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Animal physiology Dr. Frank Möhrlen

We are working on several aspects of sensory transduction and investigate molecular mechanisms used by sensory neurons to translate external stimuli into the electrical signals the brain needs to interpret the outer world.

We study proteins that are involved in the transduction process, and we are particularly interested in ion channels. Our lab work is, therefore, mainly electrophysiology (patch clamp), protein biochemistry, fluorescence imaging and immunohistochemistry. We use these techniques to study structure and function of ion channels and their expression patterns in sensory neurons. Our current focus is on olfactory sensory neurons and on nociceptors, the sensory neurons that mediate the perception of pain. More information about our research and methods can be found on molekulare-physiologie.org.

COS Heidelberg
INF 230/231, EG,  Raum 00.011
moehrlen@uni-heidelberg.de
Tel. +49 6221 54 5887

Publications

  • Papotto N, Reithofer S, Baumert K, Carr R, Möhrlen F, Frings S. Olfactory stimulation Inhibits Nociceptive Signal Processing at the Input Stage of the Central Trigeminal System. Neuroscience. 2021 Dec 15;479:35-47.
  • Auer F, Franco Taveras E, Klein U, Kesenheimer C, Fleischhauer D, Möhrlen F, Frings S. Anoctamin 2-chloride channels reduce simple spike activity and mediate inhibition at elevated calcium concentration in cerebellar Purkinje cells. PLoS One. 2021 Mar 2;16(3):e0247801.
  • Maurer M, Papotto N, Sertel-Nakajima J, Schueler M, De Col R, Möhrlen F, Messlinger K, Frings S, Carr RW. Photoactivation of olfactory sensory neurons does not affect action potential conduction in individual trigeminal sensory axons innervating the rodent nasal cavity. PLoS One. 2019 Aug 14;14(8):e0211175.
  • Werner A. Müller, Stephan Frings, Frank Möhrlen.
  • Tier- und Humanphysiologie, Eine Einführung, 935 Seiten, 6. erweiterte und aktualisierte Auflage, 25.06.2019, Springer Spektrum Berlin
  • Hahn A, Salomon JJ, Leitz D, Feigenbutz D, Korsch L, Lisewski I, Schrimpf K, Millar-Büchner P, Mall MA, Frings S, Möhrlen F. Expression and function of Anoctamin 1/TMEM16A calcium-activated chloride channels in airways of in vivo mouse models for cystic fibrosis research. Pflugers Arch. 2018 Sep;470(9):1335-1348.
  • Neureither F, Stowasser N, Frings S, Möhrlen F. Tracking of unfamiliar odors is facilitated by signal amplification through anoctamin 2 chloride channels in mouse olfactory receptor neurons. Physiol Rep. 2017 Aug;5(15):e13373.
  • Hahn A, Faulhaber J, Srisawang L, Stortz A, Salomon JJ, Mall MA, Frings S, Möhrlen F. Cellular distribution and function of ion channels involved in transport processes in rat tracheal epithelium. Physiol Rep. 2017 Jun;5(12):e13290.
  • Neureither F, Ziegler K, Pitzer C, Frings S, Möhrlen F. Impaired Motor Coordination and Learning in Mice Lacking Anoctamin 2 Calcium-Gated Chloride Channels. Cerebellum. 2017 Dec;16(5-6):929-937.
  • Genovese F, Bauersachs HG, Gräßer I, Kupke J, Magin L, Daiber P, Nakajima J, Möhrlen F, Messlinger K, Frings S. Possible role of calcitonin gene-related peptide in trigeminal modulation of glomerular microcircuits of the rodent olfactory bulb. Eur J Neurosci. 2017 Feb;45(4):587-600.
  • Bartels MF, Winterhalter PR, Yu J, Liu Y, Lommel M, Möhrlen F, Hu H, Feizi T, Westerlind U, Ruppert T, Strahl S. Protein O-Mannosylation in the Murine Brain: Occurrence of Mono-O-Mannosyl Glycans and Identification of New Substrates. PLoS One. 2016 Nov 3;11(11):e0166119.
  • Genovese F, Thews M, Möhrlen F, Frings S. Properties of an optogenetic model for olfactory stimulation. J Physiol. 2016 Jul 1;594(13):3501-16.
  • Zhang W, Schmelzeisen S, Parthier D, Frings S, Möhrlen F. Anoctamin Calcium- Activated Chloride Channels May Modulate Inhibitory Transmission in the Cerebellar Cortex. PLoS One. 2015 Nov 11;10(11):e0142160.
  • Werner A. Müller, Stephan Frings, Frank Möhrlen
  • Tier- und Humanphysiologie, Eine Einführung, 838 Seiten, 5. überarbeite und aktualisierte Auflage, 05.02.2015, Springer Spektrum Berlin
  • Vocke, K., Dauner, K., Hahn, A., Ulbrich, A., Broecker, J., Keller, S., Frings, S., Möhrlen, F. (2013) Calmodulin-dependent activation and inactivation of anoctamin calcium-gated chloride channels. J. Gen. Physiol. 142: 381-404
  • Dauner, K., Möbus, C., Frings, S., Möhrlen, F. (2013) Targeted expression of anoctamin calcium-activated chloride channels in rod photoreceptor terminals of the rodent retina. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 54: 3126-3136.
  • Daiber, P., Genovese, F., Schriever, V., Hummel, T., Möhrlen, F., Frings, S. (2013) Neuropeptide receptors provide a signalling pathway for trigeminal modulation of olfactory transduction. European Journal of Neuroscience 37: 572-582
