2022 – 2024 – Molecular Mechanisms of Functional Phase Separation

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Temperature-dependent phase separation of RNA binding proteins in chloroplasts
Temperature-dependent phase separation of RNA binding proteins in chloroplasts
Background: Plants as sessile organisms cannot run when challenged by environmental stress, including temperature stress. Instead, they have developed a plethora of sophisticated physiological and molecular reactions to maintain homeostasis. […]
Phase Separation driven Heterochromatin Formation as a Regulatory Mechanism for Repeat Silencing and Cellular Differentiation
Phase Separation driven Heterochromatin Formation as a Regulatory Mechanism for Repeat Silencing and Cellular Differentiation
Pericentric heterochromatin in mouse and Drosophila assembles via heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) in a self-organizing manner into distinct nuclear subcompartments that are called chromocenters. During development chromocenters change their structure […]
Mechanisms of biomolecular condensation in bacterial ribosomal RNA transcription
Mechanisms of biomolecular condensation in bacterial ribosomal RNA transcription
Background: Subcellular organization via biomolecular condensation in prokaryotes has recently gained momentum with the demonstration that the fundamental process of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) transcription takes place within condensates, similar to […]
Dissecting the principles guiding CTCF condensate formation in cellular ageing
Dissecting the principles guiding CTCF condensate formation in cellular ageing
Background: Exhaustion of the replicative potential of human cells signals their commitment to an irreversible state of cell cycle arrest known as senescence. Entry into senescence, where cells remain metabolically […]
Condensation of Ribosomal Proteins in Ribosome Biogenesis and Neurological Ribosomopathy
Condensation of Ribosomal Proteins in Ribosome Biogenesis and Neurological Ribosomopathy
The formation of membrane-less cellular compartments by liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) relies on the unique physico-chemistry of molecules. These biomolecular condensates can separate and concentrate molecules within the cell, creating […]
Molecular mechanisms of physiological and aberrant phase transitions
Molecular mechanisms of physiological and aberrant phase transitions
The Alberti and Seidel teams will join forces to investigate the conformational dynamics of Fused in Sarcom (FUS) in vitro and in living cells using cutting-edge single molecule technology such […]
Phase Separation of Ki-67 during Mitotic Exit
Phase Separation of Ki-67 during Mitotic Exit
Recent studies have demonstrated that membrane-less condensates assemble by liquid-liquid phase separation of proteins that share multivalency, intrinsic disorder and low complexity sequences as common characteristics. The details of the […]
Conformational Selection in Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation: Protein folding and aggregation pathways in the cytoplasm and stress granules
Conformational Selection in Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation: Protein folding and aggregation pathways in the cytoplasm and stress granules
Phase separation is considered a crucial process in disease progression, since proteins involved in amyloid-associated pathologies, like FUS, play also a crucial role in phase separation. FUS contains, like other […]
Molecular Mechanisms of Functionally Distinct Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of Drosophila Loqs, Ago2 and dsRNA
Molecular Mechanisms of Functionally Distinct Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of Drosophila Loqs, Ago2 and dsRNA
Small RNA silencing serves to regulate genes but also as a defense against pathogens and selfish genetic elements. In insects, a specialization of small RNAs and their biogenesis factors for […]
Phase Separation of Membrane Scaffolding Proteins as a Mechanism to Control Formation of Tight Junctions
Phase Separation of Membrane Scaffolding Proteins as a Mechanism to Control Formation of Tight Junctions
In this project we aim to understand how tight junctions (TJ) assemble into a continuous sub-apical belt in epithelial cells. Based on cell biological and in vitro data we hypothesize […]
Molecular Basis for the Central Role of the DEAD-Box Helicase Dhh1 in the Formation and Function of Processing Bodies
Molecular Basis for the Central Role of the DEAD-Box Helicase Dhh1 in the Formation and Function of Processing Bodies
Processing-bodies (P-bodies) contain the machinery that is involved in 5ʼ to 3ʼ mRNA degradation. This includes the DEAD box RNA helicase Dhh1 as well as the mRNA decapping enzyme Dcp2, […]
Dissecting the Nuclear Pore-Like Permeability Barrier Function of Phase Separated Liquid FG Nucleoporin Condensates
Dissecting the Nuclear Pore-Like Permeability Barrier Function of Phase Separated Liquid FG Nucleoporin Condensates
The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is a ~120 MDa complex built from multiple copies of ~30 different nucleoporins (Nups). The NPC traverses the nuclear envelope and functions as “gatekeeper” for […]
PI Müller Planitz – Associate
PI Müller Planitz – Associate
The Mueller-Planitz lab studies the core components of chromatin – the nucleosomes and the machinery that places them in the genome. Nucleosomes are crucial to human health. Aging, for instance, […]