Department of Pharmacology: Neuropharmacology -
Prof. Dr. Jochen Klein

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Expertise

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Methods and Equipment

• In vivo-microdialysis to evaluate central cholinergic systems (rats and mice).
  
• Middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice (stroke model).
  
• Basic animal experimentation: anesthesia, injections, blood and CSF withdrawal, arterio-venous differences.
  
• Measurements of cholinergic parameters: HACU/LACU, AChE etc.
  
• Basic behavioral analysis of rats and mice (neurological and cognitive testing).
  
• Brain slices as in vitro-models of ischemia; synaptosomes and synaptoneurosomes, e.g. for ion flux assays.
  
• Primary cell cultures of neurons and astrocytes, e.g. for fluorescence microscopy (fura-2) and neurotoxicity assays.
  
• High-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of acetylcholine and choline in the fmol range.
  
• Analysis of phospholipids and choline metabolites.
  
• Measurements of phospholipase activation, e.g. phospholipase D by transphosphatidylation assay.
  
• Basic techniques in protein chemistry, cell and molecular biology (e.g. protein purification, electrophoresis, PCR, cell permeabilization with bacterial toxins).
  
  

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Coworkers

• Dr. Martina Zimmermann (cholinergic mechanisms, neuronal cell culture)
  
  

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Publications (seit 2006)

• Kiewert C, Kumar V, Hildmann O, Rueda M, Hartmann J, Naik RS and Klein J: Bilobalide inhibits glycine release but not glycine receptors. Brain Res 2008; 1201:143-150.
  
• Hao J, Mdzinarishvili A, Abbruscato TJ, Klein J, Geldenhuys WJ, van der Schyf CJ and Bickel U: Neuroprotection in mice by NGP1-01 after transient focal brain ischemia. Brain Res 2008; 1196:113-120.
  
• Krüger P, Daneshfar R, Eckert GP, Klein J, Volmer DA, Bahr U, Müller WE, Karas M, Schubert-Zsilavecs M and Abdel-Tawab M: Metabolism of boswellic acids in vitro and in vivo. Drug Metab Disp 2008; 36:1135-1142.
  
• Hartmann J, Kiewert C, Duysen EG, Lockridge O and Klein J: Choline availability and acetylcholine synthesis in the hippocampus of acetylcholine-esterase-deficient mice. Neurochem Int 2008; 52:972-978.
  
• Klein J: Phenserine. Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs 2007; 16:1087-1097.
  
• Mdzinarishvili A, Kiewert C, Kumar V, Hillert M and Klein J: Bilobalide prevents ischemia-induced edema formation in vitro and in vivo. Neuroscience 2007; 144:217-222.
  
• Kiewert C, Kumar V, Hildmann O, Rueda M, Hartmann J, Naik RS and Klein J: Role of GABAergic antagonism in the neuroprotective effects of bilobalide. Brain Res 2007; 1128:70-78.
  
• Hartmann J, Kiewert C, Duysen EG, Lockridge O, Greig NH and Klein J: Excessive hippocampal acetylcholine levels in acetylcholinesterase-deficient mice are moderated by butyrylcholinesterase activity. J Neurochem 2007; 100:1421-1429.
  
• Löffelholz K and Klein J: Chapter 6: Precursors: choline and glucose In The Brain Cholinergic System. (E Giacobini and G Pepeu, eds ) informa/Taylor & Francis, London, 2006; pp99-105.
  
• Kiewert C, Hartmann J, Stoll J, Thekkumkara TJ, van der Schyf CJ and Klein J: NGP1-01 is a brain permeable dual blocker of neuronal voltage- and ligand-operated calcium channels. Neurochem Res 2006; 31:395-399.
  
• Kumar V, Mdzinarishvili A, Kiewert C, Abbruscato T, Bickel U, van der Schyf CJ and Klein J: NMDA receptor-antagonistic properties of hyperforin, a constituent of St John´s wort. J Pharmacol Sci 2006; 102:47-54.
  
• Kumar V, Naik RS, Hillert M and Klein J: Effects of chloride flux modulators in an in vitro-model of brain edema formation. Brain Res 2006; 1122:222-229.