Research Projects

Understanding how fast events at synapses are converted into long-lasting changes of neuronal acti- vity is a very important question in neuroscience. Several recent studies demonstrated that synapses and nuclei are connected by bidirectional communication routes that enable the efficient transfer of information and regulate the long-term...

Disrupted neuronal connectivity and synapse dysfunction can manifest clinically as a range of emotional, behavioural and cognitive symptoms that are common to, and often overlapping in, mental disorders (MDs) such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and neurodegenerative disorders (NDs) such as Alzheimers disease and...

Alzheimer´s (AD) and Huntington´s disease (HD) result from the erroneous communication of neurons at synapses in different brain areas (neocortex, hippocampus, striatum). The protein BDNF regulates synaptic communication under healthy conditions. However, insufficient release of BDNF from neurons and defective BDNF signaling in target neurons...

Given an overwhelming increase of dementia costs and an aging population, there is an urgent need for finding novel therapies for Alzheimer Disease (AD). We are, however, facing a large number of failed clinical trials and a retraction of the nervous system R&D programmes from several big pharmaceutical companies. Increased collaboration between...

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) of aging are a growing burden on societies. Although studies on the degeneration of neurons have been a main focus of research, increasing evidence points to synapses as the site where Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Huntington’s disease (HD) begin. There is growing evidence that synapses are...

The goal of the TASPPI European Training Network (ETN) is the establishment of a highly interdisciplinary research and educational training platform for early stage scientists in the Chemical Life Sciences to overcome the inherent boundaries between academia and industry and to increase their employability in both areas. To this end we have teamed...

An increasingly aging population suffering from neurodegenerative diseases represents one of the biggest challenges for Western societies. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease with over 50 million patients worldwide and an estimated cost of 1 trillion euros in 2018. In addition, orphan neurodegenerative diseases...

The overall aim of SynapTau is to evaluate the contribution of microglia on tau-mediated synaptic loss in Alzheimers disease (AD), based on synaptosomal changes, which may help to develop therapeutic strategies against AD. Determining the impact of tau accumulation on synaptic loss is critical since it correlates with cognitive decline in AD...

Similar to prion diseases, more common fatal neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease are linked to the aggregation of different proteins (including Tau, Abeta and alpha- synuclein in the brain of affected patients. Furthermore most of the resulting brain lesions initially appear in specific brain areas and the...

MacroMolecules (e.g Proteins, DNA) carry out most of the functions of the living and these functions come from their 3D-structure. For instance, foldopathy like Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease are caused by misfolding of proteins. Modifying this structure non-invasively is consequently a tremendous challenge for both microbiology research and...

Several studies have shown that ischemic stroke, a result of an occluded vessel in the brain, could be followed by cognitive decline and, after several strokes, lead to dementia, similar to Alzheimer’s disease but with a different clinical presentation, especially in the beginning. We believe that there is cross-talk between vessel occlusion and...

Noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC) mediate attention, memory, and arousal. Based on previous data, we suggest that LC degeneration is a new common mechanism in the early onset and/or progression of neurodegeneration and dementia in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Down syndrome (DS) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The goal of our project is...