Nicolò Caporale

Copy number variations at 7q11.23 cause neurodevelopmental disorders with shared and opposite manifestations. Deletion causes Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS), while duplication causes 7q11.23 microduplication syndrome (7Dup). Converging evidence indicates GTF2I, from the 7q11.23 locus, is a key mediator of the cognitive-behavioral phenotypes associated with WBS and 7Dup. Here we integrate molecular profiling of patient-derived cortical organoids (COs) […]

Copy number variations (CNVs) at 7q11.23 cause Williams-Beuren (WBS) and 7q microduplication syndromes (7Dup), two neurodevelopmental disorders with shared and opposite cognitive-behavioral phenotypes. Using patient-derived and isogenic neurons, we integrated transcriptomics, translatomics and proteomics to elucidate the molecular underpinnings of this dosage effect. We found that 7q11.23 CNVs cause opposite alterations in neuronal differentiation and […]

Brain organoids are becoming increasingly relevant to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying psychiatric and neurological conditions. The in vitro recapitulation of key features of human brain development affords the unique opportunity of investigating the developmental antecedents of neuropsychiatric conditions in the context of the actual patients’ genetic backgrounds. Specifically, multiple strategies of brain organoid (BO) differentiation have […]

Myelin is the lipidic insulating structure enwrapping axons and allowing fast saltatory nerve conduction. In the central nervous system, myelin sheath is the result of the complex packaging of multilamellar extensions of oligodendrocyte (OL) membranes. Before reaching myelinating capabilities, OLs undergo a very precise program of differentiation and maturation that starts from OL precursor cells […]