Experimental Psychiatry and Neurology

This group is lead by Carl Sellgren. Our research is aimed at understanding molecular mechanisms causing disease by disruption in higher-level brain functioning.

In particular, we are interested in the interplay between neurons and glia cells for the development and maintenance of appropriate brain circuits.

By using cellular reprogramming we create subject-specific cellular models including neurons and glia-like cells derived from diseased subjects and matched healthy controls. These models are then amenable for genetic engineering as well as compound screening.

Our research is carried out in close collaboration with the clinic and includes large-scale systematic collection of clinical data and biological material from a variety of subjects with chronic brain disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.

Collecting interdisciplinary data for each subject we are also able to follow up our findings from subject-specific cell cultures with for example analyses of cerebrospinal fluid or data obtained from positron-emission tomography scans.

Projects

The current projects in our laboratory can be divided into four major categories:

  1. Assay development including cellular high-throughput approaches as well as more complete models such as organoids.
  2. Patient vs. control comparisons.
  3. Disease-orientated mechanistic studies using for example genetic engineering.
  4. High-throughput compound screening.

Support our research

group portrait of the Experimental Psychiatry and Neurology research group leaning against railing overlooking the atrium in Biomedicum
Members of the Experimental Psychiatry and Neurology research group.
group portrait of the Experimental Psychiatry and Neurology research group some standing, some kneeling in front of window.
Members of the Experimental Psychiatry and Neurology research group.
group portrait of the Experimental Psychiatry and Neurology research group gathered around a table.
Members of the Experimental Psychiatry and Neurology research group.

Group members

Research support

  • Marianne och Marcus Wallenbergs Stiftelse
  • Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse
  • Swedish Research Council
  • StratNeuro
  • Erling-Persson Foundation
  • Hjärnfonden
  • ALF

Collaborations

Our research team works in close co-operation with several national and international groups in order to build a representative biobank of live cells from subjects with psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Our clinical projects are part of the Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP), a collaboration between the three principal investigators Carl Sellgren, Simon Cervenka and Sophie Erhardt. Our group is responsible for collecting somatic cells for reprogramming as well as to head the collection of clinical data together with the Cervenka Lab.

Selected publications

Increased synapse elimination by microglia in schizophrenia patient-derived models of synaptic pruning.
Sellgren CM, Gracias J, Watmuff B, Biag JD, Thanos JM, Whittredge PB, et al
Nat. Neurosci. 2019 03;22(3):374-385

Patient-specific models of microglia-mediated engulfment of synapses and neural progenitors.
Sellgren CM, Sheridan SD, Gracias J, Xuan D, Fu T, Perlis RH
Mol. Psychiatry 2017 02;22(2):170-177

A genome-wide association study of kynurenic acid in cerebrospinal fluid: implications for psychosis and cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder.
Sellgren CM, Kegel ME, Bergen SE, Ekman CJ, Olsson S, Larsson M, et al
Mol. Psychiatry 2016 10;21(10):1342-50

Contact

Carl Sellgren

Assistant professor
Experimental Psychiatry and Neurology
C3 Department of Physiology and Pharmacology

News

CS
Content reviewer:
Karin Wrangö
19-09-2023