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Comparisons across animal groups suggests that stem-cell based regeneration – including regeneration of the central nervous system – is likely an ancestral feature, but has been secondarily lost in mammals and other taxa. Annelid worms have unique value for studying this process, as they are known to modulate regenerative capacity by virtue of brain-derived endocrine factors. Moreover, these brain-derived factors orchestrate various other developmental processes – ranging from bristle shapes to the trigger of reproductive maturation, and even the timing of death. Research into individual factors and their function therefore provides unique experimental and mechanistic access to fascinating and fundamental aspects of biology.
Our group combines molecular profiling (RNAseq, proteomics), functional experimentation (knock-outs, transgenics), multimodal imaging, cellular profiling (scRNAseq approaches), physiological experiments, and behavioral analyses to advance research into the molecular orchestration of regeneration, reproduction and metamorphosis. Most of our work focuses on the marine bristleworm Platynereis dumerilii that we have helped to push as an experimental system, but we also follow comparative approaches to basal invertebrates (like sponges) and vertebrates. Our efforts in exploring the bristleworm as a unique system for stem cell biology are embedded in a larger Vienna-wide effort to address the molecular mechanisms of stem cell differentiation and regeneration, including other teams at the Perutz Labs, the Vienna BioCenter and the wider Vienna area.
Florian studied Molecular Biology and Biochemistry in Heidelberg. After work on Polycomb Repressive Complexes (Boston) and vertebrate brain patterning (MPI-CBG, Dresden), Florian helped to develop the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii as a molecular model (EMBL, Heidelberg). At MFPL, with the help of an ERC starting grant, Florian pioneered work on hormones and stem cells in this unique model.
Bristleworms reproduce by suicide reproduction, in which the production of sperm and eggs is invariably coupled to death. It was known for decades that this process is orchestrated by a brain-borne hormone activity promoting a youthful, non-reproductive state. By combining molecular biology, biochemistry and mass spectrometry, we identified the nature of a lipid-like hormone involved in this enigmatic regulation.
A few well-established model species account for a large share of molecular biological discovery. Yet these species only cover a limited spectrum of biological principles. Our lab has contributed to the establishment of knock-out and transgenic technology in the bristleworm Platynereis dumerilii, paving the way for advanced genetic research into unexplored phenomena such as endocrine stem cell regulation, suicide reproduction and biological timing.
Stem cells are central for both the development of organisms and their ability to replace lost tissues. Posterior growth of the bristleworm offers insight into unique principles of stem cell biology, as this organism is naturally able to switch capacities for growth and regeneration on and off. By pushing single cell biology and imaging methods in the bristleworm, we dissect the underlying molecular mechanistic principles.
One of the fascinating aspects of bristleworms is the generation of stereotypical bristles with nanometric precision. As the underlying process exhibits striking similarities to technical 3D printing, we have teamed up with experts from the Vienna University of Technology to determine the cellular mechanisms and mechanical engineering principles employed by nature, and compare these to their technical counterparts.
A versatile depigmentation, clearing, and labeling method for exploring nervous system diversity.
Pende, Marko; Vadiwala, Karim; Schmidbaur, Hannah; Stockinger, Alexander W; Murawala, Prayag; Saghafi, Saiedeh; Dekens, Marcus P S; Becker, Klaus; Revilla-I-Domingo, Roger; Papadopoulos, Sofia-Christina; Zurl, Martin; Pasierbek, Pawel; Simakov, Oleg; Tanaka, Elly M; Raible, Florian; Dodt, Hans-Ulrich
Corazonin signaling integrates energy homeostasis and lunar phase to regulate aspects of growth and sexual maturation in Platynereis.
Andreatta, Gabriele; Broyart, Caroline; Borghgraef, Charline; Vadiwala, Karim; Kozin, Vitaly; Polo, Alessandra; Bileck, Andrea; Beets, Isabel; Schoofs, Liliane; Gerner, Christopher; Raible, Florian
Discovery of methylfarnesoate as the annelid brain hormone reveals an ancient role of sesquiterpenoids in reproduction
Sven Schenk, Christian Krauditsch, Peter Frühauf, Christopher Gerner, Florian Raible
TALENs Mediate Efficient and Heritable Mutation of Endogenous Genes in the Marine Annelid Platynereis dumerilii.
Bannister, Stephanie; Antonova, Olga; Polo, Alessandrea; Lohs, Claudia; Hallay, Natalia; Valinciute, Agne; Raible, Florian; Tessmar-Raible, Kristin
Stable transgenesis in the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii sheds new light on photoreceptor evolution.
