Prof Dr. Christoph W. Turck

Research focus:

Research in our laboratory centers on the identification of biosignatures for psychiatric disorders and the antidepressant drug response. Sensitive high throughput proteomics and metabolomics platforms are used for data generation providing a rich source for in silico pathway analyses. Our ultimate goal is to complement imprecise DSM-based clinical parameters with molecular biosignatures to improve patient diagnosis, stratification and treatment. Current interests are focused on:

• Discovery of affected molecular pathways in mouse models that represent defined endophenotypes characteristic for human psychiatric disorders including anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia.
• Drugs that target the monoaminergic (SSRI) and glutamatergic (Ketamine) systems studied in mice with the goal to delineate mechanisms relevant for the therapeutic response and novel drug targets. •Clinical translation with the help of psychiatric patient specimens collected in our hospital.

Key words: Biosignatures for psychiatric disorders, proteomics, metabolomics, mouse models

Graduated GSN students: Dr. Chi-Ya Kao, Dr. Christian Webhofer

Selected publications:

Kao CY, He Z, Zannas AS, Hahn O, Khne C, Reichel JM, Binder EB, Wotjak CT, Khaitovich P, Turck CW. (2016) Fluoxetine treatment prevents the inflammatory response in a mouse model of posttraumatic stress disorder. J Psychiatr Res 76:74-83. [Pubmed]

Weckmann K, Labermaier C, Asara JM, Müller MB, Turck CW. (2014) Time-dependent metabolomic profiling of Ketamine drug action reveals hippocampal pathway alterations and biomarker candidates. Transl Psychiatry 4:e481. [Pubmed]

Kao C-Y, He Z, Henes K, Asara JM, Webhofer, C, Filiou MD, Khaitovich P, Wotjak CT, Turck CW. (2016) Fluoxetine Treatment Rescues Energy Metabolism Pathway Alterations in a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Mouse Model. Mol Neuropsychiatry 2:46-59. [Pubmed]

Kao CY, Anderzhanova E, Asara JM, Wotjak CT, Turck CW. (2015) NextGen brain microdialysis – applying modern metabolomics technology to the analysis of extracellular fluid in the central nervous system. Mol Neuropsychiatry 1:60-67. [Pubmed]

Martins-de-Souza D, Maccarrone G, Ising M, Kloiber S, Lucae S, Holsboer F, Turck CW. (2014) Blood mononuclear cell proteome implicates Integrin and Ras signaling as critical pathways for antidepressant treatment response. Biol Psychiatry 76(7):e15-7. [Pubmed]

Filiou MD, Asara JM, Nussbaumer M, Teplytska L, Landgraf R, Turck CW. (2014) Behavioral extremes of trait anxiety in mice are characterized by distinct metabolic profiles. J Psychiatr Res 58:115-122. [Pubmed]

Wood PL, Filiou MD, Otte DM, Zimmer A, Turck CW. (2014) Lipidomics reveals dysfunctional glycosynapses in schizophrenia and the G72/G30 transgenic mouse. Schizophr Res 159:365-369. [Pubmed]

Maccarrone G, Ditzen C, Yassouridis A, Rewerts C, Uhr M, Uhlen M, Holsboer F, Turck CW. (2013) Psychiatric patient stratification using biosignatures based on cerebrospinal fluid protein expression clusters. J Psychiatr Res 47:1572-1580. [Pubmed]

Ditzen C, Tang N, Jastorff AM, Teplytska L, Yassouridis A, Maccarrone G, Uhr M, Bronisch T, Miller CA, Holsboer F and Turck CW. (2012) Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for major depression confirm relevance of associated pathophysiology. Neuropsychopharmacology 37: 1013-1025.

Webhofer C, Gormanns P, Tolstikov V, Zieglgänsberger W, Sillaber I, Holsboer F and Turck CW. (2011) Metabolite profiling of antidepressant drug action reveals novel drug targets beyond monoamine elevation. Transl Psychiatry 1: e58; doi:10.1038/tp.2011.56.

Filiou MD, Zhang Y, Teplytska L, Reckow S, Gormanns P, Maccarrone G, Frank E, Kessler MS, Hambsch B, Nussbaumer M, Bunck M, Ludwig T, Yassouridis A, Holsboer F, Landgraf R and Turck CW. (2011) Proteomics and Metabolomics Analysis of a Trait Anxiety Mouse Model Reveals Divergent Mitochondrial Pathways. Biol Psychiatry 70: 1074-1082.

Ditzen C, Varadarajulu J, Czibere L, Gonik M, Targosz BS, Hambsch B, Bettecken T, Keßler MS, Frank E, Bunck M, Teplytska L, Erhardt A, Holsboer F, Müller-Myhsok B, Landgraf R and Turck CW. (2010) Proteomic-based genotyping in a mouse model of trait anxiety exposes disease-relevant pathways. Mol Psychiatry 15: 702-711.

Krömer SA, Keßler MS, Milfay D, Birg IN, Bunck M, Czibere L, Panhuysen M, Pütz B, Deussing JM, Holsboer F, Landgraf R and Turck CW. (2005) Identification of glyoxalase-I as a protein marker in a mouse model of extremes in trait anxiety. J Neurosci 25: 4375-4384.