
Carmelo Quarta
Chercheur
/ Contact
www.orcid.org/0000-0002-1352-4239

The main goal of my work is to study the neuronal mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of obesity and diabetes and to define novel pharmacological treatments for these diseases.
In this context, my studies aim to decipher how the brain communicates with peripheral organs to control food intake and whole-body metabolism under both physiological and pathological conditions.
Publications
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Food intake and body weight in rodent studies: the devil is in the details
Camille Allard, Philippe Zizzari, Carmelo Quarta, Daniela Cota.
Nat Metab. 2022-10-17.
10.1038/s42255-022-00658-x -
GLP-1-mediated delivery of tesaglitazar improves obesity and glucose metabolism in male mice
Carmelo Quarta, Kerstin Stemmer, Aaron Novikoff, Bin Yang, Felix Klingelhuber, Alex Harger, Mostafa Bakhti, Aimee Bastidas-Ponce, Eric Baugé, Jonathan E. Campbell, Megan Capozzi, Christoffer Clemmensen, Gustav Collden, Perla Cota, Jon Douros, Daniel J. Drucker, Barent DuBois, Annette Feuchtinger, Cristina Garcia-Caceres, Gerald Grandl, Nathalie Hennuyer, Stephan Herzig, Susanna M. Hofmann, Patrick J. Knerr, Konxhe Kulaj, Fanny Lalloyer, Heiko Lickert, Arek Liskiewicz, Daniela Liskiewicz, Gandhari Maity, Diego Perez-Tilve, Sneha Prakash, Miguel A. Sanchez-Garrido, Qian Zhang, Bart Staels, Natalie Krahmer, Richard D. DiMarchi, Matthias H. Tschöp, Brian Finan, Timo D. Müller.
Nat Metab. 2022-08-22. 4(8) : 1071-1083.
10.1038/s42255-022-00617-6 -
Yin-Yang control of energy balance by lipids in the hypothalamus: The endocannabinoids vs bile acids case
Thomas H. Lee, Daniela Cota, Carmelo Quarta.
Biochimie. 2022-07-01.
10.1016/j.biochi.2022.07.006 -
Functional heterogeneity of POMC neurons relies on mTORC1 signaling
Nicolas Saucisse, Wilfrid Mazier, Vincent Simon, Elke Binder, Caterina Catania, Luigi Bellocchio, Roman A. Romanov, Stéphane Léon, Isabelle Matias, Philippe Zizzari, Carmelo Quarta, Astrid Cannich, Kana Meece, Delphine Gonzales, Samantha Clark, Julia M. Becker, Giles S.H. Yeo, Xavier Fioramonti, Florian T. Merkle, Sharon L. Wardlaw, Tibor Harkany, Federico Massa, Giovanni Marsicano, Daniela Cota.
Cell Reports. 2021-10-01. 37(2) : 109800.
10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109800 -
Microglia–Neuron Crosstalk in Obesity: Melodious Interaction or Kiss of Death?
Stéphane Léon, Agnès Nadjar, Carmelo Quarta.
IJMS. 2021-05-15. 22(10) : 5243.
10.3390/ijms22105243 -
POMC neuronal heterogeneity in energy balance and beyond: an integrated view
Carmelo Quarta, Marc Claret, Lori M. Zeltser, Kevin W. Williams, Giles S. H. Yeo, Matthias H. Tschöp, Sabrina Diano, Jens C. Brüning, Daniela Cota.
Nat Metab. 2021-02-25.
10.1038/s42255-021-00345-3 -
CB1 and GLP-1 Receptors Cross-Talk Provides New Therapies for Obesity
Philippe Zizzari, Rongjun He , Sarah Falk, Luigi Bellocchio, Camille Allard, Samantha Clark, Thierry Lesté-Lasserre, Giovanni Marsicano, Christoffer Clemmensen, Diego Perez-Tilve , Brian Finan, Daniela Cota, Carmelo Quarta..
Diabetes. 2020-10.
10.2337/db20-0162 -
Anti-obesity therapy with peripheral CB1 blockers: from promise to safe(?) practice
Carmelo Quarta, Daniela Cota.
Int J Obes. 2020-04-21.
10.1038/s41366-020-0577-8 -
POMC Neurons Dysfunction in Diet-induced Metabolic Disease: Hallmark or Mechanism of Disease?
