Brône - Rigo Neurophysiology lab

Our brain is an intriguing organ that gradually becomes more active and refined during its development.
It is not surprising that disruption of brain development through genetic and environmental factors leads to neurodevelopmental diseases such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia.

Since proper neurodevelopment is driven by the complex interplay between neurons and microglia, we focus on the impact of genetic and environmental factors on these cells. A genetic risk factor for autism spectrum disorder, directly acting at neuronal networks, is the impaired glycine receptor signaling in the brain.

Environmental factors impact the highly dynamic immune cells of the brain: microglia. Using molecular, cellular and behavioral approaches, we aim to understand the normal and pathological brain development in order to identify new targets with therapeutic potential  for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Prof. dr. Bert Brône
bert.brone@uhasselt.be

 Prof. dr. Jean-Michel Rigo
jeanmichel.rigo@uhasselt.be

Microglia research line

Chloe Trippaers
cloe.trippaers@uhasselt.be 
Project title: Microglia and synapses in neurodevelopmental disorders


Melanie Mertens
Melanie.mertens@uhasselt.be
Project title: TRPV4 in spinal cord injury


Andreea Burlacu
andreea.burlacu@uhasselt.be
Project title: Diamond probes to study subcellular control of cytoskeletal rearrangement by temperature sensitive ion channels in microglia

Neuronal research line

Yana Vella
yana.vella@uhasselt.be
Project title: Subcellular localisation and function of glycine receptor alpha 2


Lisa Berden
lisa.berden@uhasselt.be
Project title: A closer look at brain inhibition and seizure susceptibility following embryonic DNA damage (collaboration with SCK-CEN)


Sarra Zaghbouni
sarra.zaghbouni@uhasselt.be
Project title: Diamond probes to study subcellular control of cytoskeletal rearrangement by temperature sensitive ion channels in neurons

In collaboration:

Ben Rombaut
ben.rombaut@uhasselt.be
Project title: Microglial dynamics in neurodevelopmental disorders (co-supervisor)


Rut Mazon Cabrera
rut.mazoncabrera@uhasselt.be
Project title: Autoantibodies in autism spectrum disorders (co-supervisor)


Keerthana Ramanathan
keerthana.ramanathan@uhasselt.be 
Project title: Molecular mechanisms of microglial dynamics in neurodevelopmental disorders (co-supervisor)

• Cell and brain slice electrophysiology,
• Time lapse imaging in acute brain slices
• High-end imaging techniques
• Optogenetics

• Migration and phagocytosis assays
• Flow cytometry

• Animal behavioral tests
• Stereotactic surgery

^§ Both authors contributed equally

Beeken J, Mertens M, Stas N, Kessels S, Aerts L, Janssen B, Mussen F, Pinto S, Vennekens R, Rigo JM, Nguyen L, ^§Brone B and ^§Alpizar YA. Acute inhibition of transient receptor potential vanilloid-type 4 cation channel halts cytoskeletal dynamism in microglia. Glia. (2022); [IF: 8.073 (2021)].

Beeken J, Kessels S, Rigo J-M, Alpizar YA, Nguyen L and Brône B. P27kip1 modulates the morphology and phagocytic activity of microglia. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. (2022); 23 (18): [IF: 6.208 (2021)].

Devoght J, Comhair J, Morelli G, Rigo J-M, D’Hooge R, Touma C, Palme R, Dewachter I, vandeVen M, Harvey RJ, Schiffmann S, Piccart E and Brône B. Lack of the glycine alpha 2 receptor impairs reward-motivated behavior and striatal signal integration. bioRxiv. (2022); 2022.2008.2031.506020

Smolders SMT, Kessels S, Vangesewinkel T, Rigo JM, ^§Legendre P and ^§Brone B. Microglia: Brain cells on the move. Progress in Neurobiology. (2019); [IF: 9,371].

Morelli G, Avila A, Ravanidis S, Aourz N, Neve RL, Smolders I, Harvey RJ, ^§Rigo JM, ^§Nguyen L and ^§Brone B. Cerebral cortical circuitry formation requires functional glycine receptors. Cerebral Cortex. (2017); 27 (3): 1863-1877 [IF: 6,559].

In collaboration

Morelli G, Even A, Gladwyn-Ng I, Le Bail R, Shilian M, Godin JD, Peyre E, Hassan BA, Besson A, Rigo JM, Weil M, Brone B and Nguyen L. P27(kip1) modulates axonal transport by regulating alpha-tubulin acetyltransferase 1 stability. Cell Rep. (2018); 23 (8): 2429-2442 [IF: 7,815].

Even A, Morelli G, Broix L, Scaramuzzino C, Turchetto S, Gladwyn-Ng I, Le Bail R, Shilian M, Freeman S, Magiera MM, Jijumon AS, Krusy N, Malgrange B, Brone B, Dietrich P, Dragatsis I, Janke C, Saudou F, Weil M and Nguyen L. Atat1-enriched vesicles promote microtubule acetylation via axonal transport. Sci Adv. (2019); 5 (12): eaax2705 [IF: 12.804 (2018)].

Stancu IC, Cremers N, Vanrusselt H, Couturier J, Vanoosthuyse A, Kessels S, Lodder C, Brone B, Huaux F, Octave JN, Terwel D and Dewachter I. Aggregated tau activates nlrp3-asc inflammasome exacerbating exogenously seeded and non-exogenously seeded tau pathology in vivo. Acta Neuropathol. (2019); 137 (4): 599-617 [IF: 18,174 (2018)].

Torre-Muruzabal T, Devoght J, Van den Haute C, Brone B, Van der Perren A and Baekelandt V. Chronic nigral neuromodulation aggravates behavioral deficits and synaptic changes in an alpha-synuclein based rat model for parkinson's disease. Acta Neuropathol Com. (2019); 7 (1): [IF: 5.883 (2019)].

Play the Microglia-game!