tutti i venerdì dalle 14 alle 15 nella mia stanza al complesso polivalente CUBO, viale Pieraccini 6 primo piano ala sud stanza numero 1/086

cortesemente ivniare una mail prima clara.ballerini@unifi.it

        Dal 2021 a oggi                               Professore Associato (MED 04)

                                                             Università degli Studi Firenze, Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica                             

                                                Attività di ricerca: coordinatore del laboratorio di Neuroimmunologia

                                                Didattica: 103 ore/anno di lezioni frontali, relatore di tesi di laurea, specializzazione e PhD

      Dal 1/04/2018- al 2020                        Ricercatore RTD b (MED 04)

                                           Università degli Studi Firenze, Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica                                                                               Attività di ricerca: coordinatore del laboratorio di Neuroimmunologia

                                           Didattica: 95 ore/anno di lezioni frontali, relatore di tesi di laurea, specializzazione e PhD

Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale (prima fascia) dal 31/05/2021 AL 31/05/2032

▪   Settore Concorsuale 06/A2 Patologia Generale e Patologia Clinica

Complete Publication List

(doi added from 2007)

*corresponding author

  1. Lolli F, Liuzzi GM, Vergelli M, Massacesi L, Ballerini C, Amaducci L, Riccio P
Antibodies specific for the lipid bound form of myelin basic protein during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
J Neuroimmunol 1993 44:69-75

2. Massacesi L, Vergelli M, Zehetbauer B, Liuzzi GM, Olivotto J, Ballerini C, Uccelli A, Mancardi L, Riccio P, Amaducci L Induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in rats and immune response to myelin basic protein in lipid bound form
J Neurol Sci 1993 119:91-8

3. Vergelli M, Mazzanti B, Ballerini C, Gran B, Amaducci L, Massacesi L
Transforming growth factor-beta 1 inhibits the proliferation of rat astrocytes induced by serum and growth factors
J Neurosci Res 1995 40:127-33

4. Cascino I, Ballerini C, Audino S, Rombolà G, Massacesi L, Colombo G, Scorza Smeraldi R, D’Alfonso S, Momigliano Richiardi P, Tosi R, Ruberti G
Fas gene polymorphisms are not associated with systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis and HIV infection
Dis Markers 1998 13:221-5

5. Gran B, Gestri D, Sottini A, Quiros Roldan E, Bettinardi A, Signorini S, Primi D, Ballerini C, Taiuti R, Amaducci L, Massacesi L
Detection of skewed T-cell receptor V-beta gene usage in the peripheric blood of patients with multiple sclerosis
J Neuroimmunol 1998 85:22-32

6. Ballerini C*, Nacmias B, Rombolà G, Marcon G, Massacesi L, Sorbi S
HLA A2 allele is associated with age of onset of Alzheimer’s disease
Ann Neurol 1999 45:397-400

7. D’Alfonso S, Nistico L, Zavattari P, Marrosu MG, Murru R, Lai M, Massacesi L, Repice A, Ballerini C, Gestri D, Salvetti M, Ristori G, Bomprezzi R, Trojano M, Liguori M, Gambi D, Quattrone A, Fruci D, Cucca F, Richiardi PM, Tosi R
Linkage analysis of multiple sclerosis with candidate region markers Sardinian and Continental Italian families
Eur J Hum Genet 1999 7:377-85

8. Mazzanti B, Hemmer B, Traggiai E, Ballerini C, McFarland HF, Massacesi L, Martin R, Vergelli M
Decrypting the spectrum of antigen-specific T-cell responses: the avidity repertoire of MBP-specific T-cells
J Neurosci Res 2000 59:86-93

9. D’Alfonso S, Nistico L, Bocchio D, Bomprezzi R, Marrosu MG, Murru MR, Lai M, Massacesi L, Ballerini C, Repice A, Salvetti M, Montesperelli C, Ristori G, Trojano M, Liguori M, Gambi D, Quattrone A, Tosi R, Momigliano-Richiardi P
An attempt to identifying MS-associated loci as follow-up of a genomic linkage study in the Italian population
J Neurovirol 2000 2: S18-22

10. Ballerini C*, Campani D, Rombolà G, Gran B, Nacmias B, Amato MP, Siracusa G, Bartolozzi L, Sorbi S, Massacesi L
Association of apolipoprotein E polymorphism to clinical heterogeneity of multiple sclerosis
Neurosci Lett 2000 296:174-6

11. Chiarugi A, Cozzi A, Ballerini C, Massacesi L, Moroni F
Kinureine 3-mono-oxygenase activity and neurotoxic kynureine metabolites increase in the spinal cord of rats with experimental allergic encephalomyelithis
Neuroscience 2001 102:687-95

12. Soldan SS, Fodgell-Hahan A, Brennan MB, Mittleman BB, Ballerini C, Massacesi L, Seya T, McFarland HF, Jacobson S
Elevated serum and cerebrospinal fluid levels of soluble human herpesvirus type 6 cellular receptor, membrane cofactor protein, in patients with multiple sclerosis
Ann Neurol 2001 50:486-93

