Click on one of the labs in the list to receive more information about the lab:
Igor Adameyko, Medical University of Vienna.
Johannes Berger, Medical University of Vienna.
Ruth Drdla-Schutting, Medical University of Vienna.
Vered Kellner, Medical University of Vienna.
Kerstin Lenk, Graz University of Technology, Graz.
Christine Radtke, Medical University of Vienna.
Sandra Siegert, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Vienna.
Isabelle Weinhofer, Medical University of Vienna.
Igor Adameyko, Medical University of Vienna.
Recently, we have discovered an entirely new phenomenon in developmental biology – targeted recruitment and subsequent differentiation of multipotent embryonic glial cells from the pervasive peripheral nerves. In brief, during recent years, one of the aims of our research was to define the source of the late embryonic and adult neural crest cells to harness the regenerative power of this cellular population. With the help of various methods, we revealed a new principle allowing embryos to position cells during histogenesis: nerve-associated glia and neural crest-like progenitor pools undergo nerve-regulated migration and differentiation into peripheral autonomic neurons (Dyachuk et al., Science 2014), neuroendocrine chromaffin cells (Furlan et al., Science 2017), melanocytes (Adameyko et al., Cell 2019) and different types of mesenchymal cells (Kaukua and Khatibi et al., Nature 2014).
Link to lab website: https://adameykolab.eu
Ruth Drdla-Schutting, Center for Brain Research, Medical University of Vienna.
Synaptic plasticity within the central nervous system plays a crucial role in initiating and sustaining various forms of chronic pain. Our research has been predominantly centred on neurons, exploring neural mechanisms of plasticity (Science 2009, 325(5937):207-10; Science 2012, 335(6065):235-8). More recently, studies have highlighted the substantial role of glial cells, specifically astrocytes and microglia, in synaptic processes, particularly within the context of pain.
We and others have shown that glial cells are not only necessary but also sufficient for specific forms of plasticity at nociceptive synapses (Science 2016, 354(6316):1144-1148). However, our understanding of the underlying mechanisms remains limited. Consequently, we aim to elucidate the mechanisms of neuro-glia interactions related to synaptic plasticity and pain behaviour. Our focus extends to both the spinal cord and the brainstem, with an additional emphasis on exploring potential sex differences in these processes. We also aim to gain further insights into the involvement of glial cells in pain resolution.
To achieve this, we currently employ a comprehensive approach, combining in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology with chemo- and optogenetic methods. Additionally, we use calcium imaging in acute slice preparations. These techniques are complemented by a battery of behavioural tests, that allow us to assess both spontaneous and evoked pain-related behaviour in rodents.
Vered Kellner, Medical University of Vienna.
Vered Kellner received her PhD in Bar-Ilan University in Israel, studying how neuronal activity is altered in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease using in vivo electrophysiology techniques. She then moved to the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience for a short postdoc to study the roles of astrocytes in the processing of visual information. She did a second postdoc at Johns Hopkins University, where she studied how astrocyte-neuron interactions affect the developing auditory system. Since April 2023, she has opened her own lab at Medical University of Vienna, where she will continue to study the roles of astrocytes in the development of the brain in the context of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Link to lab website: https://veredkellnerlab.com/
Kerstin Lenk, Graz University of Technology, Graz.
Dr. Kerstin Lenk received her PhD in computer science from TU Clausthal in Germany. Her first postdoc was in bioinformatics at TU Dresden, Germany. In 2018, Kerstin was awarded with the Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Fellowship for the project „Simulation of local calcium dynamics in human single cell astrocytes and neuron-astrocyte networks“.
Her lab’s research focuses on three areas: In the computational modeling part, they develop single-cell astrocyte models and neuron-astrocyte network models. The 2nd area is bioinformatics, in which they analyze transcriptomic data of neurons and astrocytes. The 3rd part is the performance of in vitro experiments and the development of tools to analyze the measurement results. She and her team apply all those approaches to diseases like epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder.
Link to lab website: https://www.tugraz.at/institute/ine/research/team-lenk
Christine Radtke, Medical University of Vienna.
