Giulio M. Pasinetti

Research

Specific Clinical/Research Interest:
Neuronal Degeneration in Alzheimer's Disease and Model System

Postdoctoral Fellows: Xianjuan Qian, PhD, Shrishailam Yemul, PhD, Wei Zhao, PhD; Carmen Diaz, PhD; Isabel Arrieta-Cruz, PhD

Research Personnel: Faculty: Lap Ho, PhD, Hanna Reding, PhD, Jun Wang, PhD., Yong Pan, PhD, Bing Gong, PhD

Summary of Research Studies:
The primary research goals in Dr. Pasinetti's lab is to investigate the biological processes which occur when, during aging, subjects with normal cognitive functions convert into the very earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and then to frank dementia. The long-term goal of Dr. Pasinetti's lab is to improve the diagnosis of patients who are in the very earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and to identify early molecular neurobiological abnormalities so that effective pharmacological treatments to slow or halt disease progression can be developed. Toward this goal Dr. Pasinetti's lab initiated a series of studies to characterize gene activities in the brain of early AD cases and animal model system of AD neuropathology, using high throughput cDNA and microarray approaches. Recent studies in Dr. Pasinetti's lab found that the expression of genes involved in synaptic functions, cell cycle, and cytoskeleton/cell adhesion, may play an important role in the onset and possibly the clinical progression of Alzheimer's disease dementia. More recently, Dr. Pasinetti's lab using a combination of genomic-proteomic techniques is presently characterizing and purifying abnormal expressed gene products in the brain that may share similarities in respect with promotion of neurodegenerative disorders including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease among others. Based on the outcome of these studies, Dr Pasinetti's lab is presently using newly developed transgenic mouse models of disease to test pre-clinically the potential therapeutic relevance of novel drug treatments.