Carmelo Quarta, Xavier Fioramonti, Daniela Cota.
Neuroscience. 2019-11-01.
10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.09.031 -
Functional identity of hypothalamic melanocortin neurons depends on Tbx3
Carmelo Quarta , Alexandre Fisette, Yanjun Xu, Gustav Colldén, Beata Legutko, Yu-Ting Tseng, Alexander Reim, Michael Wierer, Maria Caterina De Rosa, Valentina Klaus, Rick Rausch, Vidhu V Thaker, Elisabeth Graf, Tim M Strom, Anne-Laure Poher, Tim Gruber, Ophélia Le Thuc, Alberto Cebrian-Serrano, Dhiraj Kabra, Luigi Bellocchio, Stephen C Woods, Gert O Pflugfelder, Rubén Nogueiras, Lori Zeltser, Ilona C Grunwald Kadow, Anne Moon, Cristina García-Cáceres, Matthias Mann, Mathias Treier, Claudia A Doege, Matthias H Tschöp..
Nature Metabolism. 2019-02. 1 : 222-235.
10.1038/s42255-018-0028-1 -
Coordinated Targeting of Cold and Nicotinic Receptors Synergistically Improves Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes
Clemmensen C., Finan B., Jail S., Kleinert M., Quarta C., Gruber T., Reber J., Sachs S., Fisher K., Karlas A., Simonds S.E., Keipert S., Jastroch M., Hofmann S.M., Nascimento E.M., Schrauwen P., Ntziachristos V., Cowley M.A., Müller T.D., Tschöp M.H..
Nature Commun. 2018-10-23. 9(1) : 4304.
10.1038/s41467-018-06769-y -
Erratum to: Coordinated targeting of cold and nicotinic receptors synergistically improves obesity and type 2 diabetes (Nature Communications, (2018), 9, 1, (4304), 10.1038/s41467-018-06769-y)
Christoffer Clemmensen, Sigrid Jall, Maximilian Kleinert, Carmelo Quarta, Tim Gruber, Josefine Reber, Stephan Sachs, Katrin Fischer, Annette Feuchtinger, Angelos Karlas, Stephanie E. Simonds, Gerald Grandl, Daniela Loher, Eva Sanchez-Quant, Susanne Keipert, Martin Jastroch, Susanna M. Hofmann, Emmani B. M. Nascimento, Patrick Schrauwen, Vasilis Ntziachristos, Michael A. Cowley, Brian Finan, Timo D. Müller, Matthias H. Tschöp.
Nat Commun. 2018-11-20. 9(1)
10.1038/s41467-018-07479-1 -
Adipocyte cannabinoid receptor CB1 regulates energy homeostasis and alternatively activated macrophages.
Inigo Ruiz de Azua, Giacomo Mancini, Raj Kamal Srivastava, Alejandro Aparisi Rey, Pierre Cardinal, Laura Tedesco, Cristina Maria Zingaretti, Antonia Sassmann, Carmelo Quarta, Claudia Schwitter, Andrea Conrad, Nina Wettschureck, V. Kiran Vemuri, Alexandros Makriyannis, Jens Hartwig, Maria Mendez-Lago, Laura Bindila, Krisztina Monory, Antonio Giordano, Saverio Cinti, Giovanni Marsicano, Stefan Offermanns, Enzo Nisoli, Uberto Pagotto, Daniela Cota, Beat Lutz.
Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2017-10-16. 127(11) : 4148-4162.
10.1172/jci83626 -
Molecular Integration of Incretin and Glucocorticoid Action Reverses Immunometabolic Dysfunction and Obesity.
Carmelo Quarta, Christoffer Clemmensen, Zhimeng Zhu, Bin Yang, Sini S. Joseph, Dominik Lutter, Chun-Xia Yi, Elisabeth Graf, Cristina García-Cáceres, Beata Legutko, Katrin Fischer, Robert Brommage, Philippe Zizzari, Bernardo S. Franklin, Martin Krueger, Marco Koch, Sabine Vettorazzi, Pengyun Li, Susanna M. Hofmann, Mostafa Bakhti, Aimée Bastidas-Ponce, Heiko Lickert, Tim M. Strom, Valerie Gailus-Durner, Ingo Bechmann, Diego Perez-Tilve, Jan Tuckermann, Martin Hrabě de Angelis, Darleen Sandoval, Daniela Cota, Eicke Latz, Randy J. Seeley, Timo D. Müller, Richard D. DiMarchi, Brian Finan, Matthias H. Tschöp.
