Investigating the ultrastructural effects of activity and aging on vesicle recycling and protein turnover (A04)

• Subject Area: Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 317475864

In the previous funding periods, we investigated endbulbs of Held in wild-type and otoferlin knock-out mice, which serve as an established model for deafness. We could show that the lack of auditory input induced a decline in synaptic vesicle numbers and mitochondria size, likely due to a lower energy demand. We now aim to test the effects of reduced activity on endocytosis and on the behavior of functional synaptic vesicle pools, using electron microscopy and nanoSIMS.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1286: Quantitative Synaptology
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Project Head: Professorin Dr. Carolin Wichmann