Centre for Developmental Neurobiology

We’re delighted to welcome Prof. Dimphna Meijer from the Delft University of Technology, who will be presenting an external seminar today, hosted by Prof. Robert Hindges.

Join us at 1pm in the Large Meeting Room to hear her talk!

A postnatal molecular switch drives activity-dependent maturation of parvalbumin interneurons Neuronal activity triggers PGC-1α-mediated transcriptional programs that drive the late maturation of PV+ interneurons, essential for cortical circuit function. PGC-1α partners with ERRγ and Mef2c to ...

1/10 Our latest research, led by Monika Moissidis, identifies a mechanism regulating the maturation of PV interneurons in the #cortex. This is the story @cellcellpress.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... ⬇︎ thread @devneuro.bsky.social @kingsioppn.bsky.social
@wellcometrust.bsky.social

Sneak peek of the exhibition happening today👀🤞

Happy Friday and Day 4 of DNA CREATE!!!

Today the students will be presenting their projects at the Science Gallery 🖼️🥼

Day 3 has been busy, busy, busy!!!

Students are focused working on their group projects! Excited for the exhibition tomorrow

Day 1 of DNA CREATE is off to a great start!

We started the morning with some introductions, ice breakers and reflection as we created our own self portraits🙌

Good morning and happy Wednesday from the DNA Create team!

Today’s morning session is all about brains (literally) 🧠

Our students are diving into neuroanatomy and getting a firsthand look at neuroscience research, thanks to our incredible researchers at @devneuro.bsky.social 🤞🤞🤞

Poster with illustration of pregnant person dressed in green. Text reads: Vaccination in pregnancy, your voice matters: share your thoughts by completing our survey. Supported by Tommy's. Logo of King's College London on bottom right.

Dr. Katie Long is leading vital research, funded by an MRF award, to learn how pregnant people feel about vaccines during pregnancy. We want your views! Take this short survey: tinyurl.com/vaccines-in-...

For more information on vaccines in pregnancy visit tommys.org/vaccinations-pregnancy

Research Strategy Manager

We're #hiring! We're looking for an experienced and dynamic Research Strategy Manager to join our vibrant Centre. More details in link. Deadline 09 July
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/118025-...

Senior Executive Assistant

We're #hiring for a new role as Senior #ExecutiveAssistant to our fantastic Director and Managing Director! Deadline 23 June
@marinlab.bsky.social

www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/116505-...

Cadherins orchestrate specific patterns of perisomatic inhibition onto distinct pyramidal cell populations Nature Communications - How cortical interneurons establish precise connections among intermingled populations of excitatory neurons remains unclear. Here, the authors reveal that Cadherins...

New paper from Julie Jézéquel and the Rico lab
on role of cadherins in neuronal inhibition out now in Nat Comms! @natureportfolio.nature.com rdcu.be/el18f

@houartlab.bsky.social first time at the comparative neuro conference. Fantastic #ECCN2025 meeting! The mix of ‘old’ and new technologies brings the field a new edge and the potential for new understanding of brain evolutionary mechanisms. Exciting!

Dkk genes dynamically expressed in the zebrafish nervous system, some in very discreet brain populations (watch this space for brain images).
Malik Missaoui is using genetics to follow behaviour of endogenous proteins and crack their local functions.
@mrc-cndd.bsky.social @kingsioppn.bsky.social

10/10 Here’s the paper @nature.com if you want to dig in www.nature.com/articles/s41... That’s it. Thanks for sharing! @devneuro.bsky.social @mrc-cndd.bsky.social @kingsioppn.bsky.social @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

9/10 In sum, our findings identify a previously unknown form of interneuron plasticity and strengthen the idea that neuropeptide signalling plays crucial roles in maintaining neural circuit stability. Funded by the magnificents @erc.europa.eu and Rosetrees Trust

8/10 Importantly, this mechanism also regulates the connectivity of PV interneurons during learning, for example, in a fear-conditioning paradigm

7/10 For PV interneurons, Vgf is the critical gene modulating the plasticity of inhibitory inputs received from other PV interneurons

Bidirectional perisomatic inhibitory plasticity of a Fos neuronal network - Nature Novel experiences in mice lead to opposing effects on inhibition of Fos-activated hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons by parvalbumin- and cholecystokinin-expressing interneurons, revealing the role...

6/10 Incidentally, the Greenberg lab described a few years ago that hippocampal pyramidal cells use Scg2 to modulate the inhibition they receive from PV and CCK interneurons. You can find their paper here www.nature.com/articles/s41...

5/10 How is this achieved? We found that PV interneurons induce the expression of two genes encoding multiple neuropeptides, Scg2 and Vgf, in response to increased activity

4/10 Using experimental manipulations, we found that PV interneurons scale the inhibition they receive to maintain stability. When the activity of a PV interneuron increases, it “requests” more inhibitory inputs from other PV+ interneurons, effectively rebalancing its activity

3/10 Neuronal activity operates within a tightly controlled range for the optimal functioning of #brain circuits. When synaptic connectivity and network activity are modified, such as when we are learning, compensatory mechanisms are needed to maintain stability

2/10 The cortex contains two main classes of neurons: excitatory “go” pyramidal cells and inhibitory “no-go” #interneurons

1/10 Our latest research, led by @martijnselten.bsky.social, identifies a mechanism through which Parvalbumin (PV) interneurons regulate their activity in the #cortex. This is the story @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41... ⬇︎ 🧵 @devneuro.bsky.social @kingsioppn.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

Research Strategy Manager

We are recruiting! We're looking for a dynamic, experienced Research Strategy Manager to join us. More details and application link:
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/113925-...

Check out the @leverhulmetrust.bsky.social feature on the exciting research by @landreae.bsky.social and Karen Page, recipients of their Research Project Grant.🔬 Read more about their innovative work here: media.leverhulme.ac.uk/feature/ande...

This award celebrates the team’s commitment to widening participation and broadening access to Higher Education through their innovative neuroscience outreach program for Y12 students: devneuro.org/cdn/public-e...

Photo credits: Jack Latimer, Leigh Wilson, Grant Wray, Charlie Murphy

Huge congratulations to the Developmental Neurobiology Academy team, who recently won the award for Integrated Education, Research and Service at the 2025 King’s Engaged Research Awards! 🏆

If you’re interested in finding out how to share your research data (and why it matters!), @grubblabneuro.bsky.social will be holding a free workshop on 10th February. See thread below👇 for more info and registration link!

We're delighted to welcome Dr Marco Trizzino to present our external seminar this week, hosted by Prof. Benedikt Berninger

Thursday 1PM, see you there!

Happening at 1PM today! Will you be there?