Dean, Camin, Ph.D.

2003: Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University

2004-2010: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Wisconsin, Madison

since 2010-2020: Group Leader, European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen

2018-2020: Principal Investigator, DZNE, Göttingen

since 2020: Principal Investigator, DZNE, Berlin

Major Research Interests

Our lab is interested in the mechanisms by which individual synapses, neurons and circuits dynamically adjust their transmission properties in response to changes in neuronal network activity. To accomplish this, neurons signal to each other not only unidirectionally via classical pre to post-synaptic transmission, but also bidirectionally via pre or post-synaptic release of neuropeptides and neurotrophins. This bidirectional channel of communication is essential for the modulation of synapse and circuit strength, via regulation of distinct membrane fusion events on both sides of the synapse, including synaptic vesicle exocytosis, post-synaptic receptor recycling, and adhesion molecule recycling. We investigate the mechanisms by which these trans-synaptic signaling events are regulated, at the level of single synapses, single neurons and neuronal networks, using a combination of live imaging approaches, electrophysiology, and biochemistry in neuronal cell culture and brain slices. Our overall goal is to understand how neurons communicate changes in activity to affect circuit function, and ultimately behavior, during learning and memory acquisition, or to counteract aberrant brain states such as seizure activity.

Homepage Department/Research Group

https://www.dzne.de/forschung/forschungsbereiche/grundlagenforschung/forschungsgruppen/dean/forschungsschwerpunkte/

Publications

Awasthi A, Ramachandran B, Ahmed S, Benito E, Shinoda Y, Nitzan N, Heukamp A, Rannio S, Martens H, Barth J, Burk K, Wang YT, Fischer A, Dean C. Synaptotagmin-3 drives AMPA receptor endocytosis, depression of synapse strength, and forgetting. Science, in press
Bharat V, Siebrecht M, Burk K, Ahmed S, Reissner C, Kohansal-Nodehi M, Steubler V, Zweckstetter M, Ting JT, Dean C (2017) Capture of dense core vesicles at synapses by JNK-dependent phosphorylation of synaptotagmin-4. Cell Rep Nov 21;21(8):2118-2133.
Hurtado-Zavala JI, Ramachandran B, Ahmed S, Halder R, Bolleyer C, Awasthi A, Wagener RJ, Anderson K, Drenan RM, Lester HA, Miwa JM, Staiger JF, Fischer A, Dean C (2017) TRPV1 regulates excitatory innervation of OLM neurons in the hippocampus. Nat Commun Jul 19;8: 15878
Burk K, Ramachandran B, Ahmed S, Hurtado-Zavala JI, Awasthi A, Benito E, Faram R, Ahmad H, Swaminathan A, McIlhinney J, Fischer A, Perestenko P, Dean C (2017) Regulation of Dendritic Spine Morphology in Hippocampal Neurons by Copine-6. Cereb Cortex Feb 3: 1-18
Wolfes AC, Ahmed S, Awasthi A, Stahlberg MA, Rajput A, Magruder DS, Bonn S, Dean C (2017) A novel method for culturing stellate astrocytes reveals spatially distinct Ca2+ signaling and vesicle recycling in astrocytic processes. J Gen Physiol Jan;149(1): 149-170
Ramachandran B, Ahmed S, Dean C (2015) Long-term depression is differentially expressed in distinct lamina of hippocampal CA1 dendrites. Front Cellular Neurosci Feb 5;9: 23
Shinoda Y, Ahmed S, Ramachandran B, Bharat V, Brockelt D, Altas B, Dean C (2014) BDNF enhances spontaneous and activity-dependent neurotransmitter release at excitatory terminals but not at inhibitory terminals in hippocampal neurons. Front Synaptic Neurosci Nov 10;6: 27
Dean C, Dunning FM, Liu H, Bomba-Warczak E, Martens H, Bharat V, Ahmed S, Chapman ER (2012) Axonal and dendritic synaptotagmin isoforms revealed by a pHluorin-syt functional screen. Mol Biol Cell May 23(9): 1715-27