Prof. Dr. Andreas Püschel
Neuronal differentiation and polarized transport
Cell Biology / Molecular Biology
Imaging Technology
Neurobiology
During the development of the mammalian cortex, newborn neurons transiently assume a multipolar morphology before they become bipolar by extending a rapidly growing axon and a leading process to initiate their radial migration. We have shown that small GTPases act as master regulators of cell polarity in the developing cortex. In newborn neurons, Rap1 GTPases are required for the multi-to-bipolar transition in morphology. GTPases are essential for polarizing intracellular transport and the exocytosis of specialized vesicles in the growth cone to promote axon formation and membrane expansion. The aim of our projects is to understand how the GTPases Rap1, TC10 and Cdc42 and their GEFs Rapgef1 and Arhgef7 direct axon formation through intracellular transport processes and exocytosis. We are investigating the transport of vesicles and organelles by life cell imaging in dissociated neurons and organotypic slice cultures from the embryonic mouse cortex. To dissect the signaling pathways that are regulated by Rapgef1 and Arhgef7, we utilize different fluorescent reporter constructs to investigate intracellular trafficking after the inactivation of key components by knockdown or knockout. The life cell imaging experiments are combined with the development of new tools for high-resolution imaging and optogenetic manipulation of signaling pathways in neurons
Vita
- 1979-1986: Studies in Biology, University of Bonn and Heidelberg
- 1987-1989: PhD thesis at the University of Heidelberg and Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen
- 1989-1991: Research associate with Prof. Dr. Peter Gruss, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen
- 1991-1992: Research associate with Prof. Dr. Monte Westerfield, University of Oregon,
Institute of Neuroscience - 1992-1996: Research associate with Prof. Dr. Heinrich Betz at the Max-Planck-Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt
- 1997-2001: Group Leader, Molecular Neurogenetics Lab, Department of Neurochemistry,
Max-Planck-Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt - Since 2001: Professor for molecular biology, University of Münster
Selected references
Di Meo, D., Ravindran, P., Sadhanasatish, T., Dhumale, P., Püschel, A.W. (2021). The balance of mitochondrial fission and fusion in cortical axons depends on the kinases SadA and SadB. Cell Rep. 37, 110141. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110141.
Humpert, I., Di Meo, D., Püschel, A.W., Pietschmann, J.-F. (2021). On the role of vesicle transport in neurite growth: modelling and experiments. Math. Biosci., 338, 108632. doi: 10.1016/j.mbs.2021.108632.
López Tobón, A., Suresh, M., Jin, J., Vitriolo, A., Pietralla, T., Tedford, K., Bossenz, M., Mahnken, K., Kiefer, F., Testa, G, Fischer, K.-D., Püschel, A.W. (2018). The guanine nucleotide exchange factor Arhgef7/βPix promotes axon formation upstream of TC10. Sci. Rep. 8, 8811.
Shah, B., Lutter, D., Tsytsyura, Y., Glyvuk, N., Sakakibara, A., Klingauf, J., and Püschel, A.W. (2017). Rap1 GTPases Are Master Regulators of Neural Cell Polarity in the Developing Neocortex. Cereb. Cortex 27, 1253–1269.
Shah, B., and Püschel, A.W. (2016). Regulation of Rap GTPases in mammalian neurons. Biol. Chem. 397, 1055-1069.
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