Introduction of PI
Helmut Kettenmann was the head of the research team of Cellular Neuroscience at the Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine from 1993 to 2022. He is still senior professor at the Charité, University Medicine Berlin and currently the Head of the Neuroscience Department at the Faculty of Life and Health at the Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology. He has a h-index of 128 at googlescholar.
The Kettenmann lab has studied the functions of all the three major types of glial cells in the brain, the astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglial cells. It has become evident in the last decades that brain activity is a concerted action of neurons and glial cells which are similarly abundant in the human brain. Only by understanding the complex interactions between these cell populations, the functions and dysfunctions of the nervous system can be deciphered.
A major recent focus of the lab is on the role of microglial cells in the normal and in the pathologic brain. The Kettenmann team found that microglial cells can express classical neurotransmitter receptors formerly considered to be a hallmark of neurons. Activation of these receptors influences microglial functions and microglial Ca2+ signaling is an important pathway to link incoming signal to these functions. The interaction of microglial cells with their brain environment is studied in vivo, in live mice by 2-photon microscopy. One read-out parameter of microglia activity is Ca2+ signaling by using specific mouse lines with microglia-specific indicators. Another approach of the lab to get closer to the human system is the use of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived human microglial cells also in a tissue context.
Within the context of pathology they are currently studying the importance of microglial cells in stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and psychiatric diseases. Another line of research addresses the question how microglia interact with glioma cells. They aim to understand this interaction on a molecular level with the goal to identify therapeutic targets.
Research Area
Microglia in health and disease
Introduction of PI
Dr. Xianyuan Xiang is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology. Her research lies at the interface of neuroscience and immunology, with a central focus on microglial function in both physiological and pathological states.
She received her Ph.D. from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), where she trained under Prof. Christian Haass, a leading expert in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). After her doctoral and postdoctoral research in neurodegenerative disease, she joined Prof. Helmut Kettenmann’s lab in Shenzhen as an Associate Investigator in 2021.
Dr. Xiang leads a research group that collaborates closely with the Kettenmann Lab. The two labs share space, resources, and a strong interest in microglial biology, functioning effectively as a joint research environment. This integrated setting enables synergistic investigation into microglial signaling, calcium dynamics, and neuroimmune interactions, fostering both fundamental discovery and translational innovation.
Her work focuses on how microglial genes such as TREM2 and GPNMB influence AD pathology. She has shown that the AD risk variant TREM2 R47H affects mRNA splicing in mice but not humans and that TREM2 deficiency reduces the efficacy of amyloid-targeting therapies. Her lab also studies microglial metabolism, calcium signaling, and neuroinflammation using molecular, imaging, and iPSC-based models.
Dr. Xiang has received competitive funding from the NSFC，the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission and the The Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART). Her research contributions are reflected in an H-index of 14, underscoring her growing impact in the field of neuroimmunology.
Research Area
Microglial functions in Neurological Diseases
Microglia-Targeted Therapeutic Strategies
