Doctoral Researchers

Doctoral Researchers

Sneha Adhikarla

Graduate Student

Institute of Biochemistry
Prof. Lie

Project Title: Investigating the function of SoxC factors in establishment of the adult neurogenic niche

Publications:

Shadi Albasset

Graduate student

Institute of Biochemistry
AG Lie

Project Title: Lysosome function in neural stem cell homeostasis in the adult and aged hippocampus

Awards:

DAAD Scholarship Master Studies for All Academic Disciplines 2016-2019

2nd place in poster presentation in Venusberg Meeting on Neuroinflammation, Bonn, 09.-11. May 2019

Publications:

Ising C, Venegas C, Zhang S, Scheiblich H, Schmidt SV, Vieira-Saecker A, Schwartz S, Albasset S, McManus RM, Tejera D, Griep A, Santarelli F, Brosseron F, Opitz S, Stunden J, Merten M, Kayed R, Golenbock DT, Blum D, Latz E, Buée L, Heneka MT (2019) NLRP3 inflammasome activation drives tau pathology. Nature. 2019 Nov;575(7784):669-673. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1769-z. Epub 2019 Nov 20

Ali Asgher Ali

Graduate Student

Institute of Human Genetics
Prof. André Reis

Project Title: Identification of transcriptional networks underlying corpus callosum dysgenesis in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disease

Publications:

Sophia Bayer

Graduate Student

Department of Biology, Animal Physiology
Prof. Brandstätter

Project Title: Examining the synaptogenesis and synapse maintenance factor Bassoon as a putative factor for the differential sensitivity of photoreceptors to late-onset degeneration

Publications:

Awards:

Tina Boric

PhD student

Institute for Medical Physics and Microtissue Engineering
AG Franze

Project Title: The physical regulation of the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1

Publications:

Nicholas Chalmers

Institute of Biochemistry
Dr. Ruth Beckervordersandforth

Project Title: Contribution of astrocytes to synapse formation in adult-born hippocampal neurons

Publications:

Dietz RM, Orfila JE, Chalmers N, Minjarez C, Vigil J, Deng G, Quillinan N, Herson PS (2021) Functional Restoration following Global Cerebral Ischemia in Juvenile Mice following Inhibition of Transient Receptor Potential M2 (TRPM2) Ion Channels. Neural Plast.;2021:8774663. doi: 10.1155/2021/8774663.

Buonarati OR, Cook SG, Goodell DJ, Chalmers NE, …& Bayer UK. (2020). CaMKII versus DAPK1 Binding to GluN2B in Ischemic Neuronal Cell Death after Resuscitation from Cardiac Arrest. Cell Reports, 30(1), 1-8.

Chalmers NE, Yonchek J, Steklac KE, Ramsey M, Bayer KU, Herson PS, & Quillinan N (2019). Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Kinase (CaMKII) Inhibition Protects Against Purkinje Cell Damage Following CA/CPR in Mice. Molecular Neurobiology, 1-9.

Dietz RM, Cruz-Torres I, Orfila JE, Patsos OP, Shimizu K, Chalmers N., … & Herson PS (2019). Reversal of Global Ischemia-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction by Delayed Inhibition of TRPM2 Ion Channels. Translational Stroke Research, 1-13.

Orfila JE, McKinnon N, Moreno M, Deng G, Chalmers N, Dietz RM, … & Quillinan N (2018). Cardiac arrest induces ischemic long-term potentiation of hippocampal CA1 neurons that occludes physiological long-term potentiation. Neural Plasticity, 2018.

Dietz RM, Orfila JE, Rodgers KM, Patsos OP, Deng G, Chalmers N, … & Herson PS (2018). Juvenile cerebral ischemia reveals age-dependent BDNF–TrkB signaling changes: Novel mechanism of recovery and therapeutic intervention. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 38(12), 2223-2235.

