A key question in biology is how this works, put differently, how specific proteins become concentrated on a specific gene to turn it on and off. Scientists, who try to painstakingly dissect such ‘genetic switches’, would wish for a simple device that is easy to understand – a mechanical switch with a button to press. However, nature found a different solution and, surprisingly, the solution is - liquid.
DNA is folded into a material called chromatin, which is mostly composed of DNA wrapped around histone proteins. Enzymes can modify histones and thereby affect chromatin structure, which influences whether a gene is active or not. Reporting in Nature, Alwin Köhler’s team discovered that Bre1, an enzyme that modifies histone proteins with ubiquitin exists in a peculiar material state. Bre1 binds another protein, called Lge1 (Large 1), which displays an unusual behavior when viewed under the microscope: Lge1 forms droplets, which are colliding and coalescing. “Solid structures don’t do that; only liquids can” says Laura Gallego, a first author of the study.
Lge1 droplets, the researchers realized, were not rigid structures, rather, they behaved like oil droplets in a bottle of forcefully shaken vinaigrette, first dispersing, then quickly fusing and blending into larger liquid blobs. This process is an established concept in chemistry, engineering and physics, called liquid–liquid phase separation. It occurs whenever a force pushes two liquids apart, as when oil floats on top of water. When Alwin Köhler and his team added Bre1, something else striking happened: Instead of diffusing into the Lge1 droplet, Bre1 formed an enzymatic shell around Lge1, organizing the droplet into a layered liquid and controlling its growth. Interestingly, the Lge1-Bre1 droplets also attracted chromatin and another enzyme that acts as co-factor for Bre1. This raised the important question whether droplet formation might accelerate the entire enzymatic reaction – and indeed it did. “Looking at that band on the western blot coming up faster was an exciting moment in the dark room” says Maren Schneider, co-first author of the study. The scientists realized that liquid-liquid phase separation provided a way of concentrating the reactants of a genetic switch in the crowded chaos of the nucleus, basically forming a crucible to speed up the reaction on chromatin. Moving from test tubes into cells, the researchers found, together with their collaborators (Chitvan Mittal, co-first author, and Frank Pugh; Penn State, USA), that Lge1 and Bre1 were specifically concentrated on highly expressed genes. Moreover, through yet-unknown mechanisms, Lge1-Bre1 droplets preferred the middle portion of a gene, the so-called gene body, while excluding the upstream or downstream regions. Abolishing Lge1-Bre1’s ability to behave like a layered liquid by genetic manipulation caused growth defects in cells underscoring the importance of this material state in gene regulation.
“Working with budding yeast as a model organism gave us unprecedented access to manipulating and understanding the chemistry that allows layered liquids to function in the nucleus” says Alwin Köhler, who lead the study. “And we also realized a potential link to human disease”. Lge1 has a functional counterpart in humans, called WAC. This protein also behaves like a liquid and when mutated causes DeSanto–Shinawi syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder. Thus, being in a liquid state or not might have direct implications for human pathology. So how different are man-made structures and nature’s ingenuity in the end? To quote the architect Frank Gehry: “Liquid architecture. It's like jazz - you improvise, you work together, you play off each other, you make something, they make something.”
Publication:
Laura D. Gallego, Maren Schneider, Chitvan Mittal, Anete Romanauska, Ricardo M., Gudino Carrillo, Tobias Schubert, B. Franklin Pugh & Alwin Köhler: Phase separation directs ubiquitination of gene-body nucleosomes. Nature (2020).
Breathing at High Altitude
“Breathing at High Altitude” is an exhibition dedicated to the personal life and science of Max F. Perutz, a pioneer of 20thcentury molecular biology. The exhibition sheds light on Max Perutz’s fascinating life, celebrates his love for mountains, and visualizes “breathing” in a unique way. It will be a rewarding experience for scientists and non-scientists alike.
May 19 – June 15 Mon – Fri 9:00 – 18:00 University of Vienna, Inner court (Arkadenhof), Universitätsring 1, 1010 Vienna
How cells defend their cytosol against cytosol-invading bacteria: LPS ubiquitylation and other tricks
Speaker: Felix RandowInstitute: MRC-LMPHost: Moritz Gaidt
Identifying new disease-related mechanisms for genetic cardiomyopathy
Speaker: Eva van RooijInstitute: Hubrecht InstituteHost: Sasha Mendjan
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SCHMÖLLERL Johannes (Zuber), FAAS Victoria (Clausen), ANISIMOVA Aleksandra (Karagöz)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Max Perutz: a not so quiet life
Max Perutz’ scientific journey from the Theresianum in Vienna to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge arguably laid the foundations of modern molecular biology. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962 for his work on hemoglobin, Max’ legacy continues today at the research institute that bears his name in the city where he was born.
