Willkommen beim Sonderforschungsbereich 1208
Congratulations on an excellent exam, Claudia!
On March 16th, 2020, Claudia Hoppen completed her doctorate in an excellent manner. She defended her PhD thesis on "Functional and Structural Characterisation of Copper Chaperon Interactions with the Ethylene Receptor Family" with "summa cum laude" and thus received her doctorate.
Claudia is team member of the SFB 1208 subproject B06 and within the Graduate School "MB Train". Her supervisor is Prof. Dr. Georg Groth.
Due to the corona virus and the related restrictions in university operations, the doctoral thesis was only carried out within the framework of the examiners. Nevertheless, we sincerely congratulate Claudia on passing the examination and wish her every success in the future.
Chlamydia build their own entrance into human cells - Publication in PNAS
Chlamydia, a type of pathogenic bacteria, need to penetrate human cells in order to multiply. Researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have now identified the bacterial protein SemC, which is secreted into the cell and restructures the cell membrane at the entry site. SemC forces the cell’s own protein SNX9 to assist it in this process. Together with scientists from Paris and Munich, a team of researchers working under Prof. Dr. Johannes Hegemann and Dr. Katja Mölleken has published these findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
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There are two types of Chlamydia that infect humans: Chlamydia trachomatis and Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn). The former trigger sexual diseases, while Cpn lead to acute infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract. Cpn are also linked to various chronic diseases such as bronchitis and asthma as well as to lung cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and atherosclerosis. The majority of the German population will be infected with these bacteria over the course of their lives.
In order to invade the human cell, the Chlamydia must first penetrate the human cell’s membrane, known as the ‘plasma membrane’ (PM). The membrane comprises a lipid bilayer with proteins stored inside. By indenting parts of the PM, the cell can absorb fluid and particles from its environment into the cell interior, a process referred to as ‘endocytosis’.
Pathogens such as Chlamydia, which also need to get inside the cell, hijack the endocytosis mechanism for their own ends. Prof. Dr. Johannes Hegemann’s working group at the HHU Institute of Functional Microbial Genomics has now identified a chlamydial protein that plays the decisive role in penetration of Cpn into the human cell. The protein is named SemC, and it was discovered by Dr. Gido Murra from Prof. Hegemann’s working group.
In a first step, the Chlamydium succeeds in secreting SemC into the host cell. The fellow researchers from the Pasteur Institute in Paris were able to demonstrate that SemC is transported directly by the bacterium into the cell interior using a mechanism employed by many pathogenic bacteria that resembles a ‘protein needle’. Once inside the cell, the protein binds to the inner side of the PM and changes its structure locally. This changes the design of the membrane, bending it more than normal. Dr. Katja Mölleken has this to say: “With SemC, we have discovered the very first protein of an infectious agent that is able to change the PM in this way.”
The more pronounced membrane curvature triggered by SemC then causes the body’s own protein SNX9 to bind to this site, where it binds both to the curved membrane and to the SemC waiting there, thus amplifying the curvature even more. The SNX9 protein is essential for the endocytosis processes in human cells, as it builds up the actin cytoskeleton at the indented PM. The binding of SNX9 to the PM, caused by SemC, then allows the Chlamydium to penetrate the cell from the outside through a process of endocytosis at the curved part of the PM and to continue to multiply inside the cell. “The structure of the PM of the host cell is therefore an important factor in facilitating the infection of a cell by the pathogen,” emphasises Dr. Sebastian Hänsch. And Dominik Spona adds: “In this way, the bacterium basically creates its own door into the cell.”
The research group has found further important evidence of the interaction between SNX9 and SemC induced by Cpn. The scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Munich created human cells in which the quantity of SNX9 protein had been heavily reduced. Dominik Spona explains: “In these cells, it was much more difficult for Cpn to use endocytosis to penetrate the plasma membrane and to infect the cell.”
