Particle physicist Christof Gattringer from the University of Graz will be heading the FWF in the coming years. Visit the FWF Website for more information E-Mail wurde erfolgreich kopiert E-Mail wurde erfolgreich kopiert Interview mit dem scheidenden FWF Präsidenten Professor Klement Tockner
Hier finden Sie das gesamte, von Sigismund Huck geführte Interview  SAVE THE DATE:
28 – 30 September 2021
This is usually the time, before the holiday break, when we look back at a fruitful year, celebrate the achievements of our members, recall successful ANA initiatives, and thank our ANA partners. In 2020, everything was different, our personal and professional lives have been and are still affected by COVID-19. At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic has made people increasingly aware of the importance of science for public health and society at large. This is much in line with ANA´s mission of fostering the advancement and public representation of the neurosciences in Austria aiming at building public trust in science, reaching out, and communicating scientific knowledge. As we approach the end of this worrisome year, let us take the opportunity to reflect on positive things. We are happy to report that ANA has a continuously growing number of members and we are taking pride in supporting more and more initiatives, including travel grants, awards, and financial contributions to scientific meetings, symposia, and training courses. For a full list of opportunities, please visit our website. Most noteworthy highlights of 2020 ❄ the Best Thesis Award 2019 that was given to - Stefanie Geisler (Medical University Innsbruck) - Anna Tröscher (Medical University of Vienna) ❄ ANA became a partner of the online platform “Das Gehirn“ (see also the article by Thomas Bugnyar and a commentary by Ludwig Huber). ❄ Young ANA´s Social Media Award that went to - Florian Grössl (IMP, Vienna) - Szabolcs Biró, Anikó Fejes, and Sabria Lagoun (The Brainstorms Scientifics) ❄ and further Social Media Activities launched by Young ANA Chair Bruno Benedetti; to find out more, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn ❄ as a consequence of the pandemic, meetings had to be moved to the virtual space, including the FENS Forum 2020 that went fully online for the first time. Due to the excellent set-up, the virtual forum provided the opportunity to access online talks for 3 months (until mid October) and to watch parallel sessions that may have been missed during an in-person event. Of course, ANA provided grants for members to participate in the virtual FENS Forum Unfortunately, several ANA supported events had to be cancelled. They will, however, take place at a later time point. For 2021, we have great plans again! First and foremost, the ANA Meeting 2021 is scheduled to take place in Salzburg from 28 to 30 September 2021. The meeting is planned as an in-person event following a strict hygiene concept and safety measures. In addition, please look out for the following ANA awards in 2021 ❄ ANA Best Thesis Award 2020: deadline 31 January 2021 We want to especially thank our board members for their continued engagement in these most challenging times. Vice-Secretary Ramon Tasan (Medical University of Innsbruck Extended Board: Bruno Benedetti (Paracelsus Medical Private University, Salzburg) Last but certainly not least, we are very grateful to our ANA partners and sponsors for their unwavering support: Luigs & Neumann We wish you and your loved ones a joyful holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2021! Francesco Ferraguti, Isabella Sarto-Jackson, René Seiger PS: We would also like to share information from the FENS President Jean-Antoine Girault: Finally, preparations have already begun for the FENS Forum 2022, on 9-13 July in Paris, France. We hope you have already noted down these dates in your calendars and that you will join us: we will be launching the call for symposia and technical workshops in March 2021 and look forward to your proposals.
Young ANA Social Media Award:
SZABOLCS BIRÓ, ANIKÓ FEJES and SABRIA LAGOUN, cofounders of THE BRAINSTORMS SCIENTIFICS!
The Golden Trio has literally taken Austria by STORM with their initiative that tells about Neuroscience in fresh and entertaining ways. Stay tuned and check out their events following THE BRAINSTORMS SCIENTIFICS online!
