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We are very excited to present our newest publication on “Monoamine-induced diacylglycerol signaling rapidly accumulates Unc13 in nanoclusters for fast presynaptic potentiation”.

In this publication we show how monoaminergic signaling and the mechanisms underlying this signaling can enhance neurotransmission within one minute and compact active zones by targeting the Unc13 protein.

We would like to thank our collaborators Dr. Stephan Sigrist and Dr. Martin Heine for the their support in this publication.

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We here would like to present our newest article in collaboration with Dr. Stefanie Winkelmann’s lab on “Parameter Optimization for a Neurotransmission Recovery Model”.

This article by Ernst. et al 2025 models data from Meida et al. 2023 (our lab) to understand active zone release sites with a simplified model covering maturation, fusion, and recovery of synapses.

We are always looking to collaborate and encourage collaborations, so we hope you enjoy this article.

We would like to give a huge congratulations to Dr. Natalie Blaum for successfully defending her Ph.D. Thesis! Over the past 4 years, she has worked on understanding molecular mechanisms of octopamine mediated synaptic potentiation in the Drosophila melanogaster. This is a huge achievement, and we are so very proud of you, and you did such a wonderful job in your presentation and defending your thesis!

We would also like to thank the censors/opponents, Dr. Andrew Frank from the University of Iowa and Dr. David Owald from the Charité Universitätsmedizin in Berlin for their input, advice, and lively discussion. We all enjoyed the discussion.

We would also like to thank Dr. Nanna MacAulay for also supporting Natalie throughout her thesis and for her introduction at Natalie’s defense.

If you would like to see the projects Natalie worked on in her thesis we will link them below:

Unc13A dynamically stabilizes vesicle priming at synaptic release sites for short-term facilitation and homeostatic potentiation

Monoamine-induced diacylglycerol signaling rapidly accumulates Unc13 in nanoclusters for fast presynaptic potentiation

Again, The Walter Lab is so very proud of Natalie, and are looking forward to what she does in the future!

We would like to welcome Erika Uddström to the lab as a rotational student in the NAD program! She will be learning how to utilize computational methods to understand how the synapse organizes.

Welcome Erika!

Independently engaging protein tethers of different length enhance synaptic vesicle trafficking to the plasma membrane

Click here to read more!

Using computational modelling, we show that proteins and protein complexes of different lengths, such as synaptotagmin-1, Munc13, and the SNARE complex, as well as their abundance at the active zone can enhance synaptic vesicle trafficking to the plasma membrane

We would like to welcome Dr. Mechi Bengochea and Pontus LeBlanc to the Walter Lab!

Dr. Bengochea will be setting up and working on behavioral experiments for the lab, while Pontus will be helping out with our fly husbandry, imaging experiments, and cell culture. We are very excited to have these new members so we can further study neuronal communication and plasticity in the Drosophila melanogaster model organism!

The Walter Lab is happy to announce that we, in collaboration with the Sørensen Lab, are hosting a Symposium in Synapse in Health and Disease in Copenhagen from January 23- 25, 2025!

Join us for an exciting international symposium exploring cutting-edge research in synapse biology, featuring world-renowned experts from prestigious institutes. This event will dive into key topics such as:

·       Molecular Studies of the Synapse

·       Synaptic Vesicle States

·       Neuromodulation

·       Long Range Plasticity in the Nervous System

·       Diseases of the Nervous System

·       Neuronal Cell Biology

·       Molecular Mechanisms of Neurotransmitter Release

·       Sensory Processing

The symposium provides a platform for both leading scientists and junior researchers, including PhD students, postdocs, and students in Neuroscience and related fields, to engage and collaborate.

Venue:

Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen

Set in the heart of Copenhagen, surrounded by the beautiful sites of this Scandinavian capital.

Networking Opportunities:

Reception: On the first evening, a reception will be held for all attendees to encourage networking and exchange of ideas.

Poster Sessions: Present your research and engage with peers.

Short Talks: Selected from submitted abstracts.

Dinner: For speakers of invited speakers.

This is a unique opportunity to connect with experts at the forefront of neuroscience research. We look forward to welcoming you to Copenhagen!

Click here to sign up!

We had a wonderful lab outing canoeing north of Copenhagen!The weather was very nice while we canoed, and in classic Copenhagen fashion, it began to rain as soon as we finished, we lucked out! It was fun to watch us learn to canoe with each other and adapt to how we paddled around, a very "hygge" experience.

We at the Walter Lab would like to congratulate Dr. Manon Berns for an amazing defense of her Ph.D. Dissertation on the "Molecular Mechanisms of Synaptic Transmission Investigated Using Mathematical Models". She has worked so hard these last few years, and it's no surprise she has achieved her Doctorate! We wish her the best to her and her future endeavors.

