Neurosciences Seminar - Joris de Wit, PhD

Neurosciences Seminar
Thursday, November 13, 2025
12 PM, BRB 105

Joris de Wit, PhD
Professor KU Leuven, Department of Neurosciences;
Deputy Science Director, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research,
Leuven, Belgium

Host: Dr. Peng Zhang

Lecture Title: "From proteins to circuits: synapse biology in the ‘omics age"

Abstract: Neural circuits are composed of different types of neurons and the specific patterns of synaptic connectivity between them. The highly heterogeneous nature of neuronal cell types and their connections present a major challenge to the characterization of neural circuits at the molecular level. Progress in addressing this challenge has come from transcriptomic profiling techniques, which enabled the characterization of the molecular composition of specific cell types within circuits. While single-cell transcriptomics have been instrumental in mapping cell-type diversity in the brain, these approaches are poorly suited to capture the diversity and molecular identity of synapses. In this talk, I will present our recent efforts to map synapse composition and diversity in neural circuits, using fluorescent sorting of synaptosomes and synaptic proximity biotinylation approaches coupled with mass spectrometry. We analyze the postsynaptic proteome of CA1 hippocampal pyramidal neurons and characterize the specific molecular composition of their proximal and distal inputs. As CA1 pyramidal neurons are especially vulnerable in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), we use these approaches to map their postsynaptic protein composition in AppNL-G-F mice and detect early and progressive synaptic changes in AD. These proteomics approaches enable the dissection of synapse composition in intact neural circuits in health and disease, and should be broadly applicable to other brain regions and neuron types.

Publication: Marcassa, G., et al. (2025). Synaptic signatures and disease vulnerabilities of layer 5 pyramidal neurons. Nature Communications, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55470-www

Seminar Format
• Introduction by the host
• Presentation (approx. 45-50 min.)
Questions during the presentation are at the individual speaker’s discretion.
• 10-15 minutes of Q&A
We encourage students to ask the first questions.


Attendee Information
Free and open to the public. Seminars are not recorded.
Livestream will be available via Zoom for those who cannot attend in person.

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