Valeria Bellani

Mrs. Valeria Bellani

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

4Years (2023-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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23 October 2023 in Biomolecules
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
HAHusam B.R. Alabed
Husam B.R. Alabed
Ambra Del GrossoAmbra Del Grosso
Ambra Del Grosso
VBValeria Bellani
Valeria Bellani
Lorena UrbanelliLorena Urbanelli
Lorena Urbanelli
SCSara Carpi
Sara Carpi
Roberto Maria PellegrinoRoberto Maria Pellegrino
Roberto Maria Pellegrino
Krabbe disease is a rare neurodegenerative disease with an autosomal recessive character caused by a mutation in the GALC gene. The mutation leads to an accumulation of psychosine and a subsequent degeneration of oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells. Psychosine is the main biomarker of the disease. The Twitcher mouse is the most commonly used animal model to study Krabbe disease. Although there are many references to this model in the literature, the lipidomic study of nervous system tissues in the Twitcher model has received little attention. This study focuses on the comparison of the lipid profiles of four nervous system tissues (brain, cerebellum, spinal cord, and sciatic nerve) in the Twitcher mouse compared to the wild-type mouse. Altogether, approximately 230 molecular species belonging to 19 lipid classes were annotated and quantified. A comparison at the levels of class, molecular species, and lipid building blocks showed significant differences between the two groups, particularly in the sciatic nerve. The in-depth study of the lipid phenotype made it possible to hypothesize the genes and enzymes involved in the changes. The integration of metabolic data with genetic data may be useful from a systems biology perspective to gain a better understanding of the molecular basis of the disease.