The Misgeld lab studies axon changes in the healthy and in the sick nervous system of living animals. Axons are the long neuronal processes that form synapses and thus interconnect different parts of the nervous system. Obviously, to properly establish wiring in the brain, myriads of axons have to find their targets, or otherwise, axons that connect incorrectly need to be removed.
We are interested in the latter process – not only because such axon dismantling contributes fundamentally to brain development and to the adaptation of our neural circuits to the environment, but also because axons are highly susceptible to pathology. Many common neurological diseases are characterized by early loss of axonal connections – including motor neuron disease, spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis, all of which we study. By better understanding axon dismantling in development and disease we hope to gain insight into what causes axons to disintegrate in disease.

Selected publications:

Breckwoldt M.O., et al. & Misgeld T. (2013) Multi-parametric optical analysis of mitochondrial redox signals during neuronal physiology and pathology in vivo. Nature Medicine in press.

Plucińska G., Paquet D., Hruscha A., Godinho L., Haass C., Schmid B. & Misgeld T. (2012) In vivo imaging of disease-related mitochondrial dynamics in a vertebrate model system. J Neurosci 32, p16203-12.

Marinković P., Reuter M.S., Brill M.S., Godinho L., Kerschensteiner M. & Misgeld T. (2012) Axonal transport deficits and degeneration can evolve independently in mouse models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. PNAS 109, p4296-301.

Bishop D., Nikic I., Brinkoetter M., Knecht S., Potz S., Kerschensteiner M. & Misgeld T. (2011) Near-infrared branding efficiently correlates light and electron microscopy. Nature Methods 8, p568-70.

Brill M.S., Lichtman J.W., Thompson W., Zuo Y. & Misgeld T. (2011) Spatial constraints dictate glial territories at murine neuromuscular junctions. J Cell Biol 195, p293-30.

Nikić I., Merkler D., Sorbara C., Brinkoetter M., Kreutzfeldt M., Bareyre F.M., Brück W., Bishop D., Misgeld T.* & Kerschensteiner M. (2011) A reversible form of axon damage in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis. Nature Medicine 17, p495-9. (* equal senior author)

Misgeld T., Kerschensteiner M., Bareyre F., Burgess R.W. & Lichtman J.W. (2007) In vivo imaging axonal transport of mitochondria in mammals. Nature Methods 4(7), p559-561

Misgeld T. & Kerschensteiner M. (2006) In vivo imaging of the diseased nervous system. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7(6), p449-6

Kerschensteiner M., Schwab M., Lichtman J.W. & Misgeld T. (2005) In vivo imaging of axonal degeneration and regeneration in the injured spinal cord. Nature Medicine 11, p572-577.

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