Lorentzen

They are tiny and hairy and sit on almost all of our cells. Of course we are talking about cilia, protein structures that are key to numerous functions of our body. However, if their assembly is incorrect or incomplete, patients are unable to hear and their kidneys would lose the ability to filtrate blood. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Biochemistry in Munich-Martinsried, Germany, have now been able to elucidate a fundamental mechanism mediating the transport of new building blocks to the cilia. “The mechanism we investigated can explain how the cell provides new material for the cilia and how failures in this process lead to diseases like deafness“, says André Mourão, first author of the study. more

Tiny hair-like structures (cilia) are found on the surface of most cells. Cilia are responsible for the locomotion of cells (e.g. sperm cells), they process external signals and coordinate the correct arrangement of the inner organs during the development of an organism. For proper assembly and function of cilia, they need to be supplied with the appropriate building blocks. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) in Martinsried near Munich, Germany, now identified the mechanism of how Tubulin, the main building block of cilia, is transported within the cilium. The result have now been published in the journal Science. more

The European Research Council (ERC) encourages excellent basic research in Europe in order to promote visionary projects and open up new interdisciplinary science areas. Three young group leaders of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) in Martinsried near Munich succeeded in obtaining one of the coveted “ERC Starting Grants”. Spread over a period of five years, Esben Lorentzen, Andreas Pichlmair and Frank Schnorrer will receive € 1.5 million each for their research projects. Due to their scientific achievements until now they were the winners against several thousand competitors. At the beginning of this year, the European Research Council already honored an MPIB-scientist, when Director Elena Conti received the “ERC Advanced Grant”.

Delivery Service for Cilia more

The European Molecular Biology Organisation EMBO stands for Europe-wide cutting-edge research in life sciences. EMBO supports young talented researchers in their career and systematically stimulates national and international scientific exchange. Now the organisation has acknowledged the outstanding research work of three scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB): Esben Lorentzen and Frank Schnorrer received the EMBO Young Investigator Award, Jürg Müller was elected as an EMBO member. more