Education

Ph.D in Applied Biotechnologies, University of Verona, Italy, 2010

Current position

Assistant Professor in Biochemistry, Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Italy

Publications

1. Astegno, A., Maresi, E., Bertoldi, M., La Verde, V., Paiardini, A. and Dominici, P. (2017). Unique substrate specificity of ornithine aminotransferase from Toxoplasma gondii. Biochem J 474(6): 939-955.
2. Allegrini, A., Astegno, A., La Verde, V. and Dominici, P. (2016). Characterization of C-S lyase from Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus ATCC BAA-365 and its potential role in food flavour applications. J Biochem.
3. Vallone, R., La Verde, V., D'Onofrio, M., Giorgetti, A., Dominici, P. and Astegno, A. (2016). Metal binding affinity and structural properties of calmodulin-like protein 14 from Arabidopsis thaliana. Protein Sci 25(8): 1461-1471.
4. Kumar, N., Astegno, A., Chen, J., Giorgetti, A. and Dominici, P. (2016). Residues in the Distal Heme Pocket of Arabidopsis Non-Symbiotic Hemoglobins: Implication for Nitrite Reductase Activity. Int J Mol Sci 17(5).
5. Astegno, A., La Verde, V., Marino, V., Dell'Orco, D. and Dominici, P. (2016). Biochemical and biophysical characterization of a plant calmodulin: Role of the N- and C-lobes in calcium binding, conformational change, and target interaction. Biochim Biophys Acta 1864(3): 297-307.
6. Astegno, A., Capitani, G. and Dominici, P. (2015). Functional roles of the hexamer organization of plant glutamate decarboxylase. Biochim Biophys Acta 1854(9): 1229-1237.
7. Astegno, A., Allegrini, A., Piccoli, S., Giorgetti, A. and Dominici, P. (2015). Role of active-site residues Tyr55 and Tyr114 in catalysis and substrate specificity of Corynebacterium diphtheriae C-S lyase. Proteins 83(1): 78-90.
8. Astegno, A., Maresi, E., Marino, V., Dominici, P., Pedroni, M., Piccinelli, F. and Dell'Orco, D. (2014). Structural plasticity of calmodulin on the surface of CaF2 nanoparticles preserves its biological function. Nanoscale 6(24): 15037-15047.
9. Cellini, B., Montioli, R., Oppici, E., Astegno, A. and Voltattorni, C. B. (2014). The chaperone role of the pyridoxal 5'-phosphate and its implications for rare diseases involving B6-dependent enzymes. Clin Biochem 47(3): 158-165.
10. Marino, V., Astegno, A., Pedroni, M., Piccinelli, F. and Dell'Orco, D. (2014). Nanodevice-induced conformational and functional changes in a prototypical calcium sensor protein. Nanoscale 6(1): 412-423.
11. Astegno, A., Giorgetti, A., Allegrini, A., Cellini, B. and Dominici, P. (2013). Characterization of C-S Lyase from C. diphtheriae: a possible target for new antimicrobial drugs. Biomed Res Int 2013: 701536.
12. Abbruzzetti, S., Faggiano, S., Spyrakis, F., Bruno, S., Mozzarelli, A., Astegno, A., Dominici, P. and Viappiani, C. (2011). Oxygen and nitric oxide rebinding kinetics in nonsymbiotic hemoglobin AHb1 from Arabidopsis thaliana. IUBMB Life 63(12): 1094-1100.
13. Spyrakis, F., Faggiano, S., Abbruzzetti, S., Dominici, P., Cacciatori, E., Astegno, A., Droghetti, E., Feis, A., Smulevich, G., Bruno, S., Mozzarelli, A., Cozzini, P., Viappiani, C., Bidon-Chanal, A. and Luque, F. J. (2011). Histidine E7 dynamics modulates ligand exchange between distal pocket and solvent in AHb1 from Arabidopsis thaliana. J Phys Chem B 115(14): 4138-4146.
14. Nienhaus, K., Dominici, P., Astegno, A., Abbruzzetti, S., Viappiani, C. and Nienhaus, G. U. (2010). Ligand migration and binding in nonsymbiotic hemoglobins of Arabidopsis thaliana. Biochemistry 49(35): 7448-7458.
15. Faggiano, S., Abbruzzetti, S., Spyrakis, F., Grandi, E., Viappiani, C., Bruno, S., Mozzarelli, A., Cozzini, P., Astegno, A., Dominici, P., Brogioni, S., Feis, A., Smulevich, G., Carrillo, O., Schmidtke, P., Bidon-Chanal, A. and Luque, F. J. (2009). Structural plasticity and functional implications of internal cavities in distal mutants of type 1 non-symbiotic hemoglobin AHb1 from Arabidopsis thaliana. J Phys Chem B 113(49): 16028-16038.
16. Pii, Y., Astegno, A., Peroni, E., Zaccardelli, M., Pandolfini, T. and Crimi, M. (2009). The Medicago truncatula N5 gene encoding a root-specific lipid transfer protein is required for the symbiotic interaction with Sinorhizobium meliloti. Mol Plant Microbe Interact 22(12): 1577-1587.
17. Gut, H., Dominici, P., Pilati, S., Astegno, A., Petoukhov, M. V., Svergun, D. I., Grutter, M. G. and Capitani, G. (2009). A common structural basis for pH- and calmodulin-mediated regulation in plant glutamate decarboxylase. J Mol Biol 392(2): 334-351.
18. Manara, A., Lindsay, J., Marchioretto, M., Astegno, A., Gilmore, A. P., Esposti, M. D. and Crimi, M. (2009). Bid binding to negatively charged phospholipids may not be required for its pro-apoptotic activity in vivo. Biochim Biophys Acta 1791(10): 997-1010.
19. Crimi, M., Astegno, A., Zoccatelli, G. and Esposti, M. D. (2006). Pro-apoptotic effect of maize lipid transfer protein on mammalian mitochondria. Arch Biochem Biophys 445(1): 65-71.