Molecular Physiology

Frank Kirchhoff | Molecular Physiology

Our research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuron-glia interaction in the central nervous system.

We are pursuing two main research questions:

1. How do glial transmitter receptors sense and modulate synaptic transmission? What is the impact for living organisms?
2. How do glial cells respond to acute injuries within the central nervous system?

For functional analysis we generated (and are still continuing to develop) transgenic mouse models with cell-type specific expression of various fluorescent proteins (FPs) and inducible gene deletion. We are applying a combination of biochemical and molecular biological methods together with imaging techniques such as two-photon laser-scanning microscopy (2P-LSM) or CCD imaging.