Investigating the Mechanisms of Age-Related Synaptopathy in the Mouse Utricle (A05)

• Subject Area: Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells ; Experimental Models for the Understanding of Nervous System Diseases ; Otolaryngology, Phoniatrics and Audiology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 528760423

Aging is a prominent factor in sensory disorders and especially relevant to vestibular dysfunction, which has been the target of only few research projects. We plan to focus on the sensory hair cells in the vestibular organ (VHCs), which transduce mechanical stimuli to trigger exocytosis at ribbon synapses. We have analyzed ribbon synapse maturation in the mouse vestibular organ. We now plan to address in detail the effects of aging and activity on the VHC system, turning to mice that lack VHC exocytosis, to examine (i) how activity affects the VHC synapse, (ii) how VHC ribbon synapses behave in aging mice, (iii) the physiological involvement of floating ribbons, and (iv) the differences in turnover of the ribbons between type I and II VHCs.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1690: Disease Mechanisms and Functional Restoration of Sensory and Motor Systems
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Project Heads: Professor Silvio-Olivier Rizzoli, Ph.D.; Professorin Dr. Carolin Wichmann