Functional restoration after peripheral nerve and spinal cord injuries still represent a significant challenge in regenerative medicine. To address that need, our multidisciplinary team investigates biomaterials together with cell-based and cell-free strategies to enhance regeneration. The ultimate goal is to find the ideal combination of biomaterials, cells and/or other components to stimulate a directed and fast regrowth of nerve fibers in peripheral nerves and the spinal cord.
To this end, we explore how the properties of biomaterials such as spider silk and hydrogels affect the biological behavior of different cell types involved in nerve regeneration. We further analyze the repair competences of Schwann cells and olfactory ensheathing cells in detail and work on different strategies to sustain and/or manipulate their regenerative potential. In this regard, we also focus on extracellular vesicles and comprehensively characterize their composition and therapeutic effect on nerve repair. In addition, we work on different techniques to gain a deeper insight into the regeneration status of injured peripheral nerves in vivo.
Method overview: primary cultures of Schwann cells, olfactory ensheathing cells, DRG neurons and others, multicolor (high) resolution confocal imaging, live cell imaging, phagocytosis assays (myelin, beads, cells), comprehensive methods for the characterization of extracellular vesicle and biomaterials, flow cytometry, scanning electron microscopy, flow imaging, immunohistostainings, light sheet microscopy, in vivo models of peripheral nerve regeneration (rat).
Link to the lab website: https://prae-chirurgie.meduniwien.ac.at/wissenschaft-forschung/arge-radtke/
Sandra Siegert, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Vienna.
Dr. Sandra Siegert is a trained biologist and obtained her PhD in Neurobiology at the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel, CH, where she revealed the molecular logic of retinal cell types including a cell-specific disease signature. As a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, she identified how the schizophrenia-associated epigenetic factor microRNA-137 impacts presynaptic function at the hippocampal mossy-fiber synapse. In 2015, she joined ISTA as Assistant Professor. Here, she and her team aim to gain deeper knowledge about how the microglia influence the function of the nervous system. Her research has been awarded by several prizes amongst others the SWISS OphthAWARD and Liese Prokop Prize and received internationally funding via HFSP, SNSF, and the ERC.
Link to lab website: https://ista.ac.at/en/research/siegert-group/
Isabelle Weinhofer and Johannes Berger, Center for Brain Research, Medical University of Vienna.
Peroxisomal defects have been linked to the malfunction of glial cell types such as oligodendrocytes and microglial cells. We recently discovered a pivotal role of saturated very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs), exclusively metabolized through peroxisomal beta-oxidation, in regulating the plasticity of innate immune cells (Weinhofer et al., Brain 2018). This regulation manifests in a skewing towards an activated pro-inflammatory phenotype, as detailed in our recent study by Zierfuss et al. (J Neuroinflammation 2022). Although saturated VLCFAs are typically present in low quantities, they exhibit a significant accumulation in tissues and body fluids of individuals affected by the neuroinflammatory disorder X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD), attributed to mutations in the peroxisomal VLCFA importer ABCD1. Our primary research objective is to elucidate the underlying mechanisms through which peroxisomes and saturated VLCFAs influence both the activation status and functionality of glial cells thus causing toxicity to neurons. This pursuit aims to identify novel therapeutic strategies for addressing neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders, with a specific focus on X-ALD. Plasmalogens, ether phospholipids that require peroxisomes for their synthesis, represent a major membrane constituent within more than 50% of all ethanolamine phospholipids in the brain. We recently demonstrated that brain cell have to de novo synthesize plasmalogens as these lipids are unable to pass the blood brain barrier (Dorninger et al. Brain Res Bull. 2022). Plasmalogen deficiencies are not only linked to several rare, severe, inherited disorders but are also genetically associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Using different mouse models for ether lipid deficiency, we have elucidated that total ether phospholipid deficiency but not isolated plasmalogen deficiency lead to neuroinflammation and demyelination. Currently we investigate the role of different ether phospholipids on glial cell properties such as activation and phagocytosis.
ATgliaNet 