Cell Metabolism. 2017-10-01. 26(4) : 620-632.e6.
10.1016/j.cmet.2017.08.023 -
Epigenetic ON/OFF Switches for Obesity
Quarta C., Schneider R., Tschöp M.H..
Cell. 2016-11. 164(3) : 341-2.
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Lack of Hypophagia in CB1 Null Mice is Associated to Decreased Hypothalamic POMC and CART Expression.
Lage R., Parisi C., Seoane-Collazo P., Fernø J., Mazza R., Bosch F., Seoane L.M., Nogueiras R., Diéguez C., Quarta C., López M..
Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2015-02-05. 18(9)
10.1093/ijnp/pyv011 -
Astrocytic insulin signaling couples brain glucose uptake with nutrient availability.
Garcia-Caceres C., Quarta C., Gao Y., Varela L., Gruber T., Legutko B., Jastroch M., Johansson P., Ninkovic J., Yi CX., Le Thuc O., Meyer C., Pfluger P.T., Fernandez A.M., Luquet S., Woods S.C., Torres-Alemán I., Kahn C.R., Götz M., Horvath T.L. & Tschöp M.H..
Cell. 2016-08. 166(4) : 867-80.
10.1016/j.cell.2016.07.028 -
Unforeseen role for glucocorticoids in combinatorial anti-obesity pharmacology.
Carmelo Quarta, Christoffer Clemmensen.
Molecular Metabolism. 2016-07-01. 5(7) : 435-436.
10.1016/j.molmet.2016.05.009 -
Renaissance of leptin for obesity therapy.
Quarta C., Sánchez-Garrido MA, Tschöp MH, Clemmensen C.
Diabetologia. 2016-05. 59(5) : 920-7.
10.1007/s00125-016-3906-7 -
Hypothalamic leptin action is mediated by histone deacetylase 5.
Kabra D.G., Pfuhlmann K., García-Cáceres C., Schriever S.C., Casquero García V., Kebede A.F., Fuente-Martin E., Trivedi C., Heppner K., Uhlenhaut N.H., Legutko B., Kabra U.D., Gao Y., Yi C.X., Quarta C., Clemmensen C., Finan B., Müller T.D, Meyer C.W., Paez-Pereda M., Stemmer K., Woods S.C., Perez-Tilve D., Schneider R., Olson E.N., Tschöp M.H., Pfluger P.T..
Nature Commun. 2016-02-29. 7 : 10782.
10.1038/ncomms10782 -
CB1 cannabinoid receptor in SF1-expressing neurons of the ventromedial hypothalamus determines metabolic responses to diet and leptin.
Pierre Cardinal, Caroline André, Carmelo Quarta, Luigi Bellocchio, Samantha Clark, Melissa Elie, Thierry Leste-Lasserre, Marlene Maitre, Delphine Gonzales, Astrid Cannich, Uberto Pagotto, Giovanni Marsicano, Daniela Cota.
Molecular Metabolism. 2014-10-01. 3(7) : 705-716.
10.1016/j.molmet.2014.07.004 -
Direct activating effects of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) on brown adipose tissue are attenuated by corticosterone.
Johanna C. Beukel, Aldo Grefhorst, Carmelo Quarta, Jacobie Steenbergen, Pier G. Mastroberardino, Marc Lombès, Patric J. Delhanty, Roberta Mazza, Uberto Pagotto, Aart Jan Lely, Axel P. N. Themmen.
FASEB j.. 2014-08-01. 28(11) : 4857-4867.
10.1096/fj.14-254839 -
Sulforaphane induces apoptosis in rhabdomyosarcoma and restores TRAIL-sensitivity in the aggressive alveolar subtype leading to tumor elimination in mice
Elisa Bergantin, Carmelo Quarta, Cristina Nanni, Stefano Fanti, Andrea Pession, Giorgio Cantelli-Forti, Roberto Tonelli, Patrizia Hrelia.
Cancer Biology & Therapy. 2014-06-27. 15(9) : 1219-1225.