  • Dauner, K., Lißmann J., Jeridi, S., Frings, S., Möhrlen, F. (2012) Expression patterns of anoctamin 1 and anoctamin 2 chloride channels in the mammalian nose. Cell and Tissue Research 347: 327-341
  • Ungerer, N., Mücke, N., Broecker, J., Keller, S., Frings, S., Möhrlen, F. (2011) Distinct binding properties distinguish LQ-type calmodulin-binding domains in cyclic nucleotide-gated channels. Biochemistry 50: 3221-3228
  • Hengl, T., Kaneko, H., Dauner, K., Vocke,K., Frings, S., Möhrlen, F. (2010) The Molecular Components of Signal Amplification in Olfactory Sensory Cilia. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 107: 6052-6057
  • Park, JO., Pan J, Möhrlen, F., Schupp, M., Johnsen, R., Baillie, DL., Zapf, R., Moerman, DG., Hutter, H. (2010) Characterization of the astacin family of metalloproteases in C. elegans. BMC Dev Biol. 10(1):14.
  • Waldeck, C., Vocke, K., Ungerer, N., Frings, S., Möhrlen, F. (2009) Activation and desensitization of the olfactory cAMP-gated transduction channel - identification of functional modules. J. Gen. Physiol. 34(5):397-408.
  • Klimmeck, D., Daiber, P.C., Brühl, A., Baumann, A., Frings, S., Möhrlen, F. (2009) Bestrophin 2 - an anion channel associated with neurogenesis in chemosensory systems. J. Comp. Neurol. 515: 585-599.
  • Mayer, U., Küller, A., Daiber, P.C., Neudorf, I., Warnken, U., Schnölzer, M., Frings, S., Möhrlen, F. (2009) The proteome of rat olfactory sensory cilia. Proteomics 9:322-334.
  • Klimmeck D, Mayer U, Ungerer N, Warnken U, Schnölzer M, Frings S, Möhrlen F. (2008) Calcium-signaling networks in olfactory receptor neurons. Neuroscience. 151(3):901-12
  • Mayer U, Ungerer N, Klimmeck D, Warnken U, Schnölzer M, Frings S, Möhrlen F. (2008) Proteomic analysis of a membrane preparation from rat olfactory sensory cilia. Chem Senses. 33(2):145-62.
  • Morcos M, Du X, Pfisterer F, Hutter H, Sayed AA, Thornalley P, Ahmed N, Baynes J, Thorpe S, Kukudov G, Schlotterer A, Bozorgmehr F, El Baki RA, Stern D, Moehrlen F, Ibrahim Y, Oikonomou D, Hamann A, Becker C, Zeier M, Schwenger V, Miftari N, Humpert P, Hammes HP, Buechler M, Bierhaus A, Brownlee M, Nawroth PP. (2008) Glyoxalase-1 prevents mitochondrial protein modification and enhances lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans. Aging Cell. 7(2):260-9
  • Gilbert D, Franjic-Würtz C, Funk K, Gensch T, Frings S, Möhrlen F. (2007) Differential maturation of chloride homeostasis in primary afferent neurons of the somatosensory system. Int J Dev Neurosci. 25(7):479-89.
  • Gilbert D, Funk K, Dekowski B, Lechler R, Keller S, Möhrlen F, Frings S, Hagen V. (2007) Caged capsaicins: New tools for the examination of TRPV1 channels in somatosensory neurons. Chembiochem. 8(1):89-97.
  • Kaneko H, Möhrlen F, Frings S. (2006) Calmodulin contributes to gating control in olfactory calcium-activated chloride channels. J. Gen. Physiol. 127(6): 737-748
  • Möhrlen F, Maniura M, Plickert G, Frank U. (2006) Evolution of astacin-like metalloproteases in animals and their function in development. Evol Dev 8(2):223-31
  • Teo R, Möhrlen F, Plickert G, Müller WA, Frank U (2006). An evolutionary conserved role of Wnt-signaling in stem cell fate decision. Dev Biol 289(1): 91-99.
  • Guduric-Fuchs J, Möhrlen F, Frohme M, and Frank U. (2004) A fragile X mental retardation-like protein in a marine hydroid: implications for the evolution of FMR1/FXR proteins. Gene 343: 231-238
  • Mali B, Möhrlen F, Frohme M, and Frank U. (2004) A putative double role of a chitinase in a cnidarian: pattern formation and immunity. Developmental and Comperative Immunology 28:973-981.
  • Müller WA, Teo R, Möhrlen F. (2004) Patterning a multi-headed mutant in Hydractinia: enhancement of head formation and its phenotypic normalization. International Journal of Dev Biol 48:9-15.
  • Möhrlen F, Hutter H, Zwilling R. (2003) The astacin protein family in Caenorhabditis elegans. European Journal of Biochemistry 270:4909-4920.
  • Möhrlen F, Bond JS, Stöcker W. (2003) Other Astacin Homologues (Chapter 185). In: Barrett AJ, Rawlings ND, Woessner JF (Eds.). Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes. Academic Press, London and San Diego.
  • Wagner W, Möhrlen F, Schnetter W. (2002) Characterization of the proteolytic enzymes in the midgut of the European Cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 32:803-14.
  • Möhrlen F, Baus S, Gruber A, Rackwitz HR, Schnölzer M, Vogt G, Zwilling R. (2001) Activation of pro-astacin. Immunological and model peptide studies on the processing of immature astacin, a zinc-endopeptidase from the crayfish Astacus astacus. European Journal of Biochemistry 268:2540-2546.

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