13. Papini AM, Mazzanti B, Nardi E, Traggiai E, Ballerini C, Biagioli T, Kalbacher H, Beck H, Deeg M, Chelli M, Ginanneschi M, Massacesi L, Vergelli M
Palmitoyl derivatives of GpMBP epitopes: T-cell response and peptidases susceptibility
J Med Chem 2001 44:3504-10

14. Vergelli M, Mazzanti B, Traggiai E, Biagioli T, Ballerini C, Parigi A, Konse A, Pellicano G, Massacesi L
Short-term evolution of autoreactive T cell repertoire in multiple sclerosis
J Neurosci Res 2001 66:517-24

15. Traggiai E, Biagioli T, Rosati E, Ballerini C, Mazzanti B, Ben Nun A, Massacesi L, Vergelli M
IL-7-enhanced T-cell response to myelin proteins in multiple sclerosis
J Neuroimmunol 2001 121:119-9

16. Ballerini C*, Rosati E, Salvetti M, Ristori G, Cannoni S, Biagioli T, Massacesi L, Sorbi S, Vergelli M
Protein tyrosine phophatase receptor-type C exon 4 gene mutation distribution in an Italian multiple sclerosis population
Neurosci Lett 2002 328:325-7

17. Buzzetti R, Pozzilli P, Di Mario U, Ballerini C, Massacesi L
Multiple Sclerosis and Type I diabetes
Diabetologia 2002 45:1735-6

18. Mellai M, Giordano M, D’Alfonso S, Marchini M, Scorza R, Danieli GM, Leone M, Ferro I, Liguori M, Trojano M, Ballerini C, Massacesi L, Cannoni S, Bomprezzi R, Momigliano-Richiardi P
Prolactin and prolactin receptor gene polymorphisms in multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus
Hum Immunol 2003 64:274-84

19. Ballerini C., Guerini F.R., Rombolà G., Rosati E., Massacesi L., Ferrante P., Caputo D., Figà Talamanca L., Naldi P., Liguori M., Alizadeh M., Momigliano-Richiardi P., D’Alfonso S.
HLA-Multiple Sclerosis association in Continental Italy and correlation with disease prevalence in Europe
J Neuroimm, 2004 150(1-2):178-85

20. Bruley Rosset M., Ballerini C., Gregoire S., Metharom P., Carnaud C., and Pierre Aucouturier. Breaking immune tolerance to the prion protein using prion protein peptides plus oligodeoxynucleotide-CpG in mice
J Immunol, 2004 172(9):5168-74.

21. Mazzanti B., Biagioli T., Aldinucci A., Cavaletti G., Cavaletti E., Oggiorni N., Frigo M., Rota S., Tagliabue E., Ballerini C., Massacesi L., Riccio P., Lolli F. Effects of pixantrone on immune-cell function in the curse of acute rat experimental allergic encephalomyelitis J Neuroimm, 2005;168(1-2):111-7.

22. Ballerini C., Gourdain P, Bachy V., Blanchard N., Levavasseur E., Gregoire S., Aucouturier P, Hivroz C., Carnaud C. Functional implication of cellular prion protein (PrPC) in antigen-driven interactions between T cells and dendritic cells
J Immunol, 2006, 176: 7254–7262.

23. Alessandra Aldinucci, Gianni Gerlini, Silvia Fossati, Giulia Cipriani, Clara Ballerini, Tiziana Biagioli, Nicola Pimpinelli, Lorenzo Borgognoni, Luca Massacesi, Flavio Moroni, and Alberto Chiarugi A Key Role for Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1 Activity during Human Dendritic Cell Maturation
J. Immunol., Jul 2007; 179: 305 - 312.

24. Sandra D’Alfonso, Elisabetta Bolognesi, Franca R Guerini, Nadia Barizzone, Sara Bocca, Daniela Ferrante, Luca Castelli, Laura Bergamaschi, Cristina Agliardi, Pasquale Ferrante, Paola Naldi, Maurizio Leone, Domenico Caputo, Clara Ballerini, Marco Salvetti, Daniela Galimberti, Luca Massacesi, Maria Trojano, Patricia Momigliano-Richiardi, A sequence variation in the MOG gene is involved in multiple sclerosis susceptibility in Italy . Genes Immun. 2007 Jan;9(1):7-15 doi:10.1038/sj.gene.6364437

25. Francesco Liotta, MD, Francesca Frosali, BSc, Valentina Querci, BSc, Andrej Mantei, BSc, Lucia Filı`, BSc, Laura Maggi, BSc, Benedetta Mazzinghi, BSc, Roberta Angeli, BSc, Elisa Ronconi, BSc, Veronica Santarlasci, PhD, Tiziana Biagioli, PhD, Laura Lasagni, PhD, Clara Ballerini, PhD, Paola Parronchi, MD, Alexander Scheffold, PhD, Lorenzo Cosmi, MD, Enrico Maggi, MD, Sergio Romagnani, MD, and Francesco Annunziato, PhD, Human immature myeloid dendritic cells trigger a TH2-polarizing program via Jagged-1/Notch interaction J Allergy Clin Immunol 2008 Apr;121(4):1000-5 doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2008.01.004.

