We employ various histological and biochemical techniques to localize and visualize and to interfere with this highly reactive and rather elusive molecule and its signaling pathways. Our standard model organism is the locust (Locusta migratoria) which is very useful because of its large size and robustness, but we also work with Drosophila, mosquitos, other invertebrates, and vertebrate cell lines. We could show that in the locust CNS, NO is produced in response to nerve injury and that it facilitates nerve regeneration.
A further field of our research interests is developmental neurotoxicity (DNT). Exposure to pesticides or other toxins during in utero and early postnatal development can cause a wide range of neurological defects. In vivo testing of chemicals in vertebrates is cost-intensive. In collaboration with the virtual center for replacement of animal experiments, we are involved in the development of alternative methods to test the neurotoxic potential of chemicals. We employ a human neuronal precursor cell line (Ntera2) to develop standardized tests for toxin effects on fundamental processes of brain development like cell migration, neuronal differentiation, and neurite outgrowth. More advanced developmental processes, like axonal growth cone navigation along multiple morphogen gradients can hardly be addressed in simple cell culture systems. Making use of our expertise on the insect nervous system, we have recently developed a test method for DNT on axon navigation using embryonic locust limb bud pioneer neurons as a test system.
