Prof. Dr. Magdalena Götz studied Biology and did her PhD at the FMI in Tübingen on the mechanisms of how input connections to the cerebral cortex form during development and how specific neuronal subtypes are specified. She then moved to the National Institute for Medical Research to use retroviral vectors for clonal analysis and identified mechanisms delineating neighboring forebrain regions.
Afterwards Prof. Dr. Magdalena Götz started her own lab at the Max-Planck Institute for Neurobiology and made the breakthrough discovery that radial glial cells are neural stem cells. This inspired her to attempt turning also mature glial cells into neurons already in 2002 in vitro and in 2005 in vivo. In order to determine which glial cells best to convert to neurons after traumatic brain injury, she systematically examined the roles of distinct glial subtypes after traumatic brain injury when she was appointed Director of the Institute of Stem Cell Research at the Helmholtz Center Munich in 2004 and Chair of Physiological Genomics, now at the Biomedical Center of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Martinsried Munich.
Since then she identified key hurdles in the glia-to-neuron reprogramming reprogramming which led to high efficiency in vivo reactive glia-to-neuron conversion as well as human glia-to-neuron conversion in vitro. As one of the hurdles she identified was metabolic conversion, this led her to identify the new concept of organelle heterogeneity in different cell types – from mitochondria to even centrosomes. This is exciting because protein localization at a specific organelle can explain how mutation of ubiquitous proteins can cause an organ-specific disease when mutated. Thus, she combines deep cell biological analysis with fate conversion mechanisms aiming to repair.
Current Positions:
Professor and Chair of Physiological Genomics BioMedical Center, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Großhadernerstr. 9, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
Director, Institute of Stem Cell Research, Helmholtz Zentrum Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health
Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Neuherberg-Munich, Germany Head of Stem Cell Department (yearly rotating)
External member of the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
5 major publications:
O’Neill A.C.*, Uzbas F.*, Antognolli G*., Merino F.*, Draganova K., Jäck A., Zhang S., Pedini G., Schessner J.P., Cramer K., Schepers A., Metzger F., Esgleas M., Smialowski P., Guerrini R., Falk S., Feederle R., Freytag S., Wang Z., Bahlo M., Jungmann R., Bagni C., Borner G.H.H., Robertson S.P., Hauck S.M. and Götz M. (2022) Spatial centrosome proteome of human neural cells uncovers disease-relevant heterogeneity. Science 376, eabf9088.
Camargo Ortega G.*, Falk S.*, Johansson P.A.*, Peyre E., Broic L., Sahu S.K., Hirst W., Schlichthaerle T., De Juan Romero C., Draganova K., Vinopal S., Chinnappa K., Gavranovic A., Karakaya T., Steininger T., Merl-Pham J., Feederle R., Shao W., Shi S.-H., Hauck S.M., Jungmann R., Bradke F., Borrell V., Geerlof A., Reber S., Tiwari V.K., Huttner W.B., Wilsch-Bräuninger M., Nguyen L. and Götz M. (2019) The centrosome protein Akna regulates neurogenesis via microtubule organization. Nature 567, 113-117.
Stahl R., Walcher T., De Juan Romeo C., Pilz G.A., Cappello S., Irmler M., Sanz Anquela J.M., Beckers J., Blum R., Borrell V. and Götz M. (2013) Trnp1 regulates expansion and folding of the mammalian cerebral cortex by control of radial glial fate. Cell 153, 535-49.
Heins N., Malatesta P., Cecconi F., Nakafuku M., Tucker K.L., Hack M.A., Chapouton P., Barde Y. and Götz M. (2002) Glial cells generate neurons: the role of the transcription factor Pax6. Nature Neuroscience 5, 308-315.
Malatesta P., Hartfuss E. and Götz M. (2000) Isolation of radial glial cells by fluorescent-activated cell sorting reveals a neuronal lineage. Development 127, 5253-5263.