Backfisch, Benjamin; Veedin Rajan, Vinoth Babu; Fischer, Ruth M; Lohs, Claudia; Arboleda, Enrique; Tessmar-Raible, Kristin; Raible, Florian
Florian Raible is awardee of a "Starting Independent Researcher Grant" from the European Research Council ERC (ERC-StG2010), and holds 2 stand-alone grants from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) to explore hormones, stem cells and sensory biology in the bristleworm. The group also participates in the FWF Special Research Programme F78 on Neuronal Stem Cell Modulation (headed by Jürgen Knoblich, IMBA) and in the newly founded University of Vienna Research Platform on Single Cell Genomics of Stem Cells (headed by Uli Technau, Dept. of Life Sciences, University of Vienna).
Florian Raible coordinates a FWF Doc.Funds grant (1.700kEUR) that supports a total of nine PhD students working in the area of stem cell biology. This grant brings together a set of laboratories in the University of Vienna, the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) and the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) for advancing stem cell biology across various model systems.
The Austrian Academy of Sciences has awarded the lab funds to drive pioneer research at the interface of cell biology and material sciences to explore the sculpting of nanostructures during bristle development.
Systematic identification and functional characterization of transcriptional regulators
The mineralosphere as microhabitat for microbe, mineral and organic matter interaction in soils
Activation and regulation of plant immunity by secreted signaling peptides
Transcription start site selection is environmentally controlled to diversify the proteome in eukaryotes
How evolutionary interplay between sexes can help us define phenotypes and develop drugs
Mining for protein-protein interactions with AlphaFold: Lessons from Genome Maintenance
Title to be announced
The magical Martian Methane mystery and other stories about life on Mars
Probing life at the nanoscale - one molecule at a time
The Underworld of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents
Epigenetic regulation of germline development
Sister chromatid cohesion is mediated by individual cohesin complexes
Origin and evolution of a defensive symbiosis in tortoise leaf beetles
Capturing conformational transitions in the ubiquitin conjugation cascade
18th Microsymposium on RNA Biology
The „Microsymposium on RNA Biology“ is an international conference that brings together young scientists, junior and senior group leaders, and company representatives from all over the world to present and discuss their latest findings in the exciting field of small RNAs and beyond. The Microsymposium was founded in 2005 and has established itself as the major small RNA meeting in Europe. It is organized by the four research institutions IMBA, IMP, GMI and the Max Perutz Labs as well as by the RNA community of the Vienna BioCenter.
Transformation Reactions of Organic Contaminants and Oxygen: From Field Sites to Reaction Mechanisms
Title to be announced
Multiscale plant bioimaging using advanced microscopy
Parthenogenesis, cryptobiosis, and the survival in extreme environmental conditions
Evading ageing: Mitochondrial and proteostatic adaptations in oocytes
Ubiquitin & Friends Symposium 2024
The Ubiquitin & Friends Symposium is an annual international meeting taking place in the beautiful capital of Austria, aiming to bring together scholars from various fields studying ubiquitin/Ubl biology and protein degradation in a personal, family-like atmosphere, as suggested by the name.
Genomes in Rhodnius prolixus symbiotic system
Stem cells, immune evasion and metastasis in colorectal cancer
The evolution and development of mollusc shells
Unraveling the Complexity of Crossover Regulation in C. elegans
Dynamics of 3D Genome Structure and Function
How superworms can help to solve our plastic waste crisis
New players in an old pathway: biology of methanogens of the TACK superphylum
Shaping morphogen gradients: from molecules to tissues and back
Studying stressed cells by in situ structural biology
Exploring Microbial Resilience: Unravelling Escherichia coliand#x27;s Stress Response at the Level of Protein Synthesis
Deep homology and deep diversity: Evolving genetic toolkits for making and sensing light
The evolution of cell type identity and tissue microecology at the fetal-maternal interface
The unanticipated roles of PICIs and phages in bacterial evolution
Origin and diversification of gut-derived organs in chordates
Job's Dilemma for the Genome: Why Bad Things Happen to Good Chromosomes
Connections between carbon and nitrogen cycling in the ocean
Understanding how the DNA-loop-extruding protein complex Condensin folds a chromatinized genome into mitotic chromosomes
From Roads to Rivers? Occurrence and environmental fate of tire and road wear particles and of tire-related chemicals
Striking physiology and cell biology of (marine) environmental microorganisms
Mechanisms controlling maintenance of cohesin dependent loops
Title to be announced