Staff Profile

I am a Newcastle University Faculty Fellow with an interest in developing and using new molecular tools for neuroscience.

I completed my PhD, with Prof Anna Moroni (Univ. Studi Milano, Italy) in June 2017. We developed, and improved, a novel optogenetic potassium channel, called BLINK (Blue Light Induced K channel), as an alternative to the currently available inhibitory opsins.

I joined Newcastle university as Postdoctoral Research Associate in October 2017, to work on chloride regulation in neurons using optogenetics and 2-photon imaging.

In June 2019 I was awarded a Faculty Fellowship to investigate the role of neuronal chloride levels and network excitability on memory formation. I have since established an in vivo 2-photon imaging protocol to investigate mechanisms of chloride regulation into different subclasses of cortical neurons, with particular attention to interneurons.

My current research combines cutting edge techniques and newly developed optical tools to investigate the relationship between the neuronal levels of intracellular chloride and the organisation of neurons into ensembles with synchronised activity.

My final goal is to examine how changes in neuronal chloride that affect network excitability can impact memory formation and retrieval. To pursue this project, I am strongly relying on my expertise in protein engineering and in vivo and in vitro 2-photon imaging of neuronal chloride changes.

I am a member of the Neuroscience, Neurodisability and Neurological Disorders Theme and I am also part of the Centre for Transformative Neuroscience (NUCoRE).

• Articles

  • Graham RT, Parrish RR, Alberio L, Johnson EL, Owens LJ, Trevelyan AJ. Optogenetic stimulation reveals a latent tipping point in cortical networks during ictogenesis. Brain 2022.
  • Saponaro A, Bauer D, Giese MH, Swuec P, Porro A, Gasparri F, Sharifzadeh AS, Chaves-Sanjuan A, Alberio L, Parisi G, Cerutti G, Clarke O, Hamacher K, Colecraft HM, Mancia F, Hendrickson WA, Siegelbaum SA, Di Francesco D, Bolognesi M, Thiel G, Santoro B, Moroni A. Gating movements and ion permeation in HCN4 pacemaker channels. Molecular Cell 2021, 81(14).
  • Alberio L, Locarno A, Saponaro A, Romano E, Bercier V, Albadri S, Simeoni F, Moleri S, Pelucchi S, Porro A, Marcello E, Barsotti N, Kukovetz K, Boender AJ, Contestabile A, Luo S, Moutal A, Ji Y, Romani G, Beltrame M, Del Bene F, Di Luca M, Khanna R, Colecraft HM, Pasqualetti M, Thiel G, Tonini R, Moroni A. A light-gated potassium channel for sustained neuronal inhibition. Nature Methods 2018, 15, 969-976.
  • Cosentino C, Alberio L, Gazzarrini S, Aquila M, Romano E, Cermenati S, Zuccolini P, Beltrame M, Van Etten JL, Christie JM, Thiel G, Moroni A. Engineering of a light-gated potassium channel. Science 2015, 348(6235), 707-710.

• Book Chapter

  • Cosentino C, Alberio L, Thiel G, Moroni A. Yeast-Based Screening System for the Selection of Functional Light-Driven K+ Channels. In: Stein V, ed. Synthetic Protein Switches : Methods and Protocols. New York: Springer, 2017, pp.271-285.