We would also like to congratulate Simona Buccolo M.Sc. for successfully defending her Masters Thesis on "Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms Regulating Presynaptic Homeostatic Potentiation".

Congratulations to both again for their hard work and dedication!

Synaptotagmin 7 docks synaptic vesicles to support facilitation and Doc2α-triggered asynchronous release

Using electrophysioloygy, electro microscopy, fluoresence imaging, and mathematical modeling, we find that Doc2alpha is the major Ca2+ sensor for asynchronous release, while Sytnaptotagmin7 play a supporting role in this release via docking mechanisms

Read more here!

Unc13A dynamically stabilizes vesicle priming at synaptic release sites for short-term facilitation and homeostatic potentiation.

Using a combination of electrophysiological recordings, STED microscopy and Mathematical modelling we showed that Ca2+-Calmodulin binding to Unc13A enhances neurotransmitter release-site occupation through its subsynaptic redistribution. In this way Unc13A plays a role in short-term facilitation and homeostatic potentiation.
Enjoy reading the work

We had a wonderful time exploring the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, and enjoyed the lovely early May weather.

Kavya Vinayan Pushpalatha received a Lundbeck Foundation grant to study the molecular mechanisms of presynaptic long-term plasticity and its implications in synaptopathy.

find the press release here

We proudly present our publication:

Spontaneous neurotransmission at evocable synapses predicts their responsiveness to action potentials

We showed that the level of spontaneous activity of an active zone is a predictor of the active zone’s responsiveness to action potential stimulation.

See the deparments news article

On Friday the 14th of October, people could learn everything about our research using the fruit and computational models during Copenhagen’s annual culture night. They could go through the several steps of building a model using Lego, take a closer look at flies under the microscope and learn that flies are not just annoying during a science talk. It was great sharing our research to the public.

We proudly present our newest publication in eLife

Allosteric stabilization of calcium and phosphoinositide dual binding engages several synaptotagmins in fast exocytosis

Using a mathematical model, we show that the allosteric interaction between calcium and PI(4,5)P2 binding sites of synaptotagmin-1 is crucial to explain the role syt1 has as the calcium sensor for synchronous neurotransmitter release. The model predicted that approximately three syts are active during fast exocytosis.

Have fun reading it and check out our other publications!

We started our summer event/Lab outing on the idyllic canals of Copenhagen, with plenty of food, drinks and good company. Afterwards we enjoyed games in the park and finished our day with an international dinner at Alex’s place.

We are happy to announce that our former PhD students from Berlin Meida and visiting scientist Rukiye have successfully finished their doctoral studies. Congratulations!

In this talk, Manon discussed our modelling study on the calcium sensor synaptotagmin

DIM the brain is a seminar series at SUND, university of Copenhagen

This summer we moved to Copenhagen as a new group at the department of Neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. We are looking forward to continuing our work here and to all new collaborators.

Glial Synaptobrevin mediates peripheral nerve insulation, neural metabolic supply, and is required for motor function

In this work, we show that glial synaptobrevin is crucial to insulate and metabolically supply neurons. Impairment of this glially expressed synaptobrevin also affects motor neuron function in the Drosophilla larvea.

Have fun reading! See our publication page for more publications

We are happy to announce that our former PhD students Anthony and Andreas have successfully finished their doctoral studies. Congratulations!

Resulting from a joint effort with the lab of André Nadler in Dresden, we present our newest publication in PNAS:

Live-cell lipid biochemistry reveals a role of diacylglycerol side-chain composition for cellular lipid dynamics and protein affinities

For this publication, we investigated lipid-protein affinities and the transbilayer dynamics of different DAG-species by combining lipid uncaging and mathematical modelling.

Have fun reading it and check out our other publications!

After a good amount of experiments and simulations, we are happy to announce our newest publication in eLife:

Rapid regulation of vesicle priming explains synaptic facilitation despite heterogeneous vesicle:Ca2+ channel distances

In this work, we explain how synaptic vesicles are heterogeneously distributed in regard to Calcium sources, and why synapses can only achieve the necessary facilitation when unpriming is inhibited in a Calcium-dependent manner.

Have fun reading it and check out our other publications!

Our latest work has been published today:

Rapid active zone remodeling consolidates presynaptic potentiation

Here, we show how active zone components serve to regulate synaptic strength, and even short-term memory.

Have fun reading it and check out our other publications!

In our review “Regulation of synaptic release-site Ca2+ channel coupling as a mechanism to control release probability and short-term plasticity” we discuss recent work on synaptic coupling properties. Have fun reading it and check out our other publications!

At the MDC PostDoc day today, Mathias was awarded a prize for the best talk. Congratulations Mathias!

At the EMBO Workshop “Exocytosis and endocytosis: From synaptic vesicles to nanodiscs“ in Tenerife, Andreas was awarded the 1st Poster prize. Congratulations Andreas!