Francesca Telese

Title(s)	Associate Professor, Psychiatry
School	Vc-health Sciences-schools
Address	9500 Gilman Drive # La Jolla CA 92093
ORCID	0000-0003-3877-0628
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Biography

Education and Training

University of Naples Federico II, Italy	Ph.D.	2007	Neuroscience
University of California San Diego, San Diego	Postdoctoral Fellow	2013	Neuroepigenetics
University of California San Diego , San Diego	Assistant Project Scientist	2017	Neuroepigenetics

Overview

Welcome to my UCSD profile!

Our laboratory is focused on studying the mechanisms of gene regulation that contribute to neuronal plasticity and behavior. By gaining a deeper understanding of these mechanisms, we strive to advance our fundamental understanding of brain function and pave the way for novel therapeutic approaches for brain diseases, particularly substance use disorders.

Our interdisciplinary approach combines molecular, cellular, and behavioral studies with state-of-the-art functional genomics techniques. Through these methods, we aim to dissect the tissue- and cell type-specific gene regulatory mechanisms that underlie the neurobiology of substance use disorders.

Whether you are an aspiring graduate student, a postdoctoral researcher seeking new horizons, or a research scientist eager to contribute to our research, we welcome you to reach out and explore the exciting opportunities that await you in our laboratory.

Interests

Neurobiology, Gene Regulation, Epigenetics, Genomics, Substance Use Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders

Websites

	Women in Health Science
	Preclinical Addiction Research Consortium
	Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program
	Neuroscience Graduate Program

In The News

	A single-cell atlas of the rat amygdala reveals molecular signatures of cocaine addiction (10/05/2023)
	Cellular Atlas of Amygdala Reveals New Treatment Target for Cocaine Addiction (10/05/2023)
	Francesca gives a talk at the NIDA Genetics and Epigenetics Cross-Cutting Research Team Meeting (05/17/2023)
	Francesca gives a talk at the 2023 UCSD/UCLA Diabetes Research Center (03/22/2023)
	Francesca Telese gives a talk at the 23rd Annual Genes, Brain & Behavior Meeting in Memphis (05/25/2022)
	Francesca gives a talk at the WorldWideNeuro Webinar Series (05-11-2022)
	Francesca Telese receives an Innovative Research Grant Award from the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind (06/07/2021)
	Francesca gives a talk at The International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society (03/17/2021)
	Francesca Telese receives a Pilot Award from the NIDA Center for GWAS in Outbred Rats (04/30/2020)
	Francesca Telese receives a Pilot Award from the NIDA center for GWAS study (10/16/2019)
	Francesca Telese presents at International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS) meeting in Boca Raton (06/28/2018)
	Francesca Telese gives a talk at the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) meeting in Vienna (06/19/2018)
	Francesca Telese speaks at the NIDA Center for GWAS in Outbred Rats – 4th Annual Retreat at UCSD (06/15/2018)
	Our lab receives three CRES awards (02/01/2018)
	Francesca Telese receives a Pilot Award from the NIDA center for GWAS in outbred rats (05/10/2017)
	Francesca Telese receives the Avenir Award for Epigenetics Research (05/01/2016)

Research

Research Activities and Funding

Multiomic profiling of cell types mediating opioid use disorder in rats
National Institute on Drug Abuse R01DA056602Aug 15, 2022 - Apr 30, 2027
Role: Principal Investigator

Decoding regulatory functions of genetic variants associated with substance use disorders
NIH/NIDA 1R21DA056177May 1, 2022 - Apr 30, 2024
Role: Principal Investigator
Description: Genome-wide association studies have begun to identify genetic variants associated with substance abuse disorders, but understanding their functional biological role remains challenging. This application will develop and validate an innovative high-throughput method that will facilitate the prediction, interpretation and characterization of genetic variants associated with substance use disorders.

Epigenetic regulation of food intake behavior
UCSD/UCLA Diabetes Research Center Pilot DRCMay 1, 2021 - Apr 30, 2023
Role: Principal investigator

Decoding the grammar of transcriptional enhancers regulating different stages of opioid use disorder
NIH U01DA051972Sep 30, 2020 - Jul 31, 2025
Role: Principal Investigator
Description: The misuse of both prescription and illegal opioids has led to a national crisis that affects public health and the economy. However, we have little understanding of the genes that contribute to prescription opioid use disorders. This application will combine a rodent model of oxycodone abuse with emerging genomics technologies to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying the vulnerability to opioid addiction and to identify genes that can be targeted for novel therapeutics development.

Single-cell resolution analysis of chromatin accessibility and gene expression changes in a model of drug addiction
NIH U01DA050239May 1, 2020 - Feb 28, 2025
Role: Principal Investigator
Description: Despite intensive efforts to understand the molecular mechanism underlying the neuroadaptations associated with addiction phenotypes, current knowledge can only partially explain which cell type orchestrates specific transcriptional responses to addictive drugs in the brain. By systematically analyzing the cell-type specific transcriptional and chromatin accessibility changes that occur in brain regions of rat with different history of oxycodone use, this application aims to provide unprecedented insights in the biological basis of opiate addiction. This project focuses on the emerging and complex problem of prescription pain relievers and opioids abuse in this country.

Epigenomic approaches to study the gene networks underlying the cannabis effects on genetic vulnerability to psychosis
NIH DP1DA042232Jun 1, 2016 - Apr 30, 2021
Role: Principal Investigator

ORNG Applications

Featured Publications

Faculty Mentoring

Featured Videos

Bibliographic

Publications

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Researchers can login to make corrections and additions, or contact us for help. to make corrections and additions.

Altmetrics Details

PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.

Author Correction: Single-nucleus genomics in outbred rats with divergent cocaine addiction-like behaviors reveals changes in amygdala GABAergic inhibition. Nat Neurosci. 2023 Oct 16. Zhou JL, de Guglielmo G, Ho AJ, Kallupi M, Pokhrel N, Li HR, Chitre AS, Munro D, Mohammadi P, Carrette LLG, George O, Palmer AA, McVicker G, Telese F. PMID: 37845545.

View in: PubMed Mentions: Fields:
Neu Neurology
Single-nucleus genomics in outbred rats with divergent cocaine addiction-like behaviors reveals changes in gene amygdala GABAergic inhibition. Nat Neurosci. 2023 Oct 05. Zhou JL, de Guglielmo G, Ho AJ, Kallupi M, Pokhrel N, Li HR, Chitre AS, Munro D, Mohammadi P, Carrette LLG, George O, Palmer AA, McVicker G, Telese F. PMID: 37798411.

View in: PubMed Mentions: Fields:
Neu Neurology
Translation:Humans Animals Cells
A revamped rat reference genome improves the discovery of genetic diversity in laboratory rats. bioRxiv. 2023 Sep 28. de Jong TV, Pan Y, Rastas P, Munro D, Tutaj M, Akil H, Benner C, Chen D, Chitre AS, Chow W, Colonna V, Dalgard CL, Demos WM, Doris PA, Garrison E, Geurts AM, Gunturkun HM, Guryev V, Hourlier T, Howe K, Huang J, Kalbfleisch T, Kim P, Li L, Mahaffey S, Martin FJ, Mohammadi P, Ozel AB, Polesskaya O, Pravenec M, Prins P, Sebat J, Smith JR, Solberg Woods LC, Tabakoff B, Tracey A, Uliano-Silva M, Villani F, Wang H, Sharp BM, Telese F, Jiang Z, Saba L, Wang X, Murphy TD, Palmer AA, Kwitek AE, Dwinell MR, Williams RW, Li JZ, Chen H. PMID: 37214860; PMCID: PMC10197727.

View in: PubMed Mentions:
Strain and sex-related behavioral variability of oxycodone dependence in rats. Neuropharmacology. 2023 10 01; 237:109635. Doyle MR, Martinez AR, Qiao R, Dirik S, Di Ottavio F, Pascasio G, Martin-Fardon R, Benner C, George O, Telese F, de Guglielmo G. PMID: 37327971; PMCID: PMC10353778.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 2 Fields:
Neu Neurology Pha Pharmacology
Translation:Animals
The long non-coding RNA MALAT1 regulates intestine host-microbe interactions and polyposis. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023; 11:1168693. Long T, Hernandez JE, Ma S, Steele S, Luo C, Li Y, Xie Q, Telese F, Zhou B, Huang WJM. PMID: 37325561; PMCID: PMC10265687.

View in: PubMed Mentions:
Nuclear receptor 5A2 regulation of Agrp underlies olanzapine-induced hyperphagia. Mol Psychiatry. 2023 05; 28(5):1857-1867. Zapata RC, Zhang D, Libster A, Porcu A, Montilla-Perez P, Nur A, Xu B, Zhang Z, Correa SM, Liu C, Telese F, Osborn O. PMID: 36765131; PMCID: PMC10412731.

View in: PubMed Mentions: Fields:
Mol Molecular Biology Psy Psychiatry
Translation:Humans Animals
Chronic adolescent exposure to cannabis in mice leads to sex-biased changes in gene expression networks across brain regions. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2022 11; 47(12):2071-2080. Zuo Y, Iemolo A, Montilla-Perez P, Li HR, Yang X, Telese F. PMID: 35995972; PMCID: PMC9556757.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 4 Fields:
Neu Neurology Psy Psychopharmacology
Translation:Humans Animals
Reelin deficiency exacerbates cocaine-induced hyperlocomotion by enhancing neuronal activity in the dorsomedial striatum. Genes Brain Behav. 2022 09; 21(7):e12828. de Guglielmo G, Iemolo A, Nur A, Turner A, Montilla-Perez P, Martinez A, Crook C, Roberts A, Telese F. PMID: 35906757; PMCID: PMC9744517.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 5 Fields:
Beh Behavioral Sciences Bra Brain Gen Genetics
Translation:Humans Animals
Glucocorticoid Receptor-Regulated Enhancers Play a Central Role in the Gene Regulatory Networks Underlying Drug Addiction. Front Neurosci. 2022; 16:858427. Duttke SH, Montilla-Perez P, Chang MW, Li H, Chen H, Carrette LLG, de Guglielmo G, George O, Palmer AA, Benner C, Telese F. PMID: 35651629; PMCID: PMC9149415.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 5
Nuclear Receptor 5A2 Regulation of Agrp underlies Olanzapine-induced Hyperphagia. bioRxiv. 2022. Rizaldy C. Zapata, Dinghong Zhang, Avraham Libster, Alessandra Porcu, Patricia Montilla-Perez, Zhi Zhang, Stephanie M Correa, Francesca Telese, Olivia Osborn. View Publication.
RNA binding protein DDX5 directs tuft cell specification and function to regulate microbial repertoire and disease susceptibility in the intestine. Gut. 2022 09; 71(9):1790-1802. Long T, Abbasi N, Hernandez JE, Li Y, Sayed IM, Ma S, Iemolo A, Yee BA, Yeo GW, Telese F, Ghosh P, Das S, Huang WJM. PMID: 34853057; PMCID: PMC9156727.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 5 Fields:
Gas Gastroenterology
Translation:Animals
Functional validation of a finding from a mouse genome-wide association study shows that Azi2 influences the acute locomotor stimulant response to methamphetamine. Genes Brain Behav. 2021 09; 20(7):e12760. Zhou X, Barkley-Levenson AM, Montilla-Perez P, Telese F, Palmer AA. PMID: 34173327.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 3 Fields:
Beh Behavioral Sciences Bra Brain Gen Genetics
Translation:Animals
Reelin deficiency contributes to long-term behavioral abnormalities induced by chronic adolescent exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in mice. Neuropharmacology. 2021 04 01; 187:108495. Iemolo A, Montilla-Perez P, Nguyen J, Risbrough VB, Taffe MA, Telese F. PMID: 33582152; PMCID: PMC7989547.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 6 Fields:
Neu Neurology Pha Pharmacology
Translation:Animals
The Cannabinoid Receptor Agonist, WIN-55212-2, Suppresses the Activation of Proinflammatory Genes Induced by Interleukin 1 Beta in Human Astrocytes. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2022 02; 7(1):78-92. Fields JA, Swinton MK, Montilla-Perez P, Ricciardelli E, Telese F. PMID: 33998879; PMCID: PMC8864424.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 12 Fields:
Pha Pharmacology Psy Psychopharmacology
Translation:Humans Animals Cells
A cell type-specific expression map of NCoR1 and SMRT transcriptional co-repressors in the mouse brain. J Comp Neurol. 2020 09 01; 528(13):2218-2238. Iemolo A, Montilla-Perez P, Lai IC, Meng Y, Nolan S, Wen J, Rusu I, Dulcis D, Telese F. PMID: 32072640; PMCID: PMC7368833.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 4 Fields:
Neu Neurology
Translation:Animals Cells
Mitochondrial biogenesis is altered in HIV+ brains exposed to ART: Implications for therapeutic targeting of astroglia. Neurobiol Dis. 2019 10; 130:104502. Swinton MK, Carson A, Telese F, Sanchez AB, Soontornniyomkij B, Rad L, Batki I, Quintanilla B, Pérez-Santiago J, Achim CL, Letendre S, Ellis RJ, Grant I, Murphy AN, Fields JA. PMID: 31238091; PMCID: PMC6714553.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 23 Fields:
Neu Neurology
Translation:Humans Cells
Glucocorticoid Receptor:MegaTrans Switching Mediates the Repression of an ERα-Regulated Transcriptional Program. Mol Cell. 2017 May 04; 66(3):321-331.e6. Yang F, Ma Q, Liu Z, Li W, Tan Y, Jin C, Ma W, Hu Y, Shen J, Ohgi KA, Telese F, Liu W, Rosenfeld MG. PMID: 28475868; PMCID: PMC5510478.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 32 Fields:
Cel Cell Biology Mol Molecular Biology
Translation:Humans Cells
Genome-wide epigenetic analysis of MEF2A and MEF2C transcription factors in mouse cortical neurons. Commun Integr Biol. 2015 Nov-Dec; 8(6):e1087624. Ma Q, Telese F. PMID: 27066173; PMCID: PMC4802763.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 17
LSD1n is an H4K20 demethylase regulating memory formation via transcriptional elongation control. Nat Neurosci. 2015 Sep; 18(9):1256-64. Wang J, Telese F, Tan Y, Li W, Jin C, He X, Basnet H, Ma Q, Merkurjev D, Zhu X, Liu Z, Zhang J, Ohgi K, Taylor H, White RR, Tazearslan C, Suh Y, Macfarlan TS, Pfaff SL, Rosenfeld MG. PMID: 26214369; PMCID: PMC4625987.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 72 Fields:
Neu Neurology
Translation:Animals Cells
LRP8-Reelin-Regulated Neuronal Enhancer Signature Underlying Learning and Memory Formation. Neuron. 2015 May 06; 86(3):696-710. Telese F, Ma Q, Perez PM, Notani D, Oh S, Li W, Comoletti D, Ohgi KA, Taylor H, Rosenfeld MG. PMID: 25892301; PMCID: PMC4486257.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 74 Fields:
Neu Neurology
Translation:Humans Animals Cells
"Seq-ing" insights into the epigenetics of neuronal gene regulation. Neuron. 2013 Feb 20; 77(4):606-23. Telese F, Gamliel A, Skowronska-Krawczyk D, Garcia-Bassets I, Rosenfeld MG. PMID: 23439116; PMCID: PMC3736682.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 41 Fields:
Neu Neurology
Translation:Humans Cells
Tyrosine dephosphorylation of H2AX modulates apoptosis and survival decisions. Nature. 2009 Apr 02; 458(7238):591-6. Cook PJ, Ju BG, Telese F, Wang X, Glass CK, Rosenfeld MG. PMID: 19234442; PMCID: PMC2692521.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 271 Fields:
Sci Science
Translation:Humans Animals Cells
Biomarkers, type II collagen, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate in osteoarthritis follow-up: the "Magenta osteoarthritis study". J Orthop Traumatol. 2008 Jun; 9(2):81-7. Scarpellini M, Lurati A, Vignati G, Marrazza MG, Telese F, Re K, Bellistri A. PMID: 19384621; PMCID: PMC2656961.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 13 Fields:
Ort Orthopedics Tra Traumatology
Histone methylation-dependent mechanisms impose ligand dependency for gene activation by nuclear receptors. Cell. 2007 Feb 09; 128(3):505-518. Garcia-Bassets I, Kwon YS, Telese F, Prefontaine GG, Hutt KR, Cheng CS, Ju BG, Ohgi KA, Wang J, Escoubet-Lozach L, Rose DW, Glass CK, Fu XD, Rosenfeld MG. PMID: 17289570; PMCID: PMC1994663.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 239 Fields:
Cel Cell Biology
Translation:Humans Cells
Essential roles for Fe65, Alzheimer amyloid precursor-binding protein, in the cellular response to DNA damage. J Biol Chem. 2007 Jan 12; 282(2):831-5. Minopoli G, Stante M, Napolitano F, Telese F, Aloia L, De Felice M, Di Lauro R, Pacelli R, Brunetti A, Zambrano N, Russo T. PMID: 17121854.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 25 Fields:
Bio Biochemistry
Translation:Animals Cells
Transcription regulation by the adaptor protein Fe65 and the nucleosome assembly factor SET. EMBO Rep. 2005 Jan; 6(1):77-82. Telese F, Bruni P, Donizetti A, Gianni D, D'Ambrosio C, Scaloni A, Zambrano N, Rosenfeld MG, Russo T. PMID: 15592452; PMCID: PMC1299219.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 39 Fields:
Mol Molecular Biology
Translation:Humans Cells
Fe65 is not involved in the platelet-derived growth factor-induced processing of Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein, which activates its caspase-directed cleavage. J Biol Chem. 2004 Apr 16; 279(16):16161-9. Zambrano N, Gianni D, Bruni P, Passaro F, Telese F, Russo T. PMID: 14766758.

View in: PubMed Mentions: 11 Fields:
Bio Biochemistry
Translation:Humans Animals Cells