Professor Costanza Emanueli

Summary

Research in my laboratory aims at finding new therapeutic options for patients with peripheral and cardiac ischaemia. Our efforts are organised in 2 synergic themes: 1) discovering and developing new regenerative approaches (with special emphasis on embryonic stem cells-derived vascular progenitor cells and on NGF gene therapy); and  2) better understanding of molecular mechanisms causing vascular sufferance, especially in diabetes (special focus here is on microRNAs, epigenetics and the p75NTR receptor of neurotrophins).

Our research approach spans from molecular expressional studies, cell biology, in vivo ischaemia and diabetes models and work on clinical samples, with the final objective of translating our science to the clinical use.

We have a series of clinical and non-clinical collaborators in Bristol and elsewhere and we are parts of 2 international consortia of researchers, including  the VASCULAR MICRORNA CONSORTIUM ( www.vascularmirnas.com), investigating the role of micro RNA in vascular biology and medicine, and RESOLVE (http://resolve.punkt-international.eu/index.php?id=6), investigating common wound healing models in different tissues.

Major collaborators in this moment are prof Madeddu and his team, here in Bristol (multiple collaborations are ongoing with this team), as well as Prof Andrew Baker and associates in Glasgow, whith whom we are developing ESC-endothelial cells for critical limb ischemia. We are also collaborating with cardiac and vascular surgeons teams in Bristol, London (UCL) and Milan-Italy.

Biography

POSITION TITLES:                                                                                                                                                                                               Full Professor and Chair of Vascular pathology and Regeneration;                                                                                                                        British Heart Foundation (BHF) Senior research Fellow;                                                                                                                                     Deputy Head of Research in the School of Clinical Sciences                                                                                                                                                                                

EDUCATION/TRAINING                                                                                                                                                                                            University of Florence, Italy   BSc in Biological Science (1987-92)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   University of California San Francisco, CA, USA travel fellowship (1995)                                                                                                                        University of Catania (awarding institution for a multicentric PhD program including Florence and Cagliari Universities), Italy  PhD in Neurovegetative Medicine/Pharmacology (1996-1999)                                                                                                                                                                          IDI-Rome, Italy (postdoc) (1998-1999)

Previous positions

• Laboratory Director, Italian National Institute of Biosystem and Biostructures,Alghero,Italy(2001-05)
• Senior Lecturer and BHF Basic Science Lecturer, Universityof Bristol(2005-2008)
• Reader and BHF Basic Science Lecturer,UniversityofBristol(2008-2010)

Honors

• Italian Society of Cardiology (SIC) International Fellowship (2001)
• American Heart Association New European Investigator Travel Award (2001)
• European Vascular Genomics Network of Excellence (EVGN) membership (2003)
• British Heart Foundation Basic Science Lectureship (2005)
• Editorial Boards of British Journal of Pharmacology (20006-2009), Circulation Research (since 2007), Vascular Pharmacology (since 2008), ATVB (since 2008) and PlosOne (since 2010)
• Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA) (2007)
• Elected to the Bristol Heart Institute steering committee (2008)
• Michel Davis Early-Career prize (2009)
• Circulation Research Top Review Award (golden category: 2009 and 2011; platinum category: 2010)
• BHF Basic Science Senior Research Fellow (2010)

Keywords

• endothelial cells
• vascular cells
• neurotrophins
• ESCs (embryonic stem cells)
• angiogenesis

Skills

• vascular disease
• diabetes
• limb ischaemia
• myocardial infarct

Processes and functions

• angiogenesis
• vascular regeneration

Memberships

Organisations

School of Clinical Sciences

Other sites

• Clinical-sciences

Links

•   Vascular miRNA transatlantic consortium
• British Heart Foundation
• EU FP7 RESOLVE integrate project consortium

