Expertise and current research performed: The University of Ferrara hosts approximately 16,000 students, and has been constantly scored among the top mid-size Italian Universities by both public (governmental) and private (newspapers) surveys. The fields of excellence of the University of Ferrara include teaching and research in basic medical sciences. The activities of Prof. Simonato’s Unit at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, are specifically oriented at the neurobiology and pharmacology of epilepsy. This Unit holds a long-standing expertise in this field, in particular in the study of the involvement of neuropeptides and neurotrophic factors in acquired epilepsies. Collaboration exist with multiple research groups in Europe and North America. The current research activities of Prof. Simonato’s Unit include: - studying the involvement of neuropeptide systems (dynorphin, N/OFQ, NPY, somatostatin) in temporal lobe epilepsy; - studying the involvement of neuratrophic factors (BDNF, FGF-2) in temporal lobe epilepsy; - developing viral vectors for the transfer of genes in the adult central nervous system. The long-term aim of these activities is to identify new therapeutic targets and/or to develop new therapeutic strategies for partial epilepsies.

Facilities/Equipment: Laboratories: one laboratory for molecular and cellular biology, one for cell culture, one for streteotaxic surgery on small rodents, one for EEG recordings from small rodents. Major equipment: a state-of the-art image analysis system; one computerized EEG acquisition and analysis system. Facilities and Services: access to the facilities of the Biotechnology Centre of the University of Ferrara.

Personnel involved in the project

Principal investigator: Michele Simonato (M). Medical Doctor. Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Ferrara. Past positions: Research Associate and Consultant at the Duke Center for the Advanced Study of Epilepsy; Duke University, NC, USA (1988-93); Director of the Neuroscience Center of the University of Ferrara (2001-05). Working in the field since 1986. Research interests are: involvement of neuropeptides and neurotrophic factors in acquired epilepsies; development of viral vectors for the transfer of genes in the adult central nervous system.

Silvia Zucchini (F). PhD in Medicinal Chemistry. Contract Researcher at the University of Ferrara. Past positions: Postdoctoral fellowship at the Helen Hayes Hospital, West Haverstraw, NY, USA (2004). Working in the field since 1990. Research interests: molecular biology; transgenic animals; herpes virus vectors; neurogenesis in the adult. Donata Rodi (F). PhD in Medicinal Chemistry. Research Contract (assegnista) at the University of Ferrara. Past position: Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Montreal, Canada (2002-03). Working in the field since 1996. Research interests: receptor autoradiography; image analysis; neurotransmitter release. Anna, Binaschi (F). PhD in Biology. Research Contract (assegnista) at the University of Ferrara. Past position: Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Birmingham, UK (2003-04). Working in the field since 2000. Research interests: animal models of epilepsy; microdialysis; delivery of drugs in the central nervous system. Andrea Buzzi (M). PhD in Medicinal Chemistry. Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ferrara. Past position: Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto, Canada (2002-04). Working in the field since 2000. Research interests: animal models of epilepsy; epilepsy-induced cell damage. Enrico Tongiorgi (M). PhD in Neurobiology. University Researcher at the University of Trieste. Past position: Postdoctoral fellowship at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA-ISAS), Trieste, Italy (1994-98). Working in the field since 1988. Research interests: mRNA trafficking, BDNF, in situ hybridization, siRNAs. Peggy Marconi (F). PhD in Biology. University Researcher at the University of Ferrara. Past position: Research associate at the University of Pittsburgh, USA (1994-1998). Working in the field since 1993. Research interests: viral vectors, gene therapy. Beatrice Paradiso (F). Medical Doctor. Research interests: neural stem cells; cell culture; gene transfer in the brain in vivo. Manuela Mazzuferi (F). Biologist. Research interests: confocal microscopy; neurotransmitter release; in vivo pharmacology.

Recent relevant publications/patents

1.        Marconi P., Zucchini S., Berto E., Bozac A., Paradiso B., Bregola G., Grassi C., Volpi I., Argnani R. Marzola A., Manservigi R., Simonato M. (2005) Effects of defective herpes simplex vectors expressing neurotrophic factors on the proliferation and differentiation of nervous cells in vivo. Gene Therapy, 12, 559-569.

2.        Zucchini S., Barbieri M., Simonato M. (2005) Alterations in seizure susceptibility and in seizure-induced plasticity following pharmacological and genetic manipulation of the Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 system. Epilepsia, 46 (S5), 52–58.

3.        Tongiorgi E., Armellin M., Giulianini P.G., Bregola G., Zucchini S., Paradiso B., Steward O., Cattaneo A., Simonato M. (2004) Brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA and protein are targeted to discrete dendritic laminas by events that trigger epileptogenesis. J. Neurosci., 24, 6842-6852.

4.        Simonato M., Manservigi R., Marconi P., Glorioso J. (2000) Gene transfer into neurones for the molecular analysis of behaviour: focus on herpes simplex vectors. Trends Neurosci., 23, 183-190.

5.        Marconi P., Simonato M., Zucchini S., Bregola G., Argnani R., Krisky D., Glorioso J., Manservigi R. (1999) Replication-defective herpes simplex virus vectors for neurotrophic factor gene transfer in vitro and in vivo. Gene Therapy, 6, 904-912.