You will hear about Max’ natural curiosity, the scientific question that he dedicated most of his life to answering - how does hemoglobin transport oxygen? - and the tireless perseverance required to achieve his goal.
Gene transcription: from mechanisms to regulation
Speaker: Patrick CramerInstitute: MPI for Biophysical ChemistryHost: Alex Stark, Clemens Plaschka
A detailed analysis of the (static and dynamic) local conformations of proteins
Speaker: Alexandre G de BrevernInstitute: INSERM - French National Institute of Health and Medical ResearchHost: Oliviero Carugo
The genetic basis for diversification of leaf form: from understanding to reconstructing
Speaker: Miltos TsiantisInstitute: MPI for Plant Breeding ResearchHost: Yasin Dagdas
HistONe and HistOFF: Measuring Nucleosome Exchange Dynamics
Speaker: Gilad YaakovInstitute: Weizmann Institute of Science, RehovotHost: Fred Berger
Molecular mechanism and folding dynamics of large non-coding RNAs
Speaker: Marco MarciaInstitute: EMBL GrenobleHost: Kristina Djinovic-Carugo
Microbial Storage Compounds
Speaker: Michaela DippoldInstitute: Georg-August-Universität GöttingenHost: Andreas Richter, Wolfgang Wanek
Title to be announced
Speaker: Uli TechnauInstitute: University of Vienna
Remembering who we are: how chromatin controls cell identity
Speaker: Susan GasserInstitute: University of Lausanne
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: BRAGULAT TEIXIDOR Helena (Otsuka), SALEWSKIJ Kirill (Penninger), KAGAWA Harunobu (Rivron)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Kelly SwartsInstitute: GMI
Title to be announced
Speaker: Jan-Michael PetersInstitute: IMP
Single-cell and population mechanisms controlling neural stem cell maintenance in the zebrafish adult brain
Speaker: Laure Bally-CuifInstitute: Institut Pasteur and CNRS UMR3738Host: SFB Neuro Stem Modulation
Title to be announced
Speaker: David HaselbachInstitute: IMP
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: CASEY Alexandra (Dolan), CERRON ALVAN Luis Miguel (Leeb), SIDHAYE Jaydeep (Knoblich)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Dual inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and neprilysin - a potential new therapy for hypertension and heart failure
Speaker: Ed SturrockInstitute: University of KapstadtHost: Tim Skern
Title to be announced
Speaker: Bojan ZagrovicInstitute: Max Perutz Labs
Antarctic Research on Methane Production in Oxygenated Waters in Ice Covered Lakes
Speaker: Wei LiInstitute: Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryHost: Christopher Sedlacek
Structural insights into tail-anchored membrane protein biogenesis by the GET insertase complex
Speaker: Melanie McDowellInstitute: MPI for BiophysicsHost: Sebastian Falk
Imaging processes of cell division across scales
Speaker: Jan EllenbergInstitute: EMBL HeidelbergHost: Shotaro Otsuka
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: LOUBIERE Vincent (Stark), NGUYEN Vu (Mittelsten Scheid), STANKUNAS Edvinas (Köhler)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Uli EllingInstitute: IMBA
Title to be announced
Speaker: Gus VersteegInstitute: Max Perutz Labs
Leveraging the patient as the model to dissect and target metastasis
Speaker: Karuna GaneshInstitute: Sloan Kettering InstituteHost: Anna Obenauf
Title to be announced
Speaker: Tom MillerInstitute: University of CopenhagenHost: Clemens Plaschka
Life at Nature Genetics: what we do, how scientific publishing works, and how I got here
Speaker: Michael FletcherInstitute: Editor at Nature GeneticsHost: Alex Stark
Long-term single-cell quantification: New tools for old questions
Speaker: Timm SchroederInstitute: ETH ZurichHost: Manuela Baccarini
Title to be announced
Speaker: Stephanie EllisInstitute: Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Noelia UrbanInstitute: IMBA
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: LEYVA GONZALEZ Marco (Tanaka), MILJKOVIC Frane (Köhler), PINTER Theresa (Busslinger)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Andreas MartinInstitute: University of California, BerkeleyHost: David Haselbach
Title to be announced
Speaker: Alexey AmuntsInstitute: Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm UniversityHost: Silvia Ramundo
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KHANDEKAR Ameya (Martinez), SCHOLZ Julia (Otsuka), BAUER Bernd (Martens)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Jay ShendureInstitute: University of WashingtonHost: Alex Stark
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: PASSERA Alessandro (Balzarotti), MILIVOJEV Nadja (Raible), HOLCIK Laurenz (Von Haeseler)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: IGOLKINA Anna (Nordborg), KRAMMER Teresa (Tanaka), AMANN Sascha Josef (Haselbach)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
European Worm Meeting 2022
We cordially invite you to the 2022 European Worm Meeting (EWM) taking place in Vienna, July 27-30. The meeting is hosted by the University of Vienna.
