The laboratory was founded in 2021 on the basis of a starting grant PRIMUS awarded to Dr. Helena Pivonkova by the Charles University.
We are interested in the mechanisms of interactions between neurons and oligodendrocyte lineage cells under different physiological and pathological conditions, especially in epilepsy. Neuronal activity can regulate myelin formation by oligodendrocytes which might have a profound feedback effect on the patterns of activity in neuronal circuits. Many pathologies of the central nervous system are accompanied by changes in myelin content in the nervous tissue, including epilepsy, where hypomyelination is usually described. This is in contrast to the expected activity-dependent myelination. Our aim is to find out how pathological synchronized neuronal activity in epilepsy affects the function of oligodendrocyte lineage cells and what is the cause of hypomyelination in epilepsy.
We are using a mouse model of focal cortical dysplasia and our experimental approaches include immunohistochemistry, single cell transcriptomics, electrophysiology (patch clamp) and calcium imaging in acute brain slices in combination with optogenetics and in vivo 2-photon imaging.
Lab Members
MUDr. Helena Pivoňková, Ph.D. (principal investigator)
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2790-9778)
Mgr. Bohdana Hrušková, Ph.D. (postdoc)
RNDr. Petra Mrózková, Ph.D. (postdoc)
Mgr. Adam Bogdanovič (Ph.D. student)
Nikola Vršková (medical student)
Diana Pfeiferová (Bc student)
Funding
PRIMUS starting grant, Charles University - Interactions between neurons and oligodendrocyte precursor cells in health and disease
National Institute for Neurology Research, Workpackage 3.2 - The role of disrupted glial cell functions in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases
Collaborations
Prof. Thóra Káradóttir group, University of Cambridge, UK, and University of Iceland, Reykjavik
Publications
dr. Pivonkova: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6Aueo7oAAAAJ&hl=en
