Harm Krugers
Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences
University of Amsterdam
Science Park 904
1098 XH, Amsterdam
The Netherlands
phone +31 (0)20 525 7621
e-mail
September 2011
Maternal deprivation and dendritic complexity in the amygdala
PDF
Stress-hormones interact to regulate synapses
May 2011
Ming Zhou succesfully defended his thesis on AMPA receptors and fearful memories
thesis
April 2011
Felisa van Hasselt succesfully defended her thesis on regulation of brain function by maternal care
thesis
January 2011
Moderate variations in early life environment have a major
impact on adult hippocampal function
in Hippocampus
November
Grant from Internationale Stichting Alzheimer Onderzoek :
Regulation of synaptic function and structure by Tau. www.alzheimer.nl/
October
Stress hormones and AMPA receptor function in synaptic plasticity and memory formation
in Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Harm Krugers becomes board secretary of the Dutch
Neurofederation
September
Stress-hormones regulate formation of emotional memories
Neurobiology of
Learning and Memory
June
Charlotte Oomen successfully defends her
thesis
Early life stress regulates hippocampal structure and function in females
in
Psychopharmacology
March
ALW grant on hormonal regulation of AMPAR function and memory formation
January
Early life stress modulates hippocampal structure and function in
Journal of Neuroscience
Our general interest is to understand how and where we store memories in the brain. In particular we are interested in memories for emotionally arousing events, which are retained well in general. The facilitated retention of these memories is normally very useful: the organism can appraise and if necessary avoid similar negative situations in future. However, in susceptible individuals a variety of pathological conditions may develop in which memories related to the traumatic event remain inappropriately present, such as anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
(1) Stress and Memory
One of the current views of how memories are formed is that neurons are activated during the learning process thereby changing the strength of communication between neurons. To examine the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie the memories for fearful events we focus on function and properties of synapses. Since memory enhancing effects of stress are mediated by hormones, such as norepinephrine and glucocorticoids - which are released during stressful experiences - we study in detail how these hormones affect (activity-dependent) synaptic plasticity and whether these effects underlie their memory enhancing effects.
(2) Early Life Experience and Brain function
(3) Alzheimer's Disease and Tau
AMPARs in hippocampal primary cultures
| Els Velzing (technician) |
| Ming Zhou |
| Hui Xiong |
| Marit Arp |
| Sofia Kanatsou |
| Wendy Timmermans |
| Nutan Jha |
| Silja McIlwrick |
| Prof Dr Marian Joels |
| Dr Casper Hoogenraad (Utrecht University) |
| Prof Dr Melly Oitzl (University Amsterdam) |
| Dr Danielle Champagne (University Leiden) |
| Prof Dr Laurent Groc (University Bordeaux) |
| Prof Dr Jeremy Henley (University Bristol) |
| Prof Dr Merel Kindt (Psychology, UvA) |
| Dr Mathias Schmidt (Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Munich, Germany) |
| Dr Frances Edwards (University College London) |
| Dr ZQ Xiong and Dr Yang Zhou (Inst of Neuroscience, Chinese National Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China) |
| Dr Rolf Sprengel (MPI Heidelberg) |
We are very grateful to our sponsors
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Zhou M, Kindt M, Joëls M, Krugers HJ.
Blocking Mineralocorticoid Receptors prior to Retrieval Reduces Contextual Fear Memory in Mice
PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e26220. Epub 2011 Oct 12
PDF
Krugers HJ, Zhou M, Joëls M, Kindt M.
Regulation of excitatory synapses and fearful memories by stress hormones
Front Behav Neurosci. 2011;5:62. Epub 2011 Oct 11.
PDF
Ramakers GJ, Wolfer D, Rosenberger G, Kuchenbecker K, Kreienkamp HJ, Prange-Kiel J, Rune G,
Richter K, Langnaese K, Masneuf S, Bösl MR, Fischer KD, Krugers HJ, Lipp HP, van Galen E, Kutsche K.
Dysregulation of Rho GTPases in the alpha-Pix/Arhgef6 mouse model of X-linked intellectual disability
is paralleled by impaired structural and synaptic plasticity and cognitive deficits.
Hum. Mol. Genet. (2011) doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddr457
PDF
van Hasselt FN, Boudewijns ZS, van der Knaap NJ, Krugers HJ, Joëls M.
Maternal Care Received by Individual Pups Correlates with Adult CA1
Dendritic Morphology and Synaptic Plasticity in a Sex-Dependent Manner.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2011 Oct 7. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2826.2011.02233.x. [Epub ahead of print]
PDF
Korosi A, Naninck EF, Oomen CA, Schouten M, Krugers H, Fitzsimons C, Lucassen PJ
Early-life stress mediated modulation of adult neurogenesis and behavior.
Behav Brain Res. 2011 Jul 28. [Epub ahead of print]
PDF
Zhou M, Hoogenraad CC, Joëls M, Krugers HJ.
Combined {beta}-adrenergic and corticosteroid receptor activation regulates AMPA receptor
function in hippocampal neurons, J Psychopharmacol. 2011 Oct 2 [Epub ahead of print]
PDF
Krugers HJ, Oomen CA, Gumbs M, Li M, Velzing EH, Joels M, Lucassen PJ
Maternal deprivation and dendritic complexity in the basolateral amygdala
Neuropharmacology, 2011 Sep 29 [Epub ahead of print]
PDF
van Hasselt FN, Cornelisse S, Yuan Zhang T, Meaney MJ, Velzing EH, Krugers HJ, Joëls M.
Adult hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor expression and dentate synaptic plasticity
correlate with maternal care received by individuals early in life.
Hippocampus 2011 Jan 14
PDF
Marlatt MW, Philippens I, Manders E, Czéh B, Joels M, Krugers H, Lucassen PJ.
Distinct structural plasticity in the hippocampus and amygdala of the middle-aged
common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)
Exp Neurol. 2011 May 14
PDF
HJ Krugers, CC Hoogenraad, L Groc
Stress hormones and AMPA receptor trafficking in synaptic plasticity and memory
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11, 675-681 (October 2010) | doi:10.1038/nrn2913
PDF
Ming Zhou, Eveline H.M. Bakker, Els H. Velzing, Stefan Berger, Melly Oitzl, Marian Joëls, Harm J. Krugers
Both mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors regulate emotional memory in mice
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2010.09.005
PDF
FN van Hasselt, S Cornelisse, TY Zhang, MJ Meaney, HJ Krugers, M Joëls
Maternal care received by individual pups correlates with hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor expression and dentate gyrus synaptic plasticity later in Life. Hippocampus. 2010. In Press.
CA Oomen, H Soeters, N Audureau, L Vermunt, FN van Hasselt,EMM Manders, M Joëls, H Krugers, PJ Lucassen
Early maternal deprivation affects dentate gyrus structure and
emotional learning in adult females
Psychopharmacology DOI: 10.1007/s00213-010-1922-8
PDF
CA Oomen, H Soeters, N Audureau, L Vermunt, FN van Hasselt,
EMM Manders, M Joëls, PJ Lucassen, HJ Krugers, Severe early life stress improves hippocampal synaptic plasticity and emotional learning under high-stress conditions in adulthood
The Journal of Neuroscience. 2010; 30: 6635-6645
PDF
HJ Krugers, PJ Lucassen, H Karst, M Joëls
Chronic stress, hippocampal structure and synaptic function: relevance of (anti-)glucocorticoids
Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience. 2010. In Press.
HJ Krugers, CC Hoogenraad, Hormonal Regulation of AMPA receptor trafficking and memory formation
Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience. 2009 In Press
M Zhou, M Joëls, HJ Krugers. Fear conditioning enhances spontaneous AMPA receptor mediated
synaptic transmission in mouse hippocampal CA1 area.
Eur J Neurosci. 2009 Oct 7. [Epub ahead of print]
S Martin, JM Henley, D Holman, M Zhou, O Wiegert, M van Spronsen, M Joëls, CC Hoogenraad, HJ Krugers.
Corticosterone increases AMPAR lateral diffusion and bidirectionally regulates synaptic AMPARs
PLoS One 2009; 4: e4714.
RC Bagot, FN van Hasselt, DL Champagne, MJ Meaney, HJ Krugers, M Joëls
Maternal care determines rapid effects of stress mediators on synaptic
plasticity in adult rat hippocampal dentate gyrus.
Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2009 Mar 16. [Epub ahead of print].
M Joëls, HJ Krugers, P Lucassen, H Karst.
Corticosteroid effects on cellular physiology of limbic cells
Brain Res 2009; Mar 28. [Epub ahead of print]
DN Alfarez, A De Simoni, EH Velzing, E Bracey, M Joëls, FA Edwards, HJ Krugers.
Corticosterone reduces dendritic complexity in developing hippocampal CA1 neurons
Hippocampus 2009; Feb 20. [Epub ahead of print].
Z Pu, HJ Krugers, M Joëls
Interactive effects of corticosterone and isoproterenol on synaptic plasticity
in the rat basolateral amygdala in vitro
Learn Mem. 2009; 16: 155-160.
J Jaworski, LC Kapitein, S Montenegro Gouveia, BR Dortland, PS Wulf, I Grigoriev,
P Camera, S Spangler, J Demmers, H Krugers, P Defilippi, A Akhmanova and CC Hoogenraad.
Microtubule plus-end binding protein EB3 regulates dendritic spine morphology
Neuron 2009; 15: 85-100.
CA Oomen, CEN Girardi, R Cahyadi, EC Verbeek, H Krugers, M Joels, PJ Lucassen
Early maternal deprivation stimulates neurogenesis in male, but inhibits it in female offspring
PlosOne, 2009; 4: e3675
Champagne DL, Bagot RC, van Hasselt F, Ramakers G, Meaney MJ, de Kloet ER, Joëls M, Krugers H.
Maternal care and hippocampal plasticity: evidence for experience-dependent structural plasticity, altered synaptic functioning, and differential responsiveness to glucocorticoids and stress.
J Neurosci. 2008. 28: 6037-6045
Wiegert O, Joëls M, Krugers HJ.
Corticosteroid hormones, synaptic strength and emotional memories: corticosteroid modulation of memory -- a cellular and molecular perspective.
Prog Brain Res. 2008. 167:269-71.
Joëls M, Krugers H, Karst H. Stress-induced changes in hippocampal function.
Prog Brain Res. 2008;167:3-15.
Alfarez DN, Karst H, Velzing EH, Joëls M, Krugers HJ.
Opposite effects of glucocorticoid receptor activation on hippocampal CA1 dendritic complexity in chronically stressed and handled animals.
Hippocampus. 2008. 18:20-28.
Joëls M, Karst H, Krugers HJ, Lucassen PJ.
Chronic stress: implications for neuronal morphology, function and neurogenesis.
Neuroendocrinol. 2007. 28: 72-96.
Pu Z, Krugers HJ, Joëls M.
Corticosterone time-dependently modulates beta-adrenergic effects on long-term potentiation in the hippocampal dentate gyrus.
Learn Mem. 2007. 14: 359-367.
Joëls M, Krugers HJ. LTP after stress: up or down?
Neural Plast. 2007. 93202.
Sennvik K, Boekhoorn K, Lasrado R, Terwel D, Verhaeghe S, Korr H, Schmitz C,
Tomiyama T, Mori H, Krugers H, Joels M, Ramakers GJ, Lucassen PJ, Van Leuven F.
Tau-4R suppresses proliferation and promotes neuronal differentiation in the hippocampus of tau knockin/knockout mice.
FASEB J. 2007. 21: 2149-2161.
Krugers HJ, van der Linden S, van Olst E, Alfarez DN, Maslam S, Lucassen PJ, Joëls M.
Dissociation between apoptosis, neurogenesis, and synaptic potentiation in the dentate gyrus of adrenalectomized rats.
Synapse. 2007. 61: 221-230.
Alfarez DN, Wiegert O, Krugers HJ. Stress, corticosteroid hormones and hippocampal synaptic function.
CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2006. 5: 521-529.
Krugers HJ, Goltstein PM, van der Linden S, Joëls M.
Blockade of glucocorticoid receptors rapidly restores hippocampal CA1 synaptic plasticity after exposure to chronic stress.
Eur J Neurosci. 2006. 23: 3051-3055.
Boekhoorn K, Terwel D, Biemans B, Borghgraef P, Wiegert O, Ramakers GJ, de Vos K,
Krugers H, Tomiyama T, Mori H, Joels M, van Leuven F, Lucassen PJ.
Improved long-term potentiation and memory in young tau-P301L transgenic mice before onset of hyperphosphorylation and tauopathy.
J Neurosci. 2006. 26: 3514-3523.
Wiegert O, Joëls M, Krugers H.
Timing is essential for rapid effects of corticosterone on synaptic potentiation in the mouse hippocampus.
Learn Mem. 2006. 13: 110-113.
Joëls M, Pu Z, Wiegert O, Oitzl MS, Krugers HJ. Learning under stress: how does it work?
Trends Cogn Sci. 2006. 10: 152-158.
Wiegert O, Pu Z, Shor S, Joëls M, Krugers H.
Glucocorticoid receptor activation selectively hampers N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor dependent hippocampal synaptic plasticity in vitro.
Neuroscience. 2005. 135: 403-411.
Krugers HJ, Alfarez DN, Karst H, Parashkouhi K, van Gemert N, Joëls M.
Corticosterone shifts different forms of synaptic potentiation in opposite directions.
Hippocampus. 2005. 15: 697-703.
Joëls M, Karst H, Alfarez D, Heine VM, Qin Y, van Riel E, Verkuyl M, Lucassen PJ, Krugers HJ.
Effects of chronic stress on structure and cell function in rat hippocampus and hypothalamus.
Stress. 2004. 7: 221
Alfarez DN, Joëls M, Krugers HJ.
Chronic unpredictable stress impairs long-term potentiation in rat hippocampal CA1 area and dentate gyrus in vitro.
Eur J Neurosci. 2003. 17: 1928-1934.
Alfarez DN, Wiegert O, Joëls M, Krugers HJ.
Corticosterone and stress reduce synaptic potentiation in mouse hippocampal slices with mild stimulation.
Neuroscience. 2002. 115: 1119-1126.
Hoogenraad CC, Koekkoek B, Akhmanova A, Krugers H, Dortland B, Miedema M, van Alphen A,
Kistler WM, Jaegle M, Koutsourakis M, Van Camp N, Verhoye M, van der Linden A, Kaverina I, Grosveld F, De Zeeuw CI, Galjart N.
Targeted mutation of Cyln2 in the Williams syndrome critical region links CLIP-115 haploinsufficiency to neurodevelopmental abnormalities in mice.
Nat Genet. 2002. 32: 116-127.
Bejar R, Yasuda R, Krugers H, Hood K, Mayford M.
Transgenic calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II activation: dose-dependent effects on synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory.
J Neurosci. 2002. 22: 5719-5726.
All portrait pictures by Els Velzing This page was last updated on 17 jan 2012