Prof. Dr. Michael Kiebler

Research focus:

The long-term goal of the Kieblerlab is to understand the molecular basis of synaptic plasticity. In this context, we are particularly interested in how individual synapses, the point of contact and communication between neurons are altered during their lifetime and how this contributes to our ability to learn and remember. It has recently emerged that one important underlying mechanism is dendritic RNA localisation and subsequent translational control at the synapse. We are using an interdisciplinary approach to study these questions in hippocampal neurons ranging from biochemistry (isolating ribonucleoprotein complexes from brain), RNA biology (high resolution in situ hybridization against localized transcripts, qPCR), live microscopy (following RNA transport using the MS2 system from Rob Singer) up to mouse genetics using Stau2- and Pum2-deficient mice.

Key words: Synaptic plasticity, dendritic mRNA transport, local translation at the synapse, dendritic spines, RNA-binding proteins, molecular changes at individual synapses undergoing synaptic plasticity

Graduated GSN student: Dr. Karl Bauer

Selected publications:

Fritzsche R, Karra D, Bennett K, Ang Fy, Heraud-Farlow J, Tolino M, Doyle M, Bauer KE, Thomas S, Planvavsky M, Arn E, Bakosova A, Buhlert K, Hörmann A, Palfi Z, Sandholzer J, Schwarz, M, Macchi P, Colinge J, Superti-Furga G. and Kiebler MA (2013) Interactome of two diverse RNA granules links mRNA localization to translational repression in neurons (Resource). Cell Reports 5:1749-62.

Heraud-Farlow JE, Sharangdhar T, Li Xiao, Pfeifer P, Tauber S, Orozco D, Hörmann A, Thomas S, Bakosova A, Farlow AR, Edbauer D, Lipshitz HD, Morris QD, Bilban M, Doyle M, and Kiebler MA (2013) Staufen2 regulates neuronal target mRNAs. Cell Reports 5:1511-8.