Martina Lorenzati joined the group of Physiopathology of Neural Stem Cells in October 2016, when she entered the PhD Program in Neuroscience in Turin under the joined supervision of prof. Annalisa Buffo and prof. Alessandro Vercelli. During her PhD, she demonstrated that JNK1 modulates oligodendrocyte progenitor cell proliferation, architecture, and myelination (Lorenzati, Sci Report, 2021). This study was the start of her journey in glial pathophysiology. She also contributed in the dissection of the molecular mechanisms underlying heterogeneity in dorsal and ventral oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in repose to damage (Boda, Nat Commun, 2022) and in the identification of genetic and pharmacological strategies effective in lowering toxic levels of the nuclear protein LMNB1, whose gene duplication leads to Autosomal Dominant LeukoDystrophy (ADLD; Giorgio, Brain, 2019; Giorgio, Human Mut, 2021). During her Post Doc, she specialized in the generation of patterned neural derivatives from human induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs).
Research focus
Dr. Lorenzati’s main interests in research include myelination, glia-glia and glia-neurons crosstalk, and glial contribution in neurodegenerative diseases. More in detail, Martina focuses on the pathogenetic cellular mechanisms responsible of demyelination in the context of ADLD, a genetic disease caused by the duplication of LMNB1 gene. Another focus of her research is the interplay between human Embryonic Stem Cells(hESC)-derived patterned astrocytes and hESC-derived Medium Spiny Neurons in the context of the NSCReconstruct European Project, in collaboration with prof. Elena Cattaneo, University of Milan.
