Structure and function of excitatory synapses

By exploiting gene-targeted mice, we identified actin depolymerizing proteins of the ADF/cofilin family as crucial regulators of synaptic actin dynamics, brain function and behavior (Rust, EMBO J 2010; Görlich, PLoS One 2011; Goodson, PLoS Genetics 2012; Wolf, Cereb Cortex 2015; Zimmermann, Biol Psychiatry 2015; Rust, Cell Mol Life Sci 2015; Sungur, Front Behav Neurosci 2018).

Currently, we search for proteins that control and/or interact with ADF/cofilin in excitatory synapses. We identified cyclase-associated protein 2 (CAP2) - an actin-binding protein that we implicated in myofibril differentiation during skeletal muscle development (Kepser, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2019) – as a regulator of cofilin1 recruitment into postsynaptic dendritic spines (Pelucchi, Bran Commun 2020). Furhter, we found i) that CAP1 interacts with cofilin1 to control of dendritic spine morphology (Heinze, Cell Mol Life Sci 2022), ii) that CAP1 is relevant for synaptic plasticity (Heinze, Eur J Cell Boil 2023) and iii) that CAP1 and CAP2 have acquired overlapping functions in regulating maturation of dendritic spines (Schuldt, Cell Mol Life Sci 2024). Currently, we investigate molecular mechanisms that depend on  CAP1 and CAP2 in dendritic spines.