Yehezkel Ben-Ari, Founder and Director of the Mediterranean Institute of Neurobiology, Marseille, France, will give a guest lecture on Thursday 6 December 2007 at 1400 in the lunch room at Dept of Anatomy, University of Oslo, with the title:

Maturation of neuronal activity and networks: 3 universal rules

Professor Graham AR Johnston, Adrien Albert Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Pharmacology, The University of Sydney, Australia, will give a guest lecture on Tuesday 20 November 2007 at 1200 in the lunch room at Dept of Anatomy, University of Oslo, with the title:

Modulation of GABA receptors by natural and synthetic flavonoids

In 2004 we reported that certain dietary flavonoids enhanced the positive modulation of GABAa receptors by diazepam.  This novel second order modulation ("modulating a modulator") adds a new dimension to the concept of allosteric modulation of receptors and presents a new target for drug development.  The most potent of these second order modulators is (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a major constituent of green tea.  We have synthesised a range of simple analogs of EGCG and studied their effects of GABAa receptor function.

References:

The dietary flavonoids apigenin and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate enhance the positive modulation by diazepam of the activation by GABA of recombinant GABAa receptors ( Campbell EL, Chebib M and Johnston GAR, Biochemical Pharmacology, 2004, 68, 1631-1638)

Modulation of ionotropic GABA receptors by natural products of plant origin (GAR Johnston, JR Hanrahan,M Chebib, RK Duke and KN Mewett, Advances in Pharmacology, 2006, 54, 285-316)

Full text of these references

CV summary

Associate professor David W. Ussery at the Centre for Biological Sequence Analysis (CBS), BioCentrum-DTU, Technical University of Denmark, will give a guest lecture on Monday 29 October 2007 at 1230 in Auditorium 3 (Blue) at Rikshospitalet, with the title:

PanGenomics of BioTerrorism Bacteria

Bacillus anthracis, Burkholderia, Coxiella, Francisella, and Yersinia have all been used for potential “bioterrorism agents”. With the recent availability of high-throughput sequencing, it is possible to compare the genomes of many genomes of the same species, and to determine which genes are conserved as part of the “core genome”, and which genes are found only in certain strains. Armed with this knowledge, it is possible to find a small set of highly conserved genes which could be good potential targets for vaccine development. Such a pipeline will be discussed, with Burkholderia as an example.

Yoshinori Fujiyoshi, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Japan, will give a guest lecture on Monday 29 October 2007 at 1400 in auditorium 13, Domus Medica, University of Oslo, with the title:

Structure and function of multifunctional channels

Structures of water channels AQP0 and AQP4 were analyzed by electron crystallography and appear to play a role in cell adhesion in addition to water channel functions. We named these channels with cell adhesive function as “Adhennels”. The structure of another family of Adhennel proteins - Gap Junction channels - was analyzed and a new gating mechanism of this type of channel was proposed.

Key publications:

• Walz T, Hirai T, Murata K, Heymann JB, Mitsuoka K, Fujiyoshi Y, Smith BL, Agre P, Engel A.
  The three-dimensional structure of aquaporin-1.
  Nature. 1997 Jun 5;387(6633):624-7.
• Kimura Y, Vassylyev DG, Miyazawa A, Kidera A, Matsushima M, Mitsuoka K, Murata K, Hirai T, Fujiyoshi Y.
  Surface of bacteriorhodopsin revealed by high-resolution electron crystallography.
  Nature. 1997 Sep 11;389(6647):206-11.
• Fujiyoshi Y.
  Molecular structure of proton pump revealed with electron crystallography. FASEB J. 1999 Dec;13 Suppl 2:S191-4.
• Murata K, Mitsuoka K, Hirai T, Walz T, Agre P, Heymann JB, Engel A, Fujiyoshi Y.
  Structural determinants of water permeation through aquaporin-1.
  Nature. 2000 Oct 5;407(6804):599-605.
• Sato C, Ueno Y, Asai K, Takahashi K, Sato M, Engel A, Fujiyoshi Y.
  The voltage-sensitive sodium channel is a bell-shaped molecule with several cavities.
  Nature. 2001 Feb 22;409(6823):1047-51.
• Miyazawa A, Fujiyoshi Y, Unwin N.
  Structure and gating mechanism of the acetylcholine receptor pore.
  Nature. 2003 Jun 26;423(6943):949-55.
• Gonen T, Cheng Y, Sliz P, Hiroaki Y, Fujiyoshi Y, Harrison SC, Walz T.
  Lipid-protein interactions in double-layered two-dimensional AQP0 crystals.
  Nature. 2005 Dec 1;438(7068):633-8. Erratum in: Nature. 2006 May 11;441(7090):248.

