The role of phosphorylations in intermediate filament assembly and disassembly (B10*)

• Subject Area: Biophysics
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 105286809

Intermediate filaments (IFs) form very stable macromolecular structures in the cytoskeleton. In the cell, the assembly and especially the disassembly reaction of these extended protein filaments is regulated by posttranslational phophorylations. We propose to study IF disassembly upon addition of kinases and in a phosphomimicri approach by targeted mutagenesis. We will focus in vimentin, which is the most abundant IF protein, and employ small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) as the main method. Our aim is to shed light on the mechanisms and time scales involved in IF disassembly.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 860: Integrative Structural Biology of Dynamic Macromolecular Assemblies
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Project Head: Professorin Dr. Sarah Köster