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SCHMIDT Clara (Mendjan), GOGOVA Rebeca (Clausen), SAAD RODRIGUES Carolina (Schlögelhofer)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: YU Changwei (Brennecke), HAENDELER Simon (Von Haeseler), ALMEIDA Bernardo (Stark)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SEONG Jinwoo (Rivron), NAVA GARCIA Marintia Mayola (Dagdas), DENEKE Victoria (Pauli)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Xin ChenInstitute: Johns Hopkins UniversityHost: Fred Berger
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KELLNER Max Josef (Penninger), LEITNER Marie-Christin (Mendjan), HORN Sabrina (Peters)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Mark DawsonInstitute: Peter MacCallum Cancer CentreHost: Johannes Zuber
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: OTSUKI Leo (Tanaka), LEV Itamar (Zimmer), HODAKOVA Zuzana (Haselbach)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Dominique BergmannInstitute: Stanford UniversityHost: Liam Dolan
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: BABADEI Olga (Decker), HOLZMANN Viktoria (Rivron), AYALA MUNOZ Farja (Plaschka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Yves BarralInstitute: ETH ZurichHost: Shotaro Otsuka
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: TAKACS Zsuzsanna (Gerlich), DE LA CONCEPCION Juan Carlos (Dagdas), FEDL Anna (Busslinger)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Sophie PetropoulosInstitute: Karolinska InstitutetHost: Nicolas Rivron
Title to be announced
Speaker: Benoit BruneauInstitute: Gladstone InstitutesHost: Sasha Mendjan
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: GALLI Lucrezia (Tanaka), TERIYAPIROM Isaree (Koo), JACOBS Jelle (Stark)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Richard FlavellInstitute: Yale University School of MedicineHost: Meinrad Busslinger
Title to be announced
Speaker: Bernd BukauInstitute: ZMBHHost: Elif Karagäz
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: POPOVA Mariia (Peters), RITSCHKA Birgit (Tanaka), DOMBEY Rodolphe (Mari-Ordonez)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: INCARBONE Marco (Mittelsten Scheid), GRUNDMANN Lorenz (Haselbach), NEMCKO Filip (Stark)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: TELONI Federico (Gerlich), WALLNER Eva-Sophie (Dolan), PUSHPA BOSE Greeshma (Urban)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: LIU Haijun (Nordborg), NAVALAYE Tsimafei (Ameres), NAAS Julia (Von Haeseler)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: CHUGUNOVA Anastasia (Pauli), RÖTZER Johannes (Dolan), JONSSON Gustav (Penninger)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KLAUS Loni (Stark), BENEDUM Johannes (Slade), LITTLEBOY Jamie (Knoblich)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Daniel MucidaInstitute: Rockefeller UniversityHost: Meinrad Busslinger
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: ANTONIOLI Sumire (Leonard), LI Chong (Knoblich), PABST Gabriel (Zuber)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be announced
Speaker: Lacra BintuInstitute: Stanford UniversityHost: Alex Stark
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: DIEZMA Laura (Nordborg/Mari-Ordonez), GHOSH Dipannita (Grade), PATEL Rajvi (Matos)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Title to be annouced
Speaker: Adele MarstonInstitute: Wellcome Centre Cell Biology, University of EdinburghHost: Daniel Gerlich, Joao Matos
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KORDIC Darja (Clausen), DEIBER Sebastian (Dolan), GEHRE Maja (Brennecke)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: ZMAJKOVIC Jakub (Zuber), MAURER Eric (Peters), NOGALES MORAL Adrian (Köhler)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: HUETTER Christiane (Menche), BASSAT Elad (Tanaka), PETRZILEK Jan (Ameres)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: KALIS Robert (Zuber), NAJM Ramsey (Knoblich), GEROCZ Emoke (Gerlich)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: AUGUSTO Pedro (Zimmer), POLISSENI Claudio (Tanaka), ELEWAUT