Janina Kupke has been awarded an NWO Veni grant for her project Bridging the epigenome and the synapse: resolving how memories persist. Memories depend on lasting changes in the connections between specific brain cells. Yet the proteins that form these connections are continuously replaced. With support of the Veni grant, Dr. Kupke will investigate whether epigenetic mechanisms help memory-encoding neurons preserve stable synaptic changes despite this constant molecular turnover. By combining imaging with molecular analyses, she aims to link gene regulation to the synaptic changes that maintain memories over time.
During her postdoctoral research within the BRAINSCAPES consortium, Dr. Kupke expanded her expertise in synaptic biology and worked in an interdisciplinary environment connecting molecular mechanisms with synapses, neural circuits and behaviour. With her Veni, she will combine this knowledge with her earlier expertise in epigenetics to investigate how gene-regulatory mechanisms contribute to persistent memories.
The collaborations and broader BRAINSCAPES network were instrumental in shaping this multidisciplinary project and will continue to provide valuable expertise in imaging, omics and data integration. In particular, candidates emerging from her multi-omics analyses will be compared with genetic and phenotypic association data studies related to cognition, anxiety, synaptic disorders and dementia. This will help connect experimentally identified molecular mechanisms to human brain traits and disease risk.
The research may ultimately contribute to a better understanding of conditions in which memories become harmful or deteriorate, including PTSD and Alzheimer’s disease.