E-Mail wurde erfolgreich kopiert E-Mail wurde erfolgreich kopiert ANA Grants for the FENS Virtual Forum 2020 ANA is happy to announce that the following ANA members will receive a grant to participate in the FENS Virtual Forum 2020: Hugo Malagon (Medical University of Vienna)
!!! Please check information on FENS (Cajal) courses, Brain Conferences, and FENS Schools at "Upcoming Events "!!! E-Mail wurde erfolgreich kopiert E-Mail wurde erfolgreich kopiert ANA 2019 Best Thesis Award: 2 winners ANA congratulates Stefanie Geisler and Anna Tröscher,
completed her thesis work under the supervision of Gerald Obermair, Department of Physiology, Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. A
link to the Medical University of Innsbruck thesis repository will be
set here as soon as all her thesis work has been published. Title: Redundant and specific functions of neuronal calcium channel α2δ isoforms in mutant mouse models and cultured neurons Abstract: The four auxiliary α2δ isoforms of voltage-gated calcium channelshave been implicated in synaptogenesis and neurological disorders. Yet, the molecular mechanisms by which individual isoforms exert synaptic functions in health and disease remainlargely elusive. This lack of mechanistic insight can be partly ascribed to the fact that many brain regions simultaneously express α2δ-1, α2δ-2 and α2δ-3. Here we show that neuronal α2δ isoforms act partially redundant, but have also highly specific functions. By generating and characterizing three distinct double knockout mouse models, we first demonstrate a general importance in survival and development. The augmented severity of the phenotype in double compared to single knockout mice further supports the idea of functional redundancy. Nevertheless, volumetric analysis of brain sections revealed a reduced size of distinct brain regions, suggesting specific roles of individual α2δ isoforms. Indeed, using primary neuronal cultures from embryonic mice we show that presynaptic overexpressionof the α2δ-2 isoform strongly increases clustering of postsynaptic GABAA-receptors (GABAAR) in GABAergic synapses. Strikingly, presynaptic α2δ-2 exerts the same effect in glutamatergic synapses, leading to an abnormal localization of GABAARs opposite glutamatergic nerve terminals. Employing super-resolution microscopy we further demonstrate that this mismatched synapse formation is caused by an aberrant wiring of glutamatergic presynaptic boutons with GABAergic postsynaptic positions. The property of α2δ-2 to induce mismatched synapses is independent of the prototypical cell-adhesion molecules α-neurexins. However, exclusion of a single alternatively spliced exon is essential for the trans-synaptic recruitment of GABAAR. Taken together, the findings presented in this thesis propose that α2δ isoforms regulate synaptic connectivity of glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons depending on exon usage. Our results thus provide a novel mechanistic explanation for how abnormal α2δ subunit expression can result in aberrant neuronal wiring associated with neurological disorders, including epilepsy and autism.
completed her thesis work under the supervision of Jan Bauer, Division of Neuroimmunology, CBR, Medical University of Vienna. Here you find her complete thesis. Title: Inflammation and Viruses in Epilepsy Abstract: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases but a third of patients do not respond to pharmacological treatment. Of those, many suffer from immune-mediated epilepsy, which can arise from the innate and adaptive immune system. Adaptive immune reactions can comprise of a T cell-or a humoral response. Depending on the immunological pathway activated and the brain area affected, the symptoms vary. Antibody-mediated encephalitis, such as anti-leucine-rich glioma-inactivated (LGI)-1 encephalitis, leads to limbic encephalitis, accompanied by memory disturbances, psychosis and seizures. T cell-mediated encephalitis, for example Rasmussen encephalitis (RE), causes seizures and severe brain atrophy, and hence cognitive defects. Many questions regarding immune-mediated epilepsies have not been answered yet and are difficult to address due to lack of tissue or its scarcity. Hence, we took advantage of a natural animal model, in which cats develop antibodies againstLGI1 and show symptoms similar to the human disease to analyze changes outside the hippocampus in LGI1-encephalitis. We could show that T cell infiltrates occur brain-wide and do not overlap with blood-brain-barrier leakage. Further a tight-junction protein is lost in the hippocampus and the amygdala, causing immunoglobulin leakage, leading to complement deposition on neurons and hence neurodegeneration. In addition, we established a method to perform whole-genome transcriptomic studies on minimal amounts of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue to identify innate and adaptive immune responses in RE, a prime model of T cell-mediated diseases. We were able to show that small microglia nodules precede the T cell influx, providing an inflammatory microenvironment characterized by endosomal Toll-like receptor (TLR) and inflammasome upregulation. With disease progression, T cells intermingle with the microglia nodules, where they attack and kill neurons. Neonatal microglia cultures showed similar expression profiles upon TLR3 stimulation to what was observed in RE, indicating a TLR induced inflammatory reaction. Taken together, we were able to explain human pathology underlying pathomechanisms leading to two different forms of drug-resistant epilepsy. |
