Biosketch             Top

Dr. Südhof, a native of Germany, obtained his M.D. degree from the University of Göttingen in 1982, and performed the work for his doctoral thesis at the Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie in Goettingen under the direction of Prof. Victor P. Whittaker. In 1983, Dr. Südhof joined the laboratory of Drs. Brown and Goldstein at the Department of Molecular Genetics at UT Southwestern as a postdoctoral fellow to work on the structure, expression and regulation of the LDL receptor gene. In 1986, Dr. Südhof started his own laboratory in the same department and at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas to study the molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic function, in particular neurotransmitter release. In addition to serving as a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and as an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Dr. Südhof also is at the Center for Basic Neuroscience which he has directed since 1997.

Research                 Top

Dr. Südhof's research interests focus on the machinery that mediates the targeted secretion of neurotransmitters at a synapse. Synapses are specialized intercellular contacts between neurons that represent the major points at which neurons communicate. At a synapse, neurons form a junction with each other. This junction is characterized presynaptically by a highly developed secretory apparatus which enables a neuron to secrete neurotransmitters fast (on a microsecond timescale) and repeatedly (for hundreds of times). Postsynaptically, synaptic junctions typically contain clusters of neurotransmitter receptors couple to intracellular signal transduction proteins.

Dr. Südhof's laboratory is particularly interested in how neurons assemble the presynaptic secretory apparatus precisely at the synaptic junction, how ultrafast neurotransmitter release is achieved, and how release is modulated under conditions of synaptic plasticity. Studies to pursue these questions are performed with an interdisciplinary approach that combines protein chemistry and molecular biology with mouse genetics and cell biology.  In addition, Dr. Südhof's work examines molecular mechanisms involved in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease using the same approach.

Recent Publications              Top   

Primary Research Articles

Missler, M., Zhang, W., Rohlmann, A., Kattenstroth, G., Hammer, R.E., Gottmann, K., and Sudhof, T.C. (2003) a-Neurexins Couple Ca2+-Channels to Synaptic Vesicle Exocytosis.  Nature, in press. 

Shin, O.-H., Rhee, J.-S., Tang, J., Sugita, S., Rosenmund, C. and Südhof, T.C. (2003) Sr2+-Binding to the Ca2+-Binding Site of the Synaptotagmin 1 C2B-Domain Triggers Fast Exocytosis Without Stimulating SNARE Interactions.  Neuron 37, 99-108.      

Jahn, R., Lang, T., and Südhof, T.C. (2003) Membrane fusion. Cell 112, 519-533.

Südhof, T.C. (2002) Synaptotagmins: Why so many? J. Biol. Chem. 277, 7629-7632.

Schoch, S., Castillo, P.E., Jo, T., Mukherjee, K., Geppert, M., Wang, Y., Schmitz, F., Malenka, R.C., and Südhof, T.C. (2002) RIM1α forms a protein scaffold for regulating neurotransmitter release at the active zone.  Nature 415, 321-326.  

Castillo, P.E., Schoch, S., Schmitz, F., Südhof, T.C., and Malenka, R.C. (2002) RIM1α  is required for presynaptic long-term potentiation.  Nature 415, 327-330.

Sugita, S., Shin, O-H., Han, W., Lao, Y., and Südhof, T.C. (2002) Synaptotagmin form hierarchy of exocytotic Ca²⁺ -sensors with distinct Ca²⁺ -affinities.  EMBO J. 21, 270-280.

Shin, O.-K., Rizo, J., and Südhof, T.C. (2002) Synaptotagmin function in dense core vesicle exocytosis studied in cracked PC12 cells.  Nature Neurosci. 5, 649-656. 

Biederer, T., Sara, Y, Mozhayeva, M., Atasoy, D., Liu, X., Ege T. Kavalali, E.T., and Südhof, T.C. (2002) SynCAM, A synaptic cell adhesion molecule that drives synapse assembly. Science 297, 1525-1531.

INVITED REVIEWS

Südhof, T.C. (2001) a-latrotoxin and its receptors: neurexins and CIRL/latrophilins (Cls). Ann. Rev. Neurosci. 24, 933-962.

Südhof, T.C. (2000) The synaptic vesicle cycle revisited. Neuron 28, 317-320.

Fernandez-Chacon, R. and Südhof, T.C. (1999) Genetics of synaptic vesicle function: towards the complete functional anatomy of an organelle. Ann. Rev. of Physiol. 61, 753-776.

Jahn, R. and Südhof, T.C. (1999) Membrane fusion and exocytosis. Ann. Rev. Biochem. 68, 863-911.

Current Lab Staff                   Top

Rooms NA4.124, NA4.142
Telephone: 214-648-1871, 1872, 1903

Postdoctoral Fellows

Students

Technicians

Past Lab Staff                    Top

Past Postdocs

Marion Baumert, Ph.D.
Novartis AG
Staff Scientist
Austria

Nils Brose, Ph.D.
Director
Max-Planck-Institutf für experimentelle Medizin
Hermann Rein Str. 3
37075 Göttingen
Germany
Fax: +49 551 3899 753

Stefan Butz, Ph.D.
ZMBE-Institut für Zellbiologie
Von Esmarchstrasse 56
58159 Münster
Germany
Fax: +49 251 83 52236

Bazbek Davletov. Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Hills Road
Cambridge, CB2 2QH
England
Fax:

Rafael Fernández-Chacón, M.D., Ph.D.
Departamento de Fisiologia Medica y Biofisica
Facultad de Medicina
Avda. Sánchez-Pizjuán 4
41009-Sevilla
Spain
Fax: (34) 95-455 1769
Email: rfchacon@us.es

Else Fykse, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Norwegian Defense Research Establishment
Division for Enviromental Toxicology
P. Box 25
N-2007 Kjeller
Norway
Fax:+47 63 80 7811

Martin Geppert, M.D.
Staff Scientist
Smith, Kline, & FrenchI
33 Abbotswood Gardens
Clayhall, Essex 1G5 OBG
U.K.
Fax: +44 1279 622500

Stefan Gerber, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Cardiology
University of Heidelberg
Heidelberg, Germany

Yutaka Hata, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Medical Biochemistry
Graduate School of Medicine
Tokyo Medical and Dental University
1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo 113-8519
Japan
Fax: +81 3 5803 0121

Masahiro Hosaka, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Institute for Molecular and Cellular Regulation
Gunma University
3-39-15 Showa-machi
Maebashi 371-8512
Japan
Fax: +81 27 220 89896

Kostya Ichtchenko, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
New York University Medical Center
School of Medicine
Department of Pharmacology
550 First Avenue
New York, NY  10016
Fax: 212-263-7133

Roger Janz, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
University of Texas-Houston Medical School
6431 Fannin
Houston, TX 77030
Fax: 713-500-0621

Kate Johnston, Ph.D.
Eli-Lilly Corporation
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Ye Lao, Ph.D.
Lexicon, Inc.
Houston, TX 

Paul Johnston, Ph.D.
Eli-Lilly Corporation
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Gyorgy Lonart, Ph.D.
Dept. of Pathology and Anatomy
Eastern Virginia Medical School
700 W. Olney Road
Lewis Hall, Room 3077
Norfolk, VA 23507
Fax: 757-466-5719
Email: lonartg@evmsmail.evms.edu

Harvey McMahon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Neurobiology Division
Hills Road
Cambridge CB2 2QH
England
Fax: +44 1223 402310

Gregory A. Mignery, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Physiology
Loyola University Chicago
2160 South First Avenue
Maywood, IL  60153
Fax: 708-216-6308

Markus Missler, M.D.
Group Leader
Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen
Zentrum Physiologie und Pathophysiologie
Humboldtallee 23
D-37073 Goettingen
Germany
Fax: +(49) 551 3912809
Lab: +(40) 551 3912808
Email: missler@neuro-physiol.med.uni-goettingen.de

Masaya Okamoto, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Fifth Department of Internal Medicine
Hyogo College of Medicine
Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya
Hyogo 663
Japan
Fax: +81 6 856 2003

Mark Perin, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Department of Neurosciences, NC30
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Lerner Research Institute
9500 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH  44195
Fax: 216-444-7927

Alexandre Petrenko, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmacology
New York University Medical Center
550 First Avenue, MSB-204A
New York, NY  10016
Fax: 212-263-7133

Thomas Rosahl, Ph.D.
Merck, Sharp & Dohme
Neuroscience Research Centre
Terlings Park, Eastwick Road
Harlow, Essex CM20 2QR
U.K.
Fax: +44 1279 44 0390

Frank Schmitz, M.D.
Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology
Department of Neurochemistry and Molecular Biology
Brenneckestrasse 6
D-39008 Magdeburg
Germany
Fax: +49 391 616160

Susanne Schoch
Institute of Neuropathology
University of Bonn
Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25
D-53113 Bonn Germany
Telephone: +49-228-287-9108
Fax: +49-228-287-5198

Jean-Marie Sontag, Ph.D.
Instructor, Department of Cell Biology
UT Southwestern Medical Center of Dallas
5253 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, TX 75390-9111

Shuzo Sugita, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Cellular and Molecular Biology
Toronto Western Research Institute, MC 11-432
University Health Network and Univ. of Toronto
399 Bathurst Street
Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8
Canada
Fax: 416-603-5745
Email: ssugita@uhnres.utoronto.ca

Beate Ullrich, M.D.
Universitat Heidelberg
Abt. Neuropathologie
Im Neuenheimer Feld 220
D-69120 Heidelberg
Germany
Fax: +49-6221-564566

Yuri Ushkaryov, Ph.D.
Wellcome Trust Fellow
Wolfson Laboratories
Department of Biochemistry
Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine
London SW7 2AY
U.K.
Fax: +44 171 225-8942/0960

Matthijs Verhage, Ph.D.
Professor
Rudolf Magnus Institute
Universiteitsweg 100
3584 CG Utrecht
The Netherlands
Fax: +31 30 2539032

Christine von Poser, M.D.
UniversitätsSpital Zürich
Institut für Neuropathologie
Schmelzbergstr. 12
CH-8091 Zürich
Switzerland
Fax: +41 (01) 255 4402

Tomohiro Yamaguchi, Ph.D.
Himeji Institute of Technology
Faculty of Science, Dept. of Life Science
Cell and Molecular Biology
3-2-1 Kouto, Kamigori-cho, Ako-gun, Hyogo 678-1297, Japan
Tel: +81-791-58-0194
Fax: +81-791-58-0193

Past Students

Branch Archer, M.D., Ph.D.
(private practice, Amarillo, Texas)

Cai Li, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology and Internal Medicine
Center for Diabetes Research
UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
5323 Harry Hines Boulevard
Dallas, TX  75390-8854
Tel: 214-648-3340
Fax: 214-648-9191

Christopher Newton, M.D., Ph.D.
(private practice, Dallas, TX)

Thai Nguyen, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Anesthesiology
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Tel: (410) 328-1611

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