A08
Homeostatic presynaptic plasticity in memory consolidation and sleep of the aging brain

Plastic processes promote memory processes by driving synapses away from equilibrium, while homeostatic plasticity resets them. Sleep is considered key for resetting, but is also involved in memory consolidation, and changes with age. In Drosophila brains we described a homeostatic form of presynaptic plasticity (PreScale) connecting sleep deprivation, homeostatic sleep drive and memory consolidation. We here address the circuit implementation of PreScale and study the protective effects of PreScale at physiological and biochemical levels. Our results will deepen our understanding of how presynaptic plasticity operates between sleep, memory consolidation and aging.
Graphical Abstract

Graphical abstract: A08 investigates the principal connection between sleep and memory consolidation in the aging Drosophila brain. PreScale seemingly operates as global protective presynaptic mechanism connecting these entities.
Team
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                                  Prof Dr Stephan SigristFreie Universität Berlin Head Sigrist Lab (FU & Charité Berlin) 
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                                  Dr Oriane TurrelFreie Universität Berlin A08 Postdoc 
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                                  Dr Torsten GötzFreie Universität Berlin A08 Postdoc (AG Sigrist) 
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                                  Dr Sheng HuangFreie Universität Berlin A08 Associate Postdoc 
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                                  David ToppeFreie Universität Berlin A08 PhD 
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                                  Dr Lisa ScheunemannFreie Universität Berlin Associate PI (Affiliated A08 AG Sigrist) 
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                                  Dr Raquel Suarez GrimaltFreie Universität Berlin A08 Associate Postdoc (AG Scheunemann) 
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                                  Anja KrivogradFreie Universität Berlin A08 Associate PhD 
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                                  Dr Yongtian LiangFreie Universität Berlin A08 Alumnus 
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                                  Audrey BonitzFreie Universität Berlin Student helper 2019-2020 - A08 Alumna 
Publications
- Coupling of mitochondrial state with active zone plasticity in early brain aging- Lu Fei, Yongtian Liang, Ulrich Kintscher, Stephan J. Sigrist - Redox Biol. 79:103454 (2025) 
- Blobby is a synaptic active zone assembly protein required for memory in Drosophila- Lützkendorf J, Matkovic-Rachid T, Liu S, Götz T, Gao L, Turrel O, Maglione M, Grieger M, Putignano S, Ramesh N, Ghelani T, Neumann A, Gimber N, Schmoranzer J, Stawrakakis A, Brence B, Baum D, Ludwig K, Heine M, Mielke T, Liu F, Walter AM, Wahl MC, Sigrist SJ - Nat Commun. 16(1):271 (2025) 
- A brain-wide form of presynaptic active zone plasticity orchestrates resilience to brain aging in Drosophila- Sheng Huang, Chengji Piao, Christine B. Beuschel, Zhiying Zhao, Stephan J. Sigrist - PLoS Biol 20(12): e3001730 (2022) 
- Transient active zone remodeling in the Drosophila mushroom body supports memory- Oriane Turrel, Niraja Ramesh, Marc J.F. Escher, Atefeh Pooryasin, Stephan J. Sigrist 
 - Curr Biol 32(22):4900-4913.e4 (2022) 
- Presynaptic and postsynaptic long-term plasticity in sleep homeostasis- Sheng Huang, Stephan J. Sigrist - Curr Opin Neurobiol. 69:1-10 (2021) 
- Postsynaptic plasticity of cholinergic synapses underlies the induction and expression of appetitive and familiarity memories in Drosophila- Carlotta Pribbenow, Yi-chun Chen, Michael-Marcel Heim, Desiree Laber, Silas Reubold, Eric Reynolds, Isabella Balles, Tania Fernández-d.V. Alquicira, Raquel Suárez-Grimalt, Lisa Scheunemann, Carolin Rauch, Tanja Matkovic, Jörg Rösner, Gregor Lichtner, Sridhar R Jagannathan, David Owald - eLife. 11:e80445 (2022) 
- Recruitment of release sites underlies chemical presynaptic potentiation at hippocampal mossy fiber boutons- Marta Orlando, Anton Dvorzhak, Felicitas Bruentgens, Marta Maglione, Benjamin R. Rost, Stephan J. Sigrist, Jörg Breustedt, Dietmar Schmitz - PLoS Biol. 19(6):e3001149 (2021) 
- Unc13A and Unc13B contribute to the decoding of distinct sensory information in Drosophila- Atefeh Pooryasin , Marta Maglione , Marco Schubert, Tanja Matkovic-Rachid, Sayed-mohammad Hasheminasab, Ulrike Pech, André Fiala, Thorsten Mielke, Stephan J. Sigrist - Nat Commun. 12(1):1932 (2021) 
- eIF5A-hypusination, boosted by dietary spermidine, protects from premature brain aging and mitochondrial dysfunction- YongTian Liang, Chengji Piao, Christine B. Beuschel, David Toppe, Laxmikanth Kollipara, Boris Bogdanow, ..... Stephan J. Sigrist - Cell Rep. 35(2):108941 (2021) 
- The Unc13A isoform is important for phasic release and olfactory memory formation at mushroom body synapses- Jennifer Woitkuhn, Anatoli Ender, Christine B Beuschel, Marta Maglione, Tanja Matkovic-Rachid, Sheng Huang, Martin Lehmann, Joerg RP Geiger & Stephan J Sigrist - J Neurogenet. 34(1):106-114 (2020) 
- Presynaptic activity zone plasticity encodes sleep need in Drosophila- Sheng Huang, Chengji Pia, Christine B Beuschel, Torsten Götz, Stephan J Sigrist - Curr Biol. 30(6):1077-1091.e5 (2020) 
 - Network-specific synchronization of electrical slow-wave oscillations regulates sleep drive in Drosophila- Davide Raccuglia, Sheng Huang, Anatoli Ender, M.-Marcel Heim, Desiree Laber, Raquel Suárez-Grimalt, Agustin Liotta, Stephan J Sigrist, Jörg RP Geiger, David Owald - Curr Biol. 29(21):3611-3621.e3 (2019) 
- Emerging concepts and functions of autophagy as a regulator of synaptic components and plasticity- Yongtian Liang - Cells. 8(1):34 (2019) 
 - Autophagy within the mushroom body protects from synapse aging in a non-cell autonomous manner- Anuradha Bhukel, Christine B Beuschel, Marta Maglione, Martin Lehmann, Gabor Juhász, Frank Madeo and Stephan J Sigrist - Nat Commun. 10(1):1318 (2019)