Dan Greitz, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, will give a guest lecture on Monday 29 October 2007 at 1500 in auditorium 13, Domus Medica, University of Oslo, with the title:

A systems analysis of the CSF with new aspects on transcapillary transport

Evidence will be presented that supports the view that the CSF is absorbed by the brain capillaries and not by the arachnoid villi as generally accepted. In fact, the macromolecules in the CSF are actively transported by the capillary endothelium from brain to blood. This active transport by the brain capillaries is major mechanism behind the so-called "blood-brain barrier" and also explains why the protein concentration in the CSF and the interstitial fluid only is a fraction of that in the blood.

Key publications:

• Greitz D.
  Paradigm shift in hydrocephalus research in legacy of Dandy's pioneering work: rationale for third ventriculostomy in communicating hydrocephalus.
  Childs Nerv Syst. 2007 May;23(5):487-9. Epub 2007 Mar 17.
• Greitz D.
  The hydrodynamic hypothesis versus the bulk flow hypothesis.
  Neurosurg Rev. 2004 Oct;27(4):299-300. Epub 2004 Jul 23.
• Josephson A, Greitz D, Klason T, Olson L, Spenger C.
  A spinal thecal sac constriction model supports the theory that induced pressure gradients in the cord cause edema and cyst formation.
  Neurosurgery. 2001 Mar;48(3):636-45; discussion 645-6.
• Greitz D, Greitz T, Hindmarsh T.
  We need a new understanding of the reabsorption of cerebrospinal fluid--II.
  Acta Paediatr. 1997 Oct;86(10):1148.

Veslemøy Rolseth will present her trial lecture with the title

DNA repair and human disease

on Thursday 4 October 2007 at 1515, in Auditorium 2 (Red) at Rikshospitalet.

She will defend her PhD dissertation with the title

DNA glycosylases initiating repair of oxidative DNA lesions in mammalian cells

on Friday 5 October 2007 at 1000, in Auditorium 2 (Red) at Rikshospitalet.

Associate Professor Tinna Stevnsner, Danish Centre for Molecular Gerontology, Department of Molecular Biology, University of Aarhus, Denmark, will give a guest lecture on Thursday 4 October 2007 at 1200 in auditorium A3.3067, Rikshospitalet, with the title:

Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA repair and relations to aging

Announced 4 June 2007

The symposium on Cellular responses to cellular damage in Schizosaccharomyces pombe will take place on 1-4 October 2007. The venue is Holmenkollen Park Hotel in Oslo. Please see the meeting website for the programme and further information.

Professor Cynthia McMurray, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA, will give a guest lecture on Monday 1 October 2007 at 1300 in the green auditorium at Rikshospitalet, with the title:

Genetics and pathophysiology of Hungtington's disease

References:

• Kovtun IV, Liu Y, Bjørås M, Klungland A, Wilson, SH & McMurray CT (2007)
  OGG1 initiates age-dependent CAG trinucleotide expansion in somatic cells
  Nature, 447, 447-452.
• Owen BA, Yang Z, Lai M, Gajek M, Badger JD 2nd, Hayes JJ, Edelmann W, Kucherlapati R, Wilson TM & McMurray CT (2005)
  (CAG)(n)-hairpin DNA binds to Msh2-Msh3 and changes properties of mismatch recognition
  Nat Struct Mol Biol, 12, 663-70.
• Trushina E, Singh RD, Dyer RB, Cao S, Shah VH, Parton RG, Pagano RE, McMurray CT (2004)
  Mutant huntingtin impairs axonal trafficking in mammalian neurons in vivo and in vitro
  Molecular & Cellular Biology, 24, 8195-209.
• Kovtun IV, McMurray CT (2001)
  Trinucleotide expansion in haploid germ cells by gap repair
  Nat Genet, 27, 407-11.

