Christian Weidenfeller

Former postdoctoral researcher

Previous Education

Bachelor in Chemistry and Biology
Diploma in Biology
Ph.D. in Biochemistry
University Münster, NRW, Germany

Hometown

Germany

Publications

  1. Grewer C, Balani P, Weidenfeller C, Bartusel T, Tao Z, Rauen T. Individual subunits of the glutamate transporter EAAC1 homotrimer function independently of each other. Biochemistry. 2005;44:11913-11923. [Abstract]
  2. Weidenfeller C, Schrot S, Zozulya A, Galla HJ. Murine brain capillary endothelial cells exhibit improved barrier properties under the influence of hydrocortisone. Brain Res. 2005;1053:162-174.  [Abstract]
  3. Schrot S, Weidenfeller C, Schaffer TE, Robenek H, Galla HJ. Influence of hydrocortisone on the mechanical properties of the cerebral endothelium in vitro. Biophys J. 2005;89:3904-3910. [Abstract]
  4. Zozulya AL, Weidenfeller C, Galla HJ. Inducing blood-brain barrier properties in cultured endothelial cells in Dermietzel, Spray, Nedergaard (Eds): Blood-Brain Interfaces-From Ontogeny to Artificial Barriers, Wiley Press, 2005 (in press) (2005).
  5. Weidenfeller C, Shusta EV. The Blood-Brain Barrier In: ‘Endothelial Biomedicine; A Comprehensive Treatise’, Ed. Aird, W.C. Cambridge University Press 2005 (in press).
  6. Calabria AR, Weidenfeller C, Jones AR, de Vries HE, Shusta EV. Puromycin-purified rat brain microvascular endothelial cell cultures exhibit improved barrier properties in response to glucocorticoid induction. J Neurochem. 2006;97:922-933. [Abstract]

  7. Weidenfeller C, Svendsen CN, Shusta EV. Differentiating embryonic neural progenitor cells induce blood-brain barrier properties. J Neurochem. 2007;101:555-565. [Abstract]

Previous Research Experience

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Eric Shusta Research Group
Neural progenitor cells

University Münster, NRW, Germany
In vitro models of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) are important tools for research on drug brain penetration. The glucocorticoid hormone hydrocortisone has the potential to improve barrier properties in in vitro systems of the BBB. However, the underlying mechanisms are not yet well understood. During my diploma thesis with the title "Differential gene-expression at the blood-brain barrier in vitro" in Münster, Germany, I worked under the supervision of Professor Hans-Joachim Galla on a porcine system of the BBB. By application of suppression substractive hybridization, I tried to identify genes with an altered expression level under the influence of hydrocortisone. Due to several limitations of the porcine system I established a new serum-free in vitro model of the BBB based on murine brain capillary endothelial cells. I identified a drastic alteration in cell morphology and cytoskeletal structure after the application of glucocorticoid hormones on this system (2,3).

Previous Industry Experience

CeNTech Center for Nanotechnology
Münster, NRW, Germany
Investigation of the composition of the glutamate transporter EAAC1 (1).