Max Koppers (FGA) was awarded a VIDI grant from NWO for his project ‘Local regulation of brain connectivity’ to investigate the role of mRNA localization and local protein production in synapse formation.
This 850.000 euro grant will allow him to expand his research team and gain fundamental new insights into the mechanisms and role of mRNA localization and local protein during the formation of synapses.
Each neuron in our brain forms thousands of synapses with other neurons that allows neuron communication. Each of these synapses requires hundreds of proteins that allow neurons to communicate with each other. While we now know which proteins are present in these synapses, it remains a great mystery how each neuron manages to bring these hundreds of proteins together in the right place and at the right time to form all these synapses. It is essential that we understand this because we know it goes wrong in neurological diseases.
In this project, his group will use innovative molecular techniques and live-cell and super-resolution imaging to study the role and mechanisms of mRNA localization and protein production in building new synapses at the right time and place. In addition, they will develop a new method to control these processes in neurons which would allow them to guide synapse formation.
New positions for a PhD student and postdoc will become available next year. For this, keep an eye on the team’s website: https://cncr.nl/research-team/neuronal_mrna_trafficking_and_local_translation/
More information on this VIDI project can be found at: https://vu.nl/en/news/2025/vidi-for-max-koppers-the-role-of-local-protein-production-in-synapse-formation