Prion Biology Laboratory

E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Federico Benetti carried out undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Biological Sciences at the University of Padova, Italy. During his master thesis, he studied the role of copper in degenerative disorders under the supervision of prof. Benedetto Salvato. In particular, he studied the correlation between Alzheimer disease and the ceruloplasmin activity. Moreover, he analyzed in detail the neurotoxicity molecular mechanism of cuprizone. He received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Molecular Physiology and Structural Biology from the University of Padova in 2008, with a thesis entitled “Structural studies on the C-terminal domain of human PMCA1b”. During his three years of PhD, he studied the oligomerization process of the human Plasma Membrane Calcium Pump splicing variant 1b under the supervision of prof. Mariano Beltramini, prof. Luigi Bubacco, prof. Ernesto Carafoli and prof. Stefano Mammi. He carried out this research using molecular biology, cellular biology, and biochemical and biophysics techniques. He demonstrated that the oligomerization regulatory mechanism is a reversible process, managed by diacylglycerol.
Since 2008 Federico Benetti holds a research assignment position in the Prion Biology laboratory at Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati-International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA-ISAS). He is studying the role of transition metals in prion protein folding and unfolding, stability and function. The brain takes in the most part of available body energy; metal-enzymes in particular are crucial for its normal physiological functions. Up to now, their essential role remains misunderstood and very controversial information was published over the years. Therefore, Federico believes that a full description of transition metal biochemistry would be necessary, and that more accurate studies are needed, to better elucidate their activity. To this aim, biophysical and biochemical techniques, as well as molecular and cellular biology tools are all applied in his research endeavor.

Download Full Curriculum Vitae