Skip to Main Content

Angeliki Louvi, PhD

Professor of Neurosurgery and of Neuroscience; Deputy Director, MD-PhD Program

Contact Information

Angeliki Louvi, PhD

Mailing Address

  • Neurosurgery

    PO Box 208082

    New Haven, CT 06520-8082

    United States

Research Summary

We study the mechanisms governing the development of the mammalian brain. We are particularly interested in understanding how the perturbation of basic biological processes leads to clinically significant brain pathology. Within the Yale Program on Neurogenetics, we study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying cerebrovascular and structural brain disorders associated with specific genetic lesions. Insight into these questions will shed light on fundamental biological processes and provide information relevant for the design of therapeutic approaches.

Specialized Terms: Mammalian neural development; Mechanisms of brain morphogenesis and pathogenesis; Microcephaly; Structural brain disorders; Cerebrovascular disease; Cerebral Cavernous Malformations; Intracranial Aneurysms

Extensive Research Description

Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCM)

  1. Louvi, A.*, Chen, L., Two, A. M., Zhang, H., Min, W., and Günel, M.* (2011). Loss of cerebral cavernous malformation 3 (Ccm3) in neuroglia leads to CCM and vascular pathology. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 108, 3737-3742. PMID: 21321212.
  2. Louvi, A.*, Nishimura, S. and Gunel, M. (2014). Ccm3, a gene associated with cerebral cavernous malformations, is required for neuronal migration. Development, 141, 1404-1415. PMID: 24595293.
  3. Nishimura, S., Mishra-Gorur, K., Park, J., Surovtseva, Y., Sebti, S.M., Levchenko, A., Louvi, A.* and Gunel, M.* (2017). Combined HMG-CoA reductase and prenylation inhibition in treatment of CCM. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 114(21):5503-5508. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1702942114. PMID: 28500274.
  4. Peyre, M., Miyagishima, D., Bielle, F., Chapon, F., Sierant, M., Venot, Q., Lerond, J., Marijon, P., Abi-Jaoude, S., Le Van, T., Labreche, K., Houlston, R., Faisant, M., Clemenceau, S., Boch, A.-L., Nouet, A., Carpentier, A., Boetto, J., Louvi, A., Kalamarides, M. (2021) Recurrent Somatic PIK3CA mutations in Sporadic Cerebral Cavernous Malformations. New England Journal of Medicine 2021 Sep 9;385(11):996. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2100440. PMID: 34496175.
  5. Louvi, A., Nishimura, S., and Gunel, M. (2022). Genetics of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations. In Youmans and Winn’s Neurological Surgery, 8th edition, H. Richard Winn, Editor-in-Chief. Chapter 460, p.3760-3768.e6. Elsevier (Philadelphia, PA).


Structural Brain Disorders

  1. Bilgüvar, K.*, Oztürk, A. K.*, Louvi, A., Kwan, K. Y., Choi, M., Tatli, B., Yalnizoglu, D., Tüysüz, B., Caglayan, A. O., Gökben, S., Kaymakçalan, H., Barak, T., Bakircioglu, M., Yasuno, K., Ho, W., Sanders, S., Zhu, Y., Yilmaz, S., Dinçer, A., Johnson, M. H., Bronen, R. A., Koçer, N., Per, H., Mane, S., Pamir, M. N., Yalçinkaya, C., Kumandas, S., Topçu, M., Ozmen, M., Sestan, N., Lifton, R. P., State, M. W., and Günel, M. (2010). Whole-exome sequencing identifies recessive WDR62 mutations in severe brain malformations. Nature 467, 207-210. PMID: 20729831.
  2. Sgourdou, P., Mishra-Gorur, K., Saotome, I., Henagariu, O., Tuysuz, B., Campos, C., Ishigame, K., Giannikou, K., Quon, J.L., Sestan, N., Caglayan, A.O., Gunel, M., and Louvi, A*. (2017) Disruptions in asymmetric centrosome inheritance and WDR62-Aurora kinase B interactions in primary microcephaly. Scientific Reports 7:43708. doi: 10.1038/srep43708. PMID: 28272472.
  3. Dell’Amico, C., Angulo Salavarria, M.M., Takeo, Y., Saotome, I., Dell’Anno, M.T., Galimberti, M., Pellegrino, E., Cattaneo, E., Louvi, A.*, Onorati, M.* (2023) Microcephaly-associated protein WDR62 shuttles from the Golgi apparatus to the spindle poles in human neural progenitors. eLife Jun 5;12:e81716. doi: 10.7554/eLife.81716. PMID37272619.

Current Projects

  • Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Structural Brain Disorders
  • Biology and Pathobiology of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations
  • Intracranial Aneurysms

Coauthors

Research Interests

Brain; Intracranial Aneurysm; Disease Models, Animal; Microcephaly; Morphogenesis; Nervous System Diseases; Organoids; Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System; Lissencephaly; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Selected Publications