Siegert Group
Neuroimmunology in Health and Disease
Identifying brain function has primarily concentrated on how environmental signals are encoded within a complex neuronal network—the impact of the immune system was mostly overlooked. The Siegert group focuses on how neurons and microglia interact with each other and how malfunctions within this relationship affect neuronal circuit formation and function in health and disease.
Microglia are the CNS-resident macrophages and continually sense their neuronal environment. They switch between functional states that may promote or counteract the removal of circuit elements. So far, it is not known how microglia decide when to alter circuit elements. However, this information is critical since misinformed microglia can disconnect circuits leading to a disease outcome. Highly reactive microglia are for example a feature of various neurodegenerative diseases such as retinal degeneration and Alzheimer’s. The Siegert group addresses microglia function across the cortex as well as in the mammalian retina, which consists of morphologically well-defined cell types that are precisely mapped in their connection and functional properties.
Group Leader
Administrative Support
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Team
Current Projects
What defines microglial reactivity and how can we manipulate it? | How do microglia impact neuronal function?
Publications
Schulz R, Korkut M, Venturino A, Colombo G, Siegert S. 2022. Chimeric GPCRs mimic distinct signaling pathways and modulate microglia responses. Nature Communications. 13, 4728. View
Bartalska K, Hübschmann V, Korkut M, Cubero RJA, Venturino A, Rössler K, Czech T, Siegert S. 2022. A systematic characterization of microglia-like cell occurrence during retinal organoid differentiation. iScience. 25(7), 104580. View
Venturino A, Siegert S. 2021. Minimally invasive protocols and quantification for microglia-mediated perineuronal net disassembly in mouse brain. STAR Protocols. 2(4), 101012. View
Maes ME, Wögenstein GM, Colombo G, Casado Polanco R, Siegert S. 2021. Optimizing AAV2/6 microglial targeting identified enhanced efficiency in the photoreceptor degenerative environment. Molecular Therapy – Methods and Clinical Development. 23, 210–224. View
Venturino A, Schulz R, De Jesús-Cortés H, Maes ME, Nagy B, Reilly-Andújar F, Colombo G, Cubero RJ, Schoot Uiterkamp FE, Bear MF, Siegert S. 2021. Microglia enable mature perineuronal nets disassembly upon anesthetic ketamine exposure or 60-Hz light entrainment in the healthy brain. Cell Reports. 36(1), 109313. View
ReX-Link: Sandra Siegert
Career
since 2015 Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
2011 – 2015 Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
2010 PhD, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
Selected Distinctions
2017 Liese Prokop Award
2016 ERC Starting Grant
2013 SWISS OphthAWARD
2012 HFSP Long-term Fellowship
2011 EMBO Long-term Fellowship
2011 SNSF Fellowship for prospective researchers
