Laura Tosatto

Research staff

I am interested in the study of intrinsically disordered regions of proteins and the impact of post-translational modifications in biology and pathology. In particular, my research area includes the study of proteins involved in neuro muscular degeneration, like androgen receptor in Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy. I am also interested in transcription factors biology and the effects of genetic mutations causing rare diseases. In order to achieve my goals, I use a multidisciplinary approach involving in vitro protein assays, cell biology, biophysics and proteomics.

orcid://0000-0002-5966-8131,

Contact:

- Email laura.tosatto@cnr.it
- Phone +39-02-23699548
- Location Milano

Website:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Tosatto+Laura&sort=pub

Research interests:

- Impact of phosphorylation on androgen receptor biology and pathology (Principal investigator)

Further collaborations:

- • Dr. Manuela Basso, Università di Trento, Italy (primary neurons and in vivo models of disease)
- • Prof. Maria Pennuto, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Padova; Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Padova, Italy (cell biology and mouse models for Spinal and Bulbar Muscolar Atrophy)
- • Prof. Xavier Salvatella, IRB, Barcelona, Spain (NMR spectroscopy, protein conformation, computational biology and phase separation biophysics)
- • Dr. Mathew H. Horrocks, EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK (fluorescence imaging tools for the in vitro and in cell detection of protein oligomers)
- • Dr. Francesca Coscia, Centre for Structural Biology, Fondazione Human Technopole, Milan, Italy (structural biology)
- • Dr. Carlotta Tacconi, Institute of Clinical Physiology, CNR, Milan, Italy (physiopathology, vascular biology)
- • Prof. Giorgio Arrigoni, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy (Mass spectrometry and proteomics)

Key publications:

1. Piol, D. et al. Antagonistic effect of cyclin-dependent kinases and a calcium-dependent phosphatase on polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor toxic gain of function. Sci. Adv. 9, eade1694 (2023).
2. Tosatto, L. et al. Single-molecule FRET studies on alpha-synuclein oligomerization of Parkinson’s disease genetically related mutants. Sci. Rep. 5, 16696 (2015).
3. Horrocks, M. H. et al. Single molecule fluorescence under conditions of fast flow. Anal. Chem. 84, 179–185 (2012).
4. Tosatto, L. et al. Alpha-synuclein pore forming activity upon membrane association. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1818, 2876–2883 (2012).
5. Tosatto, L. & Coscia, F. A glance at post-translational modifications of human thyroglobulin: potential impact on function and pathogenesis. Eur. Thyroid J. 11, e220046 (2022).

Publications (5):

Pathological structural conversion of alpha-synuclein at the mitochondria induces neuronal toxicity
Choi, Minee L. and Chappard, Alexandre and Singh, Bhanu P. and Maclachlan, Catherine and Rodrigues, Margarida and Fedotova, Evgenia and Berezhnov, V, Alexey and De, Suman and Peddie, Chris and Athauda, Dilan and Virdi, Gurvir S. and Zhang, Weijia and Evans, James R. and Wernick, Anna and Zanjani, Zeinab Shadman and Angelova, Plamena R. and Esteras, Noemi and Vinikurov, Andrey and Morris, Katie and Jeacock, Kiani and Tosatto, Laura and Little, Daniel and Gissen, Paul and Clarke, David J. and Kunath, Tilo and Collinson, Lucy and Klenerman, David and Abramov, Andrey Y. and Horrocks, Mathew H. and Gandhi, Sonia
nature neuroscience (print), 25, 2022
DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01140-3

Pharmacological inactivation of the prion protein by targeting a folding intermediate
Spagnolli G.; Massignan T.; Astolfi A.; Biggi S.; Rigoli M.; Brunelli P.; Libergoli M.; Ianeselli A.; Orioli S.; Boldrini A.; Terruzzi L.; Bonaldo V.; Maietta G.; Lorenzo N.L.; Fernandez L.C.; Codeseira Y.B.; Tosatto L.; Linsenmeier L.; Vignoli B.; Petris G.; Gasparotto D.; Pennuto M.; Guella G.; Canossa M.; Altmeppen H.C.; Lolli G.; Biressi S.; Pastor M.M.; Requena J.R.; Mancini I.; Barreca M.L.; Faccioli P.; Biasini E.
communications biology, 4, 2021
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01585-x

ClC-2-like Chloride Current Alterations in a Cell Model of Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, a Polyglutamine Disease
Martinez-Rojas, Vladimir A.; Jimenez-Garduno, Aura M.; Michelatti, Daniela; Tosatto, Laura; Marchioretto, Marta; Arosio, Daniele; Basso, Manuela; Pennuto, Maria; Musio, Carlo
Journal Of Molecular Neuroscience, 2020
DOI: 10.1007/s12031-020-01687-5

Fast Flow Microfluidics and Single-Molecule Fluorescence for the Rapid Characterization of ?-Synuclein Oligomers
Horrocks M.H.; Tosatto L.; Dear A.J.; Garcia G.A.; Iljina M.; Cremades N.; Dalla Serra M.; Knowles T.P.J.; Dobson C.M.; Klenerman D.
Analytical chemistry , 87, 2015
DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.5b01811

Alpha-synuclein pore forming activity upon membrane association
Tosatto, L; Andrighetti, Ao; Plotegher, N; Antonini, V; Tessari, I; Ricci, L; Bubacco, ; Dalla Serra, M
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES, 1818, 2012
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2012.07.007