10.4161/cbt.29684 -
Cardiorespiratory anomalies in mice lacking CB
1 cannabinoid receptors
Alessandro Silvani, Chiara Berteotti, Stefano Bastianini, Gary Cohen, Viviana Lo Martire, Roberta Mazza, Uberto Pagotto, Carmelo Quarta, Giovanna Zoccoli.
PLoS ONE. 2014-06-20. 9(6) : e100536.
10.1371/journal.pone.0100536 -
Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism induces browning of white adipose tissue through impairment of autophagy and prevents adipocyte dysfunction in high-fat-diet-fed mice.
Andrea Armani, Francesca Cinti, Vincenzo Marzolla, James Morgan, Greg A. Cranston, Antonella Antelmi, Giulia Carpinelli, Rossella Canese, Uberto Pagotto, Carmelo Quarta, Walter Malorni, Paola Matarrese, Matteo Marconi, Andrea Fabbri, Giuseppe Rosano, Saverio Cinti, Morag J. Young, Massimiliano Caprio.
FASEB j.. 2014-05-07. 28(8) : 3745-3757.
10.1096/fj.13-245415 -
Multiple sleep alterations in mice lacking cannabinoid type 1 receptors.
Alessandro Silvani, Chiara Berteotti, Stefano Bastianini, Viviana Lo Martire, Roberta Mazza, Uberto Pagotto, Carmelo Quarta, Giovanna Zoccoli.
PLoS ONE. 2014-02-20. 9(2) : e89432.
10.1371/journal.pone.0089432 -
The endocannabinoid system controls food intake via olfactory processes.
Edgar Soria-Gómez, Luigi Bellocchio, Leire Reguero, Gabriel Lepousez, Claire Martin, Mounir Bendahmane, Sabine Ruehle, Floor Remmers, Tifany Desprez, Isabelle Matias, Theresa Wiesner, Astrid Cannich, Antoine Nissant, Aya Wadleigh, Hans-Christian Pape, Anna Paola Chiarlone, Carmelo Quarta, Daniéle Verrier, Peggy Vincent, Federico Massa, Beat Lutz, Manuel Guzmán, Hirac Gurden, Guillaume Ferreira, Pierre-Marie Lledo, Pedro Grandes, Giovanni Marsicano.
Nat Neurosci. 2014-02-09. 17(3) : 407-415.
10.1038/nn.3647 -
(11)C-meta-hydroxyephedrine PET/CT imaging allows in vivo study of adaptive thermogenesis and white-to-brown fat conversion.
Carmelo Quarta, Filippo Lodi, Roberta Mazza, Ferdinando Giannone, Laura Boschi, Cristina Nanni, Enzo Nisoli, Stefano Boschi, Renato Pasquali, Stefano Fanti, Patricia Iozzo, Uberto Pagotto.
Molecular Metabolism. 2013-08-01. 2(3) : 153-160.
10.1016/j.molmet.2013.04.002 -
Activation of the sympathetic nervous system mediates hypophagic and anxiety-like effects of CB₁ receptor blockade.
L. Bellocchio, E. Soria-Gomez, C. Quarta, M. Metna-Laurent, P. Cardinal, E. Binder, A. Cannich, A. Delamarre, M. Haring, M. Martin-Fontecha, D. Vega, T. Leste-Lasserre, D. Bartsch, K. Monory, B. Lutz, F. Chaouloff, U. Pagotto, M. Guzman, D. Cota, G. Marsicano.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2013-03-04. 110(12) : 4786-4791.
10.1073/pnas.1218573110 -
Usefulness of 11C-choline positron emission tomography for genital chlamydial infection assessment in a Balb/c murine model
Antonella Marangoni, Cristina Nanni, Carmelo Quarta, Claudio Foschi, Incoronata Russo, Paola Nardini, Antonietta D’Errico, Francesca Rosini, Alice Ferretti, Rita Aldini, Roberto Cevenini, Domenico Rubello.
Mol Imaging Biol. 2013-01-30. 15(4) : 450-455.
10.1007/s11307-013-0612-4 -
Molecular imaging of neuroblastoma progression in TH-MYCN transgenic mice
Carmelo Quarta, Erika Cantelli, Cristina Nanni, Valentina Ambrosini, Daniela D’ambrosio, Korinne Di Leo, Silvia Angelucci, Federico Zagni, Filippo Lodi, Mario Marengo, William A. Weiss, Andrea Pession, Roberto Tonelli, Stefano Fanti.
