The German Research Foundation (DFG) is establishing a new Research Unit entitled “Inside and Outside the Synapse: Challenging Dogmas of Synaptic Signalling and Neuromodulation.” The research consortium is headed by Prof. Christian Henneberger from Bonn University Hospital (UKB) and the University of Bonn, with Prof. Susanne Schoch McGovern, also from the UKB and the University of Bonn, serving as deputy spokesperson. Together with researchers from the UKB, the University of Bonn, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and the University of Göttingen, they will investigate how signalling molecules transmit information in the brain, both within and beyond synapses. The first funding period will run for four years.
Nerve cells communicate using signalling molecules. According to the traditional view, these molecules either act very specifically at individual contact points between nerve cells, known as synapses, or spread across larger areas of brain tissue in a process known as volume transmission. The newly established research unit challenges this clear distinction and assumes that there are gradual transitions between the two forms of signalling.
Using the signalling molecule glutamate and the neuromodulators dopamine and noradrenaline as examples, the researchers want to investigate how neural tissue distributes and filters information spatially and translates it into neuronal activity. Their work will focus on the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.
“We want to understand how neurons and glial cells actually communicate within the densely packed tissue of the brain. In doing so, we are moving away from the idea that each synapse operates independently,” says Prof. Henneberger, spokesperson of the research unit, Director of the Institute of Cellular Neurosciences I at the UKB and a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Life & Health” at the University of Bonn. “I hope that the close collaboration within the research unit will allow us to develop a much more realistic picture of how signalling molecules distribute information in the brain and how this gives rise to complex brain functions.”
New methods make spatial communication visible
To quantitatively measure the spread and effects of signalling molecules, the research unit will combine newly developed optical sensors with high- and super-resolution microscopy, electron microscopy, AI-assisted protein engineering and mathematical modelling. This will allow the researchers to investigate how far signalling molecules spread through neural tissue, which cellular structures they act on and how this influences the function of neuronal networks.
In the long term, the findings could also contribute to a better understanding of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Many of these conditions are associated with changes in synapses, glial cells and the structure of brain tissue. However, little is currently known about whether these changes also affect the spatial range and precision of signalling. The research unit aims to provide important fundamental insights in this area.
Research consortium from Bonn and Göttingen
The research unit brings together Prof. Sandra Blaess, Prof. Dirk Dietrich, PD Dr. Gregor Hagelueken, Prof. Christian Henneberger, Prof. Susanne Schoch McGovern and Prof. Tatjana Tchumatchenko from Bonn University Hospital and the University of Bonn; Prof. Martin Fuhrmann, Dr. Sabine Krabbe and Prof. Gabor Petzold from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Bonn; and Prof. U. Valentin Nägerl from the University of Göttingen. Prof. Christian Henneberger is spokesperson of the research unit, with Prof. Susanne Schoch McGovern serving as deputy spokesperson.
Contact
Prof. Dr. Christian Henneberger
Institute of Cellular Neurosciences I
Bonn University Hospital (UKB) and Transdisciplinary Research Area “Life & Health”, University of Bonn
Email: christian.henneberger@uni-bonn.de
