The Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw invites to a seminar by
Professor Anna V. Molofsky
University of California, San Francisco
Cytokine regulation of brain development and plasticity
Date: 13th September 2024, Friday
Time: 10:00 am (Central European Time)
Host: Łukasz M. Szewczyk, PhD
The seminar will be in the CeNT aula hall (00.142) on the main floor.
Abstract:
Synaptic remodeling occurs during development and throughout life. Microglia play essential roles in synaptic remodeling, both by promoting synapse formation and restricting synapse numbers. Our group aims to define how cytokines shape microglial functions in neural circuit assembly. For example, we identified the cytokine Interleukin-33 as a regulator of microglial synaptic remodeling. In the adult hippocampus, IL-33 signaling from neurons to microglia promotes synapse formation by remodeling the extracellular matrix (ECM), the latticework of proteins and sugars that surround and stabilize synapses, but also restrict synaptic plasticity. In development, IL-33 has the opposite effect, restricting synapse numbers. This raises the hypothesis that during development, ECM stabilizes nascent synapses rather than restricting synaptic plasticity. To test this, and to better understand how microglia interact with the ECM to shape synapses during development, we have used both rodent and zebrafish model systems to investigate this tripartite interaction. Here I will present data on molecular mechanisms through which microglia reshape the ECM and discuss the broader implications of this mode of microglial phagocytosis.
Escoubas, Dorman et al., Cell, 2023 Nguyen et al., Cell, 2020 Vainchtein et al., Science, 2017