26. Ilaria Luccarini, Clara Ballerini, Tiziana Biagioli, Filippo Biamonte, Arianna Bellucci, Maria Cristina Rosi, Cristina Grossi, Luca Massacesi, Fiorella Casamenti, Combined treatment with atorvastatin and minocycline suppresses severity of EAE
Experimental Neurology 211, 2008 214–226 doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2008.01.022.

27. Benedetta Mazzanti b,1, Alessandra Aldinucci a,1, Tiziana Biagioli a, Alessandro Barilaro a, Serena Urbani b, Simone Dal Pozzo b, Maria Pia Amato a, Gianfranco Siracusa a, Clara Crescioli d, Cinzia Manuelli c, A. Bosi b, Riccardo Saccardi b, Luca Massacesi a, Clara Ballerini* a, Differences in mesenchymal stem cell cytokine profiles between MS patients and healthy donors: Implication for assessment of disease activity and treatment
J Neuroimm 2008, Aug 13;199(1-2):142-50 doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2008.05.006

28. Véronique Bachy, Clara Ballerini, Pauline Gourdain, Aurélie Prignon, Saci Iken, Nadine Antoine, Martine Bruley-Rosset, Claude Carnaud, Breaking T- and B-cell tolerance against the prion protein (PrP) with peptidi-loaded dendritic cells, overcomes tolerance and delays scrapie
J Gen Virol, 2009, Nov 18, (Epub ahead printing) doi: 10.1099/vir.0.013417-0

29. Alessandra Aldinucci, Tiziana Biagioli, Cinzia Manuelli, Luca Massacesi, Clara
Ballerini* Modulating dendritic cells (DC) from immunogenic to tolerogenic responses: a novel mechanism of AZA/6-MP J Neuroimm 2009, Nov 25 (Epub ahead printing) doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2009.11.001
30. Aldinucci A, Rizzetto L, Pieri L, Nosi D, Romagnoli P, Biagioli T, Mazzanti B, Saccardi R, Beltrame L, Massacesi L, Cavalieri D, Ballerini C*. Inhibition of immune synapse by altered dendritic cell actin distribution: a new pathway of mesenchymal stem cell immune regulation. J Immunol. 2010 Nov 1;185(9):5 102-10. Epub 2010 Oct 1 doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1001332.
31. Franciotta D, Di Stefano AL, Jarius S, Zardini E, Tavazzi E, Ballerini C, Marchioni E, Bergamaschi R, Ceroni M Cerebrospinal BAFF and Epstein-Barr virus-specific oligoclonal bands in multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory demyelinating neurological diseases . J Neuroimmunol. 2011 Jan;230(1-2):160-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2010.10.027. Epub 2010 Nov 24.
32. Bonetti MI, Pieri L, Domenici L, Urbani S, Romano G, Aldinucci A, Ballerini C, Monici M, Saccardi R, Basile V, Bosi A, Romagnoli P Dendritic cells with lymphocyte stimulating activity differentiate from human CD133 positive precursors. Blood. 2011 Feb 8. [Epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1182/blood-2010-08-299735
33. Cavone L, Aldinucci A, Ballerini C, Biagioli T, Moroni F, Chiarugi A. PARP-1 inhibition prevents CNS migration of dendritic cells during EAE, suppressing the encephalitogenic response and relapse severity. Mult Scler. 2011 Feb 22. [Epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1177/1352458511399113
34. Gourdain P, Ballerini C, Nicot AB and Carnaud C. Exacerbation of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in prion protein (PrPc)-null mice: evidence for a critical role of the central nervous system. Journal of Neuroinflammation 2012, 9:25 Pub date 26 Jan 2012 doi: 10.1186/1742-2094-9-25.
35. Passani M. B. and Ballerini C. Histamine and neuroinflammation: insights from mouse experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 2012 6:32. doi:10.3389/fnsys.2012.00032
36. C. Ballerini, A. Aldinucci, I. Luccarini, A. Galante, C. Manuelli, P. Blandina,
M. Katebe, P.L. Chazot, E. Masini and M.B. Passani. 2013 Antagonism of histamine H4 receptor exacerbates clinical and pathological signs of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis Br J Pharmacol. 2013 Sep;170(1):67-77. doi:10.3389/fnsys.2012.00032.

