Lipid transport across membrane contact sites (25*)

Subject Area Biochemistry
Term from 2018 to 2021
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 112927078
 

Project Description

Membrane contact sites serve as platforms for signal transduction and exchange of material between organelles. Several lines of evidence point towards coordinated transport of lipids across such contacts, but it is currently difficult to directly visualize lipid transport in intact cells due to technical obstacles. In this project, we will develop novel probes based on the trifunctional lipid principle which enable pre-localization, release and visualization as well as identification of lipid-interacting proteins. Additionally, we plan to employ chemically inducible, synthetic tethers between organelles to investigate the contribution of membrane contact sites to pathologies such as lysosomal storage disorders and Hepatitis C virus replication.
DFG Programme CRC/Transregios
Subproject of TRR 83:  Molecular Architecture and Cellular Functions of Lipid/Protein Assemblies
Major Instrumentation Uncaging Unit for a confocal microscope
Instrumentation Group 5080 Optisches Mikroskopzubehör
Applicant Institution Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Project Head Dr. Doris Höglinger