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Biology and Biochemistry
Germany
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
100
Citations
42241
World Ranking
1497
National Ranking
97

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Germany Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Biology and Biochemistry in Germany Leader Award
  • 2005 - Member of Academia Europaea

Overview

Pierluigi Nicotera is affiliated with the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Germany. Their research spans multiple fields primarily focused on medicine, with significant contributions to biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology.

The scientist's publications address a wide range of topics, including migraine and headache studies, trigeminal neuralgia and treatments, botulinum toxin and related neurological disorders, mitochondrial function and pathology, Alzheimer's disease research and treatments, olfactory and sensory function studies, and neuroscience and neuropharmacology research.

Frequent publication venues for their work include Cell Death and Differentiation, Current Opinion in Pharmacology, Pharmaceutics, Toxins, and The EMBO Journal.

Some of their recent papers are:

  • Loss of Ryanodine Receptor 2 impairs neuronal activity-dependent remodeling of dendritic spines and triggers compensatory neuronal hyperexcitability, 2020, Cell Death and Differentiation
  • Development and Translation of NanoBEO, a Nanotechnology-Based Delivery System of Bergamot Essential Oil Deprived of Furocumarins, in the Control of Agitation in Severe Dementia, 2021, Pharmaceutics
  • Pooled Analysis of Real-World Evidence Supports Anti-CGRP mAbs and OnabotulinumtoxinA Combined Trial in Chronic Migraine, 2022, Toxins
  • Role of CGRP pathway polymorphisms in migraine: a systematic review and impact on CGRP mAbs migraine therapy, 2021, The Journal of Headache and Pain
  • Bergamot rehabilitation AgaINst agitation in dementia (BRAINAID): Study protocol for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to assess the efficacy of furocoumarin-free bergamot loaded in a nanotechnology-based delivery system of the essential oil in the treatment of agitation in elderly affected by severe dementia, 2021, Phytotherapy Research

Among the scientist's frequent coauthors are Damiana Scuteri, Giacinto Bagetta, Maria Tiziana Corasaniti, Paolo Tonin, and Daniele Bano.

Research subfields include molecular biology, psychiatry and mental health, neurology, pharmacology, and pathology and forensic medicine.

Pierluigi Nicotera was appointed a member of Academia Europaea in 2005.

Best Publications

  • Regulation of cell death: the calcium-apoptosis link.

    Sten Orrenius;Boris Zhivotovsky;Pierluigi Nicotera

  • Apoptosis and necrosis: two distinct events induced, respectively, by mild and intense insults with N-methyl-D-aspartate or nitric oxide/superoxide in cortical cell cultures

    Emanuela Bonfoco;Dimitri Krainc;Maria Ankarcrona;Pierluigi Nicotera

  • Glutamate-induced neuronal death: A succession of necrosis or apoptosis depending on mitochondrial function

    Maria Ankarcrona;Jeannette M. Dypbukt;Emanuela Bonfoco;Boris Zhivotovsky

  • Intracellular Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) Concentration: A Switch in the Decision Between Apoptosis and Necrosis

    Marcel Leist;Barbara Single;Anna F. Castoldi;Simone Kühnle

  • Role of Ca2+ in toxic cell killing

    Sten Orrenius;David J. McConkey;Giorgio Bellomo;Pierluigi Nicotera

  • Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring cell death in higher eukaryotes

    L. Galluzzi;L. Galluzzi;L. Galluzzi;S. A. Aaronson;J. Abrams;E. S. Alnemri

  • Calcium-activated DNA fragmentation kills immature thymocytes.

    David J. McConkey;Pia Hartzell;Pierluigi Nicotera;Sten Orrenius

  • Glucocorticoids activate a suicide process in thymocytes through an elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration

    David J. McConkey;Pierluigi Nicotera;Pia Hartzell;Giorgio Bellomo

  • Targeting autophagy potentiates tyrosine kinase inhibitor-induced cell death in Philadelphia chromosome-positive cells, including primary CML stem cells.

    Cristian Bellodi;Maria Rosa Lidonnici;Ashley Hamilton;G. Vignir Helgason

  • Cleavage of the Plasma Membrane Na+/Ca2+ Exchanger in Excitotoxicity

    Daniele Bano;Kenneth W. Young;Christopher J. Guerin;Ros LeFeuvre

  • Calcium-mediated mechanisms in chemically induced cell death.

    Pierluigi Nicotera;Giorgio Bellomo;Sten Orrenius

  • The role of calcium in apoptosis.

    Pierluigi Nicotera;Sten Orrenius

  • p53 expression in nitric oxide-induced apoptosis

    Udo K. Meßmer;Maria Ankarcrona;Pierluigi Nicotera;Bernhard Brüne

  • Different prooxidant levels stimulate growth, trigger apoptosis, or produce necrosis of insulin-secreting RINm5F cells. The role of intracellular polyamines.

    J M Dypbukt;M Ankarcrona;M Burkitt;A Sjöholm

  • Cell death mechanisms and their implications in toxicology.

    Sten Orrenius;Pierluigi Nicotera;Boris Zhivotovsky

  • Intracellular ATP, a switch in the decision between apoptosis and necrosis.

    Pierluigi Nicotera;Marcel Leist;Elisa Ferrando-May

  • The Shape of Cell Death

    Marcel Leist;Pierluigi Nicotera

  • Menadione-induced cytotoxicity is associated with protein thiol oxidation and alteration in intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis

    Donato Di Monte;Giorgio Bellomo;Hjördis Thor;Pierluigi Nicotera

  • Ca2+ Signals and Neuronal Death in Brain Ischemia

    Daniele Bano;Pierluigi Nicotera

  • Targeting autophagy potentiates tyrosine kinase inhibitor-induced cell death in Philadelphia chromosome-positive cells, including primary CML stem cells (vol 119, pg 1109, 2009)

    C Bellodi;Lidonnici;A Hamilton;GV Helgason

Frequent Co-Authors

Sten Orrenius
Sten Orrenius Karolinska Institute
Gerry Melino
Gerry Melino University of Rome Tor Vergata
Giorgio Bellomo
Giorgio Bellomo University of Milan
Marcel Leist
Marcel Leist University of Konstanz
David J. McConkey
David J. McConkey Johns Hopkins University
Boris Zhivotovsky
Boris Zhivotovsky Karolinska Institute
Paolo Salomoni
Paolo Salomoni German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Stuart A. Lipton
Stuart A. Lipton Scripps Research Institute
David Dinsdale
David Dinsdale University of Leicester
Guido Kroemer
Guido Kroemer Université Paris Cité

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