Siegert Group
Microglia-Neuron Interaction
Identifying brain function has primarily concentrated on how environmental signals are encoded within a complex neuronal network—the impact of glia cells embedded within this network has mostly been overlooked.
Microglia play a particularly fascinating role in the nervous system because they constantly surveil their environment and can actively alter neuronal connectivity. The Siegert group is interested in how microglia detect and interpret local environmental cues, and how they influence the neuronal system without causing brain dysfunction. This is of particular interest as misinformed or functionally impaired microglia can disrupt neuronal connections, leading to various disease phenotypes ranging from depression to Alzheimer’s disease.
In their research, the Siegert group combines molecular, cellular, and behavioral neuroscience, as well as virology, immunology, and epigenetics together with strategies of applied mathematics and machine learning. For their model system, they focus on well-defined brain regions, such as the retina. Moreover, to model human-related aspects, they employ human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs).
Group Leader
Administrative Support
On this site:
Team
Current Projects
Disentangle the morph-functional relationship of microglia | How to alter microglia function and pinpoint the consequences on the neuronal network | Microglia-neuron interaction in the human context
Publications
Hübschmann V, Korkut M, Siegert S. 2022. Assessing human iPSC-derived microglia identity and function by immunostaining, phagocytosis, calcium activity, and inflammation assay. STAR Protocols. 3(4), 101866. View
Colombo G, Cubero RJ, Kanari L, Venturino A, Schulz R, Scolamiero M, Agerberg J, Mathys H, Tsai L-H, Chachólski W, Hess K, Siegert S. 2022. A tool for mapping microglial morphology, morphOMICs, reveals brain-region and sex-dependent phenotypes. Nature Neuroscience. 25(10), 1379–1393. View
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 RJ, 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
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