Selected publications

• Meloni, M, Descamps, B, Caporali, A, Zentilin, L, Floris, I, Giacca, M & Emanueli, C 2012, ‘Nerve Growth Factor Gene Therapy using Adeno-Associated Viral Vectors Prevents Cardiomyopathy in Type 1 Diabetic Mice’. Diabetes, vol 61., pp. 229 - 240
• Caporali, A, Meloni, M, Völlenkle, C, Bonci, D, Sala-Newby, GB, Addis, R, Spinetti, G, Losa, S, Masson, R, Baker, AH, Agami, R, Sage, Cl, Condorelli, G, Madeddu, P, Martelli, F & Emanueli, C 2011, ‘Deregulation of microRNA-503 contributes to diabetes mellitus-induced impairment of endothelial function and reparative angiogenesis after Limb Ischemia’. Circulation, vol 25;123(3)., pp. 282 - 291
• Meloni, M, Caporali, A, Graiani, G, Lagrasta, C, Katare, R, Linthout, SV, Spillmann, F, Campesi, I, Madeddu, P, Quaini, F & Emanueli, C 2010, ‘Nerve growth factor promotes cardiac repair following myocardial infarction’. Circ Res, vol 16;106(7)., pp. 1275 - 1284
• Caporali, A, Pani, E, Horrevoets, A, Kraenkel, N, Oikawa, A, Sala-Newby, G, Meloni, M, Cristofaro, B, Graiani, G, Leroyer, A, Boulanger, C, Spinetti, G, Yoon, S, Madeddu, P & Emanueli, C 2008, ‘Neurotrophin p75 Receptor (p75NTR) Promotes Endothelial Cell Apoptosis and Inhibits Angiogenesis. Implications for Diabetes-Induced Impaired Neovascularization in Ischemic Limb Muscles’. Circulation Research, vol 103(2)., pp. 15 - 26
• Caporali, A, Sala-Newby, G, Meloni, M, Graiani, G, Pani, E, Cristofaro, B, Newby, A, Madeddu, P & Emanueli, C 2008, ‘Identification of the prosurvival activity of nerve growth factor on cardiac myocytes’. Cell Death Differ, vol 15 (2)., pp. 299 - 311
• Emanueli, C, Graiani, G, Salis, M, Gadau, S, Desirtes, E & Madeddu, P 2004, ‘Prophylactic Gene Therapy With Human Tissue Kallikrein Ameliorates Limb Ischemia Recovery in Type 1 Diabetic Mice’. Diabetes, vol 53 (4)., pp. 1096 - 1103
• Graiani, G, Emanueli, C, Desortes, E, Linthout, SV, Pinna, A, Figueroa, C, Manni, L & Madeddu, P 2004, ‘Nerve growth factor promotes reparative angiogenesis and inhibits endothelial apoptosis in cutaneous wounds of Type 1 diabetic mice’. Diabetologia, vol 47 (6)., pp. 1047 - 1054
• Emanueli, C, Salis, M, Pinna, A, Stacca, T, Milia, A, Spano, A, Chao, J, Chao, L, Sciola, L & Madeddu, P 2002, ‘Prevention of diabetes-induced microangiopathy by human tissue kallikrein gene transfer’. Circulation, vol 20;106(8)., pp. 993 - 999
• Emanueli, C, Minasi, A, Zacheo, A, Chao, J, Chao, L, Salis, M, Straino, S, Tozzi, M, Smith, R, Gaspa, L, Bianchini, G, Stillo, F, Maurizio, C, Capogrossi, M & Madeddu, P 2001, ‘Local delivery of human tissue kallikrein gene accelerates spontaneous angiogenesis in mouse model of hindlimb ischemia’. Circulation, vol 103 (1)., pp. 125 - 132
• Emanueli, C, Maestri, R, Corradi, D, Marchione, R, Minasi, A, Tozzi, M, Salis, M, Straino, S, Capogrossi, M, Olivetti, G & Madeddu, P 1999, ‘Dilated and failing cardiomyopathy in bradykinin B(2) receptor knockout mice’. Circulation, vol 7;100(23)., pp. 2359 - 2365

Read more >

View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system