Anna Piccinini

Contact

• workRoom C30 School of Psychology
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work0115 8232274
• Anna.Piccinini@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Anna studied the regulation of leukocyte extravasation upon inflammation with Professor Andreas Kungl during a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences awarded to her in 2007 at the Karl-Franzens University of Graz, Austria. She followed this with postdoctoral work on inflammatory signaling pathways triggered by uncontrolled tissue damage and repair in chronic autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases at Imperial College London (2008-2011) and the University of Oxford (2011-2015). Her work on the role of the extracellular matrix in the immune response to infection (Piccinini el al. Cell Reports 2(4) 914-26, 2012) was recognized by the prestigious 'Young Investigator Award' and the invitation to deliver the inaugural 'John Scott Lecture' at the British Society for Matrix Biology meeting in 2013.

Moving to the University of Nottingham, Anna was awarded a 3 year Anne McLaren Fellowship at the School of Pharmacy in 2015. Since 2019, Anna is Assistant Professor in Inflammation Biology.

Research Summary

Anna's research focuses on understanding how the extracellular matrix, the major component of the cell microenvironment, influences the innate immune response at the post-transcriptional level by… read more

Selected Publications

• ANNA M. PICCININI, LORENA ZULIANI-ALVAREZ, JENNY M. P. LIM and KIM S. MIDWOOD, 2016. Distinct microenvironmental cues stimulate divergent TLR4-mediated signaling pathways in macrophages Science Signaling. 9(443), ra86
• PICCININI, A. M. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2014. Illustrating the interplay between the extracellular matrix and microRNAs: Int J Exp Pathol Int J Exp Pathol. 95(3), 158-80
• PICCININI, A. M. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2012. Endogenous control of immunity against infection: tenascin-C regulates TLR4-mediated inflammation via microRNA-155: Cell Rep Cell Rep. 2(4), 914-26
• MIDWOOD, K., SACRE, S., PICCININI, A. M., INGLIS, J., TREBAUL, A., CHAN, E., DREXLER, S., SOFAT, N., KASHIWAGI, M., OREND, G., BRENNAN, F. and FOXWELL, B., 2009. Tenascin-C is an endogenous activator of Toll-like receptor 4 that is essential for maintaining inflammation in arthritic joint disease: Nat Med Nat Med. 15(7), 774-80

• View all publications

Applications for PhD positions are invited all year round from exceptional graduates.

Funding Notes:

Interested candidates can contact Dr Piccinini by sending an e-mail to anna.piccinini@nottingham.ac.uk. Currently positions are only available to self-funded students. There are a number of international studentships available to international applicants: see http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/InternationalOffice/prospective-students/scholarships/index.aspx.

Current Research

Anna's research focuses on understanding how the extracellular matrix, the major component of the cell microenvironment, influences the innate immune response at the post-transcriptional level by regulating microRNA biogenesis.

Group members

Current

Nicole Zordan - PhD student (School of Pharmacy)

Hannah Tomlin - PhD student (BBSRC-DTP)

Owen Dawson - PhD student (BBSRC-DTP)

Past

Jasper Koh Jing Ran - Research placement (National University of Singapore)

Alessandro Nunziata - Research placement (University of Rome Tor Vergata)

Giulio Brunetti - MRes student (now at Trinity College Dublin)

