Kizil Group
Our goal is to learn from zebrafish how to enable the adult brain to better cope with neurodegenerative disease and regenerate. The main motivation of our research group is to understand the molecular programs for zebrafish brain to induce regenerative stem cell plasticity. We are using zebrafish as a model organism that can regenerate its brain effectively. We try to learn from fish the molecular programs underlying such an aptitude, and developing innovative tools for comparative studies in mammalian brains.

Our research
MECHANISMS OF INDUCED PLASTICITY OF THE BRAIN - CAGHAN KIZIL
We use zebrafish, 3D human brain cultures and mouse models of Alzheimer's disease to investigate:
- The molecular mechanisms of neural stem cell plasticity and neurogenesis,
- Comparative aspects of AD pathology in zebrafish, humans and mouse
- The effects of neuroinflammation (e.g.: Interleukin-4) on neural stem cell proliferation and neurgenesis
We believe that our findings will be important in terms of contributing to the efforts to design therapeutic approaches to circumvent the detrimental consequences of neurodegeneration in human brains.