37. Bonetti MI, Bacci S, Santuosso M, Mazzanti B, Aldinucci A, Ballerini C, Guasti D, Calosi L, Bosi A, Romagnoli P. 2013 Rosiglitazone promotes the differentiation of Langerhans cells and inhibits that of other dendritic cell types from CD133 positive hematopoietic precursors. Histol. Histopathol. 2013 Jul 24. [Epub ahead of print] doi: 0.14670/HH-29.323

38. Amedei A, Codolo G, Ozolins D, Ballerini C, Biagioli T, Jaunalksne I, Zilevica A, D Elios S, De Bernard M, D' Elios MM. 2013 Cerebrospinal fluid T-regulatory cells recognize Borrelia burgdorferi NAPA in chronic Lyme borreliosis. Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol Oct-Dec; 26 (4): 907-15 doi: 10.1177/039463201302600409

39. Alessandra Aldinucci,† Antonio Turco,‡ Tiziana Biagioli,† Francesca Maria Toma,‡ Daniele Bani,§ Daniele Guasti,§ Cinzia Manuelli,§ Lisa Rizzetto,†,‡,§,∥ Duccio Cavalieri,†,‡,§,∥ Luca Massacesi,† Tommaso Mello,⊥ Denis Scaini,□ Alberto Bianco,¶ Laura Ballerini,*,□ Maurizio Prato,*, and Clara Ballerini*,†
Carbon Nanotube Scaffolds Instruct Human Dendritic Cells: Modulating Immune Responses by Contacts at the Nanoscale; Nano Letters 2013 doi: 10.1021/nl403396e.

40. Renato Ribeiro-Viana‡, Elena Bonechi‡, Javier Rojo, Clara Ballerini,
Giuseppina Comito, Barbara Richichi* and Cristina Nativi. Human dendritic cell activation induced by a permannosylated dendron containing an antigenic GM3-lactone mimetic
Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1317–1324. doi: 10.3762/bjoc.10.133

41. Elena Bonechi, Alessandra Aldinucci, Benedetta Mazzanti, Massimo
di Gioia, Anna Maria Repice, Cinzia Manuelli, Riccardo Saccardi, Luca Massacesi and Clara Ballerini*. Increased CXCL10 expression in MS MSCs and monocytes is unaffected by AHSCT, Ann Clin Transl Neurol, 2014 DOI: 10.1002/acn3.92

42. Clara Ballerini*, Giovanni Baldi, Alessandra Aldinucci, Pietro Maggi Nanomaterial Applications in Multiple Sclerosis Inflamed Brain, Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology
2015 doi: 10.1007/s11481-015-9588-y


43. Fibbi B, Benvenuti S, Giuliani C, Deledda C, Luciani P, Monici M, Mazzanti B, Ballerini C, Peri A. Low extracellular sodium promotes adipogenic commitment of human mesenchymal stromal cells: a novel mechanism for chronic hyponatremia-induced bone loss. Endocrine. 2015 Jun 21. doi: 10.1007/s12020-015-0663-1.[Epub ahead of print]

44. Caterina Veroni, Fabiana Marnetto, Letizia Granieri, Antonio Bertolotto, Clara Ballerini, AnnaMaria Repice, Lucia Schirru, Giancarlo Coghe, Eleonora Cocco, Eleni Anastasiadou, Maria Puopolo, Francesca Aloisi. Immune and Epstein-Barr virus gene expression in cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples from patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Journal of Neuroinflammation 2015 12:132 doi: 10.1186/s12974-015-0353-1

45. Duccio Cavalieri, Lisa Rizzetto, Noemi Tocci, Damariz Rivero, Elisa Asquini, Azeddine Si-Ammour, Elena Bonechi, Clara Ballerini, Roberto Viola. Plant microRNAs as novel immunomodulatory agents. Scientific Reports 2016 May 11;6:25761. doi: 10.1038/srep25761.

46. Alessandra Aldinucci, Elena Bonechi, Cinzia Manuelli, Daniele Nosi, Emanuela Masini, Maria Beatrice Passani, and Clara Ballerini*. Histamine regulates actin cytoskeleton in human Toll like receptor 4 activated monocyte derived dendritic cells tuning CD4+ T lymphocyte response. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2016 May 13.
doi: 10.1074/jbc.M116.720680 . [Epub ahead of print]

47. Cristina Ulivieri, Maria Teresa Savino, Ilaria Luccarini, Emanuela Fanigliulo, Alessandra Aldinucci, Elena Bonechi, Marisa Benagiano, Barbara Ortensi, Giuliana Pelicci, Mario Milco D'Elios, Clara Ballerini, Cosima T Baldari. The adaptor protein Rai/ShcC promotes astrocyte-dependent inflammation during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. JImmunol. 2016 Ju15;197(2):480-490 doi:10.4049/JImmunol. 1502063 Epub Jun 10 2016

48. Gastaldi, M., Zardini, E., Leante, R. Ruggieri M, Costa G, Cocco E, DeLuca G, Cataldo I, Biagioli T, Ballerini C et al. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis and the determination of oligoclonal bands. Neurol Sci 2017 38 (Suppl 2): 217. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-017-3034-2

