Award: Paper of the Year 2024 of the Anatomical Society awarded to Professor Dr. Johannes Vogt

… for the publication “Altered cortical synaptic lipid signaling leads to intermediate phenotypes of mental disorders”, published in Molecular Psychiatry in November 2024.

The study describes a link between synaptic lipid signaling in the brain and mental disorders: Teams led by Professor Dr. med. Johannes Vogt and Professor Dr. med. Robert Nitsch (equally contributing last author of the study) at the Institute of Translational Neuroscience at the University of Münster investigated the role of the enzyme autotaxin and its counterpart, the protein PRG-1, in regulating the balance between excitation and inhibition in the brains of humans and mice. They were able to prove that a genetic disorder identified in humans leads to an increase in bioactive endogenous fats in the brain, which results in an imbalance between excitation and inhibition in brain circuits and favors, for example, depression, anxiety and increased susceptibility to stress. However, treatment with an enzyme inhibitor that prevents the activation of fats can restore the balance and alleviate the symptoms. The investigations were carried out as part of the Collaborative Research Center 1451 “Key mechanisms of normal and disease-related impaired motor control” (spokesperson: Professor Dr. Gereon R. Fink, Director of the Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Cologne).

The project within the framework of the CRC is not only concerned with the balance between excitation and inhibition in the brain and its effect on motor function: this balance also plays an important role in mental disorders. Excessive excitation of neuronal circuits can disrupt information processing and lead to symptoms such as those observed in psychiatric disorders. “The study indicates that the regulation of excitation and inhibition by synaptic lipid signals plays a crucial role in the development of mental disorders,” explains Professor Dr. Johannes Vogt. According to the researchers, these findings open up new perspectives for the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

A jury of nine members of the Anatomical Society has selected the best scientific publication of the year from all the winners of the Quarterly Publication Awards 2023 and 2024 and presented them with the Best Publication Award. The Anatomical Society has existed since 1886 as an international scientific society with around 500 members today.

Further information
Tüscher O, Muthuraman M, Horstmann JP, Horta G, Radyushkin K, Baumgart J, Sigurdsson T, Endle H, Ji H, Kuhnhäuser P, Götz J, Kepser LJ, Lotze M, Grabe HJ, Völzke H, Leehr EJ, Meinert S, Opel N, Richers S, Stroh A, Daun S, Tittgemeyer M, Uphaus T, Steffen F, Zipp F, Groß J, Groppa S, Dannlowski U, Nitsch R, Vogt J. Altered cortical synaptic lipid signaling leads to intermediate phenotypes of mental disorders. Mol Psychiatry. 2024 Nov;29(11):3537-3552. doi: 10.1038/s41380-024-02598-2. Epub 2024 May 28. PMID: 38806692; PMCID: PMC11541086.

Press release of the Anatomical Society: Göttinger und Kölner Forscher ausgezeichnet - Anatomische Gesellschaft

Press release of the University of Cologne from 06.06.2024

Scientific contact
Professor Dr. med. Johannes Vogt
johannes.vogt[at]uk-koeln.de 

This message has been modified by the CMMC (K. Heber & D. Grosskopf-Kroiher) and is based on the text by the press and communications team of the University of Cologne, Medical Faculty (Stephanie Wolff, original version here).