Anais (Obenauf)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: GUO Pin (Dolan), DAO Pauline (Tessmar), JAVALI Alok(Rivron)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: STUART Hannah (Tanaka), KORESHOVA Alevtina (Burga), ZHAN Ni (Dagdas)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: CRONIN Shona (Obenauf), KANNO Tatsuo (Berger), PACHINGER Claudia (Dammermann)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SHUKLA Vikas (Berger), RODRIGUEZ TERRONES Diego (Tanaka), WIDEN Sonya (Burga)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: VOICHEK Yoav (Norborg), SESTINI Giovanni (Rivron), PETROULAKI Vasiliki (Matos)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: BRUNNER Hanna (Haselbach), FRIDRICH Arie (Berger), AKULOVA Vasilina (Swarts)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: DE SANTIS Martina (Rivron), BUENDIA Daniel (Mari-Ordonez), VISANPATTANASIN Supapat (Plaschka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: VOJTEK Matus (Stark), LEHMANN Christian (Knoblich), LEE Du-Hwa (Belkhadir)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SPICER Maximilian (Gerlich), ESTIVILL I CAPAAROS Guillem (Obenauf), MURPHY Paul (Clausen)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: JÄGER Christina (Van der Veeken), PRADHAN Saurabh (Rivron), RAFANEL Baptiste (Brennecke)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: BELACIC Katarina (Haselbach), HARVEY Zachary (Berger), MILOJKOVIC Lidija (Urban)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: GOMEZ SEGALAS Alba (Balzarotti), KOLESNIKOVA Sofia (Gerlich), HANDLER Dominik (Brennecke)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: BAUCELLS Julia (Dammermann), PANAROTTO-PERICLES Melanie (Peters), VOICHEK Maya Shinan (Brennecke)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: DMITRIEV Vladimir (Goloborodko), HISANAGA Tetsuya (Berger), KHALDIEH Nina (Ameres)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SOMMER Theresa (Rivron), SHIRZADIAN YAZD Mehrta (Balzarotti), VERTESY Abel (Knoblich)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: POLIKARPOVA Anastasia (Tanaka), CHAKRABORTY Oisorjo (Grade), CORSI Flavia (Goloborodko)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: FESSELET Jeanne (Kovarik), KHAURATOVIC Uladzislava (Matos/Golobordko), SHEN Jingyi (Obenauf)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: PERNEBRINK Mattias (Tanaka), HOHMANN Ulrich (Brennecke/Plaschka), MANOLOVA Toni (Falk)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: WU Shuangyang (Dolan), SCARAMUZZA Federico (Tessmar), KROGULL Daniel (Burga)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: HEIDARI KHOEI Heidar (Rivron), BELL Caelan (Gerlich), GALUSKA Philipp (Djinovic)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: ABDRAKHMANOV Alibek (Dagdas), WILLIAMS Thomas (Clausen), GEISMANN Maximilian (Balzarotti)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: JELENIC Stela (Saha), PACHECO FIALLOS Franics Belen (Plaschka), FONTES OLIVEIRA Tiago Manuel (Penninger)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: NAGUMO WONG Sakurako (Knoblich), LORENZO ORTS Laura (Pauli), ROSS James (Burga)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: RAFFL Gerald (Ameres), SAJTOS Bettina (Zuber), ISHIHARA Keisuke (Tanaka)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: STEINACKER Thomas (Gerlich), EDER Stephanie (Zimmer), TIKANOVA Polina (Burga)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: SCHELLHAAS Ulla (Plaschka/Ameres), RUSCH Emma (Goloborodko), CLAVEL Marion (Dagdas)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: RADHAKRISHNA PILLAI Balashankar (Saha), ADELMANN Leonie (Raible), BLAHA Andreas (Pauli)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: VULIN Milica (Obenauf), MEREITER Stefan (Penninger), BINDL Michael (Leeb)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
Monday Seminar (Internal)
Speaker: LORBEER Franziska (Stark), MULVEY Hugh (Dolan), PÜHRINGER Florian (Burga)Institute: Open only to IMP/IMBA/GMI/Max Perutz Labs
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