generation of specific neuronal subtypes and to reduce the use of animal for research.

Selected publications:
Masserdotti, G*., S. Gillotin*, B. Sutor, D. Drechsel, M. Irmler, H. F. Jorgensen, S. Sass, F. J. Theis, J. Beckers, B. Berninger, F. Guillemot and M. Gotz (2015). "Transcriptional Mechanisms of Proneural Factors and REST in Regulating Neuronal Reprogramming of Astrocytes." Cell Stem Cell 17(1): 74-88

Russo, G. L., G. Sonsalla, P. Natarajan, C. T. Breunig, G. Bulli, J. Merl-Pham, S. Schmitt, J. Giehrl-Schwab, F. Giesert, M. Jastroch, H. Zischka, W. Wurst, S. H. Stricker, S. M. Hauck*, G. Masserdotti* and M. Gotz* (2021). "CRISPR-Mediated Induction of Neuron-Enriched Mitochondrial Proteins Boosts Direct Glia-to-Neuron Conversion." Cell Stem Cell 28(3): 584

Kempf, J., K. Knelles, B. A. Hersbach, D. Petrik, T. Riedemann, V. Bednarova, A. Janjic, T. Simon-Ebert, W. Enard, P. Smialowski, M. Gotz* and G. Masserdotti* (2021). "Heterogeneity of neurons reprogrammed from spinal cord astrocytes by the proneural factors Ascl1 and Neurogenin2." Cell Rep 36(3): 109409.

Gascon, S., E. Murenu, G. Masserdotti, F. Ortega, G. L. Russo, D. Petrik, A. Deshpande, C. Heinrich, M. Karow, S. P. Robertson, T. Schroeder, J. Beckers, M. Irmler, C. Berndt, J. P. Angeli, M. Conrad, B. Berninger and M. Gotz (2016). "Identification and Successful Negotiation of a Metabolic Checkpoint in Direct Neuronal Reprogramming." Cell Stem Cell 18(3): 396-409

Hersbach, B.A., Simon, T., and Masserdotti, G. (2022b). Isolation and Direct Neuronal Reprogramming of Mouse Astrocytes. J Vis Exp.