Ilaria Penna

Mrs. Ilaria Penna


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

16Years (2011-Present)

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

Representative Publications

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IPIlaria Penna
Ilaria Penna
SVSerena Vella
Serena Vella
AGArianna Gigoni
Arianna Gigoni
CRClaudio Russo
Claudio Russo
RCRanieri Cancedda
Ranieri Cancedda
Aldo PaganoAldo Pagano
Aldo Pagano
The most frequently used technique to study the expression profile of genes involved in common neurological disorders is quantitative real-time RT-PCR, which allows the indirect detection of very low amounts of selected mRNAs in tissue samples. Expression analysis by RT-qPCR requires an appropriate normalization to the expression level of genes characterized by a stable, constitutive transcription. However, the identification of a gene transcribed at a very stable level is difficult if not impossible, since significant fluctuations of the level of mRNA synthesis often accompanies changes of cell behavior. The aim of this study is to identify the most stable genes in postmortem human brain samples of patients affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) suitable as reference genes. The experiments analyzed 12 commonly used reference genes in brain samples from eight individuals with AD and seven controls. After a careful analysis of the results calculated by geNorm and NormFinder algorithms, we found that CYC1 and EIF4A2 are the best reference genes. We remark on the importance of the determination of the best reference genes for each sample to be analyzed and suggest a practical combination of reference genes to be used in the analysis of human postmortem samples.