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Katja Kobow

@katjakobow.bsky.social

170 followers 220 following 23 posts

Epigenetics enthusiast. Working in molecular neuropathology 🧠🔬🧬 @FAU.de. Visiting scientist @UKL_Leipzig. Malformations and #epilepsy. DNA methylation and #aging. kobowlab.org

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Reposted by Katja Kobow

Ewan Birney @ewanbirney.bsky.social · 10h

A reminder that the PhD program for EMBL is open for winter recruitment round. If you want to understand life at a molecular level and have a quantitative science (you don't have to have done biology - we love our mathematicians/physcists/chemists!) apply www.embl.org/about/info/e...

Application – EMBL International PhD Programme

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 9h

Did you know that people with #epilepsy have a significantly reduced life expectancy and an increased burden of age-related comorbidities? Our new study „Time flies faster in epilepsy“ lnkd.in/d28QCtMS looks into how biological aging contributes to the disease.

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 1d

Take-home message:
Epilepsy and aging intersect at the molecular level.
Recognizing accelerated epigenetic aging as part of epileptogenesis may reshape how we understand, and eventually treat, epilepsy.

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 1d

Why it’s important:
These results identify biological aging as a mechanistic feature of epilepsy, opening new perspectives for intervention and disease modification possibly through targeting aging pathways.

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 1d

In mice:
Findings were confirmed. Moreover, accelerated aging in some animals appeared before seizures developed, indicating it is not merely a consequence of epilepsy, but part of the epileptogenic process itself.

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 1d

What we found:
🧠 Epileptic brain tissue showed accelerated biological aging compared to non-epileptic autopsy controls.
🩸 Blood samples revealed similar patterns, across different etiologies.
🧬 The brain aged faster than the blood.

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 1d

What we did:
We analyzed DNA methylation from surgical brain and blood samples of 298 epilepsy patients (structural and genetic forms) and compared them to controls.
We also studied an mTOR mouse model of epilepsy.

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 1d

The question:
Is accelerated biological aging measured by “epigenetic clocks” involved in epilepsy? While these clocks have linked aging to cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases, their role in epilepsy was unknown.

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 1d

Why it matters: People with epilepsy have a 10-12 years reduced life expectancy and an increased burden of age-related comorbidities. Seizures trigger molecular and cellular hallmarks of aging, yet direct evidence for accelerated aging in epilepsy has been lacking.

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 1d

Have you ever thought that #epilepsy may not just be a disorder of hyperexcitable neurons, but it may also be one of premature molecular #aging?

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · 1d

New preprint from the lab: „Time flies faster in epilepsy“ now available on Research Gate www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7.... Great collaboration with Sarah Weckhuysen, Premysl Jiruska, Johannes Lemke and many more.

Time flies faster in epilepsy

People with epilepsy have a significantly reduced life expectancy and an increased burden of age-related comorbidities, raising the possibility that epilepsy accelerates biological aging. Seizures tri...

www.researchsquare.com

Reposted by Katja Kobow

Brain Ablaze @brainablaze.bsky.social · 4d

SUDEP or SUdden Death in Epilepsy affects about 1 in 1000 people with Epilepsy annually. - Have your doctors told you about your risks of SUDEP? #EpilepsyAwareness

brainablaze.com/the-brain-ab...

026: Mortality - The Brain Ablaze Epilepsy Podcast

We stare down the monster that has plagued our Epilepsy community for decades, SUDEP, or SUdden Death from EPilepsy.

brainablaze.com

Reposted by Katja Kobow

Epilepsia Journal @epilepsiajournal.bsky.social · 23d

New in Epilepsia – September 13, 2025
mailchi.mp/ilae/new-art...