Jan Philipp Dobert

Department for Molecular Neurology
Prof. Friederike Zunke

Project Title: LIMP-2 as a Tool for Stabilizing and Modulating β-Glucocerebrosidase in Lysosomal Pathologies

Publications:

Bunk J, Prieto S, Drobny A, Dobert JP, Walther L, Rose-John S, Arnold P, Zunke F. (2021) Cathepsin D variants associated with neurodegenerative diseases show dysregulated functionality and modified α-synuclein degradation properties. Front. Cell Dev. Biol., 11 February 2021. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.581805
 
Dobert JP, Cabron A.-S, Arnold P, Pavlenko E, Rose-John S, Zunke F. (2020) Functional Characterization of Colon-Cancer-Associated Variants in ADAM17 Affecting the Catalytic Domain. Biomedicines 2020, 8, 463. doi: 0.3390/biomedicines8110463
 
Pavlenko E, Cabron AS, Arnold P, Dobert JP, Rose-John S, Zunke F. (2019) Functional Characterization of Colon Cancer-Associated Mutations in ADAM17: Modifications in the Pro-Domain Interfere with Trafficking and Maturation. Int J Mol Sci.;20(9); 2198. doi: 10.3390/ijms20092198
 
Cabron AS, El Azzouzi K, Boss M, Arnold P, Schwarz J, Rosas M, Dobert JP, Pavlenko E, Schumacher N, Renné T, Taylor PR, Linder S, Rose-John S, Zunke F. (2018) Structural and Functional Analyses of the Shedding Protease ADAM17 in HoxB8-Immortalized Macrophages and Dendritic-like Cells. J. Immunol. 201(10); 3106-3118. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1701556

Michael Enders

Graduate student

Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Prof. Stefanie Kürten

Project Title: Effects on the L-type calcium channel antagonist nimodipine on central nervous system regeneration

Publications:

Julia Kicherer, Alicia Weier, Michael Enders, Winfried Neuhuber, Thorsten Heider and Stefanie Kuerten (2022) Characterization of Neurochemical Signature Alterations in the Enteric Nervous System in Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Appl. Sci.

Felix Boltz, Michael Enders, Andreas Feigenspan, Philipp Kirchner, Arif Ekici and Stefanie Kuerten (2022) Nimodipine Exerts Beneficial Effects on the Rat Oligodendrocyte Cell Line OLN-93 Brain Sci.

Rittika Chunder, Alicia Weier, Hannah Mäurer, Nicolas Luber, Michael Enders, Gabriele Luber, Thorsten Heider, Alfred Spitzer, Sabine Tacke, Janine Becker-Gotot, Christian Kurts, Radhika Iyer, Peggy P Ho, William H Robinson, Tobias V Lanz, Stefanie Kuerten (2022) Antibody cross-reactivity between casein and myelin-associated glycoprotein results in central nervous system demyelination Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.

Alicia Weier, Michael Enders, Philipp Kirchner, Arif Ekici, Marc Bigaud, Christopher Kapitza, Jürgen Wörl and Stefanie Kuerten (2022) Impact of Siponimod on Enteric and Central Nervous System Pathology in Late-Stage Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Int. J. Mol. Sci.

Kapitza C, Chunder R, Scheller A, Given KS, Macklin WB, Enders M, Kuerten S, Neuhuber WL, Wörl J (2021) Murine Esophagus Expresses Glial-Derived Central Nervous System Antigens. Int J Mol Sci.;22(6):3233. doi: 10.3390/ijms22063233.

Koeniger T, Bell L, Mifka A, Enders M, Hautmann V, Mekala SR, Kirchner P, Ekici AB, Schulz C, Wörsdörfer P, Mencl S, Kleinschnitz C, Ergün S, Kuerten S (2021) Bone marrow-derived myeloid progenitors in the leptomeninges of adult mice. Stem Cells. 39(2):227-239. doi: 10.1002/stem.3311.

Koeniger T, Bell L, Mifka A, Enders M, Hautmann V, Mekala SR, Kirchner P, Ekici AB, Schulz C, Wörsdörfer P, Mencl S, Kleinschnitz C, Ergün S, Kuerten S. Bone marrow-derived myeloid progenitors in the leptomeninges of adult mice. Stem Cells. 2021 Feb;39(2):227-239. doi: 10.1002/stem.3311. Epub 2020 Dec 11. PMID: 33270951.

