Area di ricerca: Biomedicina

1) ACh, orexin and presynaptic interactome in cortical & subcortical circuits: arousal control, development, and sleep-related pathologies; 2) K+ channels & integrin receptors: cell adhesion & tumors.

Keywords: ACh; nicotinic receptors; orexin; hypocretin; patch-clamp; brain slices; prefrontal cortex; epilepsy; ADSHE; narcolepsy; Kv11.1; hERG; integrin; cancer; arousal

1) Cholinergic regulation of prefrontal synaptic circuits, which modulate arousal, cognition and the sleep-waking cycle. During the maturation of neocortex synaptic architecture, alteration of the cholinergic input underlies the pathogenesis of genetic sleep-related epilepsy and probably other neurologic diseases, such as schizophrenia (collaboration with prof. A. Amadeo, UNIMI). We also study specific mutations on neuronal nicotinic receptors, linked to autosomal dominant sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy. 

2) Regulation by hypocretin/orexin peptides of prefrontal and subcortical regions, such as the ventral tegmental area (collaboration with Dr. A. Vassalli, University of Lausanne). These processes modulate the action of classic neurotransmitters in active wakefulness and motivated behaviors and are implicated in pathologies such as narcolepsy with cataplexy. 

3) Functional role of presynaptic adaptor proteins in the complex interactome that regulates glutamatergic transmission in mature and developing neocortical scircuits (collaboration with prof. P. Defilippi, UNITO). 

4) Interplay between KV11.1 channels and integrin receptors, which mediates bidirectional signals that shape the cellular responses to the local extracellular environment. These mechanisms determine a cell’s choice between different destinies and are thus implicated in cell differentiation, migration, tumor growth and invasiveness (collaboration with prof. A. Arcangeli, UNIFI).

Andrea Becchetti, Associate Professor - Group Leader

room 3010, building U3, tel.: +39 02 6448 3301
lab 3041, building U3, tel. +39 02 6448 3311
andrea.becchetti@unimib.it
BtBs profile, UNIMIB profile, Publications (Bicocca Open Archive)
CV, Google Scholar, LinkedIn,

-Mojtaba Bandarabadi, Sha Li, Lea Aeschlimann, Giulia Colombo, Stamatina Tzanoulinou, Mehdi Tafti, Andrea Becchetti, Benjamin Boutrel, Anne Vassalli. Inactivation of hypocretin receptor-2 signaling in dopaminergic neurons induces hyperarousal and enhanced cognition but impaired inhibitory control. Mol Psychiatry. 2024 Feb;29(2):327-341. doi: 10.1038/s41380-023-02329-z.

-Claudia Duranti, Jessica Iorio, Giacomo Bagni, Ginevra Chioccioli Altadonna, Thibault Fillion, Matteo Lulli, Franco Nicolas D'Alessandro, Alberto Montalbano, Elena Lastraioli, Duccio Fanelli, Stefano Coppola, Thomas Schmidt, Francesco Piazza, Andrea Becchetti, Annarosa Arcangeli. Integrins regulate hERG1 dynamics by girdin-dependent Gαi3: signaling and modeling in cancer cells.  Life Sci Alliance. 2023 Nov 3;7(1):e202302135. doi: 10.26508/lsa.202302135.

-Andrea Becchetti, Laura Clara Grandi, Marta Cerina, Alida Amadeo. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and epilepsy. Pharmacol Res. 2023 Mar:189:106698. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2023.106698.

-Simone Meneghini, Debora Modena, Giulia Colombo, Aurora Coatti, Niccolò Milani, Laura Madaschi, Alida Amadeo, Andrea Becchetti. The β2V287L nicotinic subunit linked to sleep-related epilepsy differently affects fast-spiking and regular spiking somatostatin-expressing neurons in murine prefrontal cortex. Prog Neurobiol. 2022 Jul:214:102279. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2022.102279.

Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze (BtBs) - Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italia

last update June 2025