Mitochondria are key players in cellular energy homeostasis and integrate responses to genetic and environmental/nutritional factors which concurrently shape health and aging. The overall aim of Ventura lab is to address the role of mitochondria in developmental- as well as age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, with the ultimate goal of promoting health-span. To this end, we are interested in identifying mitochondrial cell-autonomous and non-autonomous responses to environmental/dietary factors (i.e. food components and contaminants, drugs) of relevance for neuronal pathologies prevention and treatment. Based on past and current findings special attention is revolved towards mitochondria-regulated cell death and survival pathways as well as lipid and iron homeostasis.

The lab primarily exploits the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a powerful genetic tractable multicellular organism to study neuronal pathologies and aging, for complementary in vivo behavioral, genetic and live-imaging approaches and has recently established  a high-content phenotype-based screening platform. The use of different cell lines was lately implemented in the lab, also thanks to local and international collaboration partners, to translate results into relevant mammalian disease models (e.g. Alzheimer disease, Mitochondria complex I deficiency).

• Nutritional targeting of the mitochondria-tyr-kinase axis to prevent age-associated neuronal decline – MiTyrAge (BMBF)
• Identification of compounds ameliorating neurodevelopmental deficits in newly established C. elegans and cellular models for Mitochondrial complex I deficiency (DFG)
• Role of mitochondria in neuronal aging induced by environmental nanoparticles (DFG)
• AhR-mitochondria crosstalk in diet promoted longevity (DFG)

1. Coppari S^, Colomba M^, Fraternale D, Brinkmann V, Romeo M, Rocchi M, Di Giacomo B, Mari M, Guidi L, Ramakrishna S, Ventura N*, Albertini MC*. Antioxidant and anti-inflammaging ability of prune (Prunus spinosa L.) extract result in improved wound healing efficacy. Antioxidants. 2021 Mar 2;10(3):374. doi: 10.3390/antiox10030374
2. Maglioni S, Arsalan N, Hamacher A, Afshar S, Schiavi A, Beller M, Ventura N. High-content C. elegans screen identifies natural compounds impacting mitochondria-lipid homeostasis and promoting health-span. Cells. 2021 Dec 29;11(1):100. doi: 10.3390/cells11010100
3. Brinkmann V, Romeo M, Larigot L, Hemmers A, Tschage L, Kleinjohann J, Schiavi A, Steinwachs S, Esser C, Menzel R, Giani Tagliabue S, Bonati L, Cox F, Ale-Agha N, Jakobs P, Altschmied J, Haendeler J, Coumoul X, Ventura N. Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Dependent and -Independent Pathways Mediate Curcumin Anti-Aging Effects. Antioxidants. 2022 Mar 23;11(4):613. doi: 10.3390/antiox11040613
4. Schiavi A*, Runci A*, Maiorino T, Naso DF, Barenys M, Fritsche E, Strappazzon F, Ventura N. Cobalt chloride has beneficial effects across species through a hormetic mechanism. Frontiers Cell Dev. Biol. 2022 Oct 25;10:986835. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.986835
5. Maglioni S, Schiavi A, Melcher M, Brinkmann B, Luo Z, Raimundo N, Laromaine A, Meyer J, Distelmaier F, Ventura N. Neuroligin-mediated neurodevelopmental defects are induced by mitochondrial dysfunction and prevented by lutein in C. elegans. Nat Commun. 2022 May 12;13(1):2620. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29972-4
6. Valente O, Dobner J, Ramachandran H, Hildebrandt B, Felix Distelmaier F, Ventura N*@, Andrea Rossi*@. Generation of an induced pluripotent stem cell line (IUFi002-A) from a Leigh syndrome patient carrying mutations in the NDUFS1 gene. Stem Cell Res. 2022 Dec;65:102971. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2022.102971
7. Schiavi A, Salveridou E, Brinkmann B, Shaik S, Menzel R, Kalyanasundaram S, Nygård S, Nilsen H, Ventura N (2023) Mitochondria hormesis delays aging and associated diseases in C. elegans impacting on key ferroptosis players. iScience. 2023 Mar 21;26(4):106448. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106448
8. Schiavi A, Cirotti C, Gerber L, Lauro GD, Maglioni S, Petzsch P, Köhrer K, Schins R, Wahle T, Barilà D, Ventura N. Abl depletion via autophagy mediates the beneficial effects of quercetin against Alzheimer pathology across species. Cell Death Discov. 2023 Oct 14;9(1):376. doi: 10.1038/s41420-023-01592-x
9. Schröter L, Jentsch L, Maglioni S, Muñoz-Juan A, Wahle T, Limke A, von Mikecz A, Laromaine A, Ventura N. A Multisystemic Approach Revealed Aminated Polystyrene Nanoparticles-Induced Neurotoxicity. Small. 2023 Oct 29:e2302907. doi: 10.1002/smll.202302907
10. Agostini F, Pereyra L, Dale J, Yambire KF, Maglioni S, Schiavi A, Ventura N, Milosevic I, Raimundo N. J. Up-regulation of cholesterol synthesis by lysosomal defects requires a functional mitochondrial respiratory chain. J Biol Chem. 2024 May 21:107403. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107403