Maria Annunziata Carluccio

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Maria Annunziata Carluccio
Institute of Clinical Physiology
Senior Researcher

Nutrheff Thematic
Biological validation, Clinical and nutritional studies

Research Interest and expertise in the field of nutraceuticals and functional food
Analysis of biological activity of nutraceuticals and functional food in preclinical models of atherosclerotic and inflammatory diseases Nutrigenomics of bioactive compounds of the Mediterranean diets. Analysis of gene expression profiles and intracellular signaling in response to nutraceuticals in human vascular endothelial cell cultures, immune cells, intestinal cells and adipocytes, for the identification of new functional properties and underlying molecular mechanisms of action.

Keywords: Nutraceuticals, polyphenols, endothelial cells, inflammation, reactive oxygen species, gene expression, nutrigenomics, adipocytes, immune response.

Nutraceuticals and foods of interest
Mediterranean diet polyphenols and in particular olive oil and red wine antioxidant polyphenols including. hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein, quercetin, resveratrol, p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid, in addition to coffee bioactive compounds. Polyphenolic extracts from various food matrices and related by-products including phenolic extracts from whole wheat biofortified bread, Prunus mahaleb L. anthocyanin-rich fruit extract, red grape skin polyphenols, as well as and grape pomace extracts and derived functional beverages.

Fields of application
Human health, agro-food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries

Facilities and equipments
The Laboratory of Vascular Biology, Nutrigenomics and Pharmacogenomics of the IFC-CNR of Lecce has its operational headquarters at the Ecotekne Campus of Lecce, within the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies (DISTEBA) of the University of Salento. It is equipped with instrumentation for cell culture (laminar flow hood, CO2 incubator and inverted phase contrast microscope with digital photographic system) and for biochemical-biological-molecular analyzes (horizontal and vertical electrophoresis gel apparatus, power supplies, thermal cycler, ELISA reader, ph meter, refrigerated centrifuges, luminometer, etc). The strategic location on the Campus guarantees the use of all the instruments of DISTEBA including the cytofluorometer, and facilities for both proteomic and metabolomic technologies.