News, Jobs, Events

News from the Max Perutz Labs

Filter:
News

A MAST-have for neurodevelopment

Sep 18, 2026

Mega corpus callosum (MCC) syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, is associated with mutations in the serine/threonine kinase MAST1, a signaling protein expressed in the brain. However, next to nothing is known about MAST1. In a new PNAS study, first author Sumire Antonioli from the Leonard lab has identified previously unknown components of the signaling cascade and characterized how disease-associated mutations alter MAST1 function. The findings suggest that MAST1 may link actin and microtubule cytoskeleton dynamics during neuronal development.
News

Bojan Žagrović joins new MSCA Doctoral Network

Sep 07, 2026

Perutz group leader Bojan Žagrović is part of the newly funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Doctoral Network ‘PhaseCat’, which brings together five academic research groups and two companies across Europe to investigate the catalytic potential of protein-RNA condensates. Coordinated by Wim De Malsche at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, the four-year network has a total funding volume of €2.6 million and will support nine PhD researchers, two of them associated with the Žagrović group including one jointly mentored with a group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
News

Special delivery – lipid transport for autophagy

Sep 02, 2026

Building an autophagosome requires cells to rapidly assemble and expand membranes at the right place and time. In a new study published in Nature Communications, first author Elisabeth Holzer from the Martens lab found that the lipid composition of mammalian precursor membranes differ substantially from their yeast counterparts. The team identified the lipid transport protein ATG2A and ATG8-like proteins on the nascent phagophore membrane as key factors in delivering the phosphatidylinositol (PI) required to drive membrane biogenesis. By clarifying how autophagosome formation is controlled, the findings may help better understand how defects in autophagy contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.
News

Marco Hein named Researcher of the Month at the Medical University of Vienna

Sep 01, 2026

In their ‘Researcher of the Month’ series, the Medical University of Vienna features outstanding scientists and their work. In September, group leader Marco Hein was selected for his postdoctoral work at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub in San Francisco, where he developed a high-throughput method to map protein localization across cellular compartments, providing new insights into how cells organize and regulate their proteins in space and time.
News

Cut-and-paste, but not cut, then paste

Aug 24, 2026

Genome engineering is constantly searching for new and promising molecular tools – and CRISPR-associated transposons (CASTs) are among them. A new study in Nature Communications from the Querques lab, with Mateusz Walter as a co-first author, reveals how CASTs precisely control DNA transposition. Combining cryo-EM with biochemistry, the researchers uncovered a series of molecular checkpoints that determine how and when the CAST transposase acts.
News

Decoding RNA in Parkinson’s: ASAP funding for Erinc Hallacli

Aug 20, 2026

Erinc Hallacli has been selected to join the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) Collaborative Research Network (CRN), an international, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional network working to address high-priority research questions about Parkinson's disease. The Hallacli lab will become part of the team led by Anna Krichevsky at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, USA). With $9 million in funding over three years, the team will investigate how RNA-based mechanisms contribute to resilience and vulnerability in the manifestation of Parkinson’s disease.
News

From viruses to neurons: Three ÖAW DOC Fellowships at the Perutz

Jul 30, 2026

The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) has awarded prestigious DOC Fellowships to three PhD students at the Perutz. The highly competitive fellowship supports outstanding doctoral researchers in basic research. Leon Schmidt (Hein lab) will study how ubiquitous anelloviruses interact with human cells, Moritz Becker (Leeb lab) will investigate the molecular mechanisms that guide early human cell fate decisions, and Carla Simon (Slade lab) will uncover how precise transcription termination shapes neuronal development. Together, their projects address fundamental questions in virology, stem cell biology, and gene regulation.
News

ER’s multi-trick pony

Jul 23, 2026

Cells constantly adjust protein production to match folding capacity in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to ensure correct folding of secreted and transmembrane proteins. This is especially crucial when cellular stress impairs protein folding. In a new study from the Karagöz lab, published in Genes & Development, first author Aleksandra Anisimova uncovers how the RNA-binding protein IGF2BP3 helps control this balance during ER stress. The study reveals a flexible regulatory system that balances mRNA decay with transcriptional control to fine-tune the unfolded protein response (UPR), highlighting a previously underappreciated layer of post-transcriptional control that determines whether cells adapt or fail under stress.
News

FWF funds Dea Slade’s neuronal development research

Jul 10, 2026

Perutz group leader Dea Slade has been awarded a Principal Investigator grant from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) to investigate how mutations in the gene PHF3 disrupt human brain development. The project will use cutting-edge stem cell and organoid models to uncover how disease-associated PHF3 mutations alter gene regulation during the formation of neurons. By revealing the molecular mechanisms underlying these defects, the research aims to improve our understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders such as microcephaly and autism spectrum disorder.

News archive

24
Search on the site...

office@maxperutzlabs.ac.at

+43 1 4277 240 01


Vienna BioCenter
Dr.-Bohr-Gasse 9, 1030 Vienna