Giuseppina Tesco, MD, Ph.D.

Headshot photo

 

 

 

Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine

 

Dr. Tesco’s group has shown how brain cell death caused by strokes or head injuries can lead to the production of amyloid-beta through the dysregulation of BACE levels in the brain. She identified a novel mechanism of regulation of BACE levels and activity by the trafficking molecule GGA3 (golgi-localized gamma-ear-containing ARF binding protein 3). More recently, Dr. Tesco’s laboratory has demonstrated the role of ubiquitin in the regulation of BACE1 degradation via the GGA pathway. This pathway may be a way to regulate beta-secretase activity therapeutically.  

 

Funded Research

Project Description Researchers Funding
Understand the Role of ADAM10 in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease After Head Trauma

The goal of this project is to determine whether increased sAPPα levels are capable of reducing the production of neurotoxic Abeta following head trauma in order to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease following brain injury.

 Giuseppina Tesco, MD, Ph.D. 2011
$100,000
TBI and Stroke Relationship to Alzheimer’s Disease

Investigating the increasingly documented link between TBI/stroke and Alzheimer’s disease is aimed not only at developing effective interruptions of that linkage but also a contribution to an understanding of the basic Alzheimer’s disease mechanism.

 Giuseppina Tesco, MD, Ph.D. 2008
$50,000

Selected Publications

These published papers resulted from Cure Alzheimer’s Fund support.

Kendall R. Walker, Eugene L. Kang, Michael J. Whalen, Yong Shen, and Giuseppina Tesco , "Depletion of GGA1 and GGA3 Mediates Postinjury Elevation of BACE1" , The Journal of Neuroscience , 32 (30) , July 25, 2012 , 10423–10437
Mannix RC, Zhang J, Park J, Zhang X, Bilal K, Walker K, Tanzi RE, Tesco G, Whalen MJ , "Age-dependent effect of apolipoprotein E4 on functional outcome after controlled cortical impact in mice" , Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism , 31 , January 2011 , 351–61
Gianni D, Li A, Tesco G, McKay KM, Moore J, Raygor K, Rota M, Gwathmey JK, Dec GW, Aretz T, Leri A, Semigran MJ, Anversa P, Macgillivray TE, Tanzi RE, delMonte F. , "Protein Aggregates and Novel Presenilin Gene Variants in Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy" , Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association , 121(10) , Mar 16, 2010 , 1216-26
Kim M, Suh J, Romano D, Truong MH, Mullin K, Hooli B, Norton D, Tesco G, Elliot K, Wagner SL, Moir RD, Becker KD, Tanzi RE. , "Potential late-onset Alzheimer's disease-associated mutations in the ADAM10 gene attenuate alpha-secretase activity." , Human Molecular Genetics , Vol 18 , Oct 15, 2009
Tesco G, Koh YH, Kang E, Cameron A, Das S, Sena-Esteves M, Hiltunen, Yang S-H, Zhong Z, Shen Y, Simpkins J, Tanzi RE. , "Depletion of GGA3 stabilizes BACE and enhances β-secretase activity" , Neuron , 54(5) , 2007 , 721-37