Fondazione Santa Lucia Irccs

C – Preclinical Neuroscience

Head of Research Line C

Prof. Nicola Mercuri

 

Objective

The objective of the Research Line C is the study of the causes of neurodegenerative diseases and autoimmune diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system.

 

Research Topics

The research projects concern the mechanisms of activation of the immune response in autoimmune diseases of the nervous system such as with multiple sclerosis, and mechanisms of neuroprotective drugs in the central and peripheral nervous system. Projects relate to pathologies of cortical and subcortical areas of cerebrovascular and degenerative origin, with particular attention to the striatum, and the study of the cognitive functions of specific brain areas. Particular attention is paid to neurobiological mediators of neuromolecolar neuronal and tissue damage in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SLA).

 

Methodologies

Experimental approaches include in vivo and in vitro studies and also innovative methods of behavioral biology, cellular and molecular genetics, electrophysiology, pharmacology, histology-histochemistry, flow cytometry and biochemistry.

 

Laboratories of the Research Line C