Member SpotlightsNeuroscience Research at the University of Buenos Aires Maria Ricatti, M.D. A Science Advisory Board Member Since 2006 Maria Ricatti, M.D., is a Staff Scientist at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Faculty of Medicine, Argentina. She began working at the Instituto de Biologia Celular y Neurociencias “Profesor Eduardo De Robertis”, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires in 1999 with Dr. H. Rios and Dr. A. Brusco in Developmental Neurobiology; beginning the first year with the study of chick retina, and then with the study of neurogenesis in the rat and mouse cerebellum. Here she was trained in histology, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy techniques, before receiving her M.D. in 2004. Ricatti recently assisted with the IBRO/LARC Congress of Neurosciences of Latin America, Caribbean and Iberian Peninsula, Brazil, and received a GCOE IBRO invitation to the Summer Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences of Osaka University, Japan. She is a member of SAFISIOL (Argentine Society of Physiology) and SAN (Argentine Society of Research in Neurosciences) Academic & Professional Background In 2004, getting a Medical Doctor degree in my hands, I decided to take the way of basic research in neurosciences. In order to improve my performance and knowledge in this field, I received training in molecular biology techniques at the Laboratory of Experimental Parkinson’s Disease, School of Pharmacy and Chemistry, UBA. In that lab I learned several techniques such as plasmid cloning, digestion and purification, RNA probe polymerization, probe purification and quantification and in situ hybridization. During this time I cooperated with Dr. O. Gershanik in many experiments that requested the use of histological and immunohistochemical techniques. In May 2006, I began to work with Dr. Paula Faillace as a postgraduate doctoral student, again in the neurosciences area, but now in the frame of a very interesting project which referred to the regulation of extracellular ATP in vertebrate’s retina (mouse and zebrafish) by the ENTPDases family enzymes. All my research background obtained in the past years helped me to advance without major difficulties and at the same time that I acquired new skills in other techniques. Career Motivations & Expectations I am principally motivated in the physiological mechanism and synaptic connectivity intrinsic to the central nervous system. In particular, I am using the retina as a tissue model for studying neurogenic mechanisms in an adult tissue of the central nervous system. This tissue presents ready experimental accessibility and exhibits a complex neuronal network to process visual information. On the other hand, considerable evidence exists indicating that ATP is released from neurons and glia to the extracellular milieu, where the nucleotide acts both as a neurotransmitter and a precursor for adenosine. Recent studies suggest that NTPDases are important for degradation of extracellular ATP within the retina. In fact, extracellular ATP hydrolysis products regulate ganglion cells hyperpolarization as well as calcium wave propagation in glial cells. Noteworthy, NTPDase2 overexpression induces ectopic eyes, whereas its downregulation abolishes eye and retina formation in Xenopus laevis embryos. My current work examines similarities and variations of the retinal distribution of NTPDases1 and 2 between a teleost fish and a rodent. This is of interest since these animals’ retinas exhibit similar architectural, genetic, and functional features, zebrafish can grow and regenerate all retinal cells during the animal’s life span whereas mouse retina looses this capacity soon after birth. Looking back I feel satisfied with my career, in the first place, because I was a younger M.D., being only 23 years old -- something very unusual in my country. Secondly, I have varied training in several techniques. In Argentina sometimes it is not easy to get a doctorate degree with mixed training, because it is expensive for us to use several techniques, but fortunately during the last years I learned and used differents methods in the lab. Future Endeavors Recently, I have identified for the first time the location of Ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolases (NTPDases) in the mouse and zebrafish retinas. These enzymes regulate extracellular nucleotide, such as ATP, ADP, UTP and UDP, availability at specific plasma membrane protein binding sites termed purinergic or "P" receptors. NTPDases play an important role in controlling several autocrine and paracrine signaling events mediated by extracellular nucleotides. These latter molecules mediate communication between glial cells and neurons and suppression of NTPDase2 results in the lack of ocular structures including retina in Xenopus embryos. Therefore, in the near future I would like to study a Marginal Germinal Zone (MGZ) in zebrafish retina. This structure is endowed with a rim of tissue which contains proliferative and differentiating cells at the periphery of the mature more central retina. I have a special interest in those cells, and I want to investigate which changes would take place during the light-dark cycle. Interests Outside of Work I like photography as a hobby, I have two honor mentions in a contest about scientific photography sponsored by the Nacional Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion (ANPCyT). Usually, I participate in international contests about microscopic photography organized by the main microscope’s companies. Also, I have an interest in flavor perception and food science, I have a little collection of papers and books about it. Some of my favorites authors are Harold McGee, Peter Barham, Herve This, Heston Blumenthal, Ferran Adria and Andrew Taylor among others. If you'd like to comment on this article, or join in discussion on other topics with SAB members, please visit our community forums. Publications Immunocytochemical Localization OF NTPDases 1 and 2 in the Neural Retina of Mouse and Zebrafish. Maria Jimena Ricatti, Lionel D. Alfie, Elise G. Lavoie, Jean Sevigny, Pablo J. Schwarzbaum, and Maria Paula Faillace. Synapse. 2008 Dec 30;63(4):291-307. Mapping the Effects of Tree Dopamine Agonists with Different Diskinetogenic Potencial Using Pharmacological MRI. M Delfino, R Kalisch, M Czisch, C Larramendy, MJ Ricatti, G Murer, D Auer, Os Gershanik. Neuropsycopharmacology, 2007 Sep;32(9):1911-21. Altered Nitric Oxide Synthase and PKC Activities in Cerebellum of Gamma-Irradiated Neonatal Rats. Zorrilla Z MA, Ríos H, Silberman DM., Guelman LR, Ricatti MJ, Genaro AM, Zieher LM. Brain Research, 2005 Jul 27;1051(1-2):8-16. May 2005. ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Member Spotlights ] |
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