Federico Calegari

PROFESSOR

  • federico.calegari@monash.edu

Research interests

The Calegari group has pioneered methods allowing the expansion of endogenous neural stem cells in the mammalian brain (Lange). This was important to identify the progenitor subtypes promoting cortical expansion during development and evolution (Nonaka) as well as increase adult neurogenesis throughout life (Artegiani). Most importantly, the Calegari groups has recently found that such expansion of endogenous neural stem cells can be used to promote sensory discrimination, improve cognitive performance, and rejuvenate hippocampal function (Bragado, Berdugo). The Calegari lab aims to reveal the mechanisms underlying such improvements in brain function as well as to exploit neurogenesis to rescue brain deficits associated to aging or disease.

Featured Publications

Authors Title Published In

Salomoni P, Calegari F.

Cell cycle control of mammalian neural stem cells: putting a speed limit on G1. 

Trends Cell Biol. 2010 May;20(5):233-43. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2010.01.006. Epub 2010 Feb 12. PMID: 20153966.

Lange C, Huttner WB, Calegari F.

Cdk4/cyclinD1 overexpression in neural stem cells shortens G1, delays neurogenesis, and promotes the generation and expansion of basal progenitors.

Cell Stem Cell. 2009 Sep 4;5(3):320-31. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2009.05.026. PMID: 19733543.

Nonaka-Kinoshita M, Reillo I, Artegiani B, Martínez-Martínez MÁ, Nelson M, Borrell V, Calegari F.

Regulation of cerebral cortex size and folding by expansion of basal progenitors.

EMBO J. 2013 Jul 3;32(13):1817-28. doi: 10.1038/emboj.2013.96. Epub 2013 Apr 26. PMID: 23624932; PMCID: PMC3926188.

Borrell V, Calegari F.

Mechanisms of brain evolution: regulation of neural progenitor cell diversity and cell cycle length.

Neurosci Res. 2014 Sep;86:14-24. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2014.04.004. Epub 2014 Apr 28. PMID: 24786671.

Artegiani B, Lindemann D, Calegari F.

Overexpression of cdk4 and cyclinD1 triggers greater expansion of neural stem cells in the adult mouse brain.

J Exp Med. 2011 May 9;208(5):937-48. doi: 10.1084/jem.20102167. Epub 2011 Apr 11. PMID: 21482697; PMCID: PMC3092341.

Bragado Alonso S, Reinert JK, Marichal N, Massalini S, Berninger B, Kuner T, Calegari F.

An increase in neural stem cells and olfactory bulb adult neurogenesis improves discrimination of highly similar odorants.

EMBO J. 2019 Mar 15;38(6):e98791. doi: 10.15252/embj.201798791. Epub 2019 Jan 14. PMID: 30643018; PMCID: PMC6418468.

Berdugo-Vega G, Arias-Gil G, López-Fernández A, Artegiani B, Wasielewska JM, Lee CC, Lippert MT, Kempermann G, Takagaki K, Calegari F.

Increasing neurogenesis refines hippocampal activity rejuvenating navigational learning strategies and contextual memory throughout life.

Nat Commun. 2020 Jan 9;11(1):135. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-14026-z. Erratum in: Nat Commun. 2020 Feb 25;11(1):1138. PMID: 31919362; PMCID: PMC6952376.