Oxidative stress, neuroendocrine function and behavior in an animal model of extended longevity
Berry, A.
Citation
Berry, A. (2010, April 21). Oxidative stress, neuroendocrine function and behavior in an animal model of extended longevity. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/15280
Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version
License: Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden
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ALESSANDRA BERRY’S CURRICULUM VITAE
Alessandra Berry was born in Rome, Italy on April 9th 1974. She obtained the High School Diploma in 1992 at the “Liceo Classico Tito Lucrezio Caro”, Rome, Italy. In the same year she enrolled at the Faculty of Biological Science at “La Sapienza” Uni- versity, Rome, Italy and in 2002 she graduated (summa cum laude) defending a mas- ter thesis on the effects of exogenous intracerebral administration of BDNF in learning and memory in the adult rat, under the supervision of dr. Enrico Alleva and dr. Francesca Cirulli. From 2002 to 2003 she was a research assistant in the Depart- ment of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, (ISS, Rome, Italy). On 2003 she was a re- cipient of a one year fellowship from “La Sapienza” University, Rome, to perform research at Leiden University (The Netherlands); in the same year she was enrolled at Leiden University as a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. dr. E. R. de Kloet at LACDR, Division of Medical Pharmacology. During 2005-2006 she moved back to Rome and she worked as research assistant in the Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, (ISS, Rome, Italy), in the meantime she continued to perform research on her PhD project also supervised by dr. Francesca Cirulli. In 2005 she was a re- cipient of a Marie Curie EU fellowship to perform research activities connected to her doctoral training at Leiden University. From 2006 to present she has been working as research assistant in the Department of Cell Biology and Neurosciences, (ISS, Rome, Italy) performing research aimed at the fulfillment of her PhD project.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS
Berry A., Aloe L., Rossi S., Bonsignore L.T., Capone F., Alleva E. and Cirulli F. (2010) Con- junctivally-administered NGF antibody reduces pain sensitivity and anxiety-like be- havioral responses in aged female mice. Behavioural Brain Research, Epub February 24th.
Cirulli F., Berry A., Bonsignore L.T, Capone F., D’Andrea I., Aloe L., Branchi I. and Alleva E. (2010) Early life influences on emotional reactivity: Evidence that social enrich- ment has greater effects than handling on anxiety-like behaviors, neuroendocrine re- sponses to stress and central BDNF levels. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Epub February 18th.
Berry A., Carnevale D., Giorgio M., Pelicci P.G., de Kloet E.R., Alleva E. and Cirulli F.
(2010) Greater resistance to inflammation at adulthood could contribute to extended life span of p66Shc-/-mice. Experimental Gerontology, Epub January 18th(this thesis chapter 3).
Macrì S., Granstrem O., Shumilina M., Antunes Gomes Dos Santos F.J., Berry A., Saso L. and Laviola G. (2009) Resilience and vulnerability are dose-dependently related to neona- tal stressors in mice. Hormones and Behavior, 56:391-398.
Colafrancesco V., Cirulli F., Rossi S., Berry A. and Aloe L. (2009) Anti-NGF-antibody ad- ministration as collyrium reduces the presence of NGF and enhances the expression of VEGF in the retina, lacrimal gland and hippocampus. Neuroscience Letters, 463:203-206.
Cirulli F., Francia F., Berry A., Aloe L., Alleva E. and Suomi J.S. (2008) Early life stress as a risk factor for mental health: role of neurotrophins from rodents to non-human pri- mates. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 33:573-585.
Berry A., Greco A., Giorgio M., Pelicci P.G., de Kloet E.R., Alleva E., Minghetti L. and Cir- ulli F. (2008) Deletion of the lifespan determinant p66Shcimproves performance in a spatial memory task, decreases levels of oxidative stress markers in the hippocam- pus and increases levels of the neurotrophin BDNF in adult mice. Experimental Gerontology, 43:200-208 (this thesis chapter 5).
Berry A., Capone F., Giorgio M., Pelicci P.G., de Kloet E.R., Alleva E., Minghetti L. and Cir- ulli F. (2007) Deletion of the life span determinant p66Shcprevents age-dependent in- creases in emotionality and pain sensitivity in mice. Experimental Gerontology, 42:37-45 (this thesis chapter 4).