Enders M, Heider T, Ludwig A, Kuerten S: Strategies for Neuroprotection in Multiple Sclerosis and the Role of Calcium. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Feb 28;21(5). pii: E1663. doi: 10.3390/ijms21051663.

Wunsch M, Jabari S, Voussen B, Enders M, Srinivasan S, Cossais F, Wedel T, Boettner M, Schwarz A, Weyer L, Göcer O, Schroeter M, Maeurer M, Woenckhaus M, Pollok K, Radbruch H, Klotz L, Scholz CJ, Nickel J, Friebe A, Addicks K, Ergün S, Lehmann PV, Kuerten S. The enteric nervous system is a potential autoimmune target in multiple sclerosis. Acta Neuropathol. 2017 Aug;134(2):281-295. doi: 10.1007/s00401-017-1742-6. Epub 2017 Jun 15.

Sarah Frank

Graduate Student

Institute of Biochemistry
Prof. Marisa Karow

Project Title: Dissecting the molecular mechanism underlying X-reactivation during neural differentiation

Publications:

Federica Furlanetto

Graduate Student

Institute of Biochemistry
Prof. Marisa Karow

Project Title: Revealing the origin of corpus callosum aberrations by employing a human brain organoid-based model system

Publications: Noorani I, de la Rosa J, Choi YH, Strong A, Ponstingl H, Vijayabaskar MS, Lee J, Lee E, Richard-Londt A, Friedrich M, Furlanetto F, Fuente R, Banerjee R, Yang F, Law F, Watts C, Rad R, Vassiliou G, Kim JK, Santarius T, Brandner S, Bradley A. PiggyBac mutagenesis and exome sequencing identify genetic driver landscapes and potential therapeutic targets of EGFR-mutant gliomas. Genome Biol. 2020 Jul 30;21(1):181. doi: 10.1186/s13059-020-02092-2.

Claudia Paulina Gonzalez Guerrero

Graduate Student

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Dr. Christiane Mühle

Project Title: tba

Publications:

Fendt, M., Gonzalez-Guerrero, C. P., & Kahl, E. (2021). Observational fear learning in rats: Role of trait anxiety and
ultrasonic vocalization. Brain Sciences, 11(4), 423.

Lisa Jörg

Graduate Student

Institute of Biochemistry
Prof. Michael Wegner

Project Title: The role of Sox8 in myelin preservation as a gatekeeper of inflammation

Laura Krumm

Graduate student

Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
Prof. Beate Winner

Project Title: Advanced stem cell-based disease modeling of Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia Type 11

Publications:

Lanfer J, Kaindl J, Krumm L, Gonzalez Acera M, Neurath M, Regensburger M, Krach F, Winner B. Efficient and Easy Conversion of Human iPSCs into Functional Induced Microglia-like Cells. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022; 23(9):4526

Regensburger M, Krumm L, Schmidt MA, Schmid A, Spatz IT, Marterstock DC, Kopp C, Kohl Z, Doerfler A, Karrasch T, Winner B, Winkler J. Neurometabolic Dysfunction in SPG11 Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. Nutrients. 2022; 14(22):4803

Krumm L, Pozner T, Kaindl J, Regensburger M, Günther C, Turan S, Asadollahi R, Rauch A, Winner B. Generation and characterization of an endogenously tagged SPG11-human iPSC line by CRISPR/Cas9 mediated knock-in. Stem Cell Res. 2021 Oct;56:102520

Lanfer J, Kaindl J, Krumm L, Gonzalez Acera M, Neurath M, Regensburger M, Krach F, Winner B. Efficient and Easy Conversion of Human iPSCs into Functional Induced Microglia-like Cells. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022; 23(9):4526

Regensburger M, Krumm L, Schmidt MA, Schmid A, Spatz IT, Marterstock DC, Kopp C, Kohl Z, Doerfler A, Karrasch T, Winner B, Winkler J. Neurometabolic Dysfunction in SPG11 Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. Nutrients. 2022; 14(22):4803.

Aron Koller

Graduate Student

Department for Molecular Neurology
Prof. Jürgen Winkler

Project Title: Identification of novel pathomechanisms underlying neuritic degeneration in Parkinson´s disease

Publications:

Franziska Langhammer

PhD student

Institute of Human Genetics
AG Zweier

Project Title: Pathomechanisms of RHOBTB2-associated neurodevelopmental disorders

Publications:

Klatt F, Leitner A, Kim IV, Ho-Xuan H, Schneider EV, Langhammer F, Weinmann R, Müller MR, Huber R, Meister G, Kuhn CD. A precisely positioned MED12 activation helix stimulates CDK8 kinase activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Jan 27. pii: 201917635. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1917635117. [Epub ahead of print]

Angélica Luna Leal

Graduate Student

Institute of Biochemistry
Prof. Chichung Lie

Project Title: tba

Publications:

Klara Metzner

PhD student

Department of Stem Cell Biology
AG Winner

Project Title: Deciphering novel mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases using human stem cell derived neuronal models

Publications:

Burcu Sucu

Graduate Student

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Prof. Fejtová

Project Title: Mechanisms of CtBP1-dependent control of neurogenesis

Paulina Ring

Graduate Student

Institute of Biochemistry
Prof. Wegner

Project Title: CtBP1 in oligodendroglial development and myleination.

Publications:

Noble, A. J., Purcell, R. V., Adams, A. T., Lam, Y. K., Ring, P. M., Anderson, J. R., & Osborne, A. J. (2022). A Final Frontier in Environment-Genome Interactions? Integrated, Multi-Omic Approaches to Predictions of Non-Communicable Disease Risk. Frontiers in Genetics, 177.

Miriam Ryl

Graduate Student

Department of Biology, Animal Physiology
Prof. Brandstätter

Project Title: Examining the synaptogenesis and synapse maintenance factor Bassoon as a putative factor for the differential sensitivity of photoreceptors to late-onset degeneration.

Publications:

Ryl M, Urbasik A, Gierke K, Babai N, Joachimsthaler A, Feigenspan A, Frischknecht R, Stallwitz N, Fejtová A, Kremers J, von Wittgenstein J, Brandstätter JH (2021) Genetic disruption of bassoon in two mutant mouse lines causes divergent retinal phenotypes. FASEB J. 35(5):e21520. doi: 10.1096/fj.202001962R.

Jiang X, Ryl M, Krieger J, Breer H, Pregitzer P. Odorant Binding Proteins of the Desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria (Orthoptera, Acrididae): Topographic Expression Patterns in the Antennae. Front Physiol. 2018;9:417. Published 2018 Apr 17. doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.00417

Sriity Melley Sadanandan

Graduate Student

Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology
Prof. Alzheimer

Project Title: Role of activin in development-related neuropsychiatric disorders

Publications:

Sadanandan SM, Kreko-Pierce T, Khatri SN, Pugh JR. Cannabinoid type 2 receptors inhibit GABAA receptor-mediated currents in cerebellar Purkinje cells of juvenile mice. PLoS One. 2020;15(5):e0233020. Published 2020 May 21. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0233020

Yanni Schneider

Department for Molecular Neurology
Prof. Jürgen Winkler

Project Title: Dissection of astrocyte-mediated regulation of cerebral homeostasis in synucleinopathies

Publications:

Schneider, Y., Wihan, J., Turan, S., Winkler, J. (2022). Cell-Based Therapy and Genome Editing in Parkinson’s Disease: Quo Vadis?. In: Dederer, HG., Hamburger, D. (eds) Brain Organoids in Research and Therapy. Advances in Neuroethics. Springer, Cham.

Yanni Schneider, Soeren Turan, Aron Koller, Mandy Krumbiegel, Michaela Farrell, Sonja Plötz, Jürgen Winkler, Wei Xiang (2022) Generation of a homozygous and a heterozygous SNCA gene knockout human-induced pluripotent stem cell line by CRISPR/Cas9 mediated allele-specific tuning of SNCA expression Stem Cell Research

Seebauer, L.; Schneider, Y.; Drobny, A.; Plötz, S.; Koudelka, T.; Tholey, A.; Prots, I.; Winner, B.; Zunke, F.; Winkler, J.; Xiang, W. Interaction of Alpha Synuclein and Microtubule Organization Is Linked to Impaired Neuritic Integrity in Parkinson’s Patient-Derived Neuronal Cells. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23, 1812.

Brazdis RM, Alecu JE, Marsch D, Dahms A, Simmnacher K, Lörentz S, Brendler A, Schneider Y, Marxreiter F, Roybon L, Winner B, Xiang W, Prots I (2020) Demonstration of brain region-specific neuronal vulnerability in human iPSC-based model of familial Parkinson’s disease. Hum Mol Genet. 2020 May 8;29(7):1180-1191. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddaa039. PMID: 32160287; PMCID: PMC7206857.

Simmnacher K, Krach F, Schneider Y, Alecu JE, Mautner L, Klein P, Winner B (2020) Unique signatures of stress-induced senescent human astrocytes. Exp Neurol, 334, 113466. doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2020.113466

Laia Caudet Segarra

Graduate Student

Institute of Biochemistry
Dr. Andreas Sagner

Project Title: Deciphering the signalling pathways and epigenomic regulation controlling temporal patterning of spinal cord neurons

Publications:

Sala-Comorera L, Caudet-Segarra L, Galofré B, Lucena F, Blanch AR, García-Aljaro C. Unravelling the composition of tap and mineral water microbiota: Divergences between next-generation sequencing techniques and culture-based methods. Int J Food Microbiol. 2020 Dec 2;334:108850. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2020.108850. Epub 2020 Aug 29. PMID: 32919261.

Pinar-Méndez A, Fernández S, Baquero D, Vilaró C, Galofré B, González S, Rodrigo-Torres L, Arahal DR, Macián MC, Ruvira MA, Aznar R, Caudet-Segarra L, Sala-Comorera L, Lucena F, Blanch AR, Garcia-Aljaro C. Rapid and improved identification of drinking water bacteria using the Drinking Water Library, a dedicated MALDI-TOF MS database. Water Res. 2021 Sep 15;203:117543. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117543. Epub 2021 Aug 12. PMID: 34433109.

Veronika Šigutová

Graduate student

Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
Prof. Beate Winner

Project Title: The dual role of inflammation in neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration of dopamine neurons

Publications:

Suri S, Bulte D, Chiesa ST, Ebmeier KP, Jezzard P, Rieger SW, Pitt JE, Griffanti L, Okell TW, Craig M, Chappell MA, Blockley NP, Kivimäki M, Singh-Manoux A, Khir AW, Hughes AD, Deanfield JE, Jensen DEA, Green SF, Sigutova V, Jansen MG, Zsoldos E and Mackay CE (2021) Study Protocol: The Heart and Brain Study. Frontiers in Physiology 12:643725. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.643725

Soubannier V, Maussion G, Chaineau M, Sigutova V, Rouleau G, Durcan T and Stifani S (2020) Characterization of human iPSC-derived astrocytes with potential for disease modeling and drug discovery. Neuroscience Letters 731:135028. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2020.135028

Anish Varghese

PhD student

Molekulare Neurologie
AG Zunke

Project Title: The role of alpha-synuclein-mediated lysosomal dysfunction on oligodendrogenesis and myelination

Publications:

Jana Wallberg

Graduate Student

Institute of Biochemistry
Dr. Melanie Küspert

Project Title: Transcriptional regulation during development and diseases of myelin-forming glia of the nervous system

Publications:

Benwell, C. S., Mohr, G., Wallberg, J., Kouadio, A., & Ince, R. A. (2022). Psychiatrically relevant signatures of domain-general decision-making and metacognition in the general population. npj Mental Health Research, 1(1), 1-17.

Filippo Zoppi

Graduate Student

Institute of Biochemistry
Prof. Marisa Karow

Project Title: Dissecting direct neuronal reprogramming as a tool to identify novel key players in human neurogenesis

Publications: