Claudine’s project focuses on the cell’s own waste disposal system, called autophagy. The group wishes to understand how this process works, as defects have been associated with different human diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. Specifically, they will focus on how the cell’s waste bags, called autophagosomes, are formed, and how they are transported to the incinerators, the vacuoles or lysosomes. This will allow for a better understanding of the process and hopefully, novel therapies for the future. A Swiss native, Claudine joined the MFPL as a group leader in 2011, after completing her postdoctoral studies at ETH Zürich. In November 2017, Claudine started a research group at the University of Freiburg. She will retain her group in Vienna until the end of 2018.
An MFPL group leader since 2010, Alwin’s main research interest lies in exploring nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), the molecular gates that control all traffic in and out of the nucleus. Beyond transporting cargo, NPCs have fascinating additional roles such as the regulation of gene expression and the shaping of the nuclear membrane, which protects the genome. As a result of these essential functions, NPCs are implicated in a vast number of human diseases and under intense investigation in basic and applied research. The ERC Consolidator Grant will allow his group to undertake a challenging new research project on the nuclear pore “basket”, a large structure that is appended to the NPC core. The basket has been implicated in the regulation of molecular transport, decoding of DNA and DNA repair, membrane remodelling and other vital processes, however, it is still very poorly understood compared to the rest of the NPC. “Our goal is to biochemically reconstruct the NPC basket from its individual components. This engineering approach can be described as: scientific learning through building. We expect to discover the fundamental design principles of the NPC and how its structure is linked to normal function and disease,” explains Alwin.
With these two ERC Consolidator Grants, the total number of ERC grants obtained by MFPL scientists amount to nine. This once again highlights the high quality of research carried out at the institute and the Vienna BioCenter.
Dissecting the turgor sensing mechanisms in the blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae
Pikobodies: What does it take to bioengineer NLR immune receptor-nanobody fusions
scRNA and phylogenetics
Gene regulatory mechanisms governing human development, evolution and variation
Regulation of Cerebral Cortex Morphogenesis by Migrating Cells
Phage therapy for treating bacterial infections: a double-edged sword
Suckers and segments of the octopus arm
Using the house mouse radiation to study the rapid evolution of genes and genetic processes
CRISPR jumps ahead: mechanistic insights into CRISPR-associated transposons
SLiMs and SHelMs: Decoding how short linear and helical motifs direct PPP specificity to direct signaling
Title to be announced
Enigmatic evolutionary origin and multipotency of the neural crest cells - major drivers of vertebrate evolution
Visualising mitotic chromosomes and nuclear dynamics by correlative light and electron microscopy
Engineered nanocarriers for imaging of small proteins by CryoEM
Bacterial cell envelope homeostasis at the (post)transcriptional level
Title to be announced
Hydrologic extremes alter mechanisms and pathways of carbon export from mountainous floodplain soils
Dissecting post-transcriptional gene expression regulation in humans and viruses
Polyploidy and rediploidisation in stressful times
Prdm9 control of meiotic synapsis of homologs in intersubspecific hybrids
Title to be announced
RNA virus from museum specimens
Programmed DNA double-strand breaks during meiosis: Mechanism and evolution
Title to be announced