Sabine Hölter-Koch | Helmholtz Munich

Group Leader, Institute of Experimental Genetics, Research Group "Behaviour, Brain & Metabolism"

+49 89 3187 3674 sabine.hoelter-koch@helmholtz-munich.de

Building / Room: 35.32, 206

“I want to contribute to a better understanding of the genetic underpinnings of brain disorders. Given that most genes have pleiotropic effects, a comprehensive view is essential.”

Sabine M. Hölter studied biology, focusing on animal physiology and neurobiology, at the University of Tübingen and the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, and received her PhD in Behavioural Pharmacology from the University of Tübingen in 1998. After conducting her postdoc at the Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry in Munich working on rat and mouse models of alcoholism, she joined the new Institute of Developmental Genetics of Prof. Wolfgang Wurst at Helmholtz Munich in 2001. Here she contributed to the founding of the German Mouse Clinic by establishing the Behavioural Screen, which she is leading since 2001, and started the Research Group “Behavioural Neuroscience”. Her research into translationally relevant aspects of genetic mouse models aims to unveil pleiotropic gene functions and the genetic contributions to neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative and rare diseases to identify new treatment options.

Sabine contributed as Workpackage Leader to the European projects EUMORPHIA (FP5) and EUMODIC (FP6) that paved the way for the establishment of the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium in 2011 by developing mouse phenotyping pipelines and validating their robustness in cross-laboratory comparisons. In 2018 she completed her habilitation in Behavioural Neuroscience at Technical University Munich, where she is teaching Behavioural Biology since 2019. In 2024 Sabine became PI in the German Centre for Mental Health (DZPG) Munich site where she is co-leading the infrastructure “Model Systems”, and in 2025 she joined the Institute of Experimental Genetics as leader of the Research Group “Behaviour, Brain & Metabolism”.

She is currently Vice Chair of the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, Chair of the ECNP Network Preclinical Data Forum, and member of the EBRAINS Science & Technology Committee. She also served as coordinator of the “Predictive Model Systems” cluster of the European Brain Research Area, and as Science Communication Coordinator of COST Action CA20135 which advances automated monitoring technologies for biomedical research and animal welfare.

Mouse Phenotyping Behavioural Neuroscience Genetics Brain-body interaction Neurodevelopmental disorders Neurodegenerative disorders Rare diseases Home Cage Monitoring Science Communication

“I am particularly proud of the achievements of the IMPC. It is a unique, large-scale database of comprehensive phenotyping data of both male and female mice, serving the scientific community.”

Since 2025

Since 2024

Since 2022

2021 – 2025

2021 – 2022

2010

Helmholtz funded “Effective Managing and Performance” course

2005-2006

Helmholtz Network Mentoring Programme for Leadership

1990-1991

German Academic Exchange Service fellowship

See all Publications

Lorenz SM, Wahida A, Bostock M, Seibt T, Emler D, Santos Dias Mourao A, Trümbach D, Rothammer N, Woo MS, Sonner JK, Mishima E, Nakamura T, Itoh J, Doll S, Proneth B, Bürkle E, Rizzollo F, Napolitano V, Kolonko-Adamska M, Gaussman S, van San E, Vanden Berghe T, Hass D, Maida A, Puentes LP, Lenberg J, Friedman J, Scale C, Henkelmann B, Aldrovandi M, Agostinis P, Zimprich A, Jiang Y, Vogt-Weisenhorn D, Garrett L, Hölter SM, Fuchs H, Westmeyer GG, Wurst W, Lewerenz J, Steinacker P, Garcia-Saez AJ, Tietze A, Kumar Ramesh S, Ayton S, Friese MA, Wigby K, Sattler M, Mann M, Ingold I, Jayavelu AK, Popowicz GM, Conrad M.

A fin-loop-like structure in GPX4 underlies neuroprotection from ferroptosis

Hölter SM, Cacheiro P, Smedley D, Lloyd KDK

IMPC impact on preclinical mouse models

Garrett L, Trümbach D, Lee D, Mandillo S, Samaco R, Flenniken AM, Stewart M, IMPC Consortium, White JK, McKerlie C, Nutter LMJ, Vukobradovic I, Veeraragavan S, Yuva L, Heaney JD, Dickinson ME, Meziane H, Herault Y, Wells S, Lloyd KCK, Bower L, Lanoue L, Clary D, Zimprich A, Gailus-Durner V, Fuchs H, Brown SDM, Chesler EJ, Wurst W, Hrabě de Angelis M, Hölter SM

Co-expression of prepulse inhibition and schizophrenia genes in the mouse and human brain

