Henneberger Group

Synaptic transmission and its plasticity are occurring in an environment that contains neurons but also glial cells and Synaptic transmission and its plasticity are occurring in an environment that contains neurons but also glial cells and extracellular matrix. How this interaction of neurons and astroglia, an abundant subtype of glial cells, determines hippocampal network function is what our research primarily focuses on. Building on our observations of neuron-astroglia interactions in healthy tissue we also explore how disease alters communication between these cell types.

What are we offering?

Expertise on functional and structural neuron-astrocyte interactions and their role in hippocampal physiology and hippocampus-dependent behaviours.

What are we interested in for collaboration?

Analysis of complex behaviours and fiber optometry.

Discover our homepage here.

To learn more about Prof. Dr. Christian Henneberger, follow him on ORCID or Twitter.

Methods

• multiphoton fluorescence imaging of cellular structure, intracellular signalling (e.g. Ca2+) and extracellular neurotransmitters (e.g. glutamate) in situ and in vivo
• electrophysiology and pharmacology
• superresolution fluorescence microscopy (e.g. expansion microscopy)
• numerical analysis and modelling using Matlab or NEURON

5 selected publications

1. Herde MK, Bohmbach K, Domingos C, Vana N, Komorowska-Müller JA, Passlick S, Schwarz I, Jackson CJ, Dietrich D, Schwarz MK, Henneberger C (2020) Local efficacy of glutamate uptake decreases with synapse size. Cell Rep. 32(12):108182.
2. Henneberger C*, Bard L, Panatier A, Reynolds J, Kopach O, Medvedev NI, Minge D, Herde MK, Anders S, Kraev I, Heller JP, Rama S, Zheng K, Jensen TP, Sanchez-Romero I, Jackson CJ, Janovjak H, Ottersen OP, Nagelhus EA, Oliet SHR, Stewart MG*, Nägerl UV*, Rusakov DA* (2020) LTP induction boosts glutamate spillover by driving withdrawal of perisynaptic astroglia. Neuron 108(5):919-936. (* correspondence)
3. Semyanov A*, Henneberger C*, Agarwal A* (2020) Making sense of astrocytic calcium signals – from acquisition to interpretation. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 21(10): 551-564. (* equal contribution and correspondence)
4. Zhang WH, Herde MK, Mitchell JA, Whitfield JH, Wulff AB, Vongsouthi V, Sanchez-Romero I, Gulakova PE, Minge D, Breithausen B, Schoch S, Janovjak H, Jackson CJ, Henneberger C (2018) Monitoring hippocampal glycine with the computationally designed optical sensor GlyFS. Nat. Chem. Biol. 14(9):861-869.
5. Henneberger C, Papouin T, Oliet SHR, Rusakov DA (2010). Long-term potentiation depends on release of d-serine from astrocytes. Nature 463: 232-236.