|
| |||
|
Search the site
|
Partner 3 - Johannes Gutenberg University of MainzContact person
University and research group informationThe Institute of Physiological Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry is part of the Medical School of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. With its about 32.000 students of more than 130 nations, the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz is one of the largest German universities. With its 2.200 academics and scientists teaching and researching in more than 150 institutes and clinics, the University also constitutes the academic center of the state Rhineland-Palatine. The University of Mainz distinguishes itself as such due to its good equipment and fittings.
The University positions itself by large-scale capital equipments that are intensively used by international research groups. Students are provided with a wide range of subjects. They can choose from almost all fields of higher education: from jurisprudence and economics to social sciences, the humanities and natural sciences, from human medicine and dentistry up to an integration of music, the fine arts and sport that is unique in the German landscape of higher education. This great diversity of subjects ensures interdisciplinary research and teaching as well as - in the spirit of Johannes Gutenberg himself - an innovative dealing with ideas and technologies.
The Institute of Physiological Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz includes over 50 institute members who participate in preclinical research training programs representing areas of basic biomedical sciences.
The Group of Prof. Behl is interested to analyse the molecular and biochemical bases of neurodegenerative processes. For this, we tried to define in comparison of different human disease models in cell culture and in animal models common pathogenetic pathways. Here it succeeded to identify the meaning of emergence and accumulation of free oxygen and nitrogen radicals in neurodegenerative processes.
Thereby is of central importance to reveal the biochemical bases of nerve cell death processes, which accompanied with the Alzheimer degeneration and further on possible protective mechanisms, which confer protection against Alzheimer associated cell death. In the last years the female sexual hormone Estrogen could be identified as potent neuroprotective and anti-oxidative molecule and serve as lead structure for the design of new, high-potent antioxidative molecules. Additionally a whole set of non-phenolic antioxidative molecules, which we developed and synthesized partially in the laboratory, with protective properties are in the centre of interest.
Beside of the structurally caused anti-oxidative effects of different substances we examined also long term genomic activities of neuroprotective hormones, as for example estrogen, on the molecular level. For this, we used DNA Gene Chip microarray analyses to identify patterns of genes that are either stimulated or inhibited by estrogen via the different estrogen receptors (alpha or beta). Here we are also interested in the interaction of hormone receptors with intracellular neuronal signal transduction pathways, which caused indirect genomic effects.
Another Hormone of interest with potentially neuroprotective skills is the Corticotrophin-releasing-hormone (CRH), which act as central neuropeptide of the human Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-Axis (HPA Axis). We described the neuroprotective activities of CRH for the first time and are further interested to examine CRH mediated signalling mechanisms and gene profiles in different areas of the brain to get new insights of neuroprotective lead structures. Contribution to CASCADEIn the Nuclear receptors and neuroprotection group at the Institute of Physiological Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry we focuses on the actions of estradiol in the brain in matters of neurodegenerative and ageing processes. A component of this is to elucidate the actions of environmental estrogens and other xenobiotics that disrupt or modulate neuroendocrine mechanisms and estrogenic processes in the brain.
For this we use animal models on methods of cell biology (tissue culture, microscopy, image analysis), protein and steroid biochemistry (receptor binding assays, SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analysis, ELISAs), molecular biology (qPCR-based methods of RNA / DNA analysis, expression profilling), and functional read outs (cell based assays , eg. proliferation, survival, ecitotoxicity). Our expertise on this we contribute to CASCADE in several workpackages. Representative scientific articles as relevant to CASCADE
| ||
|
| |||
|
| |||
