Dr. Vanessa Rupprecht

Research

I study neurophysiological mechanisms underlying olfactory sensory perception. My special interest applies to the reciprocal dendrodendritic synapse between mitral cells (MCs) and axonless granule cells (GCs). Both synaptic sites carry pre- as well as postsynaptic structures. When a single granule cell reciprocal spine is provided with glutamatergic input from a mitral cell, a signal produced exclusively in the spine leads to local and fast feedback inhibition back onto the mitral cells. By using combined two photon imaging and uncaging I want to unravel synaptic key players involved in reciprocal synaptic processing to gain a better understanding? about what makes the MC-GC synapse an independent signaling unit.

Methods

Field potential recordings, Whole cell patch clamp, Two-photon calcium imaging, Two -photon glutamate uncaging, Parallel fiber loading with AM dyes, Voltage sensitive dye imaging

Profile

2014 – to date

Postdoc in the lab of Prof V. Egger at the Dept. of Neurophysiology, University of Regensburg, Germany

?

2012 – 2013

Postdoc in the lab of Prof. M. Beierlein at the Dept. of Neurobiology & Anatomy, University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Texas, USA

?

2007 – 2012

PhD student in the in the lab of Prof. D. Dietrich at the Dept. of Neurosurgery, Experimental Neurophysiology, University of Bonn, Germany

?

2006 – 2007

Diploma in Biology in the lab of Prof. G. Uhl at the Dept. of Neuroethology and Behavioural Ecology. Thesis title: Male mate choice in the dwarf spider Oedothorax retusus (Araneae: Linyphiidae, Erigoninae) ?

?

2004 – 2007

Graduate studies in Biology at the University of Bonn with focus on Neurophysiology, Neuroethology and Behavioral Ecology

?

2001 – 2004

Undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Bonn

?

Publications

Wagner L., Pannicke T., Rupprecht V., Frommherz I., Volz C., Illes P., Hirrlinger J., J?gle H., Egger V., Haydon P.G., Pfrieger F.W., Grosche A. Suppression of SNARE-dependent exocytosis in retinal glial cells and its effect on ischemia-induced neurodegeneration. GLIA (in press)

Sun Y.-G.*, Rupprecht V.*, Zhou L., Dasgupta R., Seibt F. & Beierlein M. (2016) mGluR1 and mGluR5 synergistically control cholinergic synaptic transmission in the thalamic reticular nucleus. JNeuroscience 36, 7886-7896.
(* denotes equal contribution)

Bywalez W.G., Patirniche D., Rupprecht V., Stemmler M., Herz A. V. M., Pálfi D., Rózsa B. & Egger V. (2015) Local postsynaptic voltage-gated sodium channel activation in dendritic spines of olfactory bulb granule cells. Neuron 85, 590-601.

Erdmann E., Rupprecht V., Matthews E., Kukley M., Schoch S.& Dietrich D. (2012) Depression of Release by mGluR8 Alters Ca2+ Dependence of Release Machinery. Cerebral Cortex 22, 1498‐509

?