49. MM D'Elios, A. Aldinucci, R. Amoriello, M. Benagiano, E. Bonechi, P. Maggi, A. Flori, C. Ravagli, D. Saer, L. Cappiello, L. Conti, B. Valtancoli, A. Bencini, L. Menichetti, G. Baldi and C. Ballerini*. Myelin-specific T cells carry and release magnotite PGLA-PEG COOH nanoparticles in the mouse central nervous system. RSC Advances, 2018, 8, 904-913 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA11290D

50. Manuela Medelin; Vincenzo Giacco; Alessandra Aldinucci; Giuseppe Castronovo; Elena Bonechi; Antonio Sibilla; Michele Tanturli; Maria Torcia; Laura Ballerini, MD; Federico Cozzolino and Clara Ballerini* Bridging pro-inflammatory signals, synaptic transmission and protection in spinal explants in vitro. Molecular Brain 2018 11:3 DOI 10.1186/s13041-018-0347-x

51. Alessandra Aldinucci, Elena Bonechi, Tiziana Biagioli, Anna Maria Repice, Mario Milco D'Elios, Lorenzo Emmi, Giacomo Emmi, Elena Silvestri, Alessandro Barilaro and Clara Ballerini* CSF/serum Matrix metallopeptidase-9 ratio discriminates Neuro Behçet from Multiple Sclerosis Ann Clin Transl Neurol 2018; 5(4):493-498 DOI: 10.1002/acn3.538

52. Monica di Paola, Elena Bonechi, Gustavo Provensi, Alessia Costa, Gerald Clarke, Clara Ballerini, Carlotta De Filippo, M Beatrice Passani Oleoylethanolamide treatment affects gut microbiota composition and the expression of intestinal cytokines in Peyer’s Patches of mice Scientific Reports 2018 8:14881 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-32925-x

53. Rossana Rauti, Mattia Musto, Neus Lozano, Elena Bonechi, Clara Ballerini*, Kostas Kostarelos, Laura Ballerini 3D Organotypic Spinal Cultures: Exploring Neuron and Neuroglia Responses upon Prolonged Exposure to Graphene Oxide, in Graphene and the brain; Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 2019 doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2019.00001

54. Cristina Ulivieri, Domiziana De Tommaso, Francesca Finetti, Barbara Ortensi, Giuliana Pellicci, Mario M. D’Elios, Clara Ballerini, Cosima T. Baldari A T cell suppressive circuitry mediated by CD39 and regulated by Shc/Rai is induced in astrocytes by encephalitogenic T cells Frontiers Immunology 2019, DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.01041

55. Vincenzo Giacco, PhD; Giulia Panattoni, Msc; Manuela Medelin, PhD; Elena Bonechi, PhD; Alessandra Aldinucci, PhD; Clara Ballerini*, PhD; Laura Ballerini Cytokines Inflammatory Threat, but not LPS one, Shortens GABAergic Synaptic Currents in the Mouse Spinal Cord Organotypic Cultures, Journal of Neuroinflammation 2019, doi.org/10.1186/s12974-019-1519-z

56. Fonderico M, Biagioli T, Lanzilao L, Bellinvia A, Fratangelo R, Pastò L, Prestipino E, Razzolini L, Tudisco L, Ginestroni A, Vuolo L, Fainardi E, Portaccio E, Ballerini C, Amato MP Prognostic role of intrathecal IgM synthesis in multiple sclerosis: a mini review and results from a clinical series Multiple Sclerosis Journal, 24 Feb 2020 doi: 10.1177/1352458520907913.

57. Amoriello R, Greiff V, Aldinucci A, Bonechi E, Carnasciali A, Peruzzi B, Repice AM, Mariottini A, Saccardi R, Mazzanti B, Massacesi L, Ballerini C* The TCR repertoire reconstitution in multiple sclerosis: comparing one-shot and continuous immunosuppressive therapies Front Immunol. 2020 Apr 9;11:559. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00559

58. Alberto Carnascialia, PharmD; Roberta Amorielloa, PhD; Elena Bonechia, PhD; Alessio Mazzonia, PhD; Costanza Ravaglib, PhD; Saer Doumett b, PhD; Laura Cappiello b, MSc; Mario Milco D’Eliosa, MD; Giovanni Baldib, PhD; Clara Ballerini*, PhD T-cell delivery of nanoparticles-bound anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody: successful B-cell depletion in the spinal cord during Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology June 2020 DOI: 10.1007/s11481-020-09931-w

59. Adriano Lama1*, Gustavo Provensi2*, Roberta Amoriello3, Claudio Pirozzi1, Barbara Rani4, Maria Pina Mollica1, Giuseppina Mattace Raso 1, Clara Ballerini3, Rosaria Meli1, Maria Beatrice Passani4 The anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory effects of OEA limit DSS-induced colitis in mice Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy June 2020 June 2020 doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.110368.

