Latest Updates from the Max Perutz Labs

New Publication

“They won’t be back”: Setting the timer for neutrophil termination

May 16, 2017

Correct timing and balance of the immune response is key for fighting off infections yet preventing extensive damage to our own body. Thus, a constant challenge for our immune system is adjusting offense to achieve defense against pathogens. The lifespan of immune cells plays a central role in the adjustment of the immune response. 

New Publication

A new tool to decipher evolutionary biology

May 09, 2017

A new bioinformatics tool to compare genome data has been developed by teams from the Max F. Perutz Laboratories, a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, together with researchers from Australia and Canada. The program called “ModelFinder” uses a fast algorithm and allows previously not attainable new insights into evolution. The results are published in the influential journal Nature Methods.

Start of the new doctoral program "Signaling Mechanisms in Cellular Homeostasis"

Apr 24, 2017

The FWF has granted a group of 14 scientists around MFPL group leader Manuela Baccarini the establishment of the new doctoral program “Signaling Mechanisms in Cellular Homeostasis (SMICH)”.

Grants

FWF grant awarded to MFPL group leader Gijs Versteeg

Mar 29, 2017

Gijs Versteeg, group leader at the MFPL, was awarded an FWF standalone grant to support his project entitled “Inhibition of macrophage activation by TRIM47”. The research efforts of the Versteeg group focus on the immune system and its regulatory mechanisms during infections.

Grants

MFPL group leader Sascha Martens awarded prestigious HFSP Program Grant

Mar 22, 2017

MFPL group leader Sascha Martens was awarded a Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Program Grant. This highly competitive grant is designed to encourage international scientific collaborations across continents and is shared between the Martens group and researchers from Germany, USA and Japan. 

Three-dimensional map shows genome structure of stem cells

Mar 13, 2017

To fit into the nucleus, the roughly two-meter long DNA needs to fold. This effort can only succeed if the DNA passes multiple packaging stages – from the double helix to whole chromosomes. From this folding process, various three-dimensional structures of the genome arise that interact with each other and thus influence cellular processes. For the first time, scientists from Martin Leeb’s group at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL), a joint venture of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, and the University of Cambridge succeeded in calculating the 3D structures of mammalian genomes in single cells. The results were published in the renowned journal Nature.

Publication

Separating signal from noise during stress in the HOG network

Mar 09, 2017

Cellular integrity relies not only on intracellular, but also on extracellular parameters which are often prone to fluctuation. If physico-chemical parameters in a cell’s environment reach extremes, adaptation is crucial for survival.

New Publication

RAF1, the unexpected moonlighter

Mar 08, 2017

Cells have to be able to interpret environmental signals in order to detect what's going on in their surroundings and respond appropriately to cues from both their neighbors and their environment. Within cells, signals are transmitted by specific proteins arranged in hierarchical structures, called signalling cascades. Many of these cascades are extremely well conserved, showing their relevance for a wide range of species.

Event

Seeding Success in Science

Mar 01, 2017

Symposium on the occasion of the retirement of Graham Warren, Scientific Director of the Max F. Perutz Laboratories and Dean of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna

Grants

DP RNA Biology – Funding secured for three more years

Feb 23, 2017

Based at the MFPL and headed by Andrea Barta, the FWF-funded DP RNA Biology is a cross-institutional PhD program bringing together Vienna’s RNA researchers from the MFPL, the Medical University of Vienna, the University of Vienna, the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA), the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) and the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (GMI).

New Publication

Unravelling the first step of vesicle fusion

Feb 15, 2017

Vesicles are small, fluid filled structures that are surrounded by a lipid double layer. They are vital for many cellular and physiological processes, as they carry or secrete cellular cargo such as waste, hormones or neurotransmitters.

New Publication

Shedding light on the brakes of Akt activity

Feb 02, 2017

Changes leading to the hyperactivation of the protein kinase Akt are observed in almost 50% of all human tumors. Understanding Akt’s regulatory mechanisms is therefore essential for developing and improving cancer therapies. Researchers from the Max F. Perutz Laboratories, a joint venture of the University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, propose a completely new model of Akt regulation, limiting its activity to discrete locations within the cell – cellular membranes. The results are published in the journal Molecular Cell.