Subscribe - eepurl.com/iLSrNc

#epilepsy #epilepsia #ILAE #EpilepsyResearch #NewInEpilepsy #JustPublished #LatestResearch

Reposted by Katja Kobow

Exploring Brain Mechanics @ebmresearch.bsky.social · 24d

Upcoming EBM Virtual Brain Talk 🧠

We are excited to announce our next virtual brain talk:
"There and back again - The translational journey in modern Neurosurgery"

Speaker: Prof. Dr.med. Oliver Schnell (UKER, Germany)
📅 22.09.2025
⏰ 4:00 PM (CEST)
💻 Online via Zoom

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · Aug 30

#IEC2025 started today in Lisbon. Looking forward to 5 days full of learnings and meeting friends from around the globe, including clinicians, basic scientists, and people with #epilepsy

Reposted by Katja Kobow

katja heuer @k4tj4.bsky.social · Jul 27

1
To predict the behaviour of a primate, would you rather base your guess on a closely related species or one with a similar brain shape? We looked at brains & behaviours of 70 species, you’ll be surprised!

🧵Thread on our new preprint with @r3rt0.bsky.social , doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Brain Surfaces of 70 primate species

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · Jul 2

Searching for a #postdoc opportunity in Europe? Are you interested in neuroinflammation, immunometabolism and/or epilepsy research?? 🧠 Apply now and work with a great team at RCSI in beautiful Dublin my.corehr.com/pls/coreportal.
@Futureneuro_ie @RCSIPharmBioMol
*****Closing date 16th July*****

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · May 14

The film tells the story of Kenyans living with epilepsy and the pain, isolation, and harm they have suffered because of discrimination and deeply embedded cultural beliefs. By telling their truth, and the truth about epilepsy, they overcome shame – the ultimate curse of epilepsy stigma.

Katja Kobow @katjakobow.bsky.social · May 14

Epilepsy stigma has existed since ancient times and persists in various degrees throughout the world. Fight stigma! Watch this beautiful, intimate, and powerful film and share. #StigmaOfEpilepsy youtube.com/watch?v=-JQN...

The Curse of Stigma Documentary Film

YouTube video by Whitten Newman Foundation

Reposted by Katja Kobow

Denis Jabaudon @djabaudon.bsky.social · May 5

Why does the forebrain expand dramatically while other neural regions grow less? Our new publication reveals progenitor metabolism critically shapes region-specific brain growth. Thread below. authors.elsevier.com/a/1k-udL7PXu...

Reposted by Katja Kobow

Society for Neuroscience @sfn.org · May 5

Has a colleague's work influenced your research?

Has a mentor guided your neuroscience career?

Don’t miss a chance to pay it forward by nominating them for a 2025 SfN Award or Prize.

🚨 Submit your nomination by the new deadline: Thursday, May 15.

🔗 bit.ly/4iXFGLz

#NeuroSky

Reposted by Katja Kobow

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Apr 27

This is definitely worth a read... This is what conscience and courage look like...

www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1513/...

1/n

With Sadness and Resolve: Why I Resigned as Chief Medical Officer of an NIH Institute and What Comes Next | Annals of the American Thoracic Society | Articles in Press

www.atsjournals.org

Reposted by Katja Kobow

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · Apr 19

"On Tyranny" is a #1 NYT bestseller again. I wish the moment were different. But I’m glad the book is useful. And grateful for all the kind words about putting the 20 lessons to work.
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow

Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing

snyder.substack.com

Reposted by Katja Kobow

Shicheng Guo @shihcheng.bsky.social · Apr 19

Study reveals CA1 place cells in mice encode space and goals equally; mechanisms and experience unclear. Insights into 1:1 balance! PMID:40169932, Nat Neurosci 2025, @NatureNeuro https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01930-5 #Medsky #Pharmsky #RNA #ASHG #ESHG 🧪

Mechanisms of experience-dependent place-cell referencing in hippocampal area CA1 - Nature Neuroscience

Through multiday imaging and acute whole-cell recordings in behaving mice, Qian, Li and Magee provide insight into place field formation in general and specifically how the hippocampus adaptively remaps for flexible goal-directed navigation.

Reposted by Katja Kobow

Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · Apr 8

Do we owe multicellularity to the ability to handle pressure? "We show that uniaxial compression induces clonal multicellularity in haloarchaea, forming tissue-like structures."

Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · Apr 8

How did life go from solo cells to many coordinating ones? Perhaps a bit of pressure. That story and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

When subjected to mechanical pressure, the salt-loving archaeon Haloferax volcanii grows bigger and bigger before fragmenting into a tissue-like, multicellular network. Rados et al./Science (2025)