The discovery opens up new possibilities for treating chlamydial infections and for developing targeted vaccines to fight off the bacteria at an early stage. Head of the working group, Prof. Hegemann, says: “Once the precise mechanism has been decoded, potential points of attack can be identified for blocking this mechanism, for example by inhibiting the binding of SemC to the PM or to the body’s own SNX9 protein.”
Original publication
Sebastian Hänsch, Dominik Spona, Gido Murra, Karl Köhrer, Agathe Subtil, Ana Rita Furtado, Stephan F. Lichtenthaler, Bastian Dislich, Katja Mölleken, and Johannes H. Hegemann, Chlamydia-induced curvature of the host-cell plasma membrane is required for infection, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Jan 21. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911528117
See also: Andrea Du Toit, Bend out of shape. Research Highlight in: Nature Reviews Microbiology. 2020 Feb 21. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41579-020-0339-6
Arne Claussen
Superresolution live-cell imaging provides unexpected insights into the dynamic structure of mitochondria - Publication in EMBO Reports
As power plants and energy stores, mitochondria are essential components of almost all cells in plants, fungi and animals. Until now, it has been assumed that these functions underlie a static structure of mitochondrial membranes. Researchers at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have now discovered that the inner membranes of mitochondria are by no means static, but rather constantly change their structure every few seconds in living cells.
This dynamic adaptation process further increases the performance of our cellular power plants. "In our opinion, this finding fundamentally changes the way our cellular power plants work and will probably change the textbooks," says Prof. Dr. Andreas Reichert, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I at the HHU. The results are described in a publication in EMBO Reports.
Mitochondria are extremely important components in cells performing vital functions including the regulated conversion of energy from food into chemical energy in the form of ATP. ATP is the energy currency of cells and an adult human being produces (and consumes) approximately 75 kilograms of ATP per day. One molecule of ATP is produced about 20,000 times a day and then consumed again for energy utilization. This immense synthesis capacity takes place in the inner membrane of the mitochondria, which has numerous folds called cristae. It was previously assumed that a specific static structure of the cristae ensured the synthesis of ATP. Whether and to what extent cristae membranes are able to dynamically adapt or alter their structure in living cells and which proteins are required to do so, was unknown.
The research team of Prof. Dr. Andreas Reichert with Dr. Arun Kondadi and Dr. Ruchika Anand from the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I of the HHU in collaboration with the research team of Prof. Dr. Orian Shirihai and Prof. Dr. Marc Liesa from UCLA (USA), also supported by the Center for Advanced Imaging (CAi) of HHU, succeeded for the first time in showing that cristae membranes in living cells continuously change their structure dynamically within seconds within mitochondria. This showed that the cristae membrane dynamics requires a recently identified protein complex, the MICOS complex. Malfunctions of the MICOS complex can lead to various serious diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and a form of mitochondrial encephalopathy with liver damage. After the identification of the first protein component of this complex (Fcj1/Mic60) about ten years ago by Prof. Andreas Reichert and his research group, this is another important step to elucidate the function of the MICOS complex.
"Our now published observations lead to the model that cristae, after membrane fission, can exist for a short time as isolated vesicles within mitochondria and then re-fuse with the inner membrane. This enables an optimal and extremely rapid adaptation to the energetic requirements in a cell," said Prof. Andreas Reichert.
Publication in EMBO Reports: Original publication Kondadi et al. 2020
Twitter: @ReichertLab
Files: Animated video: Cristae membranes dynamically adapt their structures in the living cell
Congratulations Karo!
On Wednesday, 5th of February, 2020, Karolin Montag successfully passed her PhD thesis defense examination on SEC14-like protein interactions with iron transporter IRT1 in plants. Karolin was team member of the SFB 1208 subproject B05 and supervised by Prof. Dr. Petra Bauer and PD Dr. Rumen Ivanov.
Congratulations on her achievement and best wishes to Karolin for her new job!
Congratulations Lena!
