Tommaso holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the Polytechnic University of Marche (Italy) and a Master’s degree in Neuroscience from the University of Trieste (Italy). He developed his Master thesis at the Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative diseases at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (USA), under the supervision of Prof. Agenor Limon, investigating alterations of AMPA and GABA receptors in schizophrenia by using micro-transplantation of post-mortem human synaptic membranes in Xenopus-Laevis Oocytes.  Before joining the Brain and Sound lab, he worked as research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences of Gottingen (Germany) and at the University Medical center of the University of Mainz (Germany), where he investigated the functional interaction of Neuroligin-2 and MDGA proteins in the inhibitory synapses of the adult mouse hippocampus. His scientific interest in how complex brain funcctions, such as sensory perception, work and are shaped during the development, led him to apply for a PhD position at the Brain and Sound lab. He joined in October 2022.

Publications:

Zeppillo T.*, Ali H.*, Wenger S., Murcia J.L.F., Gideons E., Signorelli J., Schmeisser M.J., Wiltfang J.,  Rhee J.S., Brose N., Taschenberger H. & Krueger-Burg D. Functional Neuroligin-2-MDGA1 interactions differentially regulate synaptic GABAARs and cytosolic gephyrin aggregation. Commun Biol 7, 1157 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06789-z

Scaduto, P., Lauterborn, J.C., Cox, C.D., Fracassi A., Zeppillo T., Gutierrez B.A., Kenee D.C., Crane P.K., Mukherjee S., Russel W.K., Taglialatela G. & Limon A. Functional excitatory to inhibitory synaptic imbalance and loss of cognitive performance in people with Alzheimer’s disease neuropathologic change. Acta Neuropathol 145, 303–324 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-022-02526-0

Shen, K.*, Zeppillo, T.* & Limon, A. Regional transcriptome analysis of AMPA and GABA_A receptor subunit expression generates E/I signatures of the human brain. Sci Rep 10, 11352 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68165-1

Zeppillo T., Schulmann A., Macciardi F., Hjelmf B.E., Föcking M., Sequeira A.P, Guella I., Cotter D., Bunney W.E & Limon A., Vawter M.P. Functional impairment of cortical AMPA receptors in schizophrenia. Schizophr. Res. 2020; doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2020.03.037