Jil Protzmann

2018-2024 - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the Division of Vascular Biology at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
2015-2018 - Molecular Bioscience (MSc) at Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg, Germany
2012-2015 - Biomedical Science (BSc) at Philipps University Marburg, Germany

Ischemic stroke is associated with impaired integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB); and restoration of barrier function has emerged as a promising avenue for therapeutic intervention. We identified PDGF-CC/PDGF receptor alpha (PDGFRα) signaling as a key pathway in mediating BBB opening (acute and subacute phase) and in fibrotic scar formation (chronic phase) after ischemic stroke. Our aim is to understand which cell types are critical for BBB dysfunction and fribrotic scar formation, the involvement of PDGF-CC/PDGFRα signaling in these biological processes, and how it can be manipulated in order to improve functional recovery in ischemic stroke patients. 

In order to elucidate the mechanism of how PDGFRα signaling modulates BBB integrity, I deploy various transgenic mouse lines which are deficient for PDGFRα in defined cellular populations (knockout mice) or express a fluorescent reporter in different cell types of the brain (linneage tracing). In my project, I combine a photoinducible ischemic stroke model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) with longitudinal two-photon imaging for real-time assessment of stroke progression.