Susana Aznar, M

Susana Aznar, M.Sci., Ph.D

Senior Scientist and Lab Manager

Education and academic degrees:

University degree in Cellular Biology in 1991 from the University Complutense of Madrid, Spain.

Ph.D degree in Neurobiology in 1995 from the University Complutense of Madrid, Spain.

Present appointments:

From 1998 appointed as a research scientist at the Neurobiology Research Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2006 became the lab manager of the Neurobiology Laboratorium.

Research career:

Awarded as a pregraduate student with an exchange scholarship by the Danish Ministry of Education and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work at the Institute of Neurobiology, University of Aarhus, Denmark. From 1991 to 1995, enrolled as a Ph.D student at the University Complutense of Madrid while working on a Ph.D project financed by the Training and Mobility Program of the European Union at the dept of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Odense, Denmark. From 1996 to 1998 had a postdoc stay at the Center for Neuronal Survival, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Canada.

Research interests:

The main topic of the Ph.D thesis was the study of the connective, cellular and functional host integration of transplanted immature brain tissue. During the postdoc period the project involved the study of the molecular aspects of axonal elongation and synaptic plasticity. The main research interest at present is the cellular and anatomical characterization of the serotonergic projection and its receptors, their interaction with other neurotransmitter systems and the determination of the factors regulating the serotonergic system. Through this, the research work aims at understanding how and to what degree the serotonergic system is involved in several neurospychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases.
 
Raphe fibers, that have been tracked with an anterograde neuronal tracer known as BDA, project onto inhibitory calbindin containing neurons in the medium septum.

Funding:

Funding received from the Lundbeck foundation and the Danish Medical Research Academy, Augustinus Foundation, Simon Fougner Hartmanns Family, the Foundation for Research in Neurology and the Sawmiller’s Jeppe Juhl and wife Ovita Juhls memorial award.

Selected publications:

  1. Aznar S, Knudsen GM. Serotonin induces decrease of 5-HT1A immunoreactivity in organotypic hippocampal cultures. NeuroReport 2001;12:3909-12.
  2. Aznar S, Qian Z, Shah R, Rahbek B, Knudsen GM. The 5-HT1A receptor is located on calbindin- and parvalbumin-containing neurons in the rat brain. Brain Res 2003;959:58-67.
  3. Aznar S, Qian Z, Knudsen GM. Non-serotonergic dorsal and median raphe projection on parvalbumin- and calbindin-containing interneurons in hippocampus and septum. Neuroscience 2004;124(3):573-81.
  4. Sveen ML, Knudsen GM, Aznar S. No effect of MDMA (ecstasy) on cell death and 5-HT2A receptor density in organotypic hippocampal cultures. Neurosci Lett 2004;362:6-9.
  5. Aznar S, Kostova V, Christiansen SH, Knudsen GM. Alpha 7 nicotinic receptor subunit is present on serotonin neurons projecting to hippocampus and septum. Synapse 2005;55(3):196-200.
  6. Kornum BR, Licht CL, Weikop P, Knudsen GM, Aznar S. Central serotonin depletion affects rat brain areas differently: A qualitative and quantitative comparison between different treatment schemes. Neurosci Lett 2006;392(1-2):129-34.
  7. Nielsen K, Brask D, Knudsen GM, Aznar S. Immunodetection of the serotonin transporter protein is a more valid marker for serotonergic fibers than serotonin. Synapse 2006;59(5):270-6.
  8. Kornum BR, Weikop P, Møller A, Rønn LCB, Knudsen GM, Aznar S. Serotonin depletion results in a decrease of the neuronal activation caused by Rivastigmine in the rat hippocampus. Brain Res 2006;1073-4:262-8.
  9. Husum H, Aznar S, Høyer-Hansen S, Hald Larsen M, Mikkelsen JD, Møller A, Mathé AA, Wörtwein G. Exacerbated age-related loss of hippocampal BrdU, NPY and 5-HT positive cells in the Flinders sensitive line rat, a rat model of depression. J Neurosci Res 2006;84:1292-1302.
  10. Trajkovska V, Marcussen AB, Christensen MV, Aznar S Knudsen GM. Measurements of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF): Methodological aspects and demographical data. Brain Res Bull 2007;73(1-3):143-9.
  11. Severino M, Pedersen AF, Christensen EG, Trajkovska V, Lohals R, Vang LM, Knudsen GM, Aznar S. Selective immunolesion of cholinergic neurons leads to long-term changes in 5-HT2A receptor levels in hippocampus and frontal cortex. Neurosci Lett 2007;428(1):47-51.
  12. Trajkovska V, Vinberg M, Aznar S, Knudsen GM, Kessing LV. Whole blood BDNF levels in unaffected twins discordant for affective disorder and association to life events and neuroticism. J Affect Disord 2008;108(1-2):165-9.
  13. Christensen R, Marcussen AB, Wörtwein G, Knudsen GM, Aznar S. Abeta (1-42) injection causes memory impairment, lowered cortical and serum BDNF levels, and decreased hippocampal 5-HT2A levels. Exp Neurol 2008;210(1):164-71. Commentary to article in Exp Neurol 2008;212:251-4.
  14. Hansen HH, Masotte L, Seutin V, Aznar S, Mikkelsen JD. Kv7 channels: Interaction with dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission in the CNS. J Physiol 2008;586(7):1823-32.