On January 30th, 2020, Lena Müller has successfully defended her PhD thesis on "Copper transport and copper transport and coordination chemistry of the copper-binding domain of the ethylene receptor ETR1". Lena Müller is team member of the SFB 1208 subproject B06 and her supervisor is Prof. Dr. Georg Groth.
We sincerely congratulate Lena on passing the examination and wish her every success in the future.
25.11.2019
Collaborative Research Centre 1208 extended!
The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved an extension of the Düsseldorf Collaborative Research Centre 1208 for the analysis of the identity and dynamics of biological membrane systems by a further four years from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2023. The DFG's funding decision confirms that the life sciences play an outstanding role in HHU research.
"Over the past four years, we have laid an excellent foundation on which we can now continue to build. Initially, it was important to expand the respective core projects with the competencies of other groups and thus bring the synergy potential of the research network to life," explains Prof. Dr. Lutz Schmitt, spokesperson of the SFB at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. "40% of our publications would not have been possible without the SFB - we are very proud that our projects are so well integrated".
During the second term of the SFB, the intensive methodological and conceptual collaborations will be expanded to include current methods from physics, chemistry and synthetic life sciences and previously unrepresented membrane systems will be investigated. In this way, the importance of membrane biology and new technical developments are taken into account.
„Dynamics of Membrane Systems“: 2nd International Conference in Düsseldorf
18.03.2019 – On 12.-14. March 2019, the CRC 1208 of Heinrich-Heine-University held his 2nd International Conference „Dynamics of Membrane Systems“. Internationally renowned speakers presented their research on various key areas of membrane research.
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In the Collaborative Research Center 1208 "Identity and Dynamics of Membrane Systems - from Molecules to Cellular Functions", essential biological processes are investigated both on individual molecules in membranes and in the interaction between the different membrane systems. The program of the international conference included talks on the special molecular processes in and on membranes within cells and between cells: "Membrane transporters", "Vesicular transport in biogenesis", "Communication in endomembrane systems" and "Communication between cells - pathogenicity".
Current projects of the participants were presented and discussed on posters. Much attention has also been given to the necessary special set of methods that combine structural, biochemical and cellular techniques to elucidate the molecular and cellular processes on a time scale from nanoseconds to days.
In particular, the informal exchange contributed to the special atmosphere between the invited, experienced and the scientists still at the beginning of their careers. The opportunity to initiate and deepen cooperation has been used at all levels.
The CRC 1208 is pleased about the three successful days in which many new insights were gained and contacts made.
Prof. Toru Fujiwara Mercator Fellow 2018
The CRC 1208 warmly welcomes Prof. Toru Fujiwara from University Tokyo, Japan, as our Mercator Fellow in summer 2018.
Toru Fujiwara leads the Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizers in the Department of Applied Biological Chemistry as a professor at the University of Tokyo.
His group is motivated to elucidate molecular genetics of plant nutrition, cell-to-cell movement of macromolecules and plant responses to nutritional conditions.
Plant nutrition is an important foundation of plant production and our life totally depends on plant production. Living organisms including plants have sophisticated mechanisms to acquire nutrients from environments and a number of biological processes are involved in the nutrient acquisition and utilization. The Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizers study these processes for better understanding or the process and better production of crops/plants. Their field of study includes identification of nutrient transporters, molecular mechanisms of plant response to nutrient conditions, generation of nutrient-stress tolerant plants.
Toru Fujiwara joins the CRC 1208 in SS 2018 to push joint research projects and publications.
Additionally, he will give lectures and methodogical courses on his current research as well as his expertise as referee and editor of scientific journals.
The Collaborative Research Center 1208 looks forward to an exciting and productive cooperation!
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Der SFB 1208 gratuliert:
Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis 2018 für Dr. Eva Nowack
27.03.2018
Düsseldorfer Nachwuchswissenschaftlerin erhält Forschungspreis der DFG für ihre Pionierarbeit zur Evolution eukaryotischer Zellorganellen.
