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Claudio
Franceschi
University of Bologna
Department of Experimental Pathology
Research Laboratory of Immunology
Bologna, Italy |
Research
interests and relevant experience of responsible scientist
The
group of Claudio Franceschi, involved since many years in the
field of biogerontology, pioneered the study of exceptional longevity
in humans by exploring the centenarians as a model to address
the biological basis of aging and longevity, with particular attention
to immunology and genetics. This group has organized several nationwide
studies on centenarians.
On
the basis of the results of these studies the “remodelling
theory of immunosenescence” was proposed, suggesting that
the continuous exposure to antigens causes a lifelong, chronic
antigenic stress, in turn responsible for a peculiar chronic inflammatory
status they proposed to call “inflamm-aging”, a phenomenon
which appears to be under genetic control, detrimental for longevity
and more evident in men than in women. Together with the group
of Giovanna De Benedictis, University of Calabria, and Professor
Giuseppe Attardi, Caltech, Pasadena they showed that some mitochondrial
DNA inherited variants (mtDNA haplogroups) and functional mutations
are more frequent in centenarians, suggesting a maternal component
of longevity.
In
collaboration with the groups of James Vaupel and Anatoly Yashin
at the Max Plank Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock,
the empirical data generated during the course of such investigation
were used to elaborate new mathematical models, integrating demographic
and genetic data. Claudio Franceschi is or has been a member of
several European project on ageing and is currently the coordinator
of the European Integrated Project GEHA.
Staff
Claudio
Franceschi, Professor
G. Romeo, Professor of genetics
E. Maestrini, Professor of genetics
M. Seri, Professor of genetics
M. Bonafè, Assistant professor, MD
A. De Grandi, PhD
Stefano Savioli, Post-doc
Miriam Capri, Post-doc
C. Rossi, Post-doc
Michele Mishto, PhD
Francesco Lescai, PhD
G. Storci, PhD student
C. Barbi, PhD student
Relevant
publications
De
Benedictis G & Franceschi C. The unusual genetics of human
longevity. Sci Aging Knowledge Environ 2006; 2006:pe20.
Capri
M, Salvioli S, Sevini F, Valensin S, Celani L, Monti D, Pawelec
G, De Benedictis G, Gonos ES & Franceschi C The genetics of
human longevity. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2006; 1067:252-63.
Olivieri
F, Antonicelli R, Cardelli M, Marchegiani F, Cavallone L, Mocchegiani
E & Franceschi C. Genetic polymorphisms of inflammatory cytokines
and myocardial infarction in the elderly. Mech Ageing Dev 2006;
127(6):552-9.
Salvioli
S, Bonafe M, Barbi C, Storci G, Trapassi C, Tocco F, Gravina S,
Rossi M, Tiberi L, Mondello C, Monti D & Franceschi C. 53
codon 72 alleles influence the response to anticancer drugs in
cells from aged people by regulating the cell cycle inhibitor
p21WAF1.
Cell Cycle 2005; 4:1264-71.
Licastro
F, Candore G, Lio D, Porcellini E, Colonna-Romano G, Franceschi
C & Caruso C. Innate immunity and inflammation in ageing:
a key for understanding age-related diseases. Immun Ageing 2005;
2:8.
Caruso
C, Lio D, Cavallone L & Franceschi C. Aging, longevity, inflammation,
and cancer. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2004; 1028:1-13.
Ginaldi
L, De Martinis M, Monti D & Franceschi C. Chronic antigenic
load and apoptosis in immunosenescence. Trends Immunol 2005; 26:79-84.
Caruso
C, Candore G, Colonna-Romano G, Lio D & Franceschi C. Inflammation
and life-span. Science 2005; 307:208-9
Lio
D, Scola L, Crivello A, Colonna-Romano G, Candore G, Bonafe M,
Cavallone L, Marchegiani F, Olivieri F, Franceschi C & Caruso
C. Inflammation, genetics, and longevity: further studies on the
protective effects in men of IL-10 -1082 promoter SNP and its
interaction with TNF-alpha -308 promoter SNP. J Med Genet 2003;
40:296-9.
Zhang
J, Asin-Cayuela J, Fish J, Michikawa Y, Bonafe M, Olivieri F,
Passarino G, De Benedictis G, Franceschi C & Attardi G. Strikingly
higher frequency in centenarians and twins of mtDNA mutation causing
remodeling of replication origin in leukocytes. Proc Natl Acad
Sci U S A 2003; 100:1116-21.
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