1) Coppola U, Annona G, D'Aniello S, Ristoratore F. (2016) Rab32 and Rab38 genes in chordate pigmentation: an evolutionary perspective. BMC Evol Biol. Jan 27;16:26. doi: 10.1186/s12862-016-0596-1. PMID: 26818140 Free PMC Article.

2) Tammaro S, Simoniello P, Ristoratore F, Coppola U, Scudiero R, Motta CM. (2017) Expression of caspase 3 in ovarian follicle cells of the lizard Podarcis sicula. Cell Tissue Res. Feb;367(2):397-404. doi: 10.1007/s00441-016-2506-7. Epub 2016 Oct 7. PMID: 27718023. 

3) Racioppi C, Valoroso MC, Coppola U, Lowe EK, Brown CT, Swalla BJ, Christiaen L, Stolfi A, Ristoratore F. Evolutionary loss of melanogenesis in the tunicate Molgula occulta. Evodevo. 2017 Jul 18;8:11. doi: 10.1186/s13227-017-0074-x. PMID: 28729899; PMCID: PMC5516394. 

4) Coppola U, Nittoli V, Sepe RM, D'Agostino Y, De Felice E, Palladino A, Vassalli QA, Locascio A, Ristoratore F, Spagnuolo A, D'Aniello S, Sordino P. (2018) A comprehensive analysis of neurotrophins and neurotrophin tyrosine kinase receptors expression during development of zebrafish. J Comp Neurol. Apr 15;526(6):1057-1072. doi: 10.1002/cne.24391. (shared first authorship). 

5) Coppola U, Caccavale F, Scelzo M, Holland ND, Ristoratore F, D'Aniello S. (2018) Ran GTPase, an eukaryotic gene novelty, is involved in amphioxus mitosis. PLoS One. Oct 9;13(10):e0196930. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196930. eCollection 2018. PMID: 30300344 (shared first authorship). 

6) Coppola U (2018). Evolutionary and Developmental Survey of Genes Involved in Chordate Pigmentation. PhD thesis The Open University. (PhD thesis published online by Open University, available on Google Scholar). 

7) Racioppi C, Coppola U, Christiaen L, Ristoratore F. (2019) Transcriptional regulation of Rab32/38, a specific marker of pigment cell formation in Ciona robusta. Dev Biol. Apr 15;448(2):111-118. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2018.11.013. Epub 2018 Nov 22. PMID: 30471267. 

8) Coppola U, Nittoli V, Fortunato AE, Fasano G, Gentile A, Maiella S, Langellotto F, Porreca I, De Paolo R, Marino R, Fiengo M, Donizetti A, Aniello F, Kondo T, Ristoratore F, Canzoniero LMT, Duboule D, Wilson SW, Sordino P. (2019) Characterization of paralogous uncx transcription factor encoding genes in zebrafish. Gene X. Jun;2:100011. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2019.100011. PMID: 31193955 (shared first authorship).

9) Coppola U, Ristoratore F, Albalat R, D'Aniello S. (2019) The evolutionary landscape of the Rab family in chordates.Cell Mol Life Sci. Apr 26. doi: 10.1007/s00018-019-03103-7. PMID: 31028425. 

10) Coppola U, Olivo P, D'Aniello E, Johnson CJ, Stolfi A, Ristoratore F. Rimbp, a New Marker for the Nervous System of the Tunicate Ciona robusta. Genes (Basel). 2020 Aug 27;11(9):E1006. doi: 10.3390/genes11091006. PMID: 32867148. (shared first authorship).

11) Coppola U, Kamal AK, Stolfi A, Ristoratore F. The Cis-Regulatory Code for Kelch-like 21/30 Specific Expression in Ciona robusta Sensory Organs. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Sep 11;8:569601. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.569601. PMID: 33043001; PMCID: PMC7517041. 

12) Caccavale F, Coppola U, Vassalli QA, La Vecchia C, Palumbo A, D'Aniello E, Locascio A, Ristoratore F, D'Aniello S. (2020) Transphyletic conservation of nitric oxide synthase regulation in cephalochordates and tunicates. Dev Genes Evol. Aug 24. doi: 10.1007/s00427-020-00668-3. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32839880.

13) Coppola U, Waxman JS. Origin and evolutionary landscape of Nr2f transcription factors across Metazoa (2021). PLoS One. 22 Nov: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254282.

14) Raghavan R, Coppola U et al., Ristoratore F, Di Gregorio A. Parsimony of notochord gene expression: a study of gene families across the chordate phylum. BMC Ecol Evo 23, 63 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02167-1 (shared first authorship). 

15) Coppola U, Franco D. New trends in cardiovascular development, evolution and disease. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 12, 1392713. 

16) Coppola U, Saha B, Kenney J, Waxman JS (2024) A Foxf1-Wnt-Nr2f1 cascade promotes atrial cardiomyocyte differentiation in zebrafish. PLoS Genet 20(11): e1011222. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011222. 

17) Ford C, de Sena-Tomás C, Wun TTR, Aleman AG, Rangaswamy U, Leyhr J, Nuñez MI, Gao CZ, Nim HT, See M, Coppola U, Waxman JS, Ramialison M, Haitina T, Smeeton J, Sanges R, Targoff KL. Nkx2.7 is a conserved regulator of craniofacial development. Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 23;16(1):3802. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58821-3. PMID: 40268889; PMCID: PMC12019251.