60. Elisa Maseroli, Ilaria Cellai, Sandra Filippi, Paolo Comeglio, Sarah Cipriani, Giulia Rastrelli, Martina Rosi, Flavia Sorbi, Massimiliano Fambrini, Felice Petraglia, Roberta Amoriello, Clara Ballerini, Letizia Lombardelli, Marie-Pierre Piccinni, Erica Sarchielli, Giulia Guarnieri, Annamaria Morelli, Mario Maggi and Linda Vignozzi Anti-inflammatory effects of androgens in human vagina Journal of Molecular Endocrinology Aug 2020 doi.org/10.1530/JME-20-0147

61. Roberta Amoriello and Clara Ballerini* An innovative and affordable quantitative assessment of human TCR repertoire EBioMedicine 61 2020 103021 doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.103021

62. Roberta Amoriello, PhD, Maria Chernigovskaya, M.Sc2, Victor Greiff, PhD, Alberto Carnasciali, PharmD, Luca Massacesi, MD, Alessandro Barilaro, MD, Anna M. Repice MD, Tiziana Biagioli, PhD, Alessandra Aldinucci, PhD, Paolo A. Muraro, MD PhD, David A. Laplaud, MD PhD, Andreas Lossius, MD PhD, and Clara Ballerini*, PhD TCR repertoire diversity in Multiple Sclerosis: high-dimensional bioinformatics analysis of sequences from brain, cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood EBioMedicine June 10 2021 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103429

63. Giulia Panattoni; Roberta Amoriello; Christian Memo; Agnes Thalhammer; Clara Ballerini*; Laura Ballerini Diverse inflammatory threats modulate astrocytes Ca2+ signaling via Connexin43 hemichannels in organotypic spinal slices. Mol Brain. 2021 Oct 25;14(1):159. doi: 10.1186/s13041-021-00868-6.

64. Fonderico M, Portaccio E, Razzolini L, Pastò L, Bellinvia A, Addazio I, Betti M, Aprea MG, Ballerini C, Biagioli T, Amato MP. Cerebrospinal Fluid IgM and Oligoclonal IgG Bands in Multiple Sclerosis: A Meta-Analysis of Prevalence and Prognosis.
Brain Sci. 2021 Oct 29;11(11):1444. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11111444.

65. Roberta Amoriello, Alice Mariottini and Clara Ballerini* Immunosenescence and autoimmunity: exploiting the T-cell receptor repertoire to investigate the impact of aging on Multiple Sclerosis 2021 Front. Immunol. 12:799380. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.799380

66. Clara Ballerini, Alfred K. Njamnshi, Sharon L. Juliano, Rajesh N. Kalaria, Roberto Furlan* and Rufus O. Akinyemi; Non-Communicable Neurological Disorders and Neuroinflammation 2022 Front Immunol doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.834424

67. Roberta Amoriello, Roberta Rizzo, Alice Mariottini, Daria Bortolotti, Valentina Gentili, Elena Bonechi, Alessandra Aldinucci, Alberto Carnasciali, Benedetta Peruzzi, Anna Maria Repice, Luca Massacesi, Enrico Fainardi and Clara Ballerini*; Investigating Serum sHLA-G Cooperation With MRI Activity and Disease-Modifying Treatment Outcome in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis 2022 Front Neurol doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.872396
68. Francesca Gargano, Gisella Guerrera, Eleonora Piras, Barbara Serafini, Monica Di Paola, Lisa Rizzetto , Maria Chiara Buscarinu, Viviana Annibali , Claudia Vuotto , Marco De Bardi, Silvia D’Orso, Serena Ruggieri, Claudio Gasperini, Lorenzo Pavarini, Giovanni Ristori, Mario Picozza, Barbara Rosicarelli, Clara Ballerini, Rosella Mechelli, Francesco Vitali, Duccio Cavalieri, Marco Salvetti, Daniela F. Angelini, Giovanna Borsellino, Carlotta De Filippo and Luca Battistini; Proinflammatory mucosal-associated invariant CD8+ T cells react to gut flora yeasts and infiltrate multiple sclerosis brain 2022 Front Immunol DOI 10.3389/fimmu.2022.890298
69. Di Mauro G, Amoriello R, Lozano N, Carnasciali A, Guasti D, Becucci M, Cellot G, Kostarelos K, Ballerini C*, Ballerini L. Graphene Oxide Nanosheets Reduce Astrocyte Reactivity to Inflammation and Ameliorate Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. 2023 ACS Nano. Jan 24. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.2c06609. Online ahead of print.
70. Anna Vanni , Alberto Carnasciali , Alessio Mazzoni , Edda Russo , Parham Farahvachi , Leandro Di Gloria , Matteo Ramazzotti, Giulia Lamacchia , Manuela Capone , Lorenzo Salvati , Laura Calosi , Daniele Bani , Francesco Liotta, Lorenzo Cosmi , Amedeo Amedei , Clara Ballerini , Laura Maggi , Francesco Annunziato Musculin does not modulate the disease course of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis and DSS colitis 2023 Immunol Lett Feb 25;S0165-2478(23)00024-X. doi: 10.1016/j.imlet.2023.02.006.