Karssen A.M., Meijer O.C., Berry A., Sanjuan Pinol R. and de Kloet E.R. (2005) Low doses of dexamethasone can produce a hypocorticosteroid state in the brain. Endocrinol- ogy, 12: 5587-5595.
Cirulli F., Berry A., Chiarotti F. and Alleva E. (2004) Intrahippocampal administration of BDNF in adult rats affects behavioral flexibility in the Morris water maze and per- formance in the elevated plus-maze. Hippocampus, 14: 802-807.
Cirulli F., Berry A. and Alleva E. (2003) Early disruption of the mother-infant relationship:
effects on brain plasticity and implications for psychopathology. Neuroscience &
Biobehavioral Reviews, 27:73-82.
Cirulli F., Berry A. and Alleva E. (2000) Intracerebroventricular administration of brain-de- rived neurotrophic factor in adult rats affects analgesia and spontaneous behaviour but not memory retention in a Morris Water Maze task. Neuroscience Letters, 287:207-210.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to thank……
All the people from the Klikspaanweg student house that were my first touch of the Nether- lands.
Jorien: in her room I spent so many nice days; Dick and Jan Willem: my first friends from the fusie.
Rebecca: a real and careful friend (not only “a Dutch friend”) and my paranimph, always en- thusiastic and direct. I think that following the first month at the Klikspaanweg one day she got into the common kitchen looking at me and just saying “I like you!” That was the begin- ning of our friendship: “the dwarf” and the “the giant”.
My friends from the lab:
Yanina my friend and my paranimph. I will never forget the beginning of our friendship in Leiden: we knew each other from a few minutes and we already started our first adventure - which was trying to pull down the saddle of a Dutch bike - laughing together and speaking in English, Italian, Spanish…..…and then: swimming in the sea of Katwijk….our performance for the lab Karaoke….the New Year’s Eve in Buenos Aires…all your big family and all your nice friends from Argentina…..your strong friendship and your help in a very difficult time of my life. You really helped me to overcome it.
Danielle: such a sweet and careful friend, she was always there when I needed her and she showed me how to make a good power point presentation.
Servane who helped and taught me a lot in the lab practice. A part from that she’s a brilliant cook so I really thank her for all the lovely dinner we had together and especially for the crepes with the salted caramel from French Brittany.
Peter with his incredible talent to inspire calmness and self-confidence and Leo which was the best travel mate ever (I think he still remembers our odyssey from Leiden to Trier and re- turn!).
Theo (and the ferrets): you, Yanina and I always had a lot of fun together in Leiden and in Italy. I still remember the three of us dancing the music from Italian cartoons and my grand- father trying to explain you how to use the TV remote control.
Inge and Siem
Francesca “Cixie” and Ron for have given a pulse to the process of my growing up from a professional and emotional point of view.
Melly: she always found time for me to discuss data and listen to me as a friend.
Enrico Alleva.
My family: my father, my mother, my sister, my grandmother and grandfather, thank you for all your love and help, without you I could never make it!
My boyfriend Fabio. He joined me when I was halfway through my PhD. With his clever-
My historical and very best friends: Chiara, Sara and Arianna.
Francesca Capone who wrote me a letter every day during the first week I spent in Leiden and was always of great support during all the time of my PhD.
Claudio Carere, a dear friend and advisor, he helped me a lot with the proofreading of this thesis and with a lot of small important things. I will never forget your e-mail with the deer!
Nadia Francia: wise, positive and encouraging.
Sara and Veronica: they popped-up during the time I was writing this thesis helping a lot with practical lab work and saving a lot of my time.
Susanne for helping me with the English-Dutch translations.
A special thank to Rosco who was so kind and patient in helping me with the graphic design of the cover and bookmark.
“Those who have an excessive faith in their theories or in their ideas are not only poorly disposed to make discoveries, but they also make very poor ob- servations”.
Claude Bernard (July 12th1813 - February 10th1878, French Physiologist)
