Prof. Dr. Alexander Gottschalk
Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, Department 14
Buchmann Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (BMLS)
Max von Laue Strasse 15
D-60438 Frankfurt
Tel ++49-69-798 42518
Fax ++49-69-798 763 42518
E-Mail: a.gottschalk@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Scientific Focus
Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and in Danio rerio
Functional Connectomics in the Nervous System of C. elegans
Development and use of optogenetic tools for analysis of neurons, neuronal circuits and behaviors they orchestrate, particularly in the locomotion circuit.
Analysis of chemical synaptic transmission and proteins involved in synaptic vesicle recycling in worms and fish
Analysis of the neuropeptidergic ‘wireless’ nervous system, and of the gap junction network
Photosensation in C. elegans via the LITE-1 7TMIC photoreceptor
Methods
Genetics, RNAi, pharmacological and behavioural assays, Ca2+ and voltage imaging, Electrophysiology (patch clamp), transmission electron microscopy, in-vivo light-stimulation and modulation of excitable cells using various optogenetic tools, Protein Biochemistry, Cell Biology, in-vivo cell-surface immunostaining
Selected Publications
Hanson SM*, Scholüke J, Liewald J, Sharma R, Ruse C, Engel M, Schüler C, Klaus A, Arghittu S, Baumbach F, Seidenthal M, Dill H, Hummer G*, Gottschalk A*. (2023) Structure-function analysis suggests that the photoreceptor LITE-1 is a light-activated ion channel. Current Biology, 33: 3423-3435.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.07.008.
Bergs A, Liewald JF, Rodriguez-Rozada S, Liu Q, Wirt C, Bessel A, Zeitzschel N, Durmaz H, Nozownik A, Dill H, Jospin M, Vierock J, Bargmann CI, Hegemann P, Simon Wiegert J, Gottschalk A. (2023) All-optical closed-loop voltage clamp for precise control of muscles and neurons in live animals. Nature Communications 14: 1939 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37622-6
Vettkötter D, Schneider M, Liewald JF, Zeiler S, Guldan J, Watanabe S, Gottschalk A. (2022) Rapid and reversible optogenetic silencing of synaptic transmission by clustering of synaptic vesicles. Nature Communications 13: 7827. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35324-z
Steuer Costa W*, Van der Auwera P*, Glock C, Liewald JF, Bach M, Schüler C, Wabnig S, Oranth A, Masurat F, Bringmann H, Schoofs L, Stelzer EHK, Fischer SC, Gottschalk A. (2019) A GABAergic/peptidergic sleep neuron also functions as a locomotion stop neuron with compartmentalized Ca2+ dynamics. Nature Communications 10: 4095
Oranth A*, Schultheis C*, Tolstenkov O, Erbguth K, Nagpal J, Hain D, Brauner M, Wabnig S, Steuer Costa W, McWhirther R, Zels S, Palumbos S, Miller DM III, Beets I, Gottschalk A. (2018) Food sensation modulates locomotion by dopamine and neuropeptide signaling in a distributed neuronal network. Neuron 100: 1414-1428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2018.10.024