Principal investigator: Dr. Jan F. Richter
Projektleiterin: Prof. Dr. Britta Qualmann
DFG 2020-2020
Barrier function of epithelia is pivotal for maintaining different body compartmentalization and is of critical importance for restricting passage of macromolecules into immunocompetent compartments. We use our recently developed high-resolution tracing/imaging methods to localize such rare passage events within hundreds of thousands of cells within a typical epithelium and we thereby aim to identify target structures and molecules of such permeation pathways.
Principal investigator: Dr. Veronika M. Gebhart
DAAD 2020-2022
Estrogens exert neuroprotective effects, but the underlying mechanisms are pooly understood: nuclear as well as membrane-associated receptors play key roles, but the impact of other proteins such as the specific binding protein (SHBG) is still a matter of interest. The occurrence of various estrogen receptors and especially their different localization patterns is variable within neuronal cells. This is why the estrogens’ behavior at the plasma and the nuclear membranes as well as their uptake into the cell became an additional aspect of our current research.
Principal investigators: Dr. Torsten Bölke, Prof. Dr. Andreas Gebert
Thuringia 2019 - 2021
A novel web-bases system for studying histological structures is being developed, tested and evaluated in this teaching project. The platform allows digital datasets of histological sections to be examined using any digital devices (notebook, smartphone, tablet), markings to be set and labels to be inserted. It has been integrated to the pre-clinical courses of microscopic anatomy and is generally available at https://histokasten.med.uni-jena.de.
Principal investigator: Prof. Dr. Gustav F. Jirikowski
The labor inducing and milk ejecting hormone oxytocin is also involved in the control of maternal and sexual behaviors. Disturbances of oxytocinergic functions are linked to affective disorders. Oxytocin is expressed in hypothalamic neurons which project to neurohemal organs.Oxytocinergic nerve terminals are in close apposition to blood vessels, to the 3rd ventricle and to parts of the limbic system. In this project we employ immunohistochemistry and fluorescence microscopy to examine oxytocinergic projections in the human brain.
