Fischer, André, Prof. Dr.

  • 2003-2006: Postdoctoral Associate in the lab of Li-Huei Tsai; Harvard Medical School, Department of Pathology, Boston, USA; Picower Center for Learning and Memory, M.I.T, Cambridge, USA
  • 2007-2011: Independent Group Leader at ENI
  • since 2011: W3 Professor at the Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen
  • since 2011: Speaker of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) site Göttingen

    Major Research Interests

    The long-term goal of our research is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying brain diseases and to develop neuroprotective and neurodegenerative therapeutic approaches. There is now accumulating evidence that on an individual level health or disease critically depends on the interaction between genes and environment. Epigenetic mechanisms such as histone-modification, DNA-methylation and non-coding RNA-mediated processes are key-regulators of gene-environment interactions. Importantly, such epigenetic mechanisms have recently been implicated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. Thus our current hypothesis is that deregualtion of genome-environment interactions, especially via epigenetic gene-expression, is a key feature of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. We combine studies in patient material, and mouse and cellular models sung a combination of behavioral, molecular, genetic and bioinformatic techniques to address these questions.


    Homepage Department/Research Group

    https://www.dzne.de/standorte/goettingen.html



    Publications


    • Stilling R, et al. Fischer A (2014) K-Lysine acetlytransferase 2A regualtes a hippocampal gene-expression network linked to memory formation. EMBO J, 2014, Epub ahead of print
    • Kerimoglu C, et al. Fischer A. Histone-methyltransferase MLL2 (kmt2b) is required for memory formation in mice. J. Neurosci, 2013, 33,8, 3452-3464
    • Govindarajan N., et al. Fischer A. Reducing HDAC6 ameliorates cognitive deficits in a mouse model for Alzheimer?s disease. EMBO Molecular Medicine, 2013 do10.1002/emmm.201201923. [Epub ahead of print]
    • Zovoilis A, et al. Fischer A. microRNA-34c is a novel target to treat dementias. EMBO J. 2011 Sep 23;30(20):4299-308. doi: 10.1038/emboj.2011.327.
    • Agis-Balboa RC, et al. Fischer A. A hippocampal insulin-growth factor 2 pathway regulates the extinction of fear memories. EMBO J. 2011 Aug 26;30(19):4071-83. doi: 10.1038/emboj.2011.293.
    • Peleg, S., et al. Fischer, A. Altered histone H4 lysine 12 acetylation is associated with age-dependent memory impairment in mice. Science, 328; 753, 2010
    • Fischer A., Sananbenesi F., Wang X., Dobbin M., Tsai L.H. (2007) Recovery of learning and memory is associated with chromatin remodeling. Nature 447, 178-82. (AF is corresponding author)