71. Alberto Vassallo, Roberta Amoriello, Prandvera Guri, Lorenzo Casbarra, Matteo Ramazzotti, Marco Zaccaroni, Clara Ballerini, Duccio Cavalieri, Massimiliano Marvasi Adaptation of Commensal Escherichia coli in Tomato Fruits: Motility, Stress, Virulence 2023 Biology (Basel) Apr 21;12(4):633. doi: 10.3390/biology12040633.

72. 

Chapters in Books

S. Sorbi, B. Nacmias, M. Mortilla, S. Piacentini, G. Marcon, P. Piersanti, C. Ballerini, P. Forleo, S. Latorraca, G. Tesco, L. Amaducci. “Linkage Analysis in Italian Pedigrees with Autosomal Dominant Familial Alzheimer's Disease Cerebral Ischemia and Dementia” p. 185-186 In: Hartmann A., Kuschnisk W., Hoyer S. Cerebral Ischemia and Dementia., Heidelberg:Springer, 1991

Sorbi S., Nacmias B., Mortilla M., Piacentini S., Piersanti S., Tesco G., Latorraca S., Forleo P., Ballerini C., Bucca F., Amaducci L. (1991). Linkage analysis of early onset familial form of Alzheimer's disease (FAD) in pedigree of italian origin. In: C. Camaschetta, M. Furbetta, P. Merlin, M. Pirastu . DNA Analysis of genetic diseases: state-of-the-art in Italy. p. 1-4, Milano: Amity Rassegne Scientifiche 1991

Aucouturier P, Levavasseur E, Ballerini C, Carnaud C, “Prion diseases and the prion protein” p. 376-378 In: Amyloid and amyloidosis edited by Gilles Grateau; Robert A. Kyle; Martha Skinner. CRC Press 2004 ISBN 0-8493-3534-5

Yrjo T. Konttinen, Henrik Husu, Xia Han, M. Beatrice Passani, Clara Ballerini, Vasily Stegaev, Tarvo Sillat, Zygmunt Mackiewicz “Non-professional Histamine Producing Cells, Immune Responses and Autoimmunity” p. 201-258 Chapter 7 in Histamine H4 Receptor: A Novel Drug Target in Immunoregulation and Inflammation edited by Holger Stark Versita, Versita Ltd, London W1H 1DP, Great Britain 2013

Ferreira R., Ballerini C., Passani M.B., Bernardino L. "Histaminergic Regulation of Blood-Brain Barrier Activity" p. 215-230 Chapter 8 in Histamine Receptors, Preclinical and Clinical Aspects edited by Patrizio Blandina and Maria Beatrice Passani, Humana Press, Springer International Publishing, Switzerland 2016

C. Ballerini “Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis” Methods Mol Biol 2021;2285:375-384. 2021 doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1311-5_27.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Name : Clara BALLERINI

Professional address: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine,  Lab. Neuroimmunology, Complesso Polivalente Viale Pieraccini, 6 50139 Firenze, Italy

2021 - to date                   Associate professor in General Pathology (MEDS 02/A)  

                                        University of Florence, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine (DMSC)

2018- to 2021                    Researcher RTD b (MEDS 02/A)

                                               University of Florence, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine (DMSC)

