In vitro models of sex chromosomal aneuploidies to investigate the developmental consequences of supernumerary sex chromosomes

I am a Research Scientist in the STEMD laboratory, where I study the effects of sex chromosome overdosage on neuronal and cardiac development using in vitro models. My work has first been dedicated to the derivation of a cohort of X and Y aneuploid iPSCs obtained from patients with Klinefelter (47,XXY), and Jacobs (47,XYY) Syndromes, and high-grade X aneuploidies (48, XXXY and 49,XXXXY). In particular, I use iPSC-derived 3D brain organoids to investigate how sex gene expression imbalance alters the transcriptional, morphological, and electrophysiological properties of neuronal differentiation and the establishment of functional synaptic connectivity.

Veronica Astro.

Prof. Alysson Muotri, USCD, San Diego, Prof. Magistretti, KAUST, and Prof. Corrado Cali’, University of Turin


  1. Astro V. Cardona-Londoño KY, Cortés-Medina LV, Alghamdi R, Ramírez-Calderón G, Kefalas F, Dilmé-Capó J, Radío S, Adamo A. ‘An iPSC-based model of 47,XYY Jacobs syndrome reveals a DNA methylation-independent transcriptional dysregulation shared with male X aneuploid cells’. Genome Res. 2025 Jun 10. doi: 10.1101/gr.279716.124.
  2. Astro V. and A. Adamo. ‘Generation of iPSC Cell Lines from Patients with Sex Chromosome Aneuploidies.’ Methods Mol Biol. 2024:2770:185-200. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3698-5_14.
  3. Astro V., Fiacco E., K. J. Cardona-Londoño, T. Abu-Almagd, A. Kokandi, N. Alrayes, J. Alama, and A. Adamo. ‘A transcriptomic signature of X chromosome overdosage in Saudi Klinefelter syndrome induced pluripotent stem cells.’ Endocr Connect. 2023 Apr 26;12(5):e220515. doi: 10.1530/EC-22-0515.
  4. Astro V., Ramirez-calderon G., and A. Adamo. ‘A simplified method to measure calcium spikes in cardiomyocytes obtained from human pluripotent stem cells using a ready-to-use media.’ STAR Protoc. 2023 Apr 13;4(2):102252. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102252.
  5. Astro V*, Al-Owaysi M*, Fiacco E*, Saera-Vila A, Cardona- Londoño KJ, Cigliano RA, Adamo A. ‘Pseudoautosomal Region 1 Overdosage Affects the Global Transcriptome in iPSCs From Patients With Klinefelter Syndrome and High-Grade X Chromosome Aneuploidies. Front. Cell Dev. Biol., 03 February 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.801597. PMID: 35186953.* Co-authors
  6. Alowaysi M*, Fiacco E*, Astro V, Adamo A. ‘Establishment of iPSC lines from a high-grade Klinefelter Syndrome patient (49-XXXXY) and two genetically matched healthy relatives (KAUSTi003-A, KAUSTi004-A, KAUSTi004-B, KAUSTi005-A, KAUSTi005-B, KAUSTi005-C)’Stem Cell Res. 2020 Dec;49:102008. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2020.102008. PMID: 32987351. * Co-authors
  7. Fiacco E*, Alowaysi M*, Astro V, Adamo A. ‘Derivation of two naturally isogenic iPSC lines (KAUSTi006-A and KAUSTi006-B) from a mosaic Klinefelter Syndrome patient (47-XXY/46-XY)’. Stem Cell Res. 2020 Dec;49:102049. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2020.102049. PMID: 33096382. * Co-authors
  8. Alowaysi M*, Fiacco E*, Astro V, Adamo A. ‘Establishment of an iPSC cohort from three unrelated 47-XXY Klinefelter Syndrome patients (KAUSTi007-A, KAUSTi007-B, KAUSTi009-A, KAUSTi009-B, KAUSTi010-A, KAUSTi010-B)’. Stem Cell Res. 2020 Dec;49:102042. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2020.102042. PMID: 33068889. * Co-authors
  9. Alowaysi M*, Fiacco E*, Astro V, Adamo A. ‘Generation of two iPSC lines (KAUSTi001-A, KAUSTi002-A) from a rare high-grade Klinefelter Syndrome patient (49-XXXXY) carrying a balanced translocation t(4,11) (q35,q23)’. Stem Cell Res. 2020 Dec;49:102098. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2020.102098. PMID: 33254093. * Co-authors
  10. Fiacco E*, Alowaysi M*, Astro V, Adamo A. ‘Generation of an iPSC cohort of isogenic iPSC lines (46-XY and 47-XXY) from a non-mosaic Klinefelter Syndrome patient (47-XXY) (KAUSTi008-A, KAUSTi008-B, KAUSTi008-C, KAUSTi008-D, KAUSTi008-E, KAUSTi008-F, KAUSTi008-G)’. Stem Cell Res. 2020 Dec 10;50:102119. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2020.102119. PMID: 33333453. * Co-authors