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SISSA Trieste, prion biology laboratory (Legname) logo

SISSA Trieste, prion biology laboratory (Legname)

The Laboratory of Prion Biology is a basic research group at SISSA (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati) in Trieste, Italy, led by Giuseppe Legname since he moved there from the UCSF Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in December 2006. It studies the normal function of the prion protein, how prions replicate and convert, the structure of the prion protein, prion-like spread of other disease proteins, and candidate anti-prion compounds. With the Carlo Besta Neurological Institute in Milan it has co-authored work on detecting prions in olfactory mucosa samples by PMCA. The laboratory hosted the PRION 2014 congress in Trieste, and Legname sits on the organising committee of Prion 2026 in Verona. This entry is information only.

Key facts

  • The laboratory is part of SISSA, located at Via Bonomea 265 in Trieste, and its site carries SISSA and Elettra logos; a 2025 paper lists Legname at both SISSA and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste.
  • Legname joined SISSA in December 2006 to run the new Prion Biology Laboratory, after about seven and a half years at the UCSF Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, where he co-authored the Science paper reporting the first synthetic prions.
  • The laboratory lists five project areas: theranostics (amyloid-directed compounds), transcriptomics of prion conversion and strains, prion-like diseases, structural biology of the prion protein, and prion protein function.
  • It runs a biosafety level 2 laboratory for work with animal prions.
  • Named collaborators include the Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, the University of Bologna, CNR institutes, the Slovenian NMR Centre, Karolinska Institutet, RIKEN Brain Science Institute and UC Berkeley.
  • Listed funders include SISSA, Elettra, Compagnia di San Paolo, the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, MIUR (PRIN and FIRB), EU FP7, the Human Frontier Science Program, JPND and the Italian Ministry of Health; no grant details are given.
  • In April 2021 SISSA, Besta and CISA-INIA Madrid authors reported that PMCA products made from olfactory mucosa of people with fatal familial insomnia caused prion disease in transgenic mice.
  • In March 2022 a Besta-led study with SISSA, Verona and Bologna authors reported that PMCA detected prions in olfactory mucosa samples from sporadic and genetic CJD patients with 79.3 percent sensitivity and 100 percent specificity, without reliably separating sCJD subtypes.
  • A July 2022 SISSA-led paper with IIT Genoa described a non-PrP-targeted strategy: a serpin inhibitor (ARN1468) aimed at SERPINA3 and SerpinA3n, which are raised in prion disease, lowered prion load in infected cells but was too poorly bioavailable to test in mice.
  • A 2025 study with Besta found that mice lacking SerpinA3n developed prion disease from three mouse-adapted strains much like normal mice, suggesting other molecules compensate.
  • A 2025 PLoS Pathogens paper with CISA-INIA Madrid and Besta reported that mice with a histidine 95 to tyrosine change in PrP developed spontaneous transmissible prion disease.
  • Legname and Fabio Moda of Besta co-edited the 2025 Springer volume Biomarkers and Therapeutical Targets for Prion Diseases (Subcellular Biochemistry vol. 112).
  • A 2026 SISSA review argued that single-target prion drugs have repeatedly failed and made the case for drug combinations, multi-target compounds, earlier treatment and better biomarkers.
  • A Europe PMC search returned 70 prion or PrP records with Legname as author from 2019 to 2026, including work on PrP copper binding, PrP-mediated uptake of tau and TDP-43 fibrils, and seeding assays for TDP-43, tau and alpha-synuclein with Besta.

Timeline

  1. 2006Legname joins SISSA and starts the Prion Biology Laboratory.
  2. 2014PRION 2014 congress held in Trieste, organised by the laboratory, with a public session on 26 May.
  3. 2021eLife paper on infectious PMCA products from FFI olfactory mucosa (with Besta and CISA-INIA).
  4. 2022Olfactory mucosa PMCA study in sporadic and genetic CJD published (with Besta, Verona and Bologna).
  5. 2022Serpin inhibitor ARN1468 anti-prion strategy published.
  6. 2025SerpinA3n knockout prion strain study published online.
  7. 2025Springer volume co-edited by Legname and Moda published.
  8. 2026Multi-target prion drug discovery review published online.
  9. 2026Prion 2026 in Verona, 10 to 14 November, with Legname on the organising committee.
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