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Paola Picotti

Paola Picotti
Paola Picotti (2023)
Born
Udine
Alma materUniversity of Padua
AwardsEMBO Gold Medal (2019)
Scientific career
FieldsProteomics
Systems biology
Protein aggregation
Mass spectrometry[1]
InstitutionsETH Zürich
Websiteimsb.ethz.ch/research/picotti/PeoplePicotti/paola-picotti.html Edit this at Wikidata

Paola Picotti (born 1977) is an Italian biochemist who is Professor for Molecular Systems Biology at ETH Zürich.[1][2] She is Deputy Head of the Institute for Molecular Systems Biology. Her research investigates how the conformational changes of proteins impact molecular networks with cells. She received numerous awarded awards, among which the 2019 EMBO Gold Medal.[3]

Early life and education

Picotti grew up in Udine. Her mother was a mathematics teacher and her father worked in an electronics company.[4] Picotti studied medicinal chemistry at the University of Padua, and graduated in 2001.[5] She then moved into biotechnology, working alongside Angelo Fontana for her doctoral research. She joined the laboratory of Ruedi Aebersold as a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute for Molecular Systems Biology at ETH Zürich, where she developed approaches for the targeted analysis of proteins based on mass spectrometry.[5] She was appointed a scientific advisor at Aebersold's spin-out company Biognosys.[6]

Research and career

In 2011, Picotti was appointed to the faculty at ETH Zürich, first as an assistant professor at the Institute of Biochemistry and subsequently as an associate and full professor at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology. She works in the field of mass spectrometry-based proteomics, the large-scale analysis of thousands of proteins from cells and tissues. Whilst proteomics offers the potential for wide-reaching analysis, detail on the structures or shapes of proteins is lost in the process.[6] Picotti developed an approach that solves this problem, since it enables the analysis of the structures of thousands of proteins simultaneously. It combines limited proteolysis and mass spectrometry (so-called "LiP-MS" method), to generate a proteolytic pattern (akin to a barcode) that reports on the structure of every measurable protein in a sample. Comparison of structural barcodes from different biological specimens (e.g. samples from healthy individuals and from individuals with a disease) detects which proteins have altered structures in those specimens.[6][7] Picotti has shown that this technique can be used to identify a new class of candidate biomarkers of disease (structural biomarkers), unravel basic principles of thermosensitivity of proteins and provide a new and often more sensitive way to detect altered biological processes. Also, since binding of a small moleculelocally affects the structure of a protein, the approach can be used to identify targets of small molecules and drugs, binding mechanisms and binding sites, thus rendering LiP-MS a valuable tool in drug development. Picotti uses LiP-MS to study protein aggregation in neurodegenerative disease, with a focus on Parkinson’s disease.[8]

Awards and honours

Selected publications

References

  1. ^ a b Paola Picotti publications indexed by Google Scholar Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ Paola Picotti publications from Europe PubMed Central
  3. ^ "EMBO Gold Medal awarded to Paola Picotti". ethz.ch. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  4. ^ "Heralding a new era in protein analytics". ethz.ch. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  5. ^ a b "Prof. Paola Picotti". HUPO 2021 World Congress. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  6. ^ a b c Marx, Vivien (2014-10-01). "Paola Picotti". Nature Methods. 11 (10): 975. doi:10.1038/nmeth.3116. ISSN 1548-7105. PMID 25392876. S2CID 39576917.
  7. ^ Paula Picotti (2012-10-22). "Targeting cellular protein networks in health and disease. Einführungsvorlesung". Videoportal der ETH Zürich. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  8. ^ a b "List of Members". Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  9. ^ "University Prizes". Fondation Latsis. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  10. ^ "Paola in the Top 40 under 40". imsb.ethz.ch. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  11. ^ "The Power List 2014". The Analytical Scientist. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  12. ^ a b "Prof. Dr. Paola Picotti". imsb.ethz.ch. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  13. ^ "Paola wins Robert J. Cotter New Investigator Award 2016". imsb.ethz.ch. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  14. ^ "Friedrich-Miescher-Award for Paola". imsb.ethz.ch. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  15. ^ "Juan Pablo Albar Protein Pioneer Award 2018". Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  16. ^ "M. Madan Babu and Paola Picotti honoured with EMBO Gold Medal – Press releases – EMBO". 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  17. ^ "Paola Picotti receives ERC Consolidator Grant with EUR 2 Mio". imsb.ethz.ch. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  18. ^ "Biologist Paola Picotti wins the Rössler Prize 2020 • ETH Zürich Foundation". ETH Zürich Foundation. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  19. ^ "HUPO AWARDS - 2021 RECIPIENTS". Human Proteome Organization. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  20. ^ "Paola Picotti | Falling Walls". falling-walls.com. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  21. ^ "Paola Picotti elected EMBO member". biol.ethz.ch. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paola_Picotti