Ferdinando Nicoletti, MD, is a Full Professor of Pharmacology at the Sapienza University of Rome, School of Medicine, and the Director of the Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology, IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy. He is an author of 445 publications (H Factor: 66). Since his period of fellowship in the Lab of Prof. Erminio Costa (1984-1987; NIMH, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, DC, and Fidia Georgetown Institute for Neurosciences, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.) Ferdinando Nicoletti focused his research on metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors. He published the first articles on the characterization of mGlu receptors in brain slices and cultured granule cells in 1986-1987, and, in recognition of this contribution, he was indicated as one of the 4 young (<41 years) leading European Neuroscientists in 1992 (Science, April 24, pag. 471, 1992). More recently, he got the Ruffolo’s Award to the Carrer by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (San Diego, CA, April 26, 2014). His current interest is still on mGlu receptors as related to the pathophysiology and treatment of CNS disorders.
Selected Publications
- 1.Nicoletti F., Iadarola M.J., Wroblewski J.T., Costa E. Excitatory amino acid recognition sites coupled with inositol phospholipid metabolism: developmental changes and interaction with alpha 1-adrenoceptors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 1986;83(6):1931–1935. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.6.1931. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Bruno V., Battaglia G., Casabona G., Copani A., Caciagli F., Nicoletti F. Neuroprotection by glial metabotropic glutamate receptors is mediated by transforming growth factor-beta. J. Neurosci. 1998;18(23):9594–9600. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.18-23-09594.1998. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Battaglia G., Fornai F., Busceti C.L., Aloisi G., Cerrito F., De Blasi A., Melchiorri D., Nicoletti F. Selective blockade of mGlu5 metabotropic glutamate receptors is protective against methamphetamine neurotoxicity. J. Neurosci. 2002;22(6):2135–2141. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-06-02135.2002. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Battaglia G., Busceti C.L., Molinaro G., Biagioni F., Storto M., Fornai F., Nicoletti F., Bruno V. Endogenous activation of mGlu5 metabotropic glutamate receptors contributes to the development of nigro-striatal damage induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine in mice. J. Neurosci. 2004;24(4):828–835. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3831-03.2004. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Conn PJ, Battaglia G, Marino MJ, Nicoletti F. Metabotropic glutamate receptors in the basal ganglia motor circuit. 2005. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 6.Corti C., Battaglia G., Molinaro G., Riozzi B., Pittaluga A., Corsi M., Mugnaini M., Nicoletti F., Bruno V. The use of knock-out mice unravels distinct roles for mGlu2 and mGlu3 metabotropic glutamate receptors in mechanisms of neurodegeneration/neuroprotection. J. Neurosci. 2007;27(31):8297–8308. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1889-07.2007. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7.Ferraguti F, Crepaldi L, Nicoletti F. Metabotropic glutamate 1 receptor: current concepts and perspectives. 2008. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 8.Fallarino F., Volpi C., Fazio F., Notartomaso S., Vacca C., Busceti C., Bicciato S., Battaglia G., Bruno V., Puccetti P., Fioretti M.C., Nicoletti F., Grohmann U., Di Marco R. Metabotropic glutamate receptor-4 modulates adaptive immunity and restrains neuroinflammation. Nat. Med. 2010;16(8):897–902. doi: 10.1038/nm.2183. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 9.Nicoletti F, Bockaert J, Collingridge GL, Conn PJ, Ferraguti F, Schoepp DD, Wroblewski JT, Pin JP. Metabotropic glutamate receptors: from the workbench to the bedside. 2011. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
- 10.Nasca C., Xenos D., Barone Y., Caruso A., Scaccianoce S., Matrisciano F., Battaglia G., Mathé A.A., Pittaluga A., Lionetto L., Simmaco M., Nicoletti F. L-acetylcarnitine causes rapid antidepressant effects through the epigenetic induction of mGlu2 receptors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2013;110(12):4804–4809. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1216100110. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 11.Nasca C., Bigio B., Zelli D., Nicoletti F., McEwen B.S. Mind the gap: glucocorticoids modulate hippocampal glutamate tone underlying individual differences in stress susceptibility. Mol. Psychiatry. 2015;20(6):755–763. doi: 10.1038/mp.2014.96. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 12.Font J., López-Cano M., Notartomaso S., Scarselli P., Di Pietro P., Bresolí-Obach R., Battaglia G., Malhaire F., Rovira X., Catena J., Giraldo J., Pin J.P., Fernández-Dueñas V., Goudet C., Nonell S., Nicoletti F., Llebaria A., Ciruela F. Optical control of pain in vivo with a photoactive mGlu(5) receptor negative allosteric modulator. eLife. 2017;6:e23545. doi: 10.7554/eLife.23545. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]