Research

How Organelles are Getting Their Shapes

Eukaryotic organisms have evolved a complex, dynamic, and highly interconnected intracellular membrane system, the organelles. The segmentation of the cellular interior has the advantage that chemical and cellular processes can be segregated into these ‘reaction chambers’, separating them from the cytosol. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for inducing and maintaining the characteristic shape of cellular organelles in the highly dynamic environment of the cell are poorly understood.

Our research mission is to understand molecular mechanisms, governing membrane trafficking and organelle biogenesis. To address these fundamental questions in membrane biology, we will combine a variety of techniques, including in vitro reconstitution of cellular processes, biophysical analysis of protein-membrane interactions, and structural biology (x-ray crystallography of membrane or membrane associated proteins, cryo-Electron-microscopy of reconstituted protein-membrane assemblies).

Recombinant-expressed and fluorescent-labeled proteins or protein-complexes will be reconstituted on artificial membranes such as supported lipid bilayers and large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) or giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). Advanced fluorescence microscopy techniques will be used to analyze the spatial-temporal assembly of these proteins at the membrane.