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Dr. Eva Nowack wird mit dem diesjährigen Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis für ihre herausragenden Forschungsarbeiten auf dem Gebiet der Evolution von Organellen eukaryotischer Zellen ausgezeichnet. Insbesondere ihre paradigmenbrechenden Arbeiten zur unabhängigen parallelen Entstehung von photosynthetischen Organellen in der eukaryotischen Entwicklungsgeschichte werden honoriert.
Der mit 20.000 Euro dotierte Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis zählt zu den renommiertesten deutschen Forschungspreisen für den wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchs. Die Auszeichnung ist eine Anerkennung für herausragende Leistungen von Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen und -wissenschaftlern und soll sie darin unterstützen, ihre wissenschaftliche Laufbahn weiterzuverfolgen. Die Auswahl der Preisträgerinnen und -trägern obliegt einem Ausschuss der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) und des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF).
"Ich freue mich sehr über den Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis. Es ist eine große Ehre und eine wertvolle Auszeichnung, die es mir und meiner Arbeitsgruppe ermöglicht, mit Hilfe des Preisgeldes neue Projektideen voranzubringen", bedankt sich Eva Nowack.
Die Emmy-Noether-Gruppenleiterin konnte beweisen, dass Organellen entgegen der etablierten Theorie häufiger als nur zweimal in der eukaryotischen Entwicklungsgeschichte entstanden sind. Damit gelangen ihr wertvolle Einblicke in Zwischenstadien der Integration eines bakteriellen Endosymbionten als eukaryotisches Zellorganell.
"Als hervorragende Nachwuchswissenschaftlerin auf dem Gebiet der Organellenevolution wird Eva Nowack mit dem Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Preis ausgezeichnet. Bereits ihre Pionieruntersuchungen an der photosynthetischen Amöbe Paulinella chromatophora resultierten in bahnbrechenden Entdeckungen, die die wissenschaftliche Sichtweise der Evolution photosynthetischer Organellen aufbrachen und ebenso entscheidend für die gesamte Entwicklung eukaryotischer Zellkompartimente sind. Trotz ihrer relativ jungen Karriere haben ihre Ergebnisse bereits Eingang in Lehrbücher der Biologie gefunden", hebt Prof. Michael Feldbrügge in seiner Würdigung hervor.
Für die diesjährige Preisrunde waren insgesamt 140 Forscherinnen und Forscher aus allen Fachgebieten vorgeschlagen worden. "Die herausragenden Lebensläufe und qualitativ hervorragenden Arbeiten der Kandidatinnen und Kandidaten haben es für den Ausschuss zu einer sehr erfreulichen Aufgabe gemacht, unter ihnen die Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger auszuwählen", sagte die Vorsitzende des Auswahlausschusses, die Mathematikerin und DFG-Vizepräsidentin Prof. Dr. Marlis Hochbruck. Der Preis wurde am 29. Mai 2018 im Rahmen einer Festveranstaltung in Berlin verliehen.
Mit ihrem Forschungsfeld ist Frau Nowack auch in den Forschungsverbund des SFB 1208 zur Dynamik von Membransystemen sowie die Graduiertenschule MOI zu Infektionen an der Heinrich-Heine-Universität eingebunden. Im SFB 1208 untersucht sie die Vorgänge an der Kontaktzone zwischen Wirtszelle und ihren neu erworbenen photosynthetischen Organellen in der Amöbe Paulinella chromatophora (http://www.sfb1208.hhu.de/gruppen-und-projekte.html).
Weiterführende Informationen:
www.uni-duesseldorf.de/home/startseite/news-detailansicht-inkl-gb/article/heinz-maier-leibnitz-preis-2018-in-berlin-an-eva-nowack-verliehen.html
Ausführliche Informationen zum Preis und den bisherigen Preisträgerinnen und Preisträgern finden sich unter: www.dfg.de/maier-leibnitz-preis
„Dynamics of Membrane Systems“:
1. Internationale SFB-Konferenz in Düsseldorf
18.09.2017 – Der SFB 1208 der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Heinrich-Heine-Universität, lud vom 13.-15. September 2017 zu seiner ersten internationalen Konferenz ein. Im Sonderforschungsbereich „Identität und Dynamik von Membransystemen - von Molekülen bis zu zellulären Funktionen“ werden essentielle biologische Prozesse sowohl an einzelnen Molekülen in Membranen als auch im Zusammenspiel zwischen den unterschiedlichen Membransystemen erforscht.