                                               Research activity: group leader and coordinator laboratory of Neuroimmunology

                                               Didactic: 84 hours/year frontal lessons, tutor graduating/resident/PhD students

 orcid.org/0000-0002-7812-9029

Over the years CB has progressively evolved from a humanistic education to a full time research activity in the field of neuroimmunology. CB interests have ranged from scientific literature and journalism, to laboratory activity including teaching, publication of original papers, participation to scientific forums and clinical duties (diagnostic activity in the field of neurology). From 1990 CB has been involved in medical research, particularly in the study of the immunological and genetic aspects of two neurological diseases: Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis, with special interest for multiple sclerosis. CB organized and supervised the formation of a biological tissue bank for DNA and Cells collected from more than 400 multiple sclerosis patients distributed in Italy with the collaboration of seven national university neurological centers. This collaboration provided CB the opportunity to study the genetic aspects of susceptibility to multiple sclerosis with the identification of several associated alleles. On the other hand CB has been also investigating the immunological aspects of multiple sclerosis studying the T cell phenotype in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) cell populations, utilizing MoAb and cytofluorimetry methods and investigating the main characteristics of T cells as proliferation properties, cytokine production, antigen specificity, cytotoxicity. CB research activity involved also the study of the animal model of multiple sclerosis: experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Recently CB has been investigating the functional study of T cell together with the molecular analysis of the T cell receptor repertoire. From 2002 to 2004 CB has been post doc at E209 INSERM, Paris under the direction of Pierre Aucutourier and the supervision of Claude Carnaud focusing her research on prion disease and immune system. During her work at INSERM, she has investigated the role of prion protein at the immunological synapse between T cell and dendritic cell, the role in CNS during EAE and she has investigated the possibility to brake immune tolerance to prion protein in mouse and she developed a protocol to immunize mice with dendritic cells as a tool for prion disease therapy. In all the projects where CB participates she achieves expected scientific results. From 2004 CB was back at the Neuroimmunology Unit of University of Florence, she starts working on the possibility to modulate dendritic cell (DC) function from immunogenic to tolerogenic as possible therapy in CNS autoimmune diseases. She is group leader coordinating three persons on different projects and collaborating with several units. Recent studies reveal striking parallels between cellular signaling mechanisms in the immune (IS) and nervous systems (CNS) that may provide unexpected insights into the development, function, and diseases of both systems. Therefore, CB focused her experience, knowledge and skills into project concerning biological and physical properties shared between CNS cells and IS with particular interest on dual role of inflammation, view as a cross talk between the two systems, in CNS during neurological diseases. In this perspective, CB collaborations permit her to investigate the role of histamine and histamine receptors on EAE and a more recently on DCs, cell cytoskeleton and T lymphocytes polarization. Furthermore, CB collaboration with Laura Ballerini, SISSA Trieste Italy, widened her research field into nanotechnology, with two recent publications on carbon nanotubes and nanoparticles; both materials placed in a prospective of translation into neurological disease theranostic and into understanding immune central nervous system damage. Recently, CB collaboration with Cosima Tatiana Baldari, University of Siena, permits her to investigate the signal adaptor of T cell receptor signaling (SchA,Rai) role in astrocytes during EAE. Finally, CB extended her competence in neuroimmunology and immunological markers investigating possible role of immune cell and inflammation in psychiatric diseases in order to identify possible new biomarkers of disease and response to therapies. To this aim CB is coordinating, in collaboration with the Psychiatric Unit at the Careggi University Hospital (Florence) a project based on methanalysis and revision of data regarding immunological alterations during specific psychiatric disorders.

Resume of activities: the Laboratory of Neuroimmunology, department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drugs and Child Health (NEUROFARBA), University of Florence.

The activity of the Laboratory of Neuroimmunology, coordinated by Clara Ballerini PhD, is focused on the dialogue between immune system (IS) cells and molecules and central nervous system (CNS) ones. In this context we are performing basic sciences research studies (by mean of cells isolated from humans and mice) and study on human diseases characterized by the involvement of both systems, as multiple sclerosis (MS) and the animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), neuro-Behçet disease (NBD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and the transgenic animal model G93A.

In collaboration with the Hematologic Unit (Careggi Hospital, Florence University) we studied and characterized human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), in order to evaluate their potential in future therapies and characteristics in autoimmune diseases.

Recently, we were involved in the evaluation of nanomaterials (carbon nanotubes, iron oxide nanoparticles) as possible vehicle of therapy in CNS and their interaction with immune system cells.

Methods developed in the laboratory: isolation and differentiation of immune cells from peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), isolation of immune cells from mouse organs (bone marrow, spleen and lymphocytes, spinal cord and brain), cell biology, molecular and cellular immunology, study of soluble factors (cytokines and chemokines) mediating immunity (ELISA; Milliplex Luminex), T cell receptor repertoire analysis, study of gene expression by real time PCR, by arrays, study of cell phenotype by flow cytometry, morphological and functional studies by confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, study of immune synapse (IS). We perform clinical evaluation of EAE and when possible imaging, together with histological and neuropathological evaluation. We perform clinical evaluation of G93A (SOD1 mutated mouse, model of ALS) followed by histological and neuropathological analysis. We perform active and passive induction of EAE in different mouse strains.

Ongoing projects and collaborations: - Histamine effects on human myeloid dendritic cells after innate immune stimulations (in collaboration with Beatrice Passani, Pharmacological section) - Role of adaptive protein Rai in MS pathogenesis (in collaboration with Cosima Baldari, University of Siena) - Nanomaterial interactions in CNS and IS (in collaboration with Laura Ballerini, ISAS, Trieste Italy) - Immunologic evaluation of bone marrow in patients affected by MS that undergone autologous stem cell transplantation - Pilot study of infection containment in MS patients under natalizumab therapy (in collaboration with the second division of Neurology, Luca Massacesi, University of Florence) - Cell and soluble factors study in CSF of NBD and MS patients (in collaboration with Alessandro Barilaro, second division of neurology University o Florence, and Giacomo Emmi, division of clinical immunology University of Florence) - In vitro and in vivo evaluation of a NGF mimetic molecule (in collaboration with Laura Ballerini, ISAS Trieste and Federico Cozzolino, University of Florence) - Nano-engineered immune cells for MS (in collaboration with MM D'Elios, University of Florence, and Giovanni Baldi, Colorobbia, Empoli, SME).