Team BMP

Psychiatric diseases remain one of the most urgent problems of a modern society. The main reason is insufficient understanding of the biological mechanisms of underlying neural circuit dysfunctions. Specifically, most current therapies are designed to act on neuronal compartments, largely ignoring non-neuronal cells involved in the regulation of critical brain functions.

The main aim of the BMP group is to uncover the contribution of glial cells to brain dysfunctions relevant for human psychiatric diseases. Our strategy is to provide systematic insight into the complex neuro-glia interactions and to identify critical molecular components altered in pathological conditions. To this end, we combine state-of-the-art genetic approaches with advanced methods of visualization of biological processes in cell cultures and in model animals.

Publications

1. Magdalena Tertil, Urszula Skupio, Justyna Barut, Valentyna Dubovyk, Agnieszka Wawrzczak-Bargiela, Zbigniew Soltys, Slawomir Golda, Lucja Kudla, Lucja Wiktorowska, Klaudia Szklarczyk, Michal Korostynski, Ryszard Przewlocki & Michal Slezak (2018):
   Glucocorticoid receptor signaling in astrocytes is required for aversive memory formation
   Translational Psychiatry 8
2. Agnieszka Plociennikowska, Jamie Frankish, Thais Moraes, Dolores Del Prete, Franziska Kahnt, Claudio Acuna, Michal Slezak, Marco Binder, Ralf Bartenschlager (2021):
   TLR3 activation by Zika virus stimulates inflammatory cytokine production which dampens the antiviral response induced by RIG-I-like receptors
   Journal of Virology 95(10)
3. Verena Nold, Michelle Portenhauser, Dolores Del Prete, Andrea Blasius, Isabella Harris, Eliza Koros, Tatiana Peleh, Bastian Hengerer, Iris-Tatjana Kolassa, Michal Slezak & Kelly Ann Allers (2022):
   Impact of Fkbp5 × early life adversity × sex in humanised mice on multidimensional stress responses and circadian rhythmicity
   Molecular Psychiatry