Meet The Hopp Lab

Microglia in Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders

Microglia are the resident immune cells of the brain. Normally microglia support neurons and perform homeostatic functions in the central nervous system. However, during Alzheimer’s disease, microglia get overwhelmed, fail to perform their normal functions, and promote a neurotoxic environment. Microglia are also dysfunctional in many disorders. The goal of the Hopp Lab is to understand why microglia get overwhelmed and how to reverse their dysfunction during Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders. We use cell culture and transgenic mouse models to approach these problems.

Hopp Lab Team

The Hopp Lab is committed to diversity and equity in STEM education and is excited to mentor trainees at all levels in the lab. Sarah is affiliated with UT Health San Antonio's Integrated Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program's subdisciplines in Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, and Biology of Aging as well as the South Texas Medical Scientist Training Program and Research Connect for UTHSA MD students. Undergraduate students should feel free to reach out to Sarah for current openings in the lab or apply to the UT Health SURF or SPUR programs. Postdoctoral applicants should also contact Sarah directly for potential openings.

Assistant Professor

Department of Pharmacology

Biggs Institute

Dr. Sarah Hopp, PhD

Sarah received her S.B. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT where they conducted undergraduate research at the Whitehead Institute and Novartis and post-bac research at EnVivo Pharmaceuticals. Sarah obtained a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Ohio State University under the mentorship of Dr. Gary Wenk and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Dr. Brad Hyman at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School. In September of 2018 the Hopp Lab opened at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Outside of the lab, Sarah is a dedicated cat parent and also enjoys pottery, hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities.

Lab Manager

Sabrina Smith

Sabrina grew up in San Antonio, TX and received a B.S in Biology and B.A in Anthropology from the University of Texas San Antonio. Sabrina has worked for UT Health for 14+ years doing various forms of research. Outside of the lab, she enjoys outdoor activities and reading.

PhD Candidate in Neuroscience

Kristian Odfalk

Kristian grew up in Sweden, New York, and Texas. Kristian received his Bachelor of Science in biotechnology from the University of Houston. While at the University of Houston, Kristian conducted research during summer internships at University of Texas Medical Branch and Glycos Biotechnologies on genetics and bioprocessing, respectively. After college, Kristian worked as a research technician in the Mouse Phenotyping Core at Baylor College of Medicine where he conducted research for the Knockout Mouse Project and co-authored a publication in PLOS Genetics (Swan. et. al. 2020). At UT Health in the Hopp Lab, Kristian is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in integrated biomedical sciences with a neuroscience focus. While in his second year, Kristian was awarded the NIH Neuroscience training grant (T32 NS082145). Kristian is an active member of the student council at UT Health and consistently engages in community outreach. Outside of lab, Kristian enjoys creative hobbies like drawing, playing music, cooking, or homebrewing.

Caitlyn Fastenau Professional Heahshot.jpg

PhD Candidate in Biology of Aging

Co-mentored by Dr. Kevin Bieniek

Caitlyn Fastenau

Caitlyn Fastenau grew up in Ventura, California. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology and Aging & Adult Development from the University of California, Davis in June 2020. During her undergraduate career, Caitlyn participated in the Biological Undergraduate Scholars Program where she received yearly funding for scientific research. While at UC Davis, Caitlyn conducted research in Dr. Beth Ober’s lab that focused on changes in emotion-based episodic memory in mild cognitive impairment and clinical interventions for patients. At UT Health in the Hopp Lab, Caitlyn is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Biology of Aging, interested in translation between mouse and human models. Outside of the lab, she enjoys spending time in nature hiking, flexing her limited crafting skills, and watching true crime documentaries. Caitlyn also enjoys working with her community to educate children on STEM education.

PhD Student in Physiology and Pharmacology

Co-Mentored by Dr. Juan Pablo Palavicini

Juliet Garcia Rogers

Juliet grew up in Texas and received her B.S. in Biology and Psychology (Magnum Cum Laude) from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in May 2022. She joined the UT Health San Antonio PREP post-bac training program and has been working on characterizing the phenotype of novel late-onset mouse models of Alzheimer's disease in the Hopp and Palavicini labs. She started in the UT Health San Antonio Physiology and Pharmacology PhD program in August of 2023.

Lab Alumnus

PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology, 2023

Dr. Jessica Wickline, PhD

Jessica grew up in Clinton, IL. She received her B.S. in molecular and cellular biology with a minor in chemistry from Illinois State University in 2017. While at Illinois State University, Jessica conducted research in Dr. Marjorie Jones’ lab on Leishmania and has one first author paper, in addition to giving multiple poster presentations. Jessica completed her PhD in Physiology and Pharmacology in 2023 and served as a student council member and W.I.S.D.O.M. board member. She is currently pursuing postdoctoral training through the Laboratory Leadership Fellowship at the CDC. Outside of the lab, Jessica is the proud mom of three cats and enjoys crafts, hiking, and reading books.

Jessica Wickline successfully defends her dissertation

March 13th 2023

Lab Projects

What we're currently working on

Click here for a full list of publications

Cav1 calcium channels in Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders

Chronic neuroinflammation induces calcium dysregulation via a variety of mechanisms which is thought to contribute to memory deficits and neurotoxicity. Our work so far has found that this dysregulation is reversible by chronic treatment with L-type calcium channel blockers which can also reverse memory deficits, reduce microglia activation, and alter amyloid pathology. However, it is unclear what cells these drugs targeting.

We are currently investigating L-type calcium channels, specifically Cav1.2 and Cav1.3, and their role in calcium dysregulation during Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders using genetic and pharmacological manipulation.

Microglia interaction with tau pathology

Microglia are found near tau tangle-bearing neurons in Alzheimer’s disease brains. It has long been assumed that microglia associate with these pathological aggregates to facilitate clearance of these deposits, although since the lesions persist there is clearly a failure in this process. Our work so far has found that microglia from tangle-bearing mouse and human brains contain tau aggregates and these aggregates are capable of inducing tau misfolding in recipient cells. Furthermore, microglia can engulf tau but only partially reduce its ability to transmit aggregates. Overall this work demonstrates a dual role for microglia in tau pathology: one of beneficial clearance and another of contribution to pathology.

Our work currently aims to determine the mechanism by which microglia uptake tau and to identify what mechanism is dysfunctional in microglia degradation of tau to identify manipulations that can improve microglia-mediated tau degradation.

Microglial sialylation in aging and Alzheimer's disease

Terminal sialic acid carbohydrate groups on glycosylated aggregate-associated and microglia-associated proteins and lipids also can regulate molecular machinery involved in recognition, degradation, and neurotoxicity of plaques, tangles, and other neurodegenerative protein aggregates.

Our preliminary data suggest that plaque-associated microglia display distinct enhancement of sialylation that has not been observed previously. We are currently working to characterize the localization and function of these sialic acid residues on microglia function in aging and Alzheimer's pathology.