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Research Topic

Our lab investigates regressive events during neuronal morphogenesis, in particular, pruning, the regulated degeneration of neurites without loss of the parent neuron. Pruning is a very important mechanism during neuronal circuit formation, yet it is still incompletely understood at the cell biological level. We use Drosophila peripheral sensory c4da neurons as a model to study pruning. These neurons specifically prune their long and branched  larval dendrites at the onset of metamorphosis in a manner depending on the molting hormone ecdysone. Dendrite pruning requires the local destruction of the dendritic cytoskeleton and the remodeling of plasma membrane composition and cell adhesion. We are particularly interested in the question how dendrite degeneration is triggered, and how severing sites are marked. Our recent results suggest that both of these processes are linked to the regulation of the microtubule cytoskeleton and plasma membrane trafficking. In a second line of investigation, we are interested in posttranscriptional gene regulation mechanisms during metamorphosis.

Selected Publications

  • Sanal, N., Keding, L., Gigengack, U., Michalke, E., Rumpf, S. (2023). TORC1 regulation of dendrite regrowth after pruning is linked to actin and exocytosis. PLoS Genetics 19: e1010526. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010526.
  • Krämer, R.*, Wolterhoff, N.*, Galic, M., Rumpf, S. (2023). Developmental pruning of sensory neurites by mechanical tearing in Drosophila. Journal of Cell Biology 222: e202205004. doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202205004. (*contributed equally)
  • Marzano, M., Herzmann, S., Elsbroek, L., Sanal, N., Tarbashevich, K., Raz, E., Krahn, M. P., Rumpf, S. (2021). AMPK coordinates metabolism with energy requirement during developmental dendrite pruning in Drosophila. Cell Reports 37: 110024. doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110024.
  • Wolterhoff, N., Gigengack, U., Rumpf, S. (2020). PP2A phosphatase is required for dendrite pruning via actin regulation in Drosophila. EMBO Reports 21: e48870. doi.org/10.15252/embr.201948870.
  • Rumpf, S., Wolterhoff, N., Herzmann, S. (2019). Functions of microtubule disassembly during neurite pruning. Trends in Cell Biology 29: 291-297. doi.org/10.1016/j.tcb.2019.01.002. (review article)