Centre staff
Dr Alessandra Princivalle
Senior lecturer in pharmacology and neuroscience
Phone 0114 225 2925
Email a.p.princivalle@shu.ac.uk
Research interests
The emphasis of my research is on neuronal plasticity in epilepsy using immunohistochemical and molecular techniques.
Molecular signatures predictive of surgical therapy outcome
The project aims to study the heterogeneity in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients who are resistant to drug therapy and undergo surgical treatment. There is currently no understanding of the molecular basis of such resistance and no valid criteria to guide a therapeutic strategy. A microarray technique is being employed to identify molecular substrates which we can then investigate further. This work is in collaboration with Drs F. Falciani (Bioscience, University of Birmingham) and R. Grunewald
and Dev Bhattacharyya (Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield).
Further studies are focused on generation and characterisation of an antibody that recognises the human serotoninergic 5-HT3B receptor to further clarify the involvement of 5-HT3 receptor in epilepsy, which is suggested to have an excitatory role in the kindling model of epilepsy. This work is in collaboration with Dr NM Barnes (head of neuropharmacology, University of Birmingham).
Further collaboration with Professor T Marson, Dr N Mirza (University of Liverpool) and Dr M Rueber (Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield) in a project on the role of multidrug transporter causing drug resistance in human epilepsy.
Other projects focused on developing and adult animal models of epilepsy are in collaboration with Professor John Jefferys, (head of neurophysiology, University of Birmingham). The focus of these studies is on γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate their transporters, catabolic and metabolic enzymes, and receptors.
Recent publications
Chapters in books
Keen, M. and Princivalle, A. 'The Genomics of Brain Disorders' in The Human Brain and its Disorders Eds D. Richards, T. Clark, C. Clarke, Oxford University Press. (2007).
Princivalle, A.P., Dover, T.J., Parker, R.M.C. and Barnes, N.M. 'mRNA: detection by in situ and Northern hybridization' in Methods Mol Biol.; 306: 51-91. Receptor Binding Techniques Second Edition. Eds A.P.Davenport. (Humana Press), (2005).
Refereed oapers
Trim, P.J., Henson, C.M., Avery J.L., McEwen A., Snel M.F., Claude E. , Marshall P.S., West A. , Princivalle A.P., Clench M.R. 'Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Ion Mobility Separation-Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Vinblastine in Whole Body Tissue Sections.'. Anal Chem. 2008 Oct 11. [Epub ahead of print]
Trim, P.J., Atkinson, S.J., Princivalle A. P., Marshal, P.S., West, A., Clench, M. 'MALDI-MS Imaging of Lipids in Rat Brain Tissue with Integrated Unsupervised and Supervised Multivariant Statistical Analysis'. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 22/10: 1503-1509 (2008).
Brady, C.A., Dover, T.J., Massoura, A.N., Princivalle, A.P., Hope, A.G. and Barnes, N.M. 'Identification of 5-HT(3A) and 5-HT(3B) receptor subunits in human hippocampus'. Neuropharmacology. 52/5:1284-90 (2007)
Chandler, K.E., Princivalle, A.P., Fabian-Fine, R., Bowery, N.G., Kullmann, D.M., Walker M.C. 'Plasticity of GABAB receptor-mediated heterosynaptic interactions at mossy fibers following status epilepticus'. J. Neurosci. 23/36: 11382-11391 (2003).
Princivalle, A.P., Thom, M., Duncan, J.S., Bowery, N.G. 'GABAB1a, GABAB1b and GABAB2 mRNA variants expression in hippocampus resected from patients with temporal lobe epilepsy'. Neurosci.122/4: 975-984 (2003).
Princivalle A.P., Duncan J.S., Thom M. and Bowery N.G. 'Studies of GABAB receptor labelled with [3H]-CGP62349 in hippocampus resected from patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.' British Journal of Pharmacology, 136:1099-1106 (2002). Neuroreport 12(3): 591-595 (2001).
Monk S.A., Desai K., Brady C.A., Williams J.M., Lin L. Princivalle A., Hope A.G., Barnes N.M. 'Generation of a selective 5-HT3B subunit-recognising polyclonal antibody; identification of immunoreactive cells in rat hippocampus' Neuropharmacology, 41: 1013-1016 (2001).
Princivalle A.P, Pangalos M.N., Bowery N.G., and Spreafico R. 'Distribution of GABAB1a, GABAB1b and GABAB2 receptor proteins in the cerebral cortex and thalamus of adult rats'
Towers S., Princivalle A., Billinton A., Bettler B., Urban L., Castro-Lopes J., and Bowery NG. 'GABAB receptor protein and mRNA distribution in rat spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia' Eur. J. Neuroci. 12: 3201-3210 (2000).
Princivalle A., Regondi M.C., Frassoni C., Bowery N.G., and Spreafico R. 'Distribution of GABAB receptor protein in cortex and thalamus of adult rats and during postnatal development' Brain Res. Bulletin 52: 397-405 (2000).
Princivalle A., Spreafico R., Bowery N., and de Curtis M. 'Layer-specific immunocytochemical localization of GABAB1a and GABAB1b receptors in the rat piriform cortex' Eur. J. Neurosci. 12(4): 1516-1520 (2000).