Giusti SA, Pino NS, Pannunzio C, Ogando MB, Armando NG, Garrett L, Zimprich A, Becker L, Gimeno ML, Lukin J, Merino FL, Belen Pardi M, Pedroncini O, Di Mauro GC, Gailus-Durner V, Fuchs H, Hrabě de Angelis M, Patop IL, Turck CW, Deussing JM, Vogt Weisenhorn DM, Jahn O, Kadener S, Hölter SM, Brose N, Giesert F, Wurst W, Marin-Burgin A, Refojo D

A brain-enriched circular RNA controls excitatory neurotransmission and restricts sensitivity to aversive stimuli

Kahnau P, Mieske P, Wilzopolski J, Kalliokoski O, Mandillo S, Hölter SM, Voikar V, Amfim A, Badurek S, Bartelik A, Caruso A, Cater M, Ey E, Golini E, Jaap A, Hrncic D, Kiryk A, Lang B, Loncarevic-Vasiljkovic N, Meziane H, Radzeviciene A, Rivalan M, Scattoni ML, Torquet N, Trifkovic J, Ulfhake B, Thöne-Reineke C, Diederich K, Lewejohann L, Hohlbaum K

A systematic review of the development and application of home cage monitoring in laboratory mice and rats

Fosse V, Oldoni E, Andreu AL, Bietrix F, Budillon A, Daskalopoulos EP, Fratelli M, Gerlach B, Groenen PMA, Hölter SM, McCormack E, Menon JML, Mobasheri A, Osborne N, Ritskes-Hoitinga M, Ryll B, Schmitt E, The PERMIT group

Recommendations for robust and reproducible preclinical research in personalised medicine

Calame D, Guo T, Wang C, Garrett L, Jolly A, Dawood M, Kurolap A, Zunz Henig N, Fatih JM, Herman I, Du H, Mitani T, Becker L, Rathkolb B, Seisenberger C, Marschall S, Hunter JV, Gerard A, Heidlebaugh A, Challman T, Spillmann R, Jhangiani SH, Coban-Ademir Z, Lalani S, Revah-Politi A, Iglesias A, Guzman E, Baugh E, Boddaert N, Rondeau S, Clothide O, Barcia G, Tan QKG, Thiffault I, Sheikh K, Biliciler S, Mei D, Melani F, Shashi V, Yaron Y, Steele M, Wakeling E, Ostergaard E, Nazaryan-Petersen L, Undiagnosed Disease Network, Torti E, Thevenon J, Bruel AL, Thauvin-Robinet C, Popp D, Platzer K, Mokry J, Marafi D, Pehlivan D, Posey JE, Gibbs RA, Gailus-Durner V, Guerrini R, Fuchs H, Hrabě de Angelis M, Hölter SM, Cheung HH, Gu S, Lupski JR

Monoallelic variation in DHX9, the gene encoding the DExH-box helicase DHX9, underlies neurodevelopment disorders and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

Xie K, Fuchs H, Scifo E, Liu D, Aziz A, Aguilar-Pimentel JA, Amarie OV, Becker L, da Silva-Buttkus P, Calzada-Wack J, Cho YL, Deng Y, Edwards AC, Garrett L, Georgopoulou C, Gerlini R, Hölter SM, Klein-Rodewald T, Leuchtenberger S, Lountzi D, Mayer-Kuckuk P, Nover LL, Oestereicher MA, Overkott C, Pearson BL, Rathkolb B, Rozman J, Russ J, Schaaf K, Spielmann N, Sanz-Moreno A, Stoeger C, Treise I, Bano D, Busch DH, Graw J, Klingenspor M, Klopstock T, Mock BA, Salomoni P, Schmidt-Weber C, Weiergräber M, Wolf E, Wurst W, Gailus-Durner V, Breteler MMB, Hrabě de Angelis M, Ehninger D

Deep Phenotyping and Lifetime Trajectories Reveal Limited Effects of Longevity Regulators on the Aging Process in C57BL/6J Mice

Giehrl-Schwab J, Giesert F, Rauser B, Lao CL, Lefort S, Ibarra IL, Koupourtidou C, Luecken MD, Truong DJ, Fischer-Sternjak J, Ninkovic J, Hölter SM, Vogt Weisenhorn DM, Theis FJ, Götz M, Wurst W

Parkinson´s disease motor symptoms rescue by CRISPRa-reprogramming astrocytes into GABAergic neurons

Ung MC, Garrett L, Dalke C, Leitner V, Hladik D, Neff F, Wagner F, Zitzelsberger H, Miller G, Hrabě de Angelis M, Rößler U, Vogt Weisenhorn D, Wurst W, Graw J, Hölter SM

Dose-dependent long-term effects of a single radiation event on behaviour and glial cells