Francesco Clementi#
Short laudatio by Jacopo Meldolesi#
The scientific and operational career of professor Francesco Clementi has been long and very fruitful. When still a student he was among the first to move out from Italy to spend research periods in other laboratories in Europe, bringing back advanced technologies at that moment almost unknown. Soon thereafter he started a small laboratory in Milan, introducing Cell Biology in the pharmacological research. The laboratory grew up rapidly, playing a key role in the development of Cell Biology, first in Italy and then also at the European level. Many scientists that are now well known initiated their research there. In addition to those that have returned to Italy after stages abroad, to become professors (B.Ceccarelli, J.Meldolesi, F.Valtorta, M.Matteoli among others) are Pietro De Camilli, now at Yale, Masaki Shimono in Tokyo, Atanasio Pandiella in Salamanca, Many Sher in London, to mention a few.
In the meantime Clementi had developed his research line on the nicotinic receptor of acetylcholine that he has continued studying for almost thirty years. During this long period of time the Clementi’ contribution was based in all cases on his solid cell biological background that was, and still is, not common in the area. This background was continuously integrated with, and progressively complemented by additional approaches, important from both the cultural and the technological points of view. Initially the work on the receptor started from the investigation of the immunology of myasthenia gravis and Lambert-Eaton syndrome, an area in which the Clementi’s group provided pioneer contributions. More recently the work has evolved with the integration first of biochemistry and electrophysiology, then of molecular biology and genomics, starting from cell line models and concentrating progressively on various areas of the central nervous system: from the retina to the optic lobe and the geniculate nucleus; from the striatum, the hippocampus, the thalamus, investigated during development and after reaching the mature state. In all these areas the studies of the group were able to identify a heterogeneous family of nicotinic receptor subtypes whose physiological role, in some cases, is still unknown. This work has been expanded to nicotine as a drug of abuse, investigated in terms of receptor specificity and distribution in the brain.
Over the years the group of Clementi, in addition to its intellectual strengthening and technological updating with the stable participation of brilliant scientists such as Cecilia Gotti and Diego Fornasari, has established powerful collaborations with various groups such as those of J.-P. Changeux in Paris, M.Zoli in Modena, M.Quick in California, J. Court and E.K. Perry in Newcastle, P.Whitaeker and S. Grady in Boulder. These collaborations, on the one hand, document the role of the Clementi’s laboratory in the nicotinic receptor Held and the importance of its contribution over the years; on the other hand, have reinforced the interest of the laboratory for the human pathology, initiated with myasthenia gravis and developed in recent years with interest, and important findings, in neurodegenerative diseases such as the Parkinson’s and the Alzheimers diseases. An additional interest of Francesco Clementi, which has grown recently, is in new cholinergic drugs, investigated based on the molecular knowledge of the nicotinic receptor, reaching interesting results that have recently been patented.
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