Christian Fung  

Home Institution
Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main

Host Institution(s)
Northwestern University, Institute for Neuroscience, Chicago
Mentors: Enrico Mugnaini, MD.; Grazia Nunzi, Ph.D.

E-Mail: cfung@gmx.net
Research Topic
see Abstract
Personal Reactions to the U.S. Experience
Well, first of all, I still can not believe how lucky I was to find a cheap place on Chestnut Street, only one block away from my lab. In the wintertime I walked out my door 200m to the left and found myself in the beautiful sea of lights on the Magnificent Mile. During the summer I walked 200m the opposite way to Lake Michigan and was able to watch fireworks twice a week. But these are not the only things a great city like Chicago has to offer. Starting with A for Al Capone, B for Bulls games, C for cuisine (yes, there is good food in the U.S.,) the list is endless. For everyone who loves musicals, you have to watch “Wicked”, I am sure it will be in Germany, soon.
The people I got to know and worked with were all very nice, friendly and open-minded, and unfortunately, as my stay neared its end, the best times were just getting started.
Greatest Difficulties Encountered
Actually I had no big difficulties. The major work had to be done in advance of the stay. Once I got to Chicago and had the paperwork done (Social Security number, international office, etc.) everything was fine. The greatest struggle was getting everything together for my DS-2019.
Most humorous incident
Well, I guess it was running into Hugh Hefner, accompanied by three of his fiancés, or perhaps being recruited for Chicago’s major kickball league, after playing the game for only 30 minutes. For everyone who does not know what kickball is about: it is a game which everyone takes really seriously once it is started ;).
Helpful Hints for Future Students
  • Try to get the DS-2019 as soon as possible, and the rest is will take care of itself.
  • HAVE A GOOD TIME

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Abstract on Research Topic
The distribution of the UBC in the adult macaque cerebellum, and
An investigation on UBCs organotypic, long term nodular tissue cultures from P8 mice

Projects:
Unipolar brush cells (UBC) and granule cells are the only excitatory interneuron in the cerebellar cortex. UBCs form giant, one-to-one synapses with mossy fibers. In rodents UBCs, divided into two subpopulations by the expression of Calretinin and the metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR1a, are predominantly located in the nodulus and ventral part of the uvula of the vermis and at the transition between flocculus and ventral paraflocculus.

1) One project deals with the distribution of the UBC in the adult macaque cerebellum. Major aims were the evaluation of UBC densities in different cerebellar lobules and especially the UBC enriched folia of the vermis, flocculus, ventral and dorsal paraflocculus, in a tractable model of the primate cerebellum. The floccular complex and the dorsal vermis are of great interest as they are the main sites for central processing of vestibulo-ocular reflexes (VOR) and smooth pursuit eye movements.

2) The second project comprises an investigation on UBCs organotypic, long term nodular tissue cultures from P8 mice. After maturation the cultures are stimulated with different concentrations of potassium and CaCl to induce membrane depolarization. The aim is to study the regulation of the biosynthesis of secretogranin II, Chromogranin A and B and the expression of prohormone convertases by means of confocal microscopy, electron microscopy and western blot analysis.