GRK 521:  Protein-Protein Interactions during Intracellular Transport of Macromolecules

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: from 1999 to 2008
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272755

The aim of this research training group is within an interdisciplinary program the elucidation of the control mechanisms regulating intracellular transport processes. The research training group is a joint program of several departments of the medical and biological faculties and of the Max Planck Institutes for Biophysical Chemistry and of Experimental Medicine. Newly synthesized macromolecules must be targeted to reach their final intracellular compartment. The projects of the graduate program deal first with the transport of proteins, ribonucleic acids and viral components between nucleus and cytoplasm, secondly with the translocation of proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum, and thirdly, with the regulation of the vesicular transport between the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, the lysosomes and the plasma membrane. This is studied in mammalian cells as well as in plant cells and in yeast. Thus, the program includes projects on the molecular transport of macromolecules and vesicles and on the role of protein-protein interactions in regulating these processes. The biological systems used are mammalian and yeast cells as well as plants and viruses. The graduate students have regular meetings for the discussion of methods and results. In addition, the heads of the participating laboratories report on the activities in their labs. Seminars of the theoretical basis of research methods and talks given by guest speakers complete the curriculum. The interdisciplinary approach and the spectrum of methods are also the basis of laboratory courses which take place in the first half of the 3-years period of the program and introduce to such methods that are not taught in basic curricula. The aim of these practicals is to gain experience in methods not directly related to the own project and to learn about the whole spectrum of methods of the participating groups.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Detlef Doenecke
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Gerhard H. Braus; Professor Dr. Nils Brose; Professorin Dr. Christiane Gatz; Professor Dr. Gerd Hasenfuß; Professor Dr. Stefan Höning; Professor Dr. Reinhard Jahn; Dr. Harald Kögler; Professor Dr. Reinhard Lührmann; Professorin Dr. Frauke Melchior; Professor Dr. Erwin Neher; Professor Dr. Tomas Pieler; Professor Dr. Peter V. Schu; Professor Dr. Mikael Jakob Simons; Professor Dr. Jakob Balslev Soerensen; Professor Dr. Michael Thumm; Dr. Frederique Varoqueaux