Prof. Dr. Lutz Schmitt, Sprecher des SFB 1208 begrüßte am 13. September 2017 die Forscher aus aller Welt zur 1. Internationalen Konferenz des Sonderforschungsbereichs in Düsseldorf.
Auf dem Programm der ersten internationalen Konferenz standen Vorträge international renommierter Wissenschaftler sowie insbesondere der jungen Wissenschafter des SFB. Vier Themenblöcke gliederten die Fachvorträge zu den speziellen molekularen Prozessen in und an Membranen innerhalb von Zellen und zwischen Zellen: „Membrantransporter“, „Vesikulärer Transport in der Biogenese“, „Kommunikation in Endomembransystemen“ und „Kommunikation zwischen Zellen – Pathogenizität“.
Dem einzigartigen Methodenspektrum, das strukturelle, biochemische und zelluläre Techniken kombiniert, um die molekularen und zellulären Prozesse auf einer Zeitskala von Nanosekunden bis zu Tagen aufklären zu können, war ein weiterer Bereich der Konferenz gewidmet.
Die Konferenz fand im Trinkaus Auditorium der Kunstsammlung K20 in Düsseldorf statt. Im Foyer wurden auf Postern aktuelle Projekte im Bereich der Membranforschung präsentiert. Geladene Sprecher, teilnehmende Wissenschaftler und Mitglieder des SFBs diskutierten ihre Forschungsergebnisse, tauschten sich aus und nutzten die Gelegenheit zur Initiierung und Vertiefung von Kooperationen.
Der SFB 1208 freut sich über die drei gelungenen Tage, welche die Auftaktveranstaltung waren für die nächsten Symposien, welche im Mai 2018 sowie im März 2019 geplant sind.
Neue Professur für Synthetische Membransysteme im SFB 1208:
Herzlich Willkommen, Alexej Kedrov!
Am Freitag, den 07. Juli 2017, wurde Dr. Alexej Kedrov auf die neue Professur "Synthetische Membransysteme" an der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät berufen. Die Professur (W1 tenure track W2) ist in den Sonderforschungsbereich 1208 „Identität und Dynamik von Membransystemen - von Molekülen bis zu zellulären Funktionen" integriert. Professor Lutz Schmitt, Sprecher des SFB 1208, ist überzeugt, dass die neuen Systeme und Techniken von Professor Kedrov den SFB 1208 strategisch verstärken werden.
Vor seinem Wechsel zur Heinrich-Heine-Universität war Alexej Kedrov Projektleiter an der Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität München und Senior Researcher an der Universität Groningen. Mit seiner Arbeit „Observing molecular interactions that determine stability, folding, and functional states of single Na+/H+ antiporters” wurde er 2006 an der Technischen Universität Dresden & International Max Planck Research School promoviert. Sein Forschungsschwerpunkt und seine Expertise konzentrieren sich auf die Effekte macromolekularer Überfüllung bzw. Regulierung in membranassoziierten Vorgängen.
Sein Ziel ist die Analyse der gegenseitigen Erkennung und Zusammenführung von Molekülen in Faltungsprozessen neu entstehender Membranen, für das er Versuchsansätze aus der Biophysik, Biochemie und synthetischen Biologie kombiniert.
Willkommen an der Heinrich-Heine-Universität!
Kontakt:
Prof. Dr. Alexej Kedrov
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Gebäude 26.32.03 Raum 29.
Universitätsstr. 1
40225 Düsseldorf
E-mail: kedrov@hhu.de
Telefon: 0211-81-1373
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