Christian Wegener
Research Interest
Adult fruit flies have only about 130,000 neurons (compared to about 20,000,000,000 neurons in the human brain), but nearly as many neuropeptides as humans or other mammals. Neuropeptides are intercellular signalling molecules that modulate (fine-tune) neural networks in the nervous system, enabling them to perform astonishingly complex tasks and integration. As hormones, peptides also serve as chemical information carriers between peripheral tissues and the brain.
My research interests focus on the role of neuroendocrine peptides in the circadian control of behaviour, metabolism and development and their importance for insect adaptation to a daily changing environment.
- Peptidergic coordination of central and peripheral clocks
- Circadian control of eclosion behaviour
- The role of brain-gut peptides in the control of feeding behaviour
- Circadian control of neuroendocrine systems
- Neurogenetics of peptide processing
- Peptidomics
