Don't miss Valentin Nägerl at the CRI on wednesday 1st July 2009, special guest of Neurobiology & Optics club.


Valentin Nägerl, PhD

Nanoscale imaging of living synapses by STED microscopy

Synapses are physical sites of intercellular contact that transmit and transform information in a very rapid and flexible way. They represent incredibly complex and dynamic networks of signaling proteins aggregated in a tiny space (<1µm3), making it a huge experimental challenge to study them in situ. As a result, a lot of our understanding of the properties of single synapses is derived from electron microscopy of fixed tissue samples, which is by definition not well suited for understanding the dynamic processes of synapses.
We are studying the dynamics of living synapses with a new laser-scanning fluorescence microscopy technique, STED imaging, which has vastly improved spatial resolution (at the nanoscale) compared to conventional light microscopy. Expanding our previous research, we are investigating key structural and cell-biological mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, imaging morphology and constituent proteins of synapses in living brain slices on spatial scales relevant to synapse physiology.

Valentin Nägerl
Professor of Neuroscience and Bioimaging
Avenir Group - Synaptic Plasticity and Superresolution Microscopy
Inserm U862/Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2
146, rue Léo Saignat
33076 Bordeaux
France
Phone: +33/557571097
Fax: +33/557571684
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

More info, CV and publications on the next page.

Since beginning of 2009, Valentin Nägerl is Professor of Neuroscience and Bioimaging at the University of Bordeaux 2.

More info :
http://www.neuro.mpg.de/english/rd/csn/research/Spine_Plasticity/index.html

CV:
Born 1971 in Goettingen.
Medical School and Physics Dept. University of Goettingen (1991-94); CEO at Nanofilm Technologies LLC, Los Angeles, CA (1996-00); UCLA Neuroscience Graduate Program (mentor: Istvan Mody; 1995-00); Postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Cellular and Systems Neurobiology at Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Martinsried (mentor: Tobias Bonhoeffer, 2000-04). Group leader (2005-present)
Degrees: Vordiplom in Physics, University of Goettingen (1993); Physikum in Medicine, University of Goettingen (1994); PhD in Neuroscience; UCLA School of Medicine (2000).
Teaching: Lecturer, Munich University Medical School (2001-06); Lecturer, Imaging Structure & Function Course at CSHL, NY (2004-06).
Awards: Epilepsy Foundation of America Predoctoral Fellowship (1999-00); Kavan Prize for Excellence in Research on the Brain (2000).

Publications:
Nägerl UV, Willig KI, Hein B, Hell SW, Bonhoeffer T (2008): Live-cell imaging of dendritic spines by STED microscopy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105:18982-18987
Becker N, Wierenga CJ, Fonseca R, Bonhoeffer T, Nägerl UV (2008): LTD induction causes morphological changes of presynaptic boutons and reduces their contacts with spines. Neuron 60:590-7
Nägerl UV, Köstinger G, Anderson JC, Martin KAC, Bonhoeffer T (2007): Protracted synatogenesis after activity-dependent spinogenesis in hippocampal neurons. J Neurosci 27: 8149-8156
Fonseca R, Vabulas RM, Hartl FU, Bonhoeffer T, Nägerl UV. A balance of protein synthesis and proteasome-dependent degradation determines the maintenance of LTP. Neuron. 2006 Oct 19;52(2):239-45. (see also "Editor´s Choice" by L. B. Ray, Memories of the Proteasome. Sci. STKE 2006)
Fonseca R, Nägerl UV, Bonhoeffer T. Neuronal activity determines the protein synthesis-dependence of late-phase LTP. Nat Neurosci. 2006 Apr;9(4):478-80. Epub 2006 Mar 12
Kawakami N, Nägerl UV, Odoardi F, Bonhoeffer T, Wekerle H, Flügel A. Live imaging of effector cell trafficking and autoantigen recognition within the unfolding autoimmune encephalomyelitis lesion J Exp Med. 2005 Jun 6 (see also "In this Issue")
Fonseca R, Nägerl UV, Morris RG, Bonhoeffer T. Competing for memory: hippocampal LTP under regimes of reduced protein synthesis. Neuron. 2004 Dec 16 (see also "Preview" by G. Turrigiano)
Nägerl UV, Eberhorn N, Cambridge SB, Bonhoeffer T. Bidirectional activity-dependent morphological plasticity in hippocampal neurons. Neuron. 2004 Dec 2 (see also "Must Read in Faculty of 1000" by M. Ehlers)
Görtz W, Nägerl UV, Nägerl H, Thomsen M. Spatial micromovements of uncemented femoral components after torsional loads. J Biomech Eng. 2002 Dec
Nägerl UV, Novo D, Mody I, Vergara JL. Binding kinetics of calbindin-D28k determined by flash photolysis of caged Ca2+. Biophys J. 2000 Dec (see also "New and Notable" by E. Neher)
Thomsen M, Gortz A, Nägerl UV, Kubein-Meesenburg D, Görtz W, Fanghänel J, Nägerl H. Bending vibrations of the femur and the oscillatory behavior of a cemented femoral hip endoprosthesis. J Biomech Eng. 2000 Aug
Nägerl UV, Mody I, Jeub M, Lie AA, Elger CE, Beck H. Surviving granule cells of the sclerotic human hippocampus have reduced Ca2+ influx because of a loss of calbindin-D28k in temporal lobe epilepsy. J Neurosci. 2000 Mar 1
Nägerl UV, Mody I. Calcium-dependent inactivation of high-threshold calcium currents in human dentate gyrus granule cells. J Physiol. 1998 May 15