Mol Imaging Biol. 2012-07-10. 15(2) : 194-202.
10.1007/s11307-012-0576-9 -
Potential role of combined FDG PET/CT & contrast enhancement MRI in a rectal carcinoma model with nodal metastases characterized by a poor FDG-avidity
Paolo Farace, Giamaica Conti, Flavia Merigo, Stefano Tambalo, Pasquina Marzola, Andrea Sbarbati, Carmelo Quarta, Daniela D’Ambrosio, Sotirios Chondrogiannis, Cristina Nanni, Domenico Rubello.
European Journal of Radiology. 2012-04-01. 81(4) : 658-662.
10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.01.017 -
Role of sex hormones in modulation of brown adipose tissue activity.
Carmelo Quarta, Roberta Mazza, Renato Pasquali, Uberto Pagotto.
Journal of Molecular Endocrinology. 2012-03-29. 49(1) : R1-R7.
10.1530/jme-12-0043 -
Energy balance regulation by endocannabinoids at central and peripheral levels.
Quarta C., Mazza R., Obici S., Pasquali R., Pagotto U..
Trends Mol Med. 2011. (9) : 518-526.
10.1016/j.molmed.2011.05.002 -
Preclinical evaluation of KIT/PDGFRA and mTOR inhibitors in gastrointestinal stromal tumors using small animal FDG PET
Maria Abbondanza Pantaleo, Giordano Nicoletti, Cristina Nanni, Chiara Gnocchi, Lorena Landuzzi, Carmelo Quarta, Stefano Boschi, Margherita Nannini, Monica Di Battista, Paolo Castellucci, Stefano Fanti, Pier Luigi Lollini, Elena Bellan, Mauro Castelli, Domenico Rubello, Guido Biasco.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2010-12-01. 29(1)
10.1186/1756-9966-29-173 -
CB(1) signaling in forebrain and sympathetic neurons is a key determinant of endocannabinoid actions on energy balance.
Carmelo Quarta, Luigi Bellocchio, Giacomo Mancini, Roberta Mazza, Cristina Cervino, Luzie J. Braulke, Csaba Fekete, Rocco Latorre, Cristina Nanni, Marco Bucci, Laura E. Clemens, Gerhard Heldmaier, Masahiko Watanabe, Thierry Leste-Lassere, Marlène Maitre, Laura Tedesco, Flaminia Fanelli, Stefan Reuss, Susanne Klaus, Raj Kamal Srivastava, Krisztina Monory, Alessandra Valerio, Annamaria Grandis, Roberto De Giorgio, Renato Pasquali, Enzo Nisoli, Daniela Cota, Beat Lutz, Giovanni Marsicano, Uberto Pagotto.
Cell Metabolism. 2010-04-01. 11(4) : 273-285.
10.1016/j.cmet.2010.02.015 -
A novel model of CCl4-induced cirrhosis with ascites in the mouse.
Marco Domenicali, Paolo Caraceni, Ferdinando Giannone, Maurizio Baldassarre, Giovanna Lucchetti, Carmelo Quarta, Corrado Patti, Lucia Catani, Cristina Nanni, Roberto M. Lemoli, Mauro Bernardi.
Journal of Hepatology. 2009-12-01. 51(6) : 991-999.
10.1016/j.jhep.2009.09.008 -
Small animal PET for the evaluation of an animal model of genital infection
Cristina Nanni, Antonella Marangoni, Carmelo Quarta, Donato Di Pierro, Anna Rizzello, Silvia Trespidi, Daniela D’Ambrosio, Valentina Ambrosini, Manuela Donati, Rita Aldini, Paolo Zanotti-Fregonara, Gaia Grassetto, Domenico Rubello, Stefano Fanti, Roberto Cevenini.
Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging. 2009-05-01. 29(3) : 187-192.
10.1111/j.1475-097X.2008.00854.x -
Small animal PET in oncology: The road from bench to bedside
Valentina Ambrosini, Carmelo Quarta, Cristina Nanni, Cinzia Pettinato, Roberto Franchi, Gaia Grassetto, Adil Al-Nahhas, Stefano Fanti, Domenico Rubello.
Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals. 2009-04-01. 24(2) : 277-285.
10.1089/cbr.2008.0554