Charalampos Yiangou - Student summer intern

Er Pey Ling - Student summer intern

• DAWSON, OWEN and PICCININI, ANNA MARIA, 2022. miR-155-3p: processing by-product or rising star in immunity and cancer? OPEN BIOLOGY. 12(5),
• ZULIANI-ALVAREZ L and PICCININI AM, 2022. A virological view of tenascin-C in infection. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol..
• KAY AG, TREADWELL K, ROACH P, MORGAN R, LODGE R, HYLAND M, PICCININI AM, FORSYTH NR and KEHOE O, 2021. Therapeutic Effects of Hypoxic and Pro-Inflammatory Priming of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Inflammatory Arthritis. Int J Mol Sci..
• GOH JY, O'SULLIVAN SE, SHORTALL SE, ZORDAN N, PICCININI AM, POTTER HG, FONE KCF and KING MV, 2020. Gestational poly(I:C) attenuates, not exacerbates, the behavioral, cytokine and mTOR changes caused by isolation rearing in a rat 'dual-hit' model for neurodevelopmental disorders. Brain, behavior, and immunity.
• ASHRAF S, RADHI M, GOWLER P, BURSTON JJ, GANDHI RD, THORN GJ, PICCININI AM, WALSH DA, CHAPMAN V and DE MOOR CH, 2019. The polyadenylation inhibitor cordycepin reduces pain, inflammation and joint pathology in rodent models of osteoarthritis. Scientific reports. 9(1), 4696
• TOMLIN H and PICCININI AM, 2018. A complex interplay between the extracellular matrix and the innate immune response to microbial pathogens. Immunology. 155(2), 186-201
• ZULIANI-ALVAREZ L, PICCININI AM and MIDWOOD KS, 2017. Screening for Novel Endogenous Inflammatory Stimuli Using the Secreted Embryonic Alkaline Phosphatase NF-κB Reporter Assay. Bio-protocol. 7(7),
• ZULIANI-ALVAREZ, L., MARZEDA, A. M., DELIGNE, C., SCHWENZER, A., MCCANN, F. E., MARSDEN, B. D., PICCININI, A. M. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2017. Mapping tenascin-C interaction with toll-like receptor 4 reveals a new subset of endogenous inflammatory triggers: Nat Commun Nat Commun. 8(1), 1595
• KAY, ALASDAIR G., LONG, GRACE, TYLER, GEORGE, STEFAN, ANDREI, BROADFOOT, STEPHEN J., PICCININI, ANNA M., MIDDLETON, JIM and KEHOE, OKSANA, 2017. Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Conditioned Medium Reduces Disease Severity and Immune Responses in Inflammatory Arthritis SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. 7,
• PICCININI, A. M., WILLIAMS, L., MCCANN, F. E. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2016. Investigating the Role of Toll-Like Receptors in Models of Arthritis: Methods Mol Biol Methods Mol Biol. 1390, 351-81
• GSCHWANDTNER, M., PICCININI, A. M., GERLZA, T., ADAGE, T. and KUNGL, A. J., 2016. Interfering with the CCL2-glycosaminoglycan axis as a potential approach to modulate neuroinflammation: Neurosci Lett Neurosci Lett.
• ANNA M. PICCININI, LORENA ZULIANI-ALVAREZ, JENNY M. P. LIM and KIM S. MIDWOOD, 2016. Distinct microenvironmental cues stimulate divergent TLR4-mediated signaling pathways in macrophages Science Signaling. 9(443), ra86
• PICCININI, A. M. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2014. Illustrating the interplay between the extracellular matrix and microRNAs: Int J Exp Pathol Int J Exp Pathol. 95(3), 158-80
• ADAGE, T., PICCININI, A. M., FALSONE, A., TRINKER, M., ROBINSON, J., GESSLBAUER, B. and KUNGL, A. J., 2012. Structure-based design of decoy chemokines as a way to explore the pharmacological potential of glycosaminoglycans: Br J Pharmacol Br J Pharmacol. 167(6), 1195-205
• PAGE, T. H., CHARLES, P. J., PICCININI, A. M., NICOLAIDOU, V., TAYLOR, P. C. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2012. Raised circulating tenascin-C in rheumatoid arthritis: Arthritis Res Ther Arthritis Res Ther. 14(6), R260
• PICCININI, A. M. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2012. Endogenous control of immunity against infection: tenascin-C regulates TLR4-mediated inflammation via microRNA-155: Cell Rep Cell Rep. 2(4), 914-26
• RUHMANN, M., PICCININI, A. M., KONG, P. L. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2012. Endogenous activation of adaptive immunity: tenascin-C drives interleukin-17 synthesis in murine arthritic joint disease: Arthritis Rheum Arthritis Rheum. 64(7), 2179-90
• GOH, F. G., PICCININI, A. M., KRAUSGRUBER, T., UDALOVA, I. A. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2010. Transcriptional regulation of the endogenous danger signal tenascin-C: a novel autocrine loop in inflammation: J Immunol J Immunol. 184(5), 2655-62
• LIEHN, E. A., PICCININI, A. M., KOENEN, R. R., SOEHNLEIN, O., ADAGE, T., FATU, R., CURAJ, A., POPESCU, A., ZERNECKE, A., KUNGL, A. J. and WEBER, C., 2010. A new monocyte chemotactic protein-1/chemokine CC motif ligand-2 competitor limiting neointima formation and myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice: J Am Coll Cardiol J Am Coll Cardiol. 56(22), 1847-57
• PICCININI, A. M., KNEBL, K., REK, A., WILDNER, G., DIEDRICHS-MOHRING, M. and KUNGL, A. J., 2010. Rationally evolving MCP-1/CCL2 into a decoy protein with potent anti-inflammatory activity in vivo: J Biol Chem J Biol Chem. 285(12), 8782-92
• PICCININI, A. M. and MIDWOOD, K. S., 2010. DAMPening inflammation by modulating TLR signalling: Mediators Inflamm Mediators Inflamm. 2010,
• KOENEN, R. R., VON HUNDELSHAUSEN, P., NESMELOVA, I. V., ZERNECKE, A., LIEHN, E. A., SARABI, A., KRAMP, B. K., PICCININI, A. M., PALUDAN, S. R., KOWALSKA, M. A., KUNGL, A. J., HACKENG, T. M., MAYO, K. H. and WEBER, C., 2009. Disrupting functional interactions between platelet chemokines inhibits atherosclerosis in hyperlipidemic mice: Nat Med Nat Med. 15(1), 97-103
• MIDWOOD, K., SACRE, S., PICCININI, A. M., INGLIS, J., TREBAUL, A., CHAN, E., DREXLER, S., SOFAT, N., KASHIWAGI, M., OREND, G., BRENNAN, F. and FOXWELL, B., 2009. Tenascin-C is an endogenous activator of Toll-like receptor 4 that is essential for maintaining inflammation in arthritic joint disease: Nat Med Nat Med. 15(7), 774-80
• MIDWOOD, K. S., PICCININI, A. M. and SACRE, S., 2009. Targeting Toll-like receptors in autoimmunity: Curr Drug Targets Curr Drug Targets. 10(11), 1139-55
• POTZINGER, H., GERETTI, E., BRANDNER, B., WABITSCH, V., PICCININI, A. M., REK, A. and KUNGL, A. J., 2006. Developing chemokine mutants with improved proteoglycan affinity and knocked-out GPCR activity as anti-inflammatory recombinant drugs: Biochem Soc Trans Biochem Soc Trans. 34(Pt 3), 435-7
• FALSONE, S. F., GESSLBAUER, B., TIRK, F., PICCININI, A. M. and KUNGL, A. J., 2005. A proteomic snapshot of the human heat shock protein 90 interactome: FEBS Lett FEBS Lett. 579(28), 6350-4
• PICCININI, A. M., SCHMID, M. G., PAJPANOVA, T., PANCHEVA, S., GRUEVA, E. and GUBITZ, G., 2004. Chiral separation of natural and unnatural amino acid derivatives by micro-HPLC on a Ristocetin A stationary phase: J Biochem Biophys Methods J Biochem Biophys Methods. 61(1-2), 11-21