Announced 17 September 2007

The Gaustad Neuroscience Network (GNN) meeting takes place in Oslo on Tuesday 25 September 2007. See the invitation for details.

Professor David Largaespada is the leader of the Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer  Program in the University of Minnesota Cancer Center and holds the Margaret Harvey Schering Land Grant Chair in Cancer Genetics.

He will give a guest lecture on Wednesday 19 September 2007 at 1115 in seminar room A3.3067, Rikshospitalet, with the title:

Transposons for genome engineering and analysis

Transposons have become important tools for the vertebrate geneticist. They have opened up new possibilities for extant models and the possibility of developing new genetic models. Largaespada's laboratory is working to exploit insertional mutagenesis for cancer gene discovery and functional genomics in the mouse. The Largaespada lab has invested heavily in the use of a vertebrate-active transposon system, called Sleeping Beauty (SB), for insertional mutagenesis in mouse somatic and germline cells and for gene therapy.

References:
Carlson et al PNAS 2005 102(47):17059-64
Geurts et al PLoS Genet. 2006 2(9):e156
Collier et al Nature. 2005 436(7048):272-6
Dupuy et al Nature. 2005 436(7048):221-6

Andreas Engel, Professor at the Müller Institute for Structural Biology, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland, will give a guest lecture on Tuesday 11 September 2007 at 1030 in auditorium 13, Domus Medica, University of Oslo, with the title:

The atomic structure of aquaporins

Andreas Engel’s research concerns the structure and function of membrane proteins of different origin. A major effort is invested in the study of aquaglyceroporins. Electron crystallography and atomic force microscopy are used to analyze two-dimensional crystals assembled from membrane proteins and lipids.

Christian Alzheimer, Physiologisches Institut, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany, will give a guest lecture on Thursday 21 June 2007 at 1530 in the library, Dept. of Physiology, Domus Medica, University of Oslo, with the title:

Novel functions of acetylcholine and activin in hippocampal signaling and plasticity? Insights from transgenic mice

Koen Vervaeke will present his trial lecture with the title

Subthreshold ion channels as targets of neuromodulators and pharmacolocically active compounds

on Wednesday 20 June 2007 at 1530, in Auditorium A1.1001, Domus Odontologia, Rikshospitalet.

He will defend his PhD dissertation with the title

Effects of sub-threshold activated ion channels on signal integration in hippocampal pyramidal neurons

on Thursday 21 June 2007 at 1000, in Auditorium A1.1001, Domus Odontologia, Rikshospitalet.

Further information.

Alain Destexhe, Unite de Neurosciences integratives et computationelles, CNRS, Gif Sur Yvette, France, will give a guest lecture on Wednesday 20 June 2007 at 1700 in the library, Dept. of Physiology, Domus Medica, University of Oslo, with the title:

Cortical dynamics during 'active' brain states: How to deal with stochastic activity?

Announced 24 May 2007

Dr. Gary Banker, Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology Oregon Health and Science University, USA, will give a guest lecture on Monday 11 June 2007 at 1400 in the Lunch Room, Department of Anatomy, University of Oslo, with the title: Membrane trafficking and neuronal polarity Gary Banker's laboratory studies neuronal structure and development from a cell biological perspective. The laboratory has a particular focus on neuronal polarity – the structural and functional differences between axons and dendrites – and the mechanisms that underlie polarized targeting of membrane proteins. Using viral transfection methods, Dr Banker has identified some of the signals that target integral membrane proteins to axons and dendrites and are using this approach to study targeting at early stages in the development of polarity. Banker's laboratory has also developed methods for labeling axonal and dendritic proteins with GFP in order to visualize their transport in living neurons.

Announced 10 May 2007

Associate professor Eva S. Anton, University of North Carolina, School of Medicine, UNC Neuroscience Center and the Dept. of Cell and Molecular Physiology, will give a guest lecture on Friday 8 June 2007 at 1300 in Auditorium A3.3067, Rikshospitalet, with the title: Mechanisms of neuronal differentiation in the developing cerebral cortex

Announced 24 May 2007

Professor Vilhelm A. Bohr, chief, Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology, National Institute on Aging, NIH, US, will give a guest lecture on Thursday, 31 may 2007 at 14.00 in Auditorium A3.3067, Rikshospitalet, with the title: Oxidative damage processing, aging and neurodegeneration

Professor Ian D Duncan, University of Wisconsin – Madison, USA, will give a guest lecture on Tuesday 13 March 2007 at 1200 in the lunch room (1330), Department of Anatomy, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, with the title:

Cell replacement strategies in MS and the childhood genetic disorders of myelin

The potential for cell therapy to play a role in the therapy of myelin disorders is under serious consideration, based on years of experimentation of glial cell transplants in experimental models. A key hold-up to applying this to humans has been the inability to isolate sufficient human cells of the oligodendrocyte lineage that could be used to myelinate the CNS. However, with the isolation of human embryonic stem cells and purification of human neural stem cells, it might be feasible to apply such strategies to human disease. I will discuss the major human myelin disorders, including MS (multiple sclerosis) and the childhood genetic disorders and compare and contrast the challenges to repair that each presents.

Selected references:

• Embryonic stem cell-derived glial precursors: a source of myelinating transplants. Brüstle O, Jones KN, Learish RD, Karram K, Choudhary K, Wiestler OD, Duncan ID, and McKay RDG. Science 1999, 285, 754-756.
• In vitro differentiation and transplantation of human ES cell-derived neural precursors. Zhang S-C, Wernig M, Duncan ID, Brüstle O, Thomson JA. Nat. Biotech., 2001 19(12):1129-1133.
• Oligodendrocytes and stem cell transplantation: their potential in the treatment of leukoencephalopathies. Duncan ID. J. Inherit. Metab. Dis., 2005 28(3), 357-368.
• Galactocerebrosidase-deficient oligodendrocytes maintain stable central myelin by exogenous replacement of the missing enzyme in mice. Kondo Y, Wenger DA, Duncan ID. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 2005, 102, 18670-18675.

Adam B Robertson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, will give a guest lecture on Thursday 22 February 2007 at 1300 in Auditorium A3.3067 Rikshospitalet, with the title:

Unraveling the very short patch repair mechanism in E. coli

Reza Assalkhou will defend his PhD dissertation with the title

Meningococcal transformation and type IV pilus biogenesis: Role of PilQ and PilP

on Friday 26 January 2007 at 1015 in Large auditorium, Rikshospitalet.

The trial lecture with the title

A symphony of bacterial voices: Quorum sensing and virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

will be held on Thursday 25 January 2007 at 1300, in Auditorium A3.3067, Rikshospitalet.

Further information.

Two guest lectures will be held after the trial lecture by Reza Assalkhou on Thursday 25 January:

Professor Beate Averhoff, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Germany, will give a guest lecture on Thursday 25 January 2007 at 1430 in auditorium A3.3067, Rikshospitalet, with the title:

DNA uptake machineries: unique systems for the transport of macromolecules across bacterial membranes

Professor Sigve Håvarstein, University of Life Sciences, Ås, will give a guest lecture on Thursday 25 January 2007 at 1515 in auditorium A3.3067, Rikshospitalet, with the title:

DNA release during natural competence in Streptococcus pneumoniae: altruistic suicide or predation?

Professor Milos Pekny, Laboratory of Astrocyte Biology and CNS Regeneration, Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, Sweden, will give a guest lecture on Thursday 4 January 2007 at 1400 in the lunch room (1330), Department of Anatomy, Domus Medica, with the title:

Reactive astrocytes in neurotrauma, stroke and CNS regeneration