Göttingen Graduate Center for Neurosciences, Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences

Rizzoli, Silvio, Prof. Dr.

Director, Department of Neuro- and Sensory Physiology, University Medical Center Göttingen


  • 1996 - 2000 BSc in Biochemistry at the University of Bucharest, Romania
  • 2000 - 2004 PhD in Physiology at the University of Colorado, Denver, USA (Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Prof. W. J. Betz)
  • 2004 - 2007 Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Neurobiology, Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen
  • 2007 - 2012 Group Leader (STED Microscopy) at the European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen (ENI-G)
  • 2012 - 2014 Professor (W3), University Medical Center Göttingen
  • 2014 - Director of the Department of Neuro- and Sensory Physiology, University Medical Center Göttingen

    Major Research Interests

    Conventional fluorescence microscopy is limited by the diffraction of light: fluorescent objects that are close together cannot be discerned. Stimulated emission depletion (STED) is a recent advancement in optical physics that breaks the diffraction barrier, allowing microscopes to obtain much clearer images.

    The diffraction barrier has been particularly problematic for imaging synaptic vesicles, which are among the smallest known organelles (30-50 nm in diameter). They are located in small areas in the synapses (about 1 micron in diameter). The group takes advantage of the increased imaging resolution provided by STED to investigate synaptic vesicle function, with an emphasis on synaptic vesicle recycling. Since STED microscopy also allows imaging of protein domains, the group aims at studying the patterning of protein domains in the synapse, in order to understand its molecular architecture.


    Homepage Department/Research Group

    http://rizzoli-lab.de/



    Selected Recent Publications


    • Wilhelm BG, Mandad S, Truckenbrodt S, Kröhnert K, Schäfer C, Rammner B, Koo SJ, Claßen GA, Krauss M, Haucke V, Urlaub H, Rizzoli SO. Composition of isolated synaptic boutons reveals the amounts of vesicle trafficking proteins. Science, 2014, 344:1023-1028
    • Revelo NH, Kamin D, Truckenbrodt S, Wong AB, Reuter-Jessen K, Reisinger E, Moser T, Rizzoli SO. A new probe for super-resolution imaging of membranes elucidates trafficking pathways. J Cell Biol, 2014, 205:591-606
    • Saka SK, Vogts A, Kröhnert K, Hillion F, Rizzoli SO*, Wessels JT*. Correlated optical and isotopic nanoscopy. Nat Commun. 2014, 5:3664. *corresponding author
    • Saka SK, Honigmann A, Eggeling C, Hell SW, Lang T, Rizzoli SO. Multi-protein assemblies underlie the mesoscale organization of the plasma membrane. Nat Commun. 2014, 5:4509
    • Opazo F, Levy M, Byrom M, Schäfer C, Geisler C, Groemer TW, Ellington AD, Rizzoli SO. Aptamers as potential tools for super-resolution microscopy. Nat Methods. 2012, 9:938-939
    • Denker A, Bethani I, Kröhnert K, Körber C, Horstmann H, Wilhelm BG, Barysch SV, Kuner T, Neher E, Rizzoli SO. A small pool of vesicles maintains synaptic activity in vivo. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011, 108:17177-17182
    • Denker A, Kröhnert K, Bückers J, Neher E, Rizzoli SO. The reserve pool of synaptic vesicles acts as a buffer for proteins involved in synaptic vesicle recycling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011, 108:17183-17188
    • Wilhelm BG, Groemer TW, Rizzoli SO. The same synaptic vesicles drive active and spontaneous release. Nat Neurosci. 2010, 13:1454-1456
    • Hoopmann P, Punge A, Barysch SV, Westphal V, Bückers J, Opazo F, Bethani I, Lauterbach MA, Hell SW, Rizzoli SO. Endosomal sorting of readily releasable synaptic vesicles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010, 107:19055-19060
    • Kamin D, Lauterbach MA, Westphal V, Keller J, Schönle A, Hell SW, Rizzoli SO. High- and low-mobility stages in the synaptic vesicle cycle. Biophys J. 2010, 99:675-684