AG PD Dr. Stefan Momma

Restorative Neurology

Recovery of brain function lost to disease or in old age is a challenging task in regenerative medicine. In the last two decades, therapeutic strategies have undergone significant shifts by a succession of major discoveries from adult neural stem cells and neurogenesis to the development of induced pluripotent stem cells to technologies for reprogramming cells in vitro and in vivo. Now, extracellular vesicles (EVs), small membrane-bound vesicles released by all cells and containing lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, emerge as the next major technological opportunity. While substantial progress has been made on their potential use in therapy and EVs have entered many clinical trials, major aspects of their physiological role, in particular regarding their influence on brain function, remain unknown.

My research focuses on the identification of “extracellular vesicle highways” that carry signals between different organs, including the gut microbiome, in health and disease. My main interest here is on blood-derived EVs and their role in neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases by uptake in neurons and neural stem cells.