Alessandra BIGI

Ruolo attuale:: Ricercatore Legge 240/10 a tempo determinato
SSD:: BIOS-07/A - Biochimica
Afferenza organizzativa:: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Sperimentali e Cliniche 'Mario Serio'

Recapiti

alessandra.bigi(AT)unifi.it

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	0552751227
	alessandra.bigi(AT)unifi.it

Alessandra BIGI

Pubblicazioni

Legenda

Contributo su rivista |

Articolo su libro |

Libro |

Contributo in atti di convegno (proceeding) |

Brevetto |

Curatela | Altro

Altro |

Tesi di Dottorato

Staderini, Tommaso; Bigi, Alessandra; Lagrève, Clément; Marzi, Isabella; Bemporad, Francesco; Chiti, Fabrizio (2024). Biophysical characterization of the phase separation of TDP-43 devoid of the C-terminal domain. CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY LETTERS, vol. 29, pp. 0-0, ISSN:1689-1392 DOI

Serene W. Chen, Joseph D. Barritt, Roberta Cascella, Alessandra Bigi, Cristina Cecchi, Martina Banchelli, Angelo Gallo, James A. Jarvis, Fabrizio Chiti, Christopher M. Dobson, Giuliana Fusco, and Alfonso De Simone (2024). Structure-toxicity relationship in intermediate fibrils from lα-Synuclein condensates. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, vol. 146, pp. 10537-10549, ISSN:0002-7863 DOI

Alessandra Bigi, Ryan Limbocker, Cristina Cecchi (2024). Editorial: Promising therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer’s disease: a focus on amyloid-β targeting. FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE, vol. 18, pp. 1-2, ISSN:1662-4548 DOI

Alessandra Bigi, Liliana Napolitano, Devkee M. Vadukul, Fabrizio Chiti, Cristina Cecchi, Francesco A. Aprile, Roberta Cascella (2024). A single-domain antibody detects and neutralises toxic Aβ42 oligomers in the Alzheimer's disease CSF. ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH & THERAPY, vol. 16, pp. 0-0, ISSN:1758-9193 DOI Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Bigi, Alessandra; Fani, Giulia; Bessi, Valentina; Napolitano, Liliana; Bagnoli, Silvia; Ingannato, Assunta; Neri, Lorenzo; Cascella, Roberta; Matteini, Paolo; Sorbi, Sandro; Nacmias, Benedetta; Cecchi, Cristina; Chiti, Fabrizio (2024). Putative novel CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease based on the novel concept of generic protein misfolding and proteotoxicity: the PRAMA cohort. TRANSLATIONAL NEURODEGENERATION, vol. 13, pp. 0-0, ISSN:2047-9158 DOI

Bigi A, Cascella R, Fani G, Bernacchioni C, Cencetti F, Bruni P, Chiti F, Donati C, Cecchi C. (2023). Sphingosine 1-phosphate attenuates neuronal dysfunction induced by amyloid-β oligomers through endocytic internalization of NMDA receptors. THE FEBS JOURNAL, vol. 290, pp. 112-133, ISSN:1742-4658 DOI

Roberta Cascella, Martina Banchelli, Seyyed Abolghasem Ghadami, Diletta Ami, Maria Cristina Gagliani, Alessandra Bigi, Tommaso Staderini, Davide Tampellini, Katia Cortese, Cristina Cecchi, Antonino Natalello, Hadi Adibi, Paolo Matteini, Fabrizio Chiti (2023). An in situ and in vitro investigation of cytoplasmic TDP-43 inclusions reveals the absence of a clear amyloid signature. ANNALS OF MEDICINE, vol. 55, pp. 72-88, ISSN:1365-2060 DOI

Alessandra Bigi, Roberta Cascella, Cristina Cecchi (2023). α-Synuclein oligomers and fibrils: partners in crime in synucleinopathies. NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH, vol. 18, pp. 2332-2342, ISSN:1673-5374 DOI

Claudia Capitini, Alessandra Bigi, Niccolò Parenti, Marco Emanuele, Niccolò Bianchi, Roberta Cascella, Cristina Cecchi, Laura Maggi, Francesco Annunziato, Francesco Saverio Pavone, Martino Calamai (2023). APP and Bace1: Differential effect of cholesterol enrichment on processing and plasma membrane mobility. ISCIENCE, vol. 26, pp. 1-21, ISSN:2589-0042 DOI Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Alessandra Bigi, Eva Lombardo, Roberta Cascella, Cristina Cecchi (2023). The Toxicity of Protein Aggregates: New Insights into the Mechanisms. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, vol. 24, pp. 1-4, ISSN:1661-6596 DOI Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Cascella R, Banchelli M, Abolghasem Ghadami S, Ami D, Gagliani MC, Bigi A, Staderini T, Tampellini D, Cortese K, Cecchi C, Natalello A, Adibi H, Matteini P, Chiti F. (2023). An in situ and in vitro investigation of cytoplasmic TDP-43 inclusions reveals the absence of a clear amyloid signature. ANNALS OF MEDICINE, vol. 55, pp. 72-88, ISSN:1365-2060 DOI

Roberta Cascella, Alessandra Bigi, Nunilo Cremades, Cristina Cecchi (2022). Effects of oligomer toxicity, fibril toxicity and fibril spreading in synucleinopathies. CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES, vol. 79, pp. 1-20, ISSN:1420-682X

Alessandra Bigi, Roberta Cascella, Fabrizio Chiti, Cristina Cecchi (2022). Amyloid fibrils act as a reservoir of soluble oligomers, the main culprits in protein deposition diseases. BIOESSAYS, vol. Volume 44, pp. 1-11, ISSN:1521-1878 DOI

Tommaso Staderini, Alessandra Bigi, Daniele Mongiello, Cristina Cecchi, Fabrizio Chiti (2022). Biophysical characterization of full-length TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) phase separation.. PROTEIN SCIENCE, vol. 31, pp. e4509-e4509, ISSN:0961-8368 DOI

Roberta Cascella, Alessandra Bigi, Dylan Giorgino Riffert, Maria Cristina Gagliani, Emilio Ermini, Matteo Moretti, Katia Cortese, Cristina Cecchi, Fabrizio Chiti (2022). A quantitative biology approach correlates neuronal toxicity with the largest inclusions of TDP-43. SCIENCE ADVANCES, vol. eabm6376, pp. 1-13, ISSN:2375-2548 DOI

Roberta Cascella, Serene W Chen , Alessandra Bigi, José D Camino, Catherine K Xu, Christopher M Dobson, Fabrizio Chiti, Nunilo Cremades, Cristina Cecchi (2021). The release of toxic oligomers from α-synuclein fibrils induces dysfunction in neuronal cells. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, vol. 12, pp. 1-16, ISSN:2041-1723 DOI

Bigi A.; Ermini E.; Chen S.W.; Cascella R.; Cecchi C. (2021). Exploring the release of toxic oligomers from α-synuclein fibrils with antibodies and sted microscopy. LIFE, vol. 11, pp. 1-16, ISSN:2075-1729 DOI

Ryan Limbocker, Roxine Staats, Sean Chia, Francesco S Ruggeri, Benedetta Mannini, Catherine K Xu, Michele Perni, Roberta Cascella, Alessandra Bigi, Liam R Sasser, Natalie R Block, Aidan K Wright, Ryan P Kreiser, Edward T Custy, Georg Meisl, Silvia Errico, Johnny Habchi, Patrick Flagmeier, Tadas Kartanas, Jared E Hollows, Lam T Nguyen, Kathleen LeForte, Denise Barbut, Janet R Kumita, Cristina Cecchi, Michael Zasloff, Tuomas P J Knowles, Christopher M Dobson, Fabrizio Chiti, Michele Vendruscolo (2021). Squalamine and its derivatives modulate the aggregation of amyloid-β and α-synuclein and suppress the toxicity of their oligomers. FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE, vol. 15, pp. 1-17, ISSN:1662-453X DOI

Alessandra Bigi (2020). Study of the relationship between structure and toxicity of different α-synuclein aggregates and related cellular dysfunctions. (Tutor: Cristina Cecchi)

Ryan Limbocker, Benedetta Mannini, Francesco S. Ruggeri, Roberta Cascella, Catherine K. Xu, Michele Perni, Sean Chia, Serene W. Chen, Johnny Habchi, Alessandra Bigi, Ryan P. Kreiser, Aidan K. Wright, J. Alex Albright, Tadas Kartanas, Janet R. Kumita, Nunilo Cremades, Michael Zasloff, Cristina Cecchi, Tuomas P. J. Knowles, Fabrizio Chiti, Michele Vendruscolo, Christopher M. Dobson (2020). Trodusquemine displaces protein misfolded oligomers from cell membranes and abrogates their cytotoxicity through a generic mechanism. COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY, vol. 3, pp. 0-0, ISSN:2399-3642 DOI Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Alessandra Bigi, Gilda Loffredo, Roberta Cascella, Cristina Cecchi (2020). Targeting pathological amyloid aggregates with conformation-sensitive antibodies. CURRENT ALZHEIMER RESEARCH, vol. 17, pp. 722-734, ISSN:1567-2050 DOI

La Manna, Sara; Scognamiglio, Pasqualina; Roviello, Valentina; Borbone, Fabio; Florio, Daniele; Di Natale, Concetta ; Bigi, Alessandra; Cecchi, Cristina; Cascella, Roberta; Giannini, Cinzia; Sibillano, Teresa; Novellino, Ettore; Marasco, Daniela (2019). The acute myeloid leukemia-associated nucleophosmin 1 gene mutations dictate amyloidogenicity of the C-terminal domain. THE FEBS JOURNAL, vol. 286, pp. 2311-2328, ISSN:1742-4658 DOI

Hassan Ramshini , Reza Tayebee, Alessandra Bigi, Francesco Bemporad, Cristina Cecchi, Fabrizio Chiti (2019). Identification of Novel 1,3,5-Triphenylbenzene Derivative Compounds as Inhibitors of Hen Lysozyme Amyloid Fibril Formation. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, vol. 20, pp. 1-18, ISSN:1661-6596 DOI Accesso ONLINE all'editore

Cascella R, Fani G, Bigi A, Chiti F, Cecchi C. (2019). Partial Failure of Proteostasis Systems Counteracting TDP-43 Aggregates in Neurodegenerative Diseases. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, vol. 20, pp. 0-0, ISSN:1661-6596 DOI

Po L.; Rollo F.; Viqueira J.R.R.; Lado R.T.; Bigi A.; Lopez J.C.; Paolucci M.; Nesi P. (2019). TRAFAIR: Understanding traffic flow to improve air quality. In: 5th IEEE International Smart Cities Conference, ISC2 2019, mar, 2019, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., pp. 36-43, ISBN:978-1-7281-0846-9 DOI

Cascella, Roberta; Evangelisti, Elisa; Bigi, Alessandra; Becatti, Matteo; Fiorillo, Claudia; Stefani, Massimo; Chiti, Fabrizio; Cecchi, Cristina (2017). Soluble Oligomers Require a Ganglioside to Trigger Neuronal Calcium Overload. JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, vol. 60, pp. 923-938, ISSN:1387-2877 DOI

Pierucci, F; Sassoli, C; Tani, A; Frati, A; Bigi, A; Chellini, F; Matteini, F; Anderloni, G; Nosi, D; Mazzanti, B; Zecchi-Orlandini, S; Meacci, E (2016). Secreted sphingosine 1-phosphate exerts a novel autocrine action in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cell signalling. HUMAN GENE THERAPY, vol. 27, pp. 65-66, ISSN:1043-0342

Alessandra BIGI

Biography

Dr. Alessandra Bigi graduated with highest marks et encomium in Biology at the University of Florence in 2016. She obtained the PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, in 2020. During the PhD her research activities concerned the relationship between structure and toxicity of aberrant protein aggregates in protein deposition diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She has been Postdoctoral Research fellow (Assegnista di Ricerca) at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, from 2020 to 2023. In this period, she has been involved in several research projects focused on the study of the cytotoxic pathways associated with protein misfolded diseases, with the aim to identify novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches against age-associated pathologies. Today she is a Researcher (RTD-A) in Biochemistry (SSD BIO/10).She has 23 international publications (JCR) and her h index (Scopus) is 11. She is a member of the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SIB) since 2017.

Alessandra BIGI

Curriculum

Education and training

April 2020	PhD in “Biomedical Sciences”, curriculum “Functional Biology of Biomolecules and Biosystems” with a thesis entitled “Study of the relationship between structure and toxicity of different α-synuclein aggregates and related cellular dysfunctions”. Supervisor Prof. Cristina Cecchi. Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Italy.
July 2016	Master’s Degree in Biology (LM-6). Final mark: 110/110 cum laude and Complimenti della Commissione University of Florence, Italy.
April 2013	Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences (L-13). Final mark: 110/110 University of Florence, Italy.
July 2009	*Scientific High School Diploma. Final mark: 100/100* Liceo Scientifico Francesco Redi, Arezzo, Italy.

Research experience

01/02/2023 - Present	Researcher (RTD-A) in Biochemistry (SSD BIO/10), at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence.
01/03/2022 - 31/01/2023	Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence. Research Project: “Trodusquemine as a new therapeutic molecule for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis”. Supervisor Prof. Cristina Cecchi.
01/03/2021 –28/02/2022	Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence. Research Project: “Single domain antibodies as diagnostic and therapeutic tools for Alzheimer's disease”. Supervisor Dr. Roberta Cascella.
01/03/2020 – 28/02/2021	Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence. Research Project: “Functional characterization of full-lenght TDP-43 in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis”. Supervisors Prof. Cristina Cecchi and Prof. Fabrizio Chiti.
01/11/2016 - 31/10/2019	PhD student in “Biomedical Sciences” at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence. Supervisor Prof. Cristina Cecchi.

Professional Membership

2017 - Present

Member of the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SIB).

Honours

2024

FEBS Open Bio Poster Prize at the 48th FEBS Congress “Mining Biochemistry for Human Health and Well-Being”, Milano (Italy), June 29th - July 3rd, 2024.

2021

Poster Prize at the “SIB 2021 61^° Congress” (entirely virtual), September, 23-24, 2021, for presenting the abstract “Diagnostic and therapeutic potential of single-domain antibodies in Alzheimer’s disease”.

Selected speaker at national and international conferences

2024	Bigi A, Chiti F. “Modelling the aging-associated loss of proteostasis leading to proteinopathy”. Programma di Ricerca PNRR Age-It “Ageing well in an ageing society” 1^st General Meeting of the Programme, Venezia (Italy) May 20-22, 2024.
2022	Bigi A, Cascella R, Ermini E, Barbut D, Zasloff M, Chiti F, Cecchi C. “Mechanisticinsights into the protective role of trodusquemine in TDP-43-associated proteinopathies”. TUM Congress 2022, Perugia (Italy), December 1^st, 2022.
2022	Bigi A, Cascella R, Lombardo E, Barbut D, Zasloff M, Chiti F, Cecchi C. “Trodusquemine prevents TDP-43 inclusion formation and suppresses its toxicity in vitro and in vivo”. Oral “on demand” uploaded in the virtual Conference platform of the “Hybrid AD/PD™ 2022, Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Diseases Conference” – Barcelona (Spain), March 15-20, 2022.
2021	Bigi A, Napolitano L. Vadukul D, Aprile FA, Chiti F, Cecchi C, Cascella R. “Diagnostic and therapeutic potential of single domain antibodies in Alzheimer’s disease”. “SIB 2021 61° Congress” (entirely virtual) September 23-24, 2021 (poster and short oral presentation).
2019	Bigi A, Cascella R, Chen SW, De Simone A, Dobson CM, Chiti F, Cecchi C. Molecular basis of neuronal calcium dyshomeostasis caused by α-synuclein aggregates in Parkinson’s disease. “SIB 2019 60^° Congress” Lecce (Italy), September 18-20, 2019 (poster and short oral presentation).
2017	Bigi A, Evangelisti E, Stefani M, Chiti F, Cecchi C, Cascella R. Aβ₄₂ oligomers interact with GM1 ganglioside inducing neuronal calcium overload. “SIB 2019 59^° Congress” Caserta (Italy), September 20-22, 2017.

Other scientific activities

Since 2019

Reviewer for Neural Regeneration Research, Biomedicines, Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, Cells, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Pharmaceutics, Review Commons, Scientific Reports, Pharmaceuticals